The holidays are always a busy time of year – 2020 being no exception – and all of us at AV Design Consultants wanted to take a second before things got even busier to make sure to educate all of our customers on the latest and greatest in the technology and smart home worlds. 

The industry has seen plenty of ups and downs this year, but December is the perfect time to look back at some of the newer technologies and how they can improve you and your family’s home life. 

So, what are the big topics you should know about? Whether you are just getting started with the wide world of home automation, or you are a long-time adopter, here’s an explainer of some of the newer technology on the marketplace, and a look at what you should be paying attention to for the holidays and as we head into 2021!

It’s time to get your game on.

Most of the time on our blog here at AV Design Consultants is spent helping our customers learn more about all the latest and greatest aspects of smart home technology and how they best can integrate that technology into their life. 

But we all know that your home entertainment system is being used for more than TV and movies, and for a lot of you, a big screen and surround sound means one thing: Better ways to play and immerse yourself into your favorite video games. 

It’s not every day that a new generation of consoles comes out! To help mark the occasion and celebrate a little bit, we’re spending time this week to look at some of the amazing technological advancements coming from Sony and the PlayStation 5, and how to make sure that your home technology is ready to keep up. Let’s take a look and get ready to play! 

It’s time to up the ante with 8K.

While it’s still in its infancy as a resolution, if you are looking for the best picture possible this year, there’s only one to consider: 8K. A step up from 4K resolution, 8K gives you even more pixel density, clarity, and definition than you are used to seeing in Ultra HD – and 16 times as many pixels as you would find in a traditional 1080p TV. 

If you’re reading this, you probably know a thing or two about resolution already. You’ve probably already had a 4K set for a few years and are now ready to upgrade past that to 8K resolution but aren’t sure what next steps to take. Don’t worry – that’s what the team here at AV Design Consultants is for! Whether this is your first time checking out our blog, or you are a long time customer, we’ve put together a list of what to keep in mind as you start to browse 8K TVs, as well as important tips to help you get the best home entertainment experience possible. 

Smart home technology isn’t just for the young. 

Any new technology – and especially new technology in emerging and growing categories like smart home technology – tends to get a reputation of being for younger audiences. But that’s simply not the case. The team here at AV Design Consultants prides itself on being knowledgeable on the best ways, practices, and use cases for the technology we sell, and we thought it would be great to guide our customers through a not-often-talked-about, but quite important, use of smart home technology: to help older adults as they are aging in place.

There are many ways that technology can help keep users independent while assisting with their lifestyle. And as aging in place becomes more common – where older adults stay in their homes longer or multiple generations live together under one roof – using this technology is only going to become more and more important. There’s a big future for such technology out there, and it just goes to show that smart technology can help improve everybody’s homelife. Let’s take a look at how.

Even the best TVs sometimes have problems. 

The good news for all our customers? We have some solutions. We don’t just want to be your one-stop shop for all your smart home needs – we want to help support you throughout the lifetime of your purchases, as well. And that means helping when TV problems occur.  

So, this week we checked in with our expert team here at AV Design Consultants to help us put together a list of the most common TV problems and the best way for you to solve them all on your own. And if you go through the list and your TV problem isn’t here, feel free to give us a call! We’re ready to help you diagnose and troubleshoot exactly what’s going on.

You probably never knew how exciting blinds could be. 

While “cooler” parts of smart technology like TVs and automation systems may get all the attention, smart blinds can go a long way toward making your house truly feel like home, while also giving you a super convenient way to manage light and temperature in every room. 

All of us here at AV Design Consultants are really excited about the future of smart home technology and how blinds and shades play a role in that – and we want to make sure you are just as up to date on everything as we are! This week, we’re going to take a look at some of the benefit smart blinds can bring to your smart home, as well as all the conveniences that come with them.

It's time to trick or treat with technology. 

