CEDIA Offers Convenient and Affordable Ways to Gain CEUs  CEDIA University @ ADI – Philadelphia
CEDIA is bringing affordable education courses to an ADI location near you. Take two brand-new three-hour courses at an incredibly low price, take two courses for only $100, or pick one course for only $60. CEDIA University has designed these classes for business owners and technicians alike. Learn to have the awareness, training, and flexibility to adapt to up-and-coming trends, and find out how to hire the right people to do the right work. Sign up for one or both of these classes today – receive the package discount when registering for two! Register for the upcoming event at the Philadelphia ADI facility on November 16 at www.cedia.org/education/adi_training.php.
CEDIA Survival of the Fittest Webinar
Each month CEDIA members have the opportunity to take advantage of a free Survival of the Fittest webinar. Join in for this month’s webinar, which will focus on finance. Have you delegated the financial tasks or abdicated all financial responsibility? In the current economy, it is more important than ever to keep a tight handle on the money in and money out of your company. Learn about the key numbers you should be tracking to keep the money that you’ve worked so hard for. Leslie Shiner of The ShinerGroup will share some simple steps you can take to better manage your finances. Register now at www.cedia.org/powerhour and mark your calendars for this valuable Survival of the Fittest Webinar on November 2.
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CEDIA Management Conference Will Be Here Before You Know It: Make Plans Now  Refocus on business education and strategic planning in the new year with the help of CEDIA’s Management Conference. The 2011 CEDIA Management Conference will be held at the Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego, March 9-12. Step away from daily business operations and learn from industry leaders at this resort location. Join your peers for four days of networking in a non-competitive environment. Educational sessions will focus on three areas: People, Strategy, and Execution. In addition, sponsors will also offer educational sessions. Come away from Management Conference with action items to apply directly to your company. Visit www.cedia.org/mc for more information. Registration opens December 1.
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The EPA Lead-Based Paint Compliance Deadline Has Passed – Are You Certified?  The EPA has mandated that by October 1, 2010, all professionals working in pre-1978 homes will need to comply with EPA’s Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting rule. Non-compliance with this ruling could cost your company penalties of up to $37,500 per violation per day. Can your company afford not to be certified?
Types of work covered by the rule include:
- Renovating, repairing, or painting that disturbs more than six sq. ft. on an interior wall or 20 sq. ft. on an exterior wall
- Replacing doors and windows
CEDIA is offering a two-part Certified Lead Renovator course in cooperation with the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) and other EPA-accredited training providers. Part one, available conveniently online, focuses on how to handle lead-based paint dust, understanding the health problems associated with disturbing lead-based paint, and how to properly dispose of lead-based paint waste. The online course is a prerequisite for the second lab portion and certification exam.
CEDIA will host the second hands-on lab portion at ADI locations across the country; visit www.cedia.org/lead to find training near you. This part of the Certified Lead Renovator course will help participants apply the skills learned in part one. Participants will also learn the proper documentation process to confirm accurate work practices and learn how keep renovators safe and reduce liability in a lead-based paint environment.
To become a Certified Lead Renovator, individuals must score a minimum of 80% on the written exam provided at the end of part two. The exam is designed to determine participants’ ability to effectively manage a renovation project and comply with the new rules. Businesses must complete the EPA application to become to become a certified firm.
To register for the online training or to learn more about how the EPA’s Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting rule affects your business, visit www.cedia.org/lead. Back to Top
Boot Camp and IP Workshop Offered in Indianapolis  CEDIA’s Boot Camps offer a great training opportunity for electronic systems technicians (ESTs) just starting in the field as well as seasoned veterans looking to expand their skill set. Take advantage of CEDIA’s Home Theater Boot Camp offered at the CEDIA Training Facility in Indianapolis. Make the most of your travel investment and sign up for Home Theater Boot Camp and the full day IP workshop offered the day after Home Theater Boot Camp.
