At-Home Movie Premieres with PRIMA Cinema

The Hollywood Premiere finally comes home. Until PRIMA Cinema™, only a select few film industry insiders were able to premiere a theatrically released movie in the home. No longer. PRIMA Cinema presents opening weekend Hollywood films directly into your professionally-installed home theater.

Whether it’s an exquisite alien world in 3D, a mad chase through the streets of Paris or a steamy romance, your Private Cinema™ experience is presented in the finest audio-visual quality that awakens the senses.

PRIMA Cinema is your ticket to host your very own premiere party in the comfort and security of your private theater. Invite your family and friends to enjoy a unique Hollywood experience as you Redefine Movie Night™.

With PRIMA Cinema, you will be First in Line, Every Time™.

Apple TV 1080p Coming Soon!

From CE Pro:

" Amid the excitement over the New iPad was the barely mentioned Apple TV.

No this isn’t the iTV or Apple smart TV many thought was coming. It’s just an updated version of the earlier Apple TV, but it comes with some welcome updates.

The most important upgrade for home theater fans is the new support for 1080p video. You can get 1080p video from iTunes and other services and enjoy them in all their pixels on a 1080p display. "

Read the full article here.

Kiwi Test Lab

One of the most important phases of a large, custom audio-visual installation is the in-house testing.  When Kiwi Audio Visual moved into its new building in Carlsbad, one of the first tasks was to get a test lab designed and wired so that future projects can be connected and tested fully.  This included testing the audio zones, video zones, touch panels, and other subsystems. 

In-house testing is instrumental in finding small bugs and other issues that might otherwise be found onsite halfway through an installation.  The efficiency with testing components and programming early also saves costly man hours later on during the project.

If you are interested in coming to the Kiwi facility and seeing our test lab, either give us a call (760-931-9922) or stop on by 1950 Kellogg Ave, Carlsbad CA 92008.

Crestron's Analog to Digital Upgrade Promotion

	Crestron's new analog to digital upgrade program is already a huge success. Simply swap out your current analog switchers and replace them with Crestron DigitalMedia™ – no new wires or terminations – and you're instantly in the digital world. Crestron is offering you up to 100% trade-in value for your analog equipment, so the cost to upgrade is practically free. It's an amazing program. Here's what your peers are saying:
	They're also expanding the trade-in program to include all analog distribution systems - even other manufacturers' products. You could receive up to 100% trade in value for your analog equipment - whether it's our PVID, QM or IM products, or any other manufacturers' products. We'll show you normal pricing and your trade-in price so you can see how much you saved. It's really a no brainer.

Breaking the Break-In Cycle with Home Security Integration

Data collected by the FBI in their Uniform Crime Report each year in the United States paints a clear picture – homes get robbed, and they get robbed on a frequent basis. In a typical year, 20% or more of the crimes reported to police are burglaries, and with the increasing number of homeowners who have expensive A/V and electronics equipment in their homes, security has become a paramount concern.

Technologically-forward systems are the first line of defense against a home break-in, and come in a wide variety of forms, including high-definition cameras and DVRs to live video feeds. Further, they have evolved significantly over the last decade. Cameras and video feeds have the ability to make a home feel safer and convince would-be burglars that their target is not worth the risk. But integrating these systems with existing electronics can pose a challenge, as they may not play nicely with other pieces of technology in a home.

Often, homeowners feel that they are left with two choices: a safe home or one that is designed for comfort and control. Cameras and video feeds are often seen as options that don’t mesh well with other whole-house systems, and are pieces of equipment that have to be run separately from other electronics in order to work properly. Fortunately, options exist for homeowners to find an electronics systems contractor that can work with their security provider of choice to devise an entire home system that not only incorporates cameras and lives feeds, but that does so in such a way that it works with existing electronic equipment.

