Home Tek Design

Digital Video Resolution

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:57:00 +0000

The digital video that we see on television has brought previously unfamiliar and cryptic terminology to forefront of technical terms for most viewers. Is that 1080i or 720p? Here we attempt to explain what it all means.

Digital Video Resolution

Digital video resolution is one of the specifications that is often displayed, but not really understood. Movies will tout themselves as 1080i, 720p, 1080p, but this alone does not provide the complete picture. These resolution numbers are lines of resolution along the horizontal; for example, a picture with a resolution of 1080 will have 1,080 lines running across the horizontal of the screen.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) is an international, non-profit membership organization developing standards for digital television implementation. The ATSC Digital TV Standards include digital high definition television (HDTV), standard definition television (SDTV), data broadcasting, multichannel surround-sound audio, and satellite direct-to-home broadcasting.

Standard Definition Television (SDTV)

SDTV is the digital television system where the resolution is approximately equivalent to that of NTSC (480 horizontal lines) or PAL (576 horizontal lines). In both cases, there are 720 pixels per line and the signal is interlaced, as shown in Figure 1.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) created a marketing shorthand term known as Enhanced Definition Television (EDTV), which has the same resolution as SDTV. The difference is that EDTV is a progressively scanned system. That means that all 480 horizontal lines in the NTSC standard are displayed at one time and all 576 horizontal lines in the PAL standard are displayed at one time. This term (EDTV) is a marketing term only and does not represent any specific standard. It was created to help consumers understand the improvements from interlaced to progressive scan video.

Figure 1. SDTV Video Signal

High Definition Television (HDTV)

High definition television has a resolution of approximately twice that of conventional television in both the horizontal (H) and vertical (V) dimensions. There are two formats of resolution within HDTV signals, which are:

1080 horizontal lines with 1920 pixels per line — This is available in both interlaced and progressively scanned at a varying number for frame rates. Blu-ray movies are provided in this resolution in progressively scanned format with 24 frames per second. Most digital cable and satellite companies provide movies in this resolution, but in an interlaced format and at frame rate of 25 (in countries with 50 Hz power) and 30 (in countries with 60 Hz power). Figure 2 shows a video signal at a resolution of 1080 lines in an interlaced format.
720 horizontal lines with 1280 pixels per line — This resolution is available in both interlaced and progressively scanned formats at a number of frame rates. This standard is not commonly used by broadcasters.

Figure 2. 1080i HDTV Video Signal

Total Resolution

Although a signal is described as 1080, which indicates it has 1,080 horizontal lines of resolution and 1920 pixels per line, it is, in fact, 2200 horizontal lines with 1125 pixels per line. This extra information is not displayed on the screen, but used for ancillary information. This information includes digital audio and closed captioning.

Summary

Digital video resolution has changed greatly due to changes in technology during the history of digital video. It started with the same resolution as analog, but has progressed as technology allowed. Currently Blu-ray films are commonly released in 1080p at 24 frames per second, while television broadcast is commonly 1080i at 25 or 30 frames per second. It is ultimately up to broadcasters to determine what resolution they will adopt. Most broadcasters provide SDTV signals for the vast majority of their channels, and then offer HDTV signals as a paid upgrade.

In the next article we will look at interlaced versus progressive scan video.

Article Keywords

Video Resolution: The display resolution of a digital video signal or display device, annotated as the number of lines per field or frame and the number of pixels per line.
NTSC: National Television Standards Committee, which sets the television broadcast standard for North America. Also used in much of Central and South America, the Caribbean Islands, Japan, and Taiwan. It is a 525 line interlaced raster-scanned system displayed at 60 fields/second. Of these, about 480 lines contain picture information.
Pixel: Single points of color and light on a monitor.
Interlaced: A technique of reducing bandwidth by displaying only half of the video lines at one time.
Progressive Scan: A video format in which all lines of video information are displayed at one time on the video frame, which tends to render smoother motion sequences as compared to interlaced.
PAL: The television broadcast coding standard used in England, Europe, and many countries in the rest of the world. It has 625 lines displayed at 50 fields/second. Of these, about 576 lines contain picture information.

Core Beliefs

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:01:00 +0000

Having trouble putting together a set of Core Beliefs for your company? Here's a simple quide to help you in your efforts.

Core Beliefs

Successful companies go beyond the Mission Statement and add additional concepts that are known as core beliefs that further spell out the company's operating philosophy. Well-defined core beliefs keep your company focused and lead it in the direction you want your company to take. Core beliefs provide a professional guide to both owner and employees. Core beliefs define company attitudes toward truthfullness, integrity, and teamwork.

To simplify the process of creating a set of core beliefs, it is helpful to list them in bullet form beneath the Mission Statement. Some organizations go as far as including a vision statement as well, which is considered even more global in scope. The core beliefs of the organization answer key questions about on its essential values and how customers and employees will be treated.

Let's develop some core beliefs for your new company. Note that as with the mission statement, it is prudent to involve company employees in composing the company core beliefs, so that they will feel some personal ownership in the creation of these statements. For this activity, write what you think your company core beliefs should be (later you can present them to others for additional ideas). In order to assist you in preparing your core beliefs, answer the following questions:

How will your customers be treated? (What is the company's attitude toward customer's? Are they treated in a professional manner? What quality of service will be provided? What are hours of service, how long will the warranty period be provided, how will customer expectations be met? How will customers be regarded? Is care taken to clear up at the installation site?)
How will your employees be treated? (How much vacation time, what benefits will be provided, how will employees be regarded? How will they be rewarded? What are the company's behavioral expectations? How will the company handle workplace conflicts? How will employees be motivated?)
Will the company provide any benefits to the local economy? (Will it work with local charity or non-profit organizations?)
What does the company stand for? (What is the quality of its products? How does it view its Employees? Customers ? Vendors?)