Start out the week with CEDIA’s Home Theater Boot Camp offered December 7-9. This advanced training will cover the skills needed to properly install a home theater, including flat panel displays, acoustic treatments and rack configuration. Install a full home theater in CEDIA’s theater lab with this intensive training. Register now for Home Theater Boot Camp at www.cedia.org/htbootcamp.
Extend your stay in Indianapolis for a day and learn how to configure a router for both LAN and remote access with the IP and Networking workshop offered December 10. This course is specifically designed for integrators with little to no experience in IP networks.
This course will help you understand basic troubleshooting tasks on LANs and defining an IP addressing scheme for a project. Add IP and Networking to your menu of services for customers; this course is the right place to start.
Register for both Home Theater Boot Camp and the IP workshop today at www.cedia.org/htbootcamp.
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Best New Product at CEDIA 2010  Sony’s New ES Receivers
Integrated with a four-port Ethernet switch/router, the new ES AV receivers not only manage wired network distribution to your AV rack, but they also stream content from 30 or so Internet sites, including Netflix and Hulu. They also allow for IP control, have at least four HDMI inputs, audio return, two-room audio and video distribution and 1080p output of all input sources.
Here’s the lineup: http://b2b.sony.com/builtin/home_theater_receivers.html
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Best New Technology Energy Management Tools
We can’t just give this award to one manufacturer since there are a handful of manufacturers in the HomeAV market that are all doing a great job offering the integrator an opportunity to jump into an emerging market.
Are you listening, though?
The greenAV movement is bigger than it’s ever been. And energy management is the technology that will power (forgive the pun) the opportunities. Seriously, we’ve been looking for a way to differentiate ourselves from the big box retailers and THIS IS IT! Crestron, AMX, Lutron, Savant, Middle Atlantic and SurgeX will all share this year’s Best New Technology CEDIA 2010 Award for their work in and opportunities for the integrator in the HomeAV channel in 2011.
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 Most Ubiquitous Technology
iPad Integration
We’ll bet you that at least 25 percent of the exhibitors had an iPad “something” on display in their booth and at least 50 percent of those made some sort of iPad gadget add-on. SpeakerCraft designed a dedicated iPad amplifier, Crestron and Savant both added iPad touch panel-based control systems and Sanus even had an iPad App for picking the right mount or building the right rack system. Back to Top |
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Best New Video Product  Denon AVR-4311CI
With seven HDMI inputs (all 1.4a), 3D processing, 9.2 sound, 1080p upscaling and IP-control, the new Denon is king of the home theater AV Amplifiers. And, at $2000, it’s priced right.
Want complete specs? Go here: http://usa.denon.com
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Best New Audio Product  Velodyne WiConnect-10 Wireless Sub
A wireless subwoofer system – it’s about time! Check it out here. |
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Best New Projector  DPI's M-Vision Cine 230
This sub-$7000 projector will be beloved by custom integrators as they are begging for a truly limited distribution, high-end home theater projector with real performance. The Cine 230 is a 1080p, single-chip DLP projector with a 3500:1 contrast ratio.
Here’s everything you need to know: http://www.digitalprojection.com
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Best New TV  Sony’s New LED TVs
Sharp’s been dominating this award in recent years, but no more! Sony’s topped them with simply THE BEST HDTVs on the market today. We shot a video that explains all three LED-backlit technologies that Sony’s using in its new HDTVs. Click here to see the differences between each lighting method Sony’s using explained.
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Best New Control System Product  Crestron’s iPaneL
The iPaneL turns any iPad into a Crestron control panel – and adds hard macro push buttons to the side of the touch panel. Watch this video for a demo.
