My wife complains that she can't ever watch anything on her own because my elaborate home theater system is too difficult to operate. Frankly, even I wish it wasn't so darn complicated just to get a TV show or movie going. It would be great if all my audio and video equipment could just work together automatically, but I've yet to find a simple way of doing this. That is, until Control4 and custom installer Roget Bardeau of Reference Designs Inc. came over to help me discover just what a snap it can be to integrate all of your audio and video components, and do even more with them than you thought possible.

Control4 provides a comprehensive yet simple platform for home automation—including intelligent control of audio and video components, lighting, heating/air conditioning, and security—in a manner that is neither complicated to understand nor complex to use. Unlike most automation systems geared toward high-end custom-built homes, Control4's line requires no invasive wiring or special enclosures, so it can be used in practically any home or apartment. The Control4 solutions are highly customizable and can be designed to fit one's particular lifestyle and budget.

Getting started with Control4 costs as little as $599 for a basic home theater control system with a fairly conventional remote control. The company also offers freestanding and in-wall touchscreens, in-wall keypads, wireless light dimmers and thermostats, and an array of audio/video components. The cost of a full-blown system depends on how many touchscreens and keypads you want, how much home automation you desire, and the size of your house, but a fairly typical system with a lot of options might run around $10,000 plus installation and programming. That's already much less than most competing systems, but the real magic of Control4 is that the programming process is greatly simplified-the programming for an AMX or Crestron automation system often costs tens of thousands of dollars and takes weeks, but Bardeau needs only two days to install and program my Control4 system. The downside is that it uses only Control4's supplied control screen templates, and offers little opportunity for an installer to customize the look and feel of the system.

The center of the action in the system that Bardeau installs in my apartment is the Control4 Media Controller, which works as both an 80-gigabyte audio server and as the brain behind the home automation functions. It takes commands from the various touchscreens, keypads, and remotes, and spits them back out to all the controlled devices through wireless transmission, through infrared flashers attached to the fronts of my audio/video components, or through various relay and contact closures. With the physical connections done, Bardeau pulls out his laptop, connects to my home network and accesses a Control4 database online that has the specific codes for thousands of components. He downloads and transfers these codes into the Media Controller so it can understand how to manage the functions of all of my components.

Once he's finished, the Media Controller takes over to make sure everything powers on and switches correctly. For example, selecting the HD DVD player also turns on the amplifier and sets it to surround sound, with my HDMI video switching automatically selecting the correct video output to go to the front projector now powering on. And it's no big deal when I ask at the last minute to also have the disc tray open every time the HD DVD player powers up. Because he can access my system remotely through the Internet, he could have accomplished this days or months later without having to come back. That includes adding new components later on, too.

In the living room, I use Control4's 10.5-inch wireless touchscreen. The large panel has enough room on the screen to show almost all of the controls for any of my devices selected. Bardeau suggests loading some CDs into the Media Controller's front slot so I can rip them to the internal hard drive and then stream to other rooms. Out on my balcony, a Control4 Speaker Point wireless amplifier picks up the stream from the Media Controller and plays it through a pair of speakers. The touchscreen lets me browse the music on the Controller's hard drive by artist, album, genre, and song title. In the bedroom, Bardeau places a tabletop 3.5-inch wireless touchscreen on the night table, and don't get me started on how luxurious it feels to flick an on-screen icon and watch the TV come on to my favorite channel.

Besides A/V functions, the touchscreen has on-screen buttons that access Lighting, Comfort (thermostat control), and House (security and miscellaneous devices like motorized shades, etc.). Bardeau demonstrates by attaching a Control4 Wireless Outlet Dimmer to a lamp and programming it into the Media Controller so I can raise or dim the brightness using a virtual slider on the touchscreen. He also attaches a wireless switch to the top of the front door so that when the door is opened, it sends a signal to the Media Controller to turn on the light and send me an e-mail alert.

Less than 10 minutes after Bardeau leaves, my wife has commandeered the home theater in the living room and is already watching her favorite movie, Finding Nemo, on the big screen. She never could do that before without asking for help. How do you put a price on that?

DESCRIPTION
Home automation and audio distribution system. Depending on components selected, can control audio/video components, thermostat, lighting, security, and other functions.

PRICE/CONTACT
PRICE: Media Controller $1,495, wireless touchscreen $1,995, touchscreen table dock $299, wireless outlet dimmer $129, wireless switch $119, Home Theater Controller $599, mini touchscreen $799, Speaker Point $449CONTACT: 888.400.4070, www.control4.com