Now combine the above answers into a group of statements that everyone in your company can understand and embrace.

Your Homework: Create Your Core Beliefs

The following is an example of a company's core beliefs.

• ABC Integrations provides standardized, cost-effective, and high-performance systems that exceed our customers' expectations.

• We agree to requirements and deliverables with the customer before work has begun, establish milestones, and monitor progress throughout the project.

• We strive to minimize onsite installation time.

• We treat all customers, vendors, and employees with respect and honesty.

• We are commited to providing a flexible and pleasant working environment.

What does ABC Integrations' Core Beliefs say to you? What pops out at you that explains what the company does and its operating philosophy? What would you add? What would you eliminate?

For me, ABC's core beliefs are consistent with the company mission statement “ABC Integrations provides only high-quality turnkey integration systems for entertainment, comfort, and convenience in the modern digital home”. ABC Integrations is committed to exceeding customer expectations, which underlines the high-quality nature of its mission. This is further emphasized by the agreement on requirements and deliverables. And by minimizing onsite installation time, the company provides a turnkey systematic approach to each project. The company is also committed to good relatioins with its customers, vendors and employees.

There are other key areas that can be considered: company philosophy, business ehtics, business processes, personal relationships at work, decision making, and others. The core beliefs should indicate what is important to your company's success and place in the community.

We now have a start of an aligned company, one who's mission and core beliefs support the life of its owner and employees. But keep in mind that at the begining stages of each company, there is a discovery phase of understanding. Learning who the owner, employees, and company really are and what they are capable of achieving, and what the market will bear. This does take some time, so expect to modify your statements for the first several months (or more).

Next week, we will create a set of operational objectives for your company. Spread the word, design, and enjoy the journey!

Article Keywords

core beliefs: Spell out the company's operating philosophy in greater detail than the Mission Statement.
Mission statement: A statement that captures an organization's purpose, customer orientation and business philosophy
vision statement: A statement giving a broad, inspirational image of the future that an organization is aiming to achieve.

Hybrid Home Lighting Control Design

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:01:00 +0000

Hybrid lighting design allows the designer to create multiple lighting scenarios and design options throughout the modern home. It has all the bells and whistles, but with a necessary difference. In the last article of our lighting design series, we highlight hybrid lighting design.

Hybrid Design

A hybrid lighting system (see Figure 1), as the name suggests, is one in which some of the lights are distributed and some are centralized. In more complex rooms with various lighting needs, the designer can centralize non-essential lights (such as those that highlight artwork, etc) by installing their light switches or dimmers in a main area closet, and design essential lights that are controlled by distributed dimmers. Both the centralized and distributed dimmers are controlled by the processor. The distributed dimmers allow dimming of the light(s) without the control system present, while the centralized dimmers require the control system and keypads (or touchpanels) to function.

Figure 1 shows a hybrid lighting system, and as you can see, some of the light switches have been removed, and some left in place. The illustration depicts a hallway and a room. The hallway has two sets of lights; a dimmer and three-way switch has been placed on the wall for the main set of lights. The second set of lights highlights the stonework on the back of the fireplace, which has been connected to the centralized processor. These accent lights are not required for seeing, but enhance the space, and as such, are not required to be fail-safe.

The room has four lighting loads, two of these loads contribute to the overall light levels in the room. Ambient lighting is considered essential and require distributed dimmers at one of the entrances to the room. In this case, we placed them at the lower entrance, which is used less often. That means the majority of the time, the lighting in the room will be acted upon by the keypad. The second set of lights are accent lights, which are non-essential, and as such, are connected to the centralized processor.

The homeowner now has the best of both worlds. You've been able to get rid of the clutter on the walls by reducing the number of light switches and placing the dimmers for artwork lights and other accent lights in a central location out of sight (generally in a closet). If someone is unfamiliar with keypads and touchscreens, they can use the dimmers to turn on and off some level of lights, providing basic functionality for the room. And if the keypad or touchscreen suffers a failure, the home still has a functional lighting control system.

Figure 1. Hybrid Dimmer Design

Benefits and Drawbacks of Centralized Design

Some of the benefits and drawbacks of centralized home lighting control design are:

Drawbacks

Retrofit: Some of the dimmers in the home are placed in centralized panels, making it very difficult to install this system into an existing home.
Design: A hybrid design requires more design time at the start of the project. It requires a completed lighting design, which is often difficult to obtain at this early stage of the home construction.

Benefits

Wall Clutter: A single keypad can replace many light switches at the primary entrance to the room.
Program Flexibility: A hybrid system allows more programming flexibility than a distributed lighting control system. This is due to the addition of keypads in places where light switches had existed.
Simple Control: This system still uses some switches. A switch or dimmer placed in the wall is familiar to all of us. We instinctively know that flipping the switch causes the lights to come on or off.
Fail–Safe Operation: In the case of a control system failure, a hybrid system has the same control over important lighting in the home as in a distributed design. The important lights have distributed switches.