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 Best New Lighting Control Product
Lutron RadioRA2
Lutron still dominates the lighting control category and its RadioRA2 system is the cream of the crop. Click here to see the complete lineup in a one-minute video we shot at the show. |
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Best 3D Solution  Monster’s Universal Max 3D Glasses
As much technology that’s gone into developing 3D gear, it’s the simple things that matter to integrators. Monster’s Max 3D glasses allow an integrator to stock one set of 3D glasses for every HDTV brand. You'll also need a base station to make them work, and they certainly aren't cheap… but from an integrator's point of view, it's certainly better than stocking and keeping track of a bunch of different SKUs just for 3D glasses. They’re not on Monster’s website yet, but here’s a video we shot at CEDIA. Back to Top
The GreenAV Award  Lutron
Lutron is WAY, WAY ahead of the competition when it comes to GreenAV in the HomeAV market. The company’s approach, albeit simple, is innovative and effective. Add Lutron Green dimmers and you’ll be able to guarantee your clients a 10 percent cost savings. Why? Well, they immediately re-adjust max light output to 90 percent of what it was before – a secret solution to cost savings via energy use reduction. But Lutron’s going way beyond that. They’ve automated lighting systems to be more efficient and “smart” so you can manage almost anything with power. Way to go Lutron! Back to Top
 Best AV Product for Interior Designers Award
Leon Speakers’ Reyn Leon integrated a 55” LED HDTV and a Horizon 414XA Soundbar into a framed box that can be customized to match any decor – and designers will like this. They told us it will be available in Q1 2011 but in the meantime, you can watch a video we shot at CEDIA here. Back to Top
Best New Flat Screen Mount  Sanus SuperSlim Full-Motion TV Mount
Shipping in late November, this mount is less than one and a quarter inch thick (away from the wall). It tilts and totally articulates left and right and still allows the cables to be stored behind the TV without being seen.
The best way to see this is to watch the video we shot of it at CEDIA 2010.
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Best New Whole House AV System  ADA Suite 32 Multi-Room
It’s not shipping yet, but the king of whole-house AV systems is the new ADA Suite 32, with 32 sources sent to up to 92 zones!
Want to see it? Click here to see this video we shot at CEDIA 2010 Expo.
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 Best New Speaker
SpeakerCraft Profile Bezel-less In-wall speakers
Finally, truly bezel-free in-wall and in-ceiling speakers. Watch this to get a look at these speakers. |
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Best Demo at CEDIA  Digital Projection’s 3D Videogame Demo
At the DPI party at CEDIA Expo 2010, they had a little room to the side with a 3D racecar game (I don’t recall the exact game) that attendees could play and it was awesome! Biggest Mistake: Not having this demo in the booth! It would have been the best 3D demo at the show, too!
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 Most Creative Product
SpeakerCraft BoomTomb
We had to give this award to the industry’s first outdoor subwoofer that you actually bury below ground. It’s an innovative design and works amazingly well. For those of you who think putting a sub outside is a bad idea, we say to you: you’ll never sell something the client doesn’t know about.
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 Coolest Integrator Solution
SurgeX XN120 and XN240 Power Conditioners/Surge Eliminators
SurgeX packed five products into one with the new Eliminator Series: surge elimination, noise reduction, power conditioning, remote power management and component sequencing.
Check the line out at: http://surgex.com/residential/index.html |
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Most Creative New Product (Tie)  1. Smyth Realiser A8
This is REALLY, really hard to explain, but we actually demo’d it and it works! This processor uses ear-buds (and a head tracking system) that you actually wear on your head and then into anyone’s home theater you think as an awesome surround sound system. Yep, anyone’s. Once you’re in there, you literally sit where the room’s sweet spot is, then you listen for a bit, turn your head to the right, to the left, look at each speaker and then you’re done. The Realiser A8 hears what you hear, remembers it and then uses an algorithm and DSP to save process this information.