Here at AV Design Consultants, we were scratching our pumpkins to try to come up with how we could use the technology in our customers’ smart homes to turn up the volume on their Halloween celebrations. Luckily, we didn't have to think too hard: Technology and Halloween have gone dismembered limb in dismembered limb since Frankenstein's time. No matter how you like your haunted holiday, there are plenty of ways you can take advantage of your smart home to help spread the haunts, howls, and scares. 

So, this week on the blog, things are going to be a little bit different. A little bit creepier. A little bit crawlier. And maybe even a little bit candy...er. Let's look at all the boo-tiful benefits you get from having a smart home, and how such technology can help you have the happiest -- and hauntiest -- Halloween possible. 

Are you ready to bring movie magic home?

While televisions have long been at the center of American living rooms, home movie theaters aren't nearly as common. However, those people who have taken the time, resources, and space to put in a home movie theater have found just how great it is to enjoy theater-caliber sound and picture right at home. 

A home movie theater brings many benefits to you and your family, but all of us here at AV Design Consultants know that transforming an entire room of your home into a theater isn't an easily made decision. To help guide you through your purchasing decision journey, we've put together a list of reasons why now is the perfect time to get a home movie theater, as well as some of the great benefits that just such a theater will bring to your life. 

Theaters Aren't Open

2020 has truly been one for the record books, and one of the industries hit hard by quarantine has been movie theaters. Many movie theaters across the country have been closed for months, and we don't have any indication of when widespread Hollywood movie releases will once again be the norm. This means that the best way to experience a movie hasn’t been accessible to most people since the beginning of the year, and with no sign of when movie theaters will reopen, it may be time to consider bringing that traditional theater experience home. 

Combine this with the ease and increase in availability of video-on-demand movies -- or look at what Disney is doing with "Mulan," which was originally due to have a theatrical debut and now is totally bypassing that by releasing on Disney+ -- and the timing is really ripe for an explosion in-home movie watching.

Of course, if you want your home movie experience to even begin to rival that of a theater, you'll need a theater of your own. 

Distance learning is going to be a brave new world for most families this fall.

Whether your kids have been back to school part time, or are fully learning remotely, this fall has been full of changes for teachers, kids, and parents alike. Distance learning is a new concept for most people, and it's been an adjustment all around.

Of course, all of us here at AV Design Consultants want to do anything we can to help make this transition easier, and it so happens there's a way we can do just that: Looking at how technology can help make your distance learning efforts this fall easier. So, we've put together some suggestions on ways you can use your favorite smart home tech to make learning easier on everyone involved. Let's take a look!

Whether you are a bustling and busy family in a giant house, or a couple just starting out with their tech-savvy starter home, smart lights can play a vital role in the overall look, feel, and interactivity of the place you call home. 

You better get your ears ready for this. 

It's no secret that all of us at AV Design Consultants are music fans and aficionados, and when it comes to your favorite jams, nothing beats 2 channel audio. 

Music is everywhere these days, whether you are streaming Spotify or Pandora in the kitchen, or your kids are listening to their favorite songs on their tablets. But while people are always hearing music, how many of us actually sit down and listen to music? Many people have never had the pleasure of experiencing their favorite music just as the musician intended. It’s a shame because if done correctly, music can be breathtaking.

Music has the power to transport the listener -- to bring joy, to be cathartic, to promote healing, and to relieve stress. In these challenging days, there has never been a better time to invest in your home and create a space that allows you to unlock the power of music. Get ready to fall in love with your music all over again!

That's where 2 channel audio comes in. So, pull up a chair and get ready for your musical world to change.

Thinking about buying a home theater projector but not quite sure where to start? You've come to the right place. 

Here at AV Design Consultants, we are always happy to make a projector believer out of a customer. But jumping into a new category of technology can be overwhelming, so we are here to help make projector research and selection as easy as it can be. 

With our help, you'll be able to pick out the best home theater projector for your space and budget. You will be ready to enjoy amazing theater-like quality, all from the comfort of your home. But first, let's look at what you’ll want to consider before making your home theater projector purchase.