A hybrid lighting system with both distributed and centralized control provides numerous options to the homeowner, while maintaining a fail-safe for lighting needed to see even when the main control system becomes inoperable.

Article Keywords

Hybrid Lighting System: A combination of both distributed and central lighting control features.
Dimmer: Dimmers are devices used to vary the brightness of a light. By decreasing or increasing the RMS voltage and hence the mean power to the lamp, it is possible to vary the intensity of the light output.
Ambient Lighting: Overall illumination in a room or space.
Accent Lighting: Lighting that adds interest to a room or landscape by drawing attention to an object or architectural detail.
lighting load: A group of lighting fixtures connected to a single dimmer or switch.

Surround Sound Outlet

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:01:00 +0000

What is a sophisticated, large, flat screen TV or Home Theater without surround sound bringing supreme audio pleasure to your ears? This week, I present the surround sound outlet for two main entertainment areas, the family room and the Home Theater.

Some Recommended Reading

Before you get started reading this week's article, you may wish to take a look at the other articles in this series.

Telephone & Networking Outlet

The explosion of cell phones and Wi-Fi has not diminished the need for communications outlets in the modern digital home. In fact telephone and networking connections are needed throughout the home for the convenience of all its residents. Here are some considerations in designing the outlet locations.

Television Outlet

Specialized for function, there are many types of communications outlets in a modern digital home. Moving from simple to more complex in the second part of his series on the various outlets, this week Mario looks at an outlet made just for television.

Surround Sound Outlet

As you might imagine, the surround sound outlet provides access to the surround sound system. It is installed at the sites where a surround system is planned along with the separate wall plate for the television connection as shown in Figure 1. The separate wall plate for the surround outlet also includes the following connections:

Telephone — Initially consumer products, such as XBox, Playstation, Tivo, and DirecTV had a telephone outlet to communicate outside the home with their source. It was necessary to install a telephone outlet to allow the consumer device to connect to the telephone cable. Today, many of these consumer products use an Internet connection instead. A telephone connection is still needed for a few of these devices. So a telephone connection is provided for those devices. In the event no devices have a telephone connection, then this outlet becomes a second network connection to the Internet.
Automation Network — In designing entertainment areas in the home, it is best to install a separate control system for your entertainment equipment. Therefore, if the main control system is not functioning, the TV and surround system is left operational. The home theater control system is connected into the main control system to allow control of the main control system from the home theater touchpanel. However, a fault in one of the systems in the home will not cause a fault in the home theater.
Surround Speakers — Theater areas are generally designed in two ways. In one scenario a dedicated home theater is built in a separate room. In the second way, the home theater is a part of a family room that can be part of a larger family area, including a kitchen and gaming area. In the dedicated home theater, the AV equipment is installed in an equipment rack in an electronics closet with conduit running from the equipment in the closet (see Figure 2) to the TV and speakers. The surround outlet is installed in the electronics closet. In a family room home theater, the AV equipment (receiver, electronics, and speakers) is usually located in a cabinet in the room and no cabling within the walls is necessary. The surround outlet is installed in the cabinet. The surround speakers are cabled to this outlet, allowing the surround receiver to plug into these speakers. In addition to the cables to the surround speakers, I have provided a four (4) conductor speaker cable from the back of this outlet to the central music system. This is a precaution only. If the surround system is not installed, the surround speaker can be connected to the central music system.

Figure 1. Surround Sound Outlet

Place a surround outlet in any location that is going to receive a surround sound system. In the same way that the television outlet is located, the surround outlet is placed at the equipment site (cabinet or equipment closet) and not at the television site. Figure 2 shows a dedicated theater room with an electronics closet.

In Figure 2, the surround outlet is placed within the closet with all of the electronics, and conduit is run to each of the speakers, the projector, and the front wall. To protect the cables, I use conduit in dedicated theater rooms due to the overall cost of the system. The conduits allow the cables to be installed after the home construction is complete. Dedicated home theaters require expensive cables, so installing these cables in conduit after construction minimizes the risk of cable damage during construction. The conduit also allows for later upgrades, which are inevitable in this type of system.

Figure 2. Surround Sound Outlet Placed in Closet with Conduit to Speakers

A surround outlet provides for future possibilities and saves time and money down the road for you and your customer. In my next article, I will investigate antenna connections.

Article Keywords

Surround Sound: A generic term that describes any of several systems capable of delivering multichannel audio that includes channels placed to the sides and/or rear of the listener.
Automation Network: A network dedicated to the home automation control system.
Control System: A system that interfaces with touchpanels, keypads, and sub-systems, such as lighting, music, HVAC, and entertainment.
Electronics Closet: A room dedicated to housing electronics, such entertainment, lighting, security, and networking.
Conduit: A pipe through which electric or low-voltage cables pass.

Digital Video

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:01:00 +0000

Designers and DIYers can make better Home Theater decisions by gaining knowledge and understanding of digital video. Here we introduce a new series on some of the complexities of digital video.