High-end electronics providers like Crestron now offer in-home control panel systems that can be made to work seamlessly with a television system, stereo equipment, lighting controls and security options. When installed by a qualified and professional technician, cameras and video feeds can be run seamlessly throughout a house, allowing for easy viewing and recording, which gives a homeowner the ability to design the kind of system that best suits their needs. Style and security – you can, in fact, have it all.

Contact Kiwi A/V today for more details on how we can integrate and enhance your home security system.

With Fiber, It's Not Always the Optics That Matter

Builders have the often thankless job of dealing with multiple contractors in order to ensure smooth project completion for a homeowner. For a builder, knowing everything about each trade that comes into a home is an impossibility, and one of the more complicated areas of subcontracting lies within the scope of an electronics system contractor – whose job it is to provide and install the latest technology desired by a homeowner.

New advancements in digital television and high-end sound systems have necessitated a number of changes to the way in which electronics system contractors do business, and one of the most recent and notable is the increased use of what is known as “digital media fiber.” To a technician, this cable represents a high transmission rate for information including sound and images, far greater than typically seen when using copper wiring, and often with far less latency.

For a builder, its most notable feature is that it is made of glass.

This alone can be cause for concern, but also that is due to its nature: it will break or tear easily or that it could be damaged accidentally and no longer work. Couple that with the fear that the DM fiber may not be compatible with all other systems in a household, and it’s no wonder that builders have questions about the use of this new technology.

Fortunately, digital media fiber not only stands up better to the test of time than copper and is less vulnerable to failure. But it is now being supported by some of the biggest names in the business – names like Crestron, for example.



Digital media fiber may look less robust than its copper counterpart, but provides not only better durability, but also greater functionality across the board.

Welcome to the Third Dimension

Sure, you live and work there every day, but it's not quite the same when it's not up on the big screen, jumping out, larger than life. For years, the future of the high-quality home electronics industry has focused on a 3D home experience that can rival those in theaters, and thanks to Runco and their line of 3Dimension projectors, that future is arriving.

Ask anyone what's great about 3D and they'll likely speak about realism and immersion. Ask what's not so hot and they'll mention headaches from LED glasses or the fact that the 3D images seem to stutter as they move. When it comes to 3D, options in the home haven't delivered.

This is partially due to the way current 3D technology works. Typical projectors display an image and rely almost entirely on what are known as “active” glasses to do the work of making the image 3D. These glasses require a power source, and must be in range of the projector’s transmitter to sync the frame rate of the video to the glasses. Other objects in the room, low batteries or another television can cause stuttering problems, and many users experience eye strain or headache.

Runco, a leader in projection technology, went back to the drawing board and created the 3Dimension Series. The 3Dimesnion systems use what is known as Constant Stereoscopic Video (CSV), a proprietary architecture that is based on actual eye depth perception and visualization in the real world. This allows for a streaming, seamless image that is delivered to a pair of passive glasses – allowing the projector to do most of the work.

The Runco line of 3D projectors, including the D-73d 3D Projector, also feature the largest color palette available, one that exceeds the standards of the Digital Cinema Initiative, and the Personal Color Equalizer, that allows users to precisely calibrate their color options. With awards from CEDIA, CE PRO and TechHome to name a few, the Runco 3Dimesnion line is the first to bring streaming, seamless 3D home.

Uncrossing The Wires

Being a homebuilder is no easy task. Aside from managing the concerns of a new homeowner, you have to deal with each and every one of the contractors that comes into the home. For better or worse, you're the face of the home, and that means that if something goes wrong, it is likely you that ends up with the black eye.

As a builder, you tend to be a jack of all trades. Bringing together so many different pieces of the home puzzle means that it is nearly impossible for you to be an expert in all fields, and high-quality A/V has changed significantly in the last few years. From custom speaker installations to full-home automation systems and televisions on motorized brackets that can slide away behind a picture or under a bed, the world of in-home electronics has become extremely complicated, especially when it comes to programming new pieces in a home.

