Residential Tech Today November/December 2021

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the terms “wellness” and “healthy home” have entered the marketing lexicon of homebuilders and consumer electronics companies. But like “green building” and “green tech” prior to LEED and ENERGY STAR certification, “healthy home” and “wellness” can be hard to define. Simply put, the category lacks specific measurables. In my own home, I had a modern, natural gas-fired furnace installed just a few years ago. Inside of it is a very large air filter that you have to either order online or buy direct from the HVAC contractor. Even though I set my phone’s calendar to remind me to replace this filter every eight months, I sometimes miss the notice or disregard it because I’m too busy at that moment. Last month, the sudden change…

Michael Heiss has been a member of CEDIA since its founding, having served two terms on the CEDIA Board and headed the Technology Council. He was awarded CEDIA’s “Volunteer of the Year” award and is a CEDIA Fellow. As a product and marketing executive at Harman International, he was responsible for many breakthrough audio and video products. On the entertainment side of the business, he was a promotion manager at NBC and was key to the development of hotel in-room movies and created the first nationwide movie rental service for Beta and VHS cassettes. In this issue, Heiss is a busy man, covering new Amazon products on p. 28, TCL’s latest video displays on p. 30, Roku’s latest refresh on p. 32, and “year-end alternatives” on p. 50. Jay Basen is…

COVID-19 has been horrible in too many ways to count, and the resulting supply chain hiccups continue to reduce the availability of just about every consumer product in the world. That being said, two areas of the economy seem undeterred and maybe even positively affected by the global pandemic: home sale prices and home improvement/remodel expenditures. This month we take a closer look at these trends, primarily from the DIY perspective, but also by looking at broader sales and remodel statistics. Google Search Trends for the Home Improvement Industry Search Term: “Home Remodel” 39% March 2020 93% March 2021 Source: kitcheninfinity.com Projected Total Home Improvement Sales in the U.S. in 2024 $ 510 Billion/USD Source: Statista.com U.S. Home Center Sales $ 253.3 Billion/USD Source: Statista.com U.S. Hardware Store Sales $ 61. Billion/USD Source: Statista.com…

While it is difficult to pinpoint any one specific item, anything that improved a client’s ability to work and enjoy being at home with family in 2021 has been a huge success. From high-performance networking to home theaters, outdoor audio and even golf simulators, this year has been one spent largely on upgrading existing systems and continuing to allow our clients the ability to deal with the remaining impact of COVID-19 on their lives. – JW Anderson, The Integrated Home, Charlotte, NC Leon Media Edge TV frames, which are handcrafted out of solid hardwood and encase any TV and soundbar in one simple design. Designers appreciate our thinking behind blending technology with the interior of the space, and our clients love the look of custom finishes to cover their black TV…

RTI has launched its new RTI Music product as an all-in-one experience for streaming up to three sources at once from a single MS-3 Music Streamer. “What’s great about RTI Music is that it provides native RTI control on a single app for streaming music,” explained Neal Ellsworth, director of product management for RTI. “There’s no need to go to your Pandora or Spotify app and then use Spotify Connect or anything like that. You no longer need to use Favorites within the control system to get to streaming sources. Now, with RTI Music, it’s all native, built-in, with full-functionality. For the residential market, RTI Music is launching with the following streaming services: Pandora, Spotify, Sirius XM, iHeartRadio. For the commercial market, the company is offering Sound Machine and Sirius XM. More…

The first-ever Direct View LED (DVLED) display series from LG Electronics was designed specifically for high-end residential installations. The LG DVLED Extreme Home Cinema line is available in screen sizes up to 325 inches diagonal, in 4K and 8K models. DVLED Extreme Home Cinema uses 2 million to 33 million individual diodes (depending on resolution) to deliver high performance with exceptional brightness, years of residential lifespan, wide viewing angles, and a very high color gamut, even in rooms with high ambient light. DVLED Different from LED TVs Direct-View LED technology is visibly and fundamentally different from “LED TVs,” which are actually LCD TVs with LED backlighting to boost brightness. Direct View LED technology images are created directly by the LED diodes and provide high contrast ratio and brightness, creating some of the most…