Digital Video

Digital video consists of a series of bitmap images displayed in rapid succession. Each image is known as a frame and the speed at which these frames are displayed is the frame rate (Fr). Each frame consists of pixels, where the width of pixels (W) and the height of pixels (H) describe the frame size (Fs), calculated:

Fs (pixel/frame) = W (pixel) × H (pixel)

Each pixel has a color associated with it, which is represented by a number of bits. The more bits, the more colors that can be represented. This is called color depth (Cd). We can use the above information to determine the bit rate (Br) of the digital video. Its formula is:

Br (bit/second) = Fs (pixel/frame) x Cd (bit/pixel) x Fr (frame/second)

When bits are expressed they often are expressed with a term in front.

Kilobit (Kbit) = (bit) ×1,000
Megabit (Mbit) = (Kbit) ×1,000
Gigabit (Gbit) = (Mbit) ×1,000
Terabit (Tbit) = (Tbit) ×1,000

For example, a Blu-ray disc has the following:

W (pixel) = 1080 (pixel)
H (pixel) = 1920 (pixel)
Fs (pixel/frame) = [ 1080 (pixel) × 1920(pixel) ] / 1 (frame) = 2,073,600 (pixel/frame)
Cd (bit/pixel) = 12 (bit)
Fr (frame/second) = 24 (frame/second)
Br (bit/second) = 2,073,600 (pixel/frame) × 12 (bit/pixel) × 24 (frame/second) = 597.2 (Mbit/second)

Do not worry too much about memorizing formulas; just let the units remember for you. If we take a look at our answer, we are looking for the bits per second of the video signal. By laying out the units within the formula, those units that are both the top and bottom cancel each other out. So in this equation we have pixels per frame followed by bits per pixel, those two multiplied become bits per frame as the pixel unit cancels itself. Then the equation multiplies bits per frame by frame per second cancelling the frame unit and leaving us with bits per second. This technique works for all equations!

Now that we know the bit rate— we can calculate the total storage (Vs) required for the duration (T), for example if our Blu-ray has two (2) hours of this video material, then:

T (second) = 2 (hour) × 60 (minutes/hour) × 60 (second/minute) = 7,200 (seconds)
Vs (bit) = 7200 (second) × 597,196,800 (bit/second) = 4.3 (Tbit)

So the total requirement of this film is 4.3 Tbit; however, a Blu-ray holds 28 Gbit, which is much less. Keep in mind that our example storage requirement does not include the audio and other items placed on a disc, which add to the size. However, we have not considered compression, which will reduce the storage requirement.

The compression of the video helps to cut down on the storage requirements, as well as the bandwidth requirements during delivery (such as satellite, cable television, and free to air). The compression factor (Cf) is calculated as:

Cf = Vs (uncompressed) / Vs (compressed)

The compression factor is an average number for the entire duration of the video as each frame is not compressed the same amount. Let's look at an example that uses a compression factor (Cf) of 150:

Vs (uncompressed) = 4.3 (Tbit)
Cf = 150 (unitless)
Vs (compressed) = 4,300 (Gbit) / 150 = 28.67 (Gbit)

This gives us some understanding of just how much compression takes place to get a two-hour film to fit onto a Blu-ray disc.

We can further reduce the bit rate (Br) and storage (Vs) by introducing interlaced video. A frame in an interlaced system consists of two sequential fields, each carrying a set of alternating lines. A field is half of the lines of resolution of a frame and includes horizontal lines of information. For example, 1080i has two frames, each consisting of 540 lines.

As you can see, digital video involves some complex, yet precise, mathematics as it begins its journey from the source to your Home Theatre. In a series of subsequent articles, we will look at each of the following in more detail:

Resolution
Interlaced and Progressive Scan Video
Frame Rates
Color Depth
Compression

Come join our journey to understanding!

Article Keywords

pixel: Single points of color and light on a monitor.
frame rate: The number of video images captured or displayed each second.
frame size: The complete image on a TV screen.
color depth: The amount of color information in an image, reflected in the number of color bits.
bit rate: The ratio of the number of bits transferred between devices in a specified amount of time, typically one second. Bit rate is the same as data rate, data transfer rate, and bit time.
total storage: The total storage requirement in bits.
compression: Reducing the amount of digital data required to store audio or video. Data compression can be lossless or lossy, depending on whether the reconstruction is exact or not. Perceptual coding is used in lossy systems.
compression factor: The ratio of uncompressed data to compressed data.

Create Your Mission Statement

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:01:00 +0000

In a nutshell, your company's mission statement defines its purpose. In a few carefully chosen words, a mission statement explains what your company is all about. Why it exists! Here we help you create your company's mission statement.

Mission Statement

mission statement: A statement that captures an organization's purpose, customer orientation and business philosophy.

All major corporations have a mission statement. It is the foundation of their success. A company mission statement is created by the owner or principals of the company. It is used to measure day-to-day business decisions and to provide a clear view of what the company does for its customers. It also serves as an overarching mandate to company employees of how they should conduct themselves in the workplace as representatives of the company. An effective mission statement resonates with everyone in the organization. It expresses the organization's purpose in a way that inspires commitment.

Without a mission statement, the company's success, if it's successful at all, is based on haphazard luck. Although many theories exist regarding the purpose of mission statements, it simply comes down to the concept of being a unified declaration of what you do, for whom, and why. Everyone in the company should be able to state it verbatim and embrace its message. With a mission statement in hand, each member of the organization is able to make day-to-day decisions in accordance with established company policies and procedures and generally without fear of managerial reprisal.