For what? Well, then, when you’re sitting in your kitchen, living room or bedroom watching TV, you connect anyone’s headphones (wired or wireless) with a very lightweight headphone tracking system and it literally reproduces that theater’s EXACT audio specifications in surround – and it REALLY, really works! Want more info? Go here: http://www.smyth-research.com/products.html
 2. Seura HYDRA Waterproof, In-wall HDTVs Designed to be integrated into bathroom showers and kitchens, the HYDRA line of waterproof HDTVs from Seura come in a variety of colors and actually look very good. Kudos to Seura for designing a unique solution — again. Check them all out here: http://www.seura.com/products-for-the-home/home-hydra/ Back to Top
Best Product You Likely Missed  Klipsch Light Speaker
This is a speaker (and LED light) that you actually install in a 6” light can. Yep, that’s right. It’s designed to grab the retrofit wireless whole-house audio market (up to eight in one house with four separate zones) or apartment market where you have ceiling cans. Plus you still have a light — it’s a wireless speaker and a light all in one.
Check it out here.
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Best New Screen  DaLite Multi Format Imager
Finally a screen for the ultimate home theater! Watch the video we made at CEDIA https://www.ravepubs.com/index.php?option=com_ravevideo&ravevideo_id=1404&view=ravevideo&Itemid=324 www.ravepubs.com/index.php.
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Best Booth  SpeakerCraft, Again
As repetitive as we risk being, we’ve again gotta give this to SpeakerCraft! Kudos to whomever in their marketing department does the booth design…
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For all you REGULAR readers of rAVe HomeAV Edition out there, hopefully you enjoyed another opinion-packed issue!
For those of you NEW to rAVe, you just read how we are — we are 100% opinionated. We not only report the news and new product stories of the high-end HomeAV industry, but we stuff the articles full of our opinions. That may include (but is not limited to) whether or not the product is even worth looking at, challenging the manufacturers on their specifications, calling a marketing-spec bluff and suggesting ways integrators market their products better. But, one thing is for sure, we are NOT a trade publication that gets paid for running editorial or product stories. Traditional trade publications get paid to run product stories — that’s why you see what you see in most of the pubs out there. We are different: we run what we want to run and NO ONE is going to pay us to write anything good (or bad).
Don’t like us, then go away — unsubscribe! Just use the link below.
To send me feedback, don't reply to this newsletter – instead, write directly to me at gary@ravepubs.com or for editorial ideas: Editor-in-Chief Sara Abrons at sara@ravepubs.com
A little about me: I graduated from Journalism School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (where I am adjunct faculty). I’ve been in the AV-industry since 1987 where I started with Extron and eventually moved to AMX. So, I guess I am an industry veteran (although I don’t think I am that old). I have been an opinionated columnist for a number of industry publications and in the late 1990s I started the widely read KNews eNewsletter (the first in the AV market) and also created the model for and was co-founder of AV Avenue – which is now known as InfoComm IQ. rAVe Publications has been around since 2003, when we launched our original newsletter, rAVe ProAV Edition.
rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA, launched in February, 2004.
To read more about my background, our team, and what we do, go to https://www.ravepubs.com Back to Top
Copyright 2010 – rAVe [Publications] – All rights reserved. For reprint policies, contact rAVe [Publications], 210 Old Barn Ln. – Chapel Hill, NC 27517 – 919/969-7501. Email: sara@ravepubs.com
rAVe HomeAV Edition contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors. | 
Welcome to another issue of rAVe HomeAV Edition!
In a world where old habits die hard, some now think a hybrid content delivery approach can create a new sweet spot between traditional linear broadcasting and over the top IPTV. By hybrid, we’re talking about a blend of live TV broadcast and Internet-based on-demand content. The linear broadcast schedule helps to create "demand," while time shifting and Internet delivery offer convenience.
strategy embraces these broadcasters like Turner who need a solution. Broadcast knows it’s "evolve or die" but doesn’t want to become the next billion dollar company reduced to a million dollar one, and for now, Google protects its turf so the hybrid approach makes sense. Just don’t get too comfortable as the sure way to lose 1000x market value is to simply hunker down and cling madly to an outdated "defensible model" that’s growing older by the day. Just ask anyone in the music industry.
