Best Video Installation

Signals Audio/Video Inc. of Los Angeles, Calif

TVs by the Dozen

This ultra-advanced installation distributes any video source a family member may want—to any of 22 video displays.

Creating a great video installation involves more than hanging a few high-end projectors and flat-panel TVs. A great video system should also deliver flexibility and ease of use. Ideally, every family member should be able to get the programming they want wherever they want it—and without ever having to consult an owner’s manual.

With audio this is easy, thanks to an abundance of superb multiroom sound systems. With video, though, it’s still a challenge.

That’s why we appreciate this project, the work of Signals Audio/Video Inc., so much. President and founder Todd DeAngelis describes the home’s capabilities:

“Anyone can bring up any DVR, cable box or security camera on any TV in the house at any time.”

The home also features a Kaleidescape movie/music server, which rips DVDs and CDs much as you’d rip a CD into iTunes.

The server distributes video through the home network to five Kaleidescape players in different rooms, some of which are equipped with Sony Blu-ray players.

Spreading so many video sources throughout the house was a challenge for the installation team in large part because the Beverly Hills home had almost no existing wiring, even though it was built only a decade ago.

“It was so strange that the house had no prewiring for A/V whatsoever,” DeAngelis recalls. “There was nothing but a Cat-5 here and there and a little coax. It was basically 100-percent retrofit for audio, video and IT.” The Signals crew installed RGB video cabling to most rooms, and Cat-5 cable for others. “We put conduit in some places to accommodate future technologies,” DeAngelis adds.

There would be little point in putting so much effort into video distribution if the images were to be displayed on run-of-the-mill TVs. But that’s definitely not an issue in this home. DeAngelis says that among the home’s high-end video displays, the ones that have most captured the clients’ fancy are the Séura mirror TVs: a 32-inch model in the wife’s bathroom and a 46-inch model in the downstairs library.