The mission statement also provides guidance as to what business choices can be made safely that help the company's bottom line. Your mission statement should:

Express your organization's purpose in a way that inspires.
Motivate and align the organization.
Articulate a clear and convincing message.
Use proactive verbs to describe what you do.
Be free of technical jargon.
Be short enough so that each member of the organization can readily repeat it.

At the very least, your organization's mission statement should answer three key questions. What is the organization's purpose? What is its business? What are its values? You can begin the process of drafting a mission statement by answering these questions and using the downloadable worksheet accessible n Figure 1. List any words, phrases, or ideas that come to mind with respect to your organization and its purpose or mission. Later, give everyone in your organization a chance to be heard about their ideas for your company's mission. Look for language and concepts that enjoy broad consensus within your company.

Creating Your Mission Statement

To facilitate the process of creating your company's mission statement, we suggest answering the following sets of questions first.

Questions to help you think about your role in your company.

What technical expertise do you have?
What management experience do you have?
What entrepreneurial expertise do you have?
How many hours per week do you expect to work during the first year?
How many hours per week do you expect to work during the second year?
How many hours per week do you expect to work during the third year?
How much vacation time per year do you expect to have during the first year?
How much vacation time per year do you expect to have during the second year?
How much vacation time per year do you expect to have during the third year?
How much income do you require during the first year?
How much income do you require during the second year?
How much income do you require during the third year?

Questions to help you determine the purpose of your company.

What does your company do?
Does it offer a service, a product, or both? What type?
What are the opportunities or needs that your company addresses by virtue of its existence?
What hole in the industry would be created if your company did not exist?

Questions to help you determine your company's business.

What are you doing to address the needs you described above in the purpose section?
What are your company's unique strengths?
What is the job that only your company can do?
What are your organization's most important functions?

Questions to help you define and document your company's values.

What principles or beliefs guide your company's work?
What is the core of what your company cherishes?
What are the ethics of your company?

Once you have answered these sets of questions, you are ready to formulate your mission statement. Combine the answers into one comprehensive statement that expresses your company's purpose. It may take numerous attempts before you settle on a concise mission statement of one or a few sentences that captures the essence of your organization. You may need to start with several more complex sentences before you con hone down to focused statement that everyone in your company can embrace, understand, memorize and repeat.

Your Homework: Create Your Mission Statement

As a practice activity, we will write a mission statement for your company. Note that when composing a real mission statement, it is wise to involve everyone in your company by giving them a chance to express their opinions, as people will often pay more attention and embrace something they have contributed to and felt a part of. To begin the writing process, ask everyone to make a list of words, phrases, or ideas that come to mind about your company and its operation or undertaking. Then answer the questions below, and look for consistent language and concepts that come up repeatedly among your employee's answers. For right now, answer these questions yourself:

The following is an example of a mission statement.

ABC Integrations provides only high-quality turnkey integration systems for entertainment, comfort, and convenience for our customers in the modern digital home.

What does ABC Integrations' mission statement say to you? What pops out at you that explains what the company does and its operating philosophy? Take a few minutes and think about this.

This mission statement clearly spells out the company's market place with terms like turnkey, which indicates a systematic approach to integration.

A quick word on high-quality: What does this mean to you. The International Standards Organization defines quality as “The totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs.” We can think of high–quality as exceeding expectations, and in order to accomplish this, ABC Integrations must very clearly layout expectations of the project. These expectations must be reasonable and achievable, and therefore exceedable.

Mission Discussion

ABC Integrations Sales Representative Sal Moore is on a commission-based salary, so the more he sells, the more he earns. Sal approaches ABC Integrations Project Manager Owen Ginizer with a great new project. The project involves all of the standard systems provided by the company, except for a telephone system that has never been installed by ABC Integrations to date. This poses a dilemma for Owen, because while the overall project looks attractive and within the company's current business structure, the telephone system is outside of that realm.

How does ABC Integrations' mission statement aid Owen with his decision whether to accept the project?

The company mission statement clearly states that the company provides only high-quality turnkey systems to its customers. That means a new type of system would become part of ABC's product line only if it can be provided to many customers, not just one. Owen considers the issue and brings company engineer Maggie Pi into the picture to review the proposed system. Engineer Maggie considers whether or not this system meets the needs of the entire customer demographic for ABC Integrations. She must determine if the company that provides the telephone system has a reputation for providing a solid product that is reliable and serviceable. Based upon her research, Engineer Maggie offers two possible business solutions to Project Manager Owen.

The new system could be standardized to ABC Integrations' turnkey specifications. Or, the system could be outsourced for this particular customer because the company providing the telephone system has a solid reputation. In either case, the customer would receive a telephone system that meets his needs, and ABC Integrations stays within the boundaries of its mission statement.

Which of the two possible solutions would you have chosen, and why?

What factors did you consider when making your decision?

So far we have determined where in the market you see your company , your own life statement, and the company's mission. Next week, we will create a set of core beliefs for your company. Spread the word, design, and enjoy the journey!

Centralized Home Lighting Control Design

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:01:00 +0000

A centralized lighting control system takes advantage of its digital technology to provide a more seamless approach to automating lighting in a home. In part two of our series, we discuss the centralized system.

Centralized Design

In a centralized lighting system (see Figure 1) the control over the lights are from one central source rather than being distributed throughout the home. In this design, all of the dimmers are removed from the rooms, and the lighting loads are cabled back to a main panel that resides in a central location. In large systems, multiple lighting control panels are placed throughout the home and communicate to share commands. One or more of the panels have a processor, which is programmed to receive and send commands to the keypads, which in turn, control the lights.

