The vantage system is being used as a LIGHTING CONTROL SYSTEM!!! NOT THE AUTOMATION SYSTEM.. its extremely easy to integrate with Lutron, Vantage, LiteTouch etc etc when using control4 as the control system..

As far as programming goes its not that complex and weather you use Crestron or AMX its still going to require programming to be done on the lighting system side as well as the automation system side..

Amir i heard you were about 2 inches infront of the screen talking crap about the image quality.. Not in the standard viewing area

Also those were prototypes which have since been improved upon.. I had a demo of 1st gen 2nd gen and direct at the Cedia show this year and 99.99% of people could not tell the difference in 2nd Gen and Direct.. I had all 3 identical displays set up with all of their video image settings matching as well..

I may use Vantage keypads for audio in a few powder rooms, the overlays will only be on the few larger touch screens and if I can make it fit it will be C4 or Apple, other wise we will look at a third party panel all programming will reside in C4.  The client doesn't have good eyesight so size is more important than quality. 
The large panels will be for him, everywhere else C4 panels and/or keypads.

Has there been any discussion of using "C4SOAP" with an IP based UI platform like CommandFusion to develop the large screen interface?

While that is true, it has nothing to do with what we are talking about. Instead of explaining for the third time why, let me try a different approach by asking you a question:

How would you use the Vantage touchscreen with the floorplan on it, to change the HVAC setting?

In what way does that relate to what you wrote in the article?

"Today's subsystems are so powerful that it makes going with Control4 much easier. The one area we are still working out is the interface and larger touchscreens. The client wants to have a floor plan view of systems like security, lighting, etc. and a 28,000-square-foot home on a 7-inch panel. That's pretty much a joke. This is where having a system like Vantage, with the ability to talk to Control4, gives us additional options. "

If it wasn't your solution to a larger touchscreen, in what way was it solving your problem?

I was told to come and examine the video being visually lossless. You say I should step back far enough as to not see the artifacts? That is not my definition of lossless video.

Let me ask you this. If someone says they have created something as being visually lossless, but can't see obvious artifacts in their demo that I detected in one glance, what confidence should I have in their claims?


You don't need to be defensive :). I was 99% sure he had configured the flat panel wrong. The artifacts were different than what their box would do. But no matter how much I insisted to help them figure that out by looking at the TV settings, they were reluctant and essentially told me to leave if it is not good enough for me. When I got back and conveyed my observation here, they came out and say that indeed, the one TV hooked up to the output of the box was not configured right!

So I am not telling you that I think it produces a bad picture but rather, that I found it difficult to ascertain its fidelity, despite offering to help get it there, on a day they had hardly any other visitors to the booth.

If you are going to use keypads for audio, then what sources are going to be used for the audio that can be fully automated from a keypad?

'Fully' automated? It's a powder room. It does not necessarily need a full metadata solution with cover art and artist background info.

You may remember that we used keypads w/out metadata pretty much all the time until 5 years ago or so. If it was good enough for primary zones in premium residences in 2005, it's certainly still good enough for a powder room in 2010.

Sort of. With a CD player and FM tuner it was easy to use a keypad. But with an iPod or Pandora its more difficult.

Guys,

I gotta go with 2ndRick on this, it's a freaking powder room, no one is setting up housekeeping in it.  It would normally be on as part of a larger grouping or party setting.  Just less wall clutter and a cleaner look, not all that much of a savings.

Mark

|it's a freaking powder room, no one is setting up housekeeping in it.  .

You assume such....

Exactly. A lot of newer sources don't provide an anchored starting point to be able to create macros that will work every time or even at all. you can't just make a macro for pandora that hours "power" "play" "random".

Can we step back a minute and really look at this?  Two people live in this house, these powder rooms will go mostly unused 99% of the time.  The only time they will be used is for a party, gathering over an evening or the occasional guest.  This client listens to an easy listening channel 99% of the time when the music is on.  We will give him macros for his Sirius channels, AM/FM, music library playlists, a few internet channels and maybe, just maybe, pandora.  Guests will have access to this same list in their spaces.  No music in guest bathrooms and sub-zones will be programmed to come on with what ever is playing in the main zone.  Someone can select something else in a sub-zone but it is a very simple system.
Does anyone remember when I mentioned that this guy would be happy with volume controls and the last system he liked was a Elan HD, not his AMX, not his Crestron but Elan keypads because they were simple and limited in options.
This is really the problem here, not everyone listens to their clients.  He doesn't want ten levels of control, just big picture and a few basic functions, that's it.
Everyone constantly want me to push more and add this or that but it's not what the client wants.
I have a big meeting tomorrow where the client is trying to add more areas without increasing the budget, it should be a short meeting.  He set the price and unless he wants to increase it there is no more we can do for that price.

The issue is and has always been, that you seem to be making design decisions and the dealer will be left holding the bag on service.

If Control4 is your solution then use it. If a bigger panel is required because of client needs, then it seems like you picked the wrong solution for this client.