Two of the best things that any Electronic Systems Contractor can do for you are to ensure that not only every piece of equipment they bring to the home is ready to go, but that they also take the time to program and test the same equipment before it ever arrives. Simply put, testing and programming before equipment leaves the shop leads to faster and more efficient installation times. Further, everything from television color and stereo sound can be tweaked, all before a homeowner ever sees it.

If you find yourself with equipment that hasn't been properly tested, you'll need to have it removed, serviced and properly re-installed. By finding a company that can set up racks, fit stereos and program components in-house before they are ever installed, both you, the builder, and the owner can save time and money, the two most valuable commodities in any home design.

At Kiwi Audio Visual, we know how important in-house testing and programming is to every new home project. For that reason, we never leave you in the lurch. Come see what we can do to make a project flow more smoothly.

Timing Is Everything

As a builder, when you’re completing a large and complicated home, you have more than a few things to worry about, but coordinating the work of various subcontractors ranks high on the list. Clients sometimes hire contractors on their own, which can disrupt a production team and cause pain all around. In particular, you may be concerned about the ESC bringing system components on site for installation without programming and/or testing them in the shop. You might have survived pain like that before, but only barely, and you likely have no desire to endure it again. Due to similar circumstances, you can likely remember one home you’d worked on vividly that had not ended well.

Some clients will hire an AV systems and installation consultant who shows up at the project site with tons of new gear and racks intending to program, lace and test them on site. Inevitably problems arise with the programming, leaving the installation team scratching their heads for solutions. So they’ll need to call the project managers, but often new homes are in areas with lousy cell service, and of course no Internet yet either. So, the installers need to find cell service, call the project managers and explain all the complications they’ve observed and wait while the project managers researched the issues for them and call back. Most builders will find an experience like this maddeningly inefficient and cumbersome.

By contrast, an ideal project will feature a highly reputable ESC who assembles, laces, programs and tests the entire home automation and AV systems in the shop before even trying to install anything. This allows for all teams to troubleshoot the issues they uncover together and with all their resources around them. Upon site arrival, the installation will go quite smoothly as a result, with the added benefit that the various trades can stay out of each other’s way and still get the work done on time and under budget. An experienced ESC can dramatically increase the project’s efficiency by testing and programming in the shop rather than on site.

Visit us at www.KiwiAV.com to learn more.

Understanding The Plan

Today the architect began sketching for his latest design project, a residential property nearby. The project had all the earmarks of an ideal engagement: a large lot, clients with a vision, resources to support that vision, and a full slate of subcontractors to complete the work. What could possibly go wrong? As he contemplated the blank sheet in front of him, the architect ruefully recalled the answer to that question: presenting detailed project drawings to contractors who fail to read them correctly.

Perhaps other architects recognize the scenario. The design firm produces project drawings, meticulously detailed and revealing in elevation and plan view how each element of the home automation and audiovisual systems relate both to each other and back to power distribution. When the design team meets over the completed plans, the audiovisual contractors start asking tons of questions betraying the reality that they have no idea what the drawings mean. This begins a downward spiral for the project, as information in plain sight on paper must be conveyed verbally, wasting valuable time. Even worse, they might suggest the wrong size speaker boxes or perhaps misjudge the projector’s throw size, thus jeopardizing the client’s vision and wasting more time.

Shuddering, the architect shunned the memory of previous jobs and scanned the list of the subcontractors on his new project. Relieved he located the AV contractor and recognized the name of a reputable ESC (electronic systems contractor) he’d done business with before. He knew that the teams installing the home automation systems would arrive at the job site with their own meticulously detailed drawings. They would have already studied his drawings and culled from them exactly the information they need to complete their work. In short, they’ll contribute to the timely execution of the vision, while causing no pain at all.

Finding a high quality ESC to work with will enhance the value of your projects and minimize the pain associated with bringing them to completion on time and under budget. Visit us at www.kiwiav.com to learn more.