Figure 1 shows a centralized lighting system, in which all of the wall switches for the lights have been removed. This illustration depicts a hallway and a room. The hallway has two sets of lights, and requires keypads to accommodate each end of the hallway. The room has four sets of lights, with keypads placed at the entrances. In this design, the keypads rely on the central processor to control the lights. The processor must be programmed and working for the system (the lights) to work. In addition, the keypads are designed with small buttons and a small font size for text. For most people this works well. They prefer the smaller size for decorative purposes. On the other hand, the small size could be problematic to older people or those with vision limitations.

Figure 1. Centralized Dimmer Design

Let there be light!

Many years ago I designed and installed a centralized lighting control system with more than 250 dimmers and 125 keypads in a very large home. It was designed so there were no light switches anywhere - only keypads. All the cables ran back to one of eight central processors. The project moved along smoothly and ended with a success. However, not for long…

The customers were living happily in their home complete with a digital integration system when one of the processors failed and took down the entire network. As you might expect, there was a house-wide on/off switch, but these customers were not interested in walking to the utility area to switch all the lights on or off. They, of course, had become accustomed to the keypads. The problem had to be resolved immediately, so my technician and lighting engineer responded immediately and worked diligently to diagnose the problem. They realized it was in one of the eight processors, but couldn't identify which one it was early enough in the day to order a replacement for the faulty processor. Instead, the engineer ordered eight new processors and had them delivered overnight. In the meantime, the customer and his family spent the night in a local luxury hotel at $1,500 for the night. The next day the team returned and resolved the issues.

This taught me a couple of valuable lessons.

The design of our systems needs to be as distributed as possible, thus a failure in one part of the home would not impact another part. If the lights stop working in the master suite for a day or two, there is always the guest suite up and working.
Customers will not accept they are living in a fault tolerant home. They do not want to hear the wheres, whys, and hows. They just want it to work. It does not matter how much money was spent, their expectation is a fully operational home. If they must leave their home, or feel they have lost control of their home, then complete confidence in the integration company is lost.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Centralized Design

Some of the benefits and drawbacks of centralized home lighting control design are:

Drawbacks

Retrofit: All of the dimmers in the home are placed in centralized panels, making it is very difficult to install this system into an existing home.
Harder to Use: People are accustomed to walking into a room and flipping a light switch on or flipping it off when they leave. Although a homeowner can be taught how to adapt to a home without light switches, there is no Training available to guests, who may be unexpectedly confronted with a keypad or touchscreen to turn a light on. Admittedly, keypad- and touchscreen-based lighting can be too intimidating for the average person (how many of us have 12 o'clock flashing on our microwave because we can't figure out how to program it? Or more to the point, we are just too lazy to read the manual!). Most people are just not interested enough to learn how to turn on their lights using an integrated system. And there are those who won't be able to see the information displayed by the keypad and its tiny buttons.
Too Many Keypads: By removing the dimmers from the walls, a large number of keypads are required to replace them, one keypad for every group of dimmers.

Benefits

Manual Override: A manual override is typically placed in the home, and possibly several. The manual override provides a means to turn on a designated set of lights in the event the keypads are not functional.
Wall Clutter: A single keypad can replace many light switches.
Large Loads: A centralized lighting control system allows for all of the decisions (in terms of scenes and controls) to be made at later date. Changes to the system are easy to incorporate because it only requires changes to the software. Multiple user interface devices (keypads, touchpanels, occupancy sensors, etc.) can be implemented to control the dimmers and switches. Lights can be programmed to turn on and off as someone enters or leaves the room.

Centralized lighting control offers some advantages over a distributed system, but not without certain issues that need to be considered before using this type of system. Next week, we'll explain how to set up a system using both centralized and distributed control systems -- a hybrid lighting control system.

Article Keywords

Centralized lighting system: Type of lighting system where control comes from one central source rather than many individual switches.
Dimmer: Dimmers are devices used to vary the brightness of a light. By decreasing or increasing the RMS voltage and hence the mean power to the lamp it is possible to vary the intensity of the light output.
lighting loads: A group of lighting fixtures connected to a single dimmer or switch.

Create Your Life Statement

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:01:00 +0000

Entrepreneur. Business owner. Directing your own path. If that's what you want, a first step is clarifying what you want out of life. We discuss creating your own life statement that embraces your personal goals, purpose, and values. And the personal satisfaction you get from achieving them.

Getting started in a new business operation is one of the biggest decisions you can make. After making the decision what business fits you, there is much research and planning for you to do. This includes gathering information concerning what and how products and services will be provided to your customers. During the planning phase and early stages of the company, many options must be analyzed, many questions answered, and many critical decisions must be made. Vital planning takes the company from unique idea to successful implementation; and a business plan keeps it going and improving. Before you start your own company in the home electronics integration industry, consider your answer to the following question:

Why are you starting your own business?

Your Life Statement

life statement: A statement that spells out a clear reason for living, and that explains one's values and purpose in life.

A life statement is an authentic, honest declaration that identifies your core beliefs and values. Steven Covey, famed author and motivational speaker, says developing a personal mission statement connects a person with his "own unique purpose and the profound satisfaction that comes from fulfilling it."

