Technology Integrated into Design

Home Cinemas and Media Rooms

While dedicated cinema rooms are still called for in larger homes, very often a single room has to work both as a living space and a high-specification home cinema with immersive sound.

Here, at the touch of a button, a projector can descend from the ceiling, a screen lowers in front of the TV, the lights dim and blinds close, creating the ultimate home cinema experience with stunning picture quality and surround sound. Speakers can be in-wall or hidden behind ‘acoustically-transparent’ fabric panels and most of the equipment located in a plant room away from the living spaces, to minimise the impact on interior design.

Cyberhomes won the 2016 CEDIA ‘Best Home Cinema over £100,000’ for this Wimbledon cinema room.

Lighting Control

Every light in and around a house can be dimmed or switched on and off with these devices, and using discreet wall panels replacing conventional switches.

Unlike traditional wiring, each circuit is wired back to the dimmer pack, with a separate cable for controls. Pre-set scenes can be created, perhaps involving automated blinds or curtains, and the latest LED lighting enables a greater use of colour whilst making significant energy savings. Additionally, all the lights in a house can be turned off with a single button or holiday mode selected, creating the impression that the house is occupied.

Smart technology allows discreet CCTV cameras and door or gate entry systems to display on any of the control panels throughout the house or on smart phones including when away from home. Owners can also check and adjust heating, lighting and other functions remotely. Intruder alarm systems can be integrated with home automation, allowing additional actions to be triggered automatically. For example, by arming the intruder alarm, lights can automatically turn off, vacation mode occupancy simulation started and heating reduced. When the alarm is disarmed, an entry lighting scene automatically activates and the heating returns to comfort levels. Whilst the system is unarmed, security sensors can be used as occupancy detectors, for example turning lights off and reducing heating levels if rooms are unoccupied for a length of time.

Lighting control allows different moods and scenes to be quickly selected.

Reliability and Long-term Performance

Wireless networks for fixed equipment are generally not reliable or fast enough, and suffer from ’dead spots’ as well as interference from other electrical items and the foil backing now common on plasterboard.

Wireless is recommended only for devices that need to be handheld or portable such as remote controls, smart phones and tablets. A structured cabling infrastructure based on ‘star wiring’ layouts—as opposed to ‘daisy chaining’—is key to consistent quality, flexibility and future-proofing of home automation systems. For reliability and long-term performance the necessary racks of AV equipment should be built and tested, and all the wiring looms created in a controlled environment off-site.

CCTV cameras can be viewed on a smartphone or tablet wherever you have in internet connection.