Earlier this month we spent several intensive days at the annual Cedia Expo, meeting manufacturers, talking to other integrators, attending TechTalk keynotes and learning about all cutting edge product coming to market.
This annual industry show is where we get to view and play with new products and some exclusive prototypes that manufacturers hope to launch in the coming year. More importantly, we have the opportunity to ask all sorts of questions around how they will integrate with our clients’ existing technology.
We’ve digested a huge amount of information and here are our top discoveries from Cedia Expo 2018.
Sonnen
Our Crestron clients will benefit from ecoLink by Sonnen, a smart home energy management which brings renewable energy and home automation seamlessly together for the first time.
The ecoLink smart energy management system enables the home to effectively manage and optimize energy usage, secure smart homes against outages and help stabilize the existing power grid…and importantly, ensure connectivity for the smart home.
Sonnen 2018 techtalk
Intelligent demand control – the coordination of solar, energy storage and intelligent load controllers throughout the home – is the other major innovation showcased by ecoLinx, a feature that has been rumored for years throughout the energy industry without any serious demonstration of a full system in action.
Some of the benefits to the homeowner include:
Smart, dynamic weather forecasting to alert homeowners before a potential power outage occurs to prompt them to create a backup plan.
Smart, configurable backup power that provides owners the option to select how long stored power will last in an outage.
Intelligent demand control and load shaping that automatically manages and maximizes the use of clean, stored energy to avoid peak utility rates and power the home in the cleanest and most efficient way possible without disrupting the homeowner.
Integrations with existing smart devices within the home, such as Creston thermostats and Lutron lighting systems.
This is a solution that our industry is very excited about so watch this space!
Coastal Source: 12.0 line source bollard
Coastal Source 12 line source
In all honesty, we have NEVER heard an outdoor speaker sounding anything close to the Coastal Source 12.0 line source bollard.
This product is elevating landscape audio to the next level…again. Having previously led the industry with the 10.0 eclipse bollard, the team at Coastal Source understood that clients wanted more of everything and the team has definitely delivered.
This ground plane Line Source speaker takes full advantage of line array technology for high SPL & fidelity over very long distances. Form follows function in this beautiful speaker design. It utilizes patent pending variable waveguide technology to further enhance typical line array performance with constant coverage of near-field (4’-12’), mid- field (12’-36’), and far-field (36’-100’) listening areas. The integrated high power bandpass subwoofer fills out the full frequency range.
These speakers sound incredible and we fully intend to install a pair at our Experience Center as soon as they’re available!
8k – the future
Now that 4K content is much more readily available on the market, it’s doubtful that this particular QLED 8K TV model from Samsung will never see any true 8K content, but what it will do is upscale 4K content to allow you to see the image in much greater detail.