A life statement should spell out clearly your reason for living, and explain your values and purpose in life. Your values are what you cherish, what you give the most worth. Values determine where you spend your energy and time. Your values influence your daily choices and establish what is most important to you. Creating and refining your life statement is an unending process, because life is constantly changing. Creating a life statement can help the professional and the student working toward certification grasp a better understanding of the process in developing a mission statement for the business they are part of. For the homeowner, the process of composing a life statement can bring individual goals into focus and help in designing electronic systems that will fit his family's lifestyle.

A life statement is your own personal view of yourself and what you want out of life. It will vary greatly from person to person. To stimulate your thinking, here are some power words:

Creative
Ambitious
Honest
Conscientious
Intelligent
Compassionate
Problem solver
Passionate
Analytical
Decisive
Leader

Your life statement may or may not contain any of these words. If you can't think of a single word at first, write a list of words you think appropriate, and then narrow it down to only one. A worksheet is shown in Figure 1 to assist you in this process.

In one word, what trait do you most want to pass to your children?

Name a person who is important to you, and give one word that describes him or her.

In one word, what is the primary quality you look for in a life partner?

In one word, describe yourself.

In one word, what everyone should be.

Use each of the five words you wrote above to create a separate sentence for each. Combine these five sentences into two or three to create your life statement.

Your Homework: Create Your Life Statement

The following is an example of a life statement.

To work 10% less every year and make 10% more.

What does this life statement say to you? Take a few minutes and think about this.

For me it says the owner is going to focus on steady slow growth within the company. Risks will be carefully weighed and decisions will not be made based upon ego. No big flashy projects or fleets of shiny installation vehicles, just simple and solid business methodology.

Take a few minutes and fill out the life statement worksheet shown in Figure 1.

So far we have determined where in the market you see your company and how the company supports your life. Next week we look at creating a mission statement for your company. Spread the word, design, and enjoy the journey!

Distributed Home Lighting Control Design

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:13:00 +0000

Home lighting design can be accomplished in one of three ways: distributed, central and hybrid (a combination of the first two). In this series of three articles, we'll focus on each type of lighting design and discuss the pros and cons of each design.

Distributed Design

The design used in traditional lighting control systems is the distributed lighting system. Each of the lighting switches or dimmers is distributed throughout the home (see Figure 1). When integrated lighting control is added, the ordinary switches and dimmers are replaced with "smart" switches. The "smart" switches communicate with a processor that tells the lights how to respond in different scenarios, such as daytime or nighttime.

Figure 1 shows a distributed lighting system, which still has regular lighting switches or dimmers in the home. The illustration depicts a hallway and a room. The hallway has two sets of lights, and requires three–way switching to accommodate each end of the hallway. The room has four sets of lights with dimmers placed at the bottom entrance, and three–way switches placed at the top entrance. In this design the switches are easy to operate, but the quantity of them can create usability problems. In other words, to turn the lights on or off, you'd have a time consuming chore getting to all of them, especially in a large home with multiple rooms like the one illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Distributed Dimmer Design

In-Line Dimmer Control

Distributed dimmers and switches are available in three major types of communications:

Power Line Carrier Dimmers: Power Line Carrier dimmers (PLC) use the home's existing AC wiring to provide communication between keypads, dimmers and system controllers. No modification or redesign of AC lines is needed, which makes PLC dimmers a good choice for retrofit projects. These dimmers tend to be lower in cost than RF (radio frequency) dimmers, but they are subject to interference on the AC line, and their slower communication makes controlling multiple dimmers at the same time somewhat difficult.
Radio Frequency Dimmers: Radio Frequency (RF) dimmers use RF communication technology to ensure reliable wireless communication between dimmers, keypads, and the system controller. These dimmers can be installed in any home because they simply replace the existing dimmers. They are reliable, are easy to install, and have relatively robust communications. These systems tend to have less functionality than hard-wired systems. However, it should be noted that many of the traditional hard-wired systems are now being enhanced by the addition of wireless RF dimmers.
Hard-Wired Dimmers: Hard-wired dimmers use communication from a low-voltage cable going to the dimmer and back to the main processor for the integrated system. They have a lower cost than other types of dimmers, their communications are reliable, and they integrate easily into an overall integrated control system. Great! There must be a catch. The major drawback to these types of dimmers is that they require low-voltage cabling to each dimmer, and as such, have a limited place in retrofit applications. In addition, accommodating both high– and low–voltage signals and cables at the dimmer is difficult from an installation point of view.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Distributed Design

Some of the benefits and drawbacks of distributed home lighting design are:

Drawbacks

Wall Clutter: The major issue with this type of switch design is the sheer number of switches located throughout the home; most people are not used to seeing multiple locations with four switches each. As this can be confusing to anyone unfamiliar with the home, it is best to attempt to have no more than two switches at any single location.
Large Loads: Because the dimmers occupy a small place, the size of a standard light switch, they are limited in the size of the load (measured in Watts). For larger loads, say approximately 1000 Watts, a power booster is required between the dimmer and the load, which requires additional cabling.

Benefits

Simple Control: A switch or dimmer placed in the wall is familiar to all of us. We instinctively know that flipping the switch causes the lights to come on or off.
Fail–Safe Operation: A distributed design allows control of the lighting "the old fashioned way" by manually turning lights on and off, in case the integrated control system were to go down (thus disabling the keypads). This is very handy, not only because it provides convenience for your customer, but it also allows usage of the lighting in the event of a system failure.
Retrofit: Non "smart" dimmers and switches can be replaced with "smart" switches, thus allowing existing homes to upgrade to lighting control.

