How Security Integrators Can Progress in the Home A/V Market

The new construction home market has heated up and along with it builders are being advised to seek out skilled, low voltage integrators for A/V and smart home technology. Here’s how to ramp up your A/V acumen.

How Security Integrators Can Progress in the Home A/V Market

It's a good time to entertain the idea of adding A/V entertainment systems to your services.

In case you haven’t noticed lately, the residential A/V market is a busy and profitable place to be working. If you are among the many security systems integrators looking for parallel technology markets to move into, but have been reluctant in the past, now is the time to get onboard.

Training support, new products and software now make this a great space in which to expand your technical and profit horizons. Let’s take a glance at some ways that you, the low voltage systems dealer, can progress in the home A/V market.

Room Layout & Design Fundamentals

The new construction home market has heated up and along with it, builders are being advised to seek out skilled low voltage integrators for A/V and smart home technology. One of the focal areas remains the home entertainment/theater room.

While anyone, including DIYers, can place a video projection screen and loudspeaker system in a room and call it a “home theater,” it takes A/V design and knowledge to make the experience pop.

Understanding entertainment room design concepts and working with the builder early in the construction process is important, and in the famous words of Humphrey Bogart in the movie “Casablanca,” for the opportunistic security dealer “This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

Determining the Optimal Viewing Distance

Here are some guidelines for screen/seating configuration. One can determine the closest optimal viewing distance by multiplying the diagonal screen size by 1.6 as a general rule of thumb. So for a 50-inch screen, you would not want to sit closer than 80 inches away.

Next, calculate the farthest optimal viewing distance. In this case you would multiply the diagonal screen size by 3. So again, for a 50-inch screen that would be 150 inches or 12.5 feet.

Determining the Optimal Viewing Angle

Let’s consider two industry standards. THX (Tomlinson Holman’s eXperiment) recommends a viewing angle of 40°. SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) recommends a tighter 30°. All the seating should be within these parameters; it’s not uncommon to install seating rows on risers for better sight lines.

Some other room design tips include:

  • Place screen center height level or slightly higher than view eye level
  • Add dimmers for lighting level controls
  • Choose a soft acoustically friendly wall and ceiling surface
  • Add extra insulation in walls and ceiling to acoustically isolate room
  • Don’t skimp on the quality of the audio system; a good subwoofer is a must
  • Don’t paint walls a light color

Training & Certifications Resources

Becoming an A/V expert may take additional training. Organizations such as CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association, cedia.net) have supported the A/V tech community for years.

You may want to check out membership as well as the Home Theater Room Design (ESD232) online course. If you think your know your A/V tech stuff, then why not obtain certification to prove it and earn more income to boot?

Consider attending the next CEDIA Expo, which is chockfull of industry and manufacturer education and certification sessions. This year it’s in September at the San Diego Convention Center. Another program to consider is the THX Certified Professional A/V training. THX Certified techs are highly sought after for serious home theater room equipment calibration and can make upwards of $400 per appointment.

Support Tools Available

Support software can play a huge role in your A/V services. There are software packages for all budgets and some pretty impressive features to explore; here are a few options:

Sweet Home 3D — When proposing home theater rooms the trend today is to provide a good 3D visual presentation of the room layout. One popular package that has a sound reputation is called Sweet Home 3D, and it is free.

D-Tools — I’ve long been a big fan of the System Integrator (SI) software package from D-Tools. Its roots evolved from the A/V industry. Good first impressions with prospects are invaluable. This program, if taken seriously, can generate amazing proposals, track and diagram all project cabling, labor and product inventory. Bonus tip: check out and download their FreeTools PSL, a free professional A/V symbols library you can use with programs like Visio.

HD Benchmark 2nd Edition — This is a highly acclaimed calibration disc by Stacey Spears and Don Munsil. It contains a variety of tests for tweaking home theater audio and video installations.

Tool Tip

When dealing with the many facets of integrating residential A/V systems it’s critical to have a distribution enclosure that can handle anything. The patented, modular design of the very flexible Verge enclosures from Primex provides simple scalability.

The plastic enclosure offers good RF support for easy WiFi equipment communications. The Verge enclosures feature 180° openings on the case to create more room inside the box, according to the company.

If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our FREE digital newsletters!

About the Author

Contact:

Bob is currently a Security Sales & Integration "Tech Talk" columnist and a contributing technical writer. Bob installed his first DIY home intercom system at the age of 13, and formally started his technology career as a Navy communication electronics technician during the Vietnam War. He then attended the Milwaukee School of Engineering and went on to complete a Security Management program at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Since 1976, Bob has served in a variety of technical, training and project management positions with organizations such ADT, Rollins, National Guardian, Lockheed Martin, American Alarm Supply, Sonitrol and Ingersoll Rand. Early in his career, Bob started and operated his own alarm dealership. He has also served as treasurer of the Wisconsin Burglar and Fire Alarm Association and on Security Industry Association (SIA) standards committees. Bob also provides media and training consulting to the security industry.

Security Is Our Business, Too

For professionals who recommend, buy and install all types of electronic security equipment, a free subscription to Commercial Integrator + Security Sales & Integration is like having a consultant on call. You’ll find an ideal balance of technology and business coverage, with installation tips and techniques for products and updates on how to add to your bottom line.

A FREE subscription to the top resource for security and integration industry will prove to be invaluable.

Subscribe Today!

One response to “How Security Integrators Can Progress in the Home A/V Market”

  1. Christine Marzano says:

    One very easy way for a security integrator to enter this market is to offer the end user affordable, easy to install brands they already know. The mid-market consumer looking for a whole house audio solution will find integrating brands such as Sonos, Logitech, Nest and Lutron Caseta affordable. These systems will also integrate with voice control and/or can also be controlled with a Logitech Harmony Pro remote. These products make installation easy for the integrator and affordable to the homeowner while providing the luxury of whole house audio.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get Our Newsletters