With modern day entertainment systems getting better by the day, it pays to invest in a good home theater system. Televisions are getting more and more advanced with a plethora of features being added to them. They are getting thinner and better. With the rise of âsmartâ TVs the user experience has probably risen to never before seen heights. If the viewing has gone to Full HD, the sound capacity too has hit its peak. But having said that, if one wants to get a real theater-like feeling, then a home theater is a must have. Even if you are not a movie buff, a home theater really shows what your television is fully capable of. But just having invested in a good system is not the end of the story.
With the advent of automated homes, there is much need for automated home theatre systems. This is where Control4 comes in to picture. The Control4 is a fully automatic home entertainment controller. It simplifies all your entertainment needs, where you are resting in a cozy corner of the room or wandering across your home. Just one remote control placed in your hand and you get to control all your audio, video and home theater equipments from anywhere at one go. Let’s see what Control4 has to offer, in a nutshell.
Control4 Hometheatre: Basics
Its basic method of control is through Ethernet, Wi-Fi or any available network. The Control4 attaches perfectly with any home theatre system and does the required job quite well. The system has its own user interface which received a major update in 2010 as it was upgraded from version 1.8 to the latest 2.0. The list of additions to the new OS is very long, and by long we really do mean it! The major additions are inclusion of third party apps and healthcare monitoring, whereas the future possibilities with the system are just endless!
The most important thing to understand about Control4 is that it has been built for a fully automated home, and most of the features have been included keeping this in mind. Things such as energy management and efficient lighting are some great additions. The presence of a thermostat may seem exaggerated but yes, there is a thermostat present on the Control4!
Functions of the Hometheater
Four of the common zones in an average home are powered by Control4âs own amplifier system. The overall running cost for wiring and setting up can be a bit on the steeper side, but every penny you spend on this system is worth it. The system has the ability of simultaneous streams, which is quite remarkable indeed! The speakers onboard the Control4 are extremely user friendly and have support for Wifi and Ethernet. The most sophisticated control available is the lighting control which makes your life much easier and tension free. Another feature which can be included is an optional door locking mechanism which is quite good. The best part about the deal though are the applications on offer. Even though their numbers are presently small in number, having a dedicated app support is always a good thing. Combine that with Control4âs superb efficiency and you have a perfect combo! The bottom-line is that Control4 does the specified job admirably and comes out with flying colours.
Control4 Hometheater’s hardware
The back bone of the entire Control4 system is formed by three controllers. Without these small looking boxes, Control4 would just be home theatre automation. These boxes basically control the three most essential features, with each of the systems having a processing power of their own. They possess very neat features and are quite adept at performing well. The first box, codenamed HC 200B, links with your HD television seamlessly and helps to stream videos. The second box, named 300-c, is just an advanced version of the first box. It has HD capabilities and is able to overcome the shortcomings of the first box. The 300-c also comes with a remote which has an OLED touch screen for better control and includes video sensing as well. This is indeed a very neat addition. The third box has been nicknamed HC 1000. This is just an additional controller and helps to enhance the user experience. The big standout feature though is the huge amount of processing power of this box. Also, the HC-1000 requires bare minimums in order to run.
The Control4âs database has driver support for about 6,500 devices and more. Even if your device is not supported you can install a custom driver so that your device works. The good thing is that, newer devices will not face any such problem as most manufacturers supply devices with their own spin by pre installing some of the Control4 features. The package comes with eight dedicated zones for sound, excluding the main theater.
