MASTER YOUR DOMAIN
Control is, by any measure, elusive. We’d like to think we’re in control of our
faculties, until we pass gas unexpectedly during an otherwise romantic date.
Perhaps we’ve deluded ourselves into thinking that we can control our appetites,
until we scarf down a slab of barbecued spare ribs, a bowl of fresh berries, or
a plate of still-hot chocolate chip cookies. Nowhere is our lack of control more
evident than with the rack of equipment in our home theaters.
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| The Control4 Wireless Touchpanel is one of
several ways to control the system. The touchpanel uses the same interface as
the on-screen display that comes up when you’re using the handheld remote |
Activating
various functions in a home theater often requires two or three components and a
half dozen remotes. And this doesn’t include turning down the lights or changing
the thermostat to the desired temperature. God forbid the home’s resident
engineer leaves without giving a mobile phone number to the family in case of a
channel-changing emergency. Inexpensive automation remotes can help make these
functions easy, but are limited in overall scope—you can only control things
that come with an IR-based remote. Computer control systems are more powerful
and can control anything that runs on electricity, but are logarithmically more
complex to install and program, and similarly more expensive. Control4 uses an
Internet protocol or IP-based system, which means that everything is connected
on a simple wired, or wireless computer network to provide a flexible and
easy-to-install control system—in new or existing homes—that is comparably easy
on the pocketbook.
The brains of the Control4 system is the $1,500 Media
Controller, which includes automation control and a complete music server in a
box the size of an audio/ video receiver. The controller can find music (MP3
files only, though) on any device connected to your network—like your home PC,
iPod, or USB hard drive—and can load those files onto the controller’s decently
sized, but by no means huge, 80 GB hard drive. I easily ripped a few of my own
CDs thanks to the front panel’s CD drawer and “Rip” button. Cover art and album
information downloads through a broadband connection and is displayed on your TV
through an attractive on-screen interface. Music servers are a dime a dozen
these days—some audio/video receivers will even access the music loaded on your
personal computer—but if you don’t have one, the Media Controller works well. A
smaller automation-only box, called the Home Theater Controller, excludes the
music server and has fewer control ports but also saves you about $900.