Article Keywords

distributed lighting system: "Classic" lighting system where each fixture or group of fixtures throughout the room is controlled individually by a switch on the wall.
Power Line Carrier (PLC): Lighting system that uses the same AC wires that provide power to the fixtures to communicate control instructions to devices.
Radio Frequency (RF): The range is from a few thousand times per second up to billions of times per second.
Hard-wired: A system using wires to communicate rather than through the air (or wireless).

Using a distributed lighting control design in an existing home or new home has its advantages and disadvantages. What has been your experience? Next week we'll take a look at the design of a centralized control system used in a modern digital home.

Television Outlet

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:30:00 +0000

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Before you get started reading this week's article, you may wish to take a look at the first article in this series.

Television Outlet

HDMI: High-definition media interface — A compact audio/video connector interface used to transmit uncompressed digital streams.
HDMI extender: A pair of electronic devices placed at either end of UTP cable, which sends and receives HDMI cables.
CATV: Cable television also known as community antenna television or community access television.
TO: Telecommunications Outlet — Provides the interface between the structured cabling system and the consumer equipment.
DD: Distribution Device — Brings together outlet cabling and equipment cabling.
Termination: The process of applying a connector to a cable.
av switcher: A device used to switch audio/ video sources to a single output.

The purpose of a television outlet is obviously to provide access for television. What do we mean by television these days? It comes in a wide variety of options, such as cable television, satellite, off-air, DVD, Blu-ray, computer display, video servers, the list goes on. What I have attempted to do is create an outlet that covers a broad range of devices. To that end our outlet has the following:

HDMI — For this I have chosen an in-wall product from Extron (model 201), though keep in mind there are many excellent HDMI extender products. What I did want to create is a finished outlet, so I chose an extender that is provided in a Decora finish. This extender works on two UTP cables, and the distance of the cables depend on the rating. I have chosen a shielded category 6 cable, which provides 1080p HDTV up to 125 feet (38 m).
CATV — This jack has a black RG6-QD cable. It can be used for cable television, or a second feed for satellite, allowing both play and record simultaneously.
Satellite — This jack has a white RG6-QD cable. Note I have chosen two different color cables, allowing easy distinction at both the TO (telecommunications outlet) and DO (distribution device) locations. Using a strict color code for your entire project allows the termination crew to quickly understand the termination requirement of the project. They simply terminate each cable into a panel and connector type based upon the cable color.
Networking — We cannot have enough networking support, as so many of the television source devices now sit on the home network.

Figure 1. Television Outlet

A long time ago …

The first plasma television that I designed into a client's home was in 1996, and it had s-video connections. I placed the s-video cable into the wall and the picture was incredible, leaving the client very happy. However, several years later the client wished to upgrade the screen, but by now component video had taken s-video's place in the market. This created a real problem for us, and the client was not happy to hear the wall had to be broken into and replaced with a new cable (component video). With this accomplished the picture really looked incredible, even better than the last screen. Fast forward, and what do you think happened? Yup, HDMI came out and we upgraded that screen again, and again replaced the cable.

The lesson I learned is to always run conduit to your flat screen cables. Allowing for upgrades in video, audio, and control signals to the television. The same holds true for projection based systems.

Place a television outlet in any location that is going to receive a television. Well that's right, but the location of the equipment that feeds the television (such as satellite receivers, Blu-ray players and so on) must be accommodated. Figure 2 shows a room with a flat screen television hung on the wall, which has no room for the source equipment. As a result, I have placed the outlet not behind the flat screen, but inside a closet attached to the room. From the outlet location, I chose to run speaker cable to the speakers and install a conduit for the TV cables.

With this setup a number of scenarios are covered.

Internal TV Tuner — If the flat screen has an internal tuner, then one or both of the coaxial cables can be extended from the outlet through the conduit to the television.
HDMI Sources — If there are several HDMI sources, such as satellite receiver and Blu-ray player, then an av switcher can be placed in the closet, and a single HDMI cable brought to the flat screen through the conduit. Then the consumer can switch easily among the HDMI sources and the cost is kept down by using only one HDMI cable.
Speakers — The audio output from the television can be brought through the conduit to an amplifier located in the closet, and from there to the speakers.
Centralized Sources — If there are sources located at a central equipment area, these can be brought into the room via the HDMI outlet, which is part of the TV outlet.

Figure 2. TV Outlet Placed in Closet

A TV outlet is no longer as simple as a plug in the wall for electricity; today there are actually a number of design factors that must be considered for functionality and placement. Planning for future possibilities saves time and money down the road for you and your customer. In my next article, I will investigate a surround sound outlet.

Mario Leone — is a Senior Partner with Electronic Solutions Company (ESC), an electronic engineering consulting firm providing consulting and systems engineering services to manufacturers, custom designers, installers, and end-users in the residential and commercial markets. Mario's 35+ years of experience spans security, lighting, audio/video, HVAC, general contracting, systems integration, and engineering.

He has served on several standards committees for the EIA and IEEE, and is currently chairing the CEDIA Technology Council's Applied Information Action Team and co-chairing the CEDIA/CEA R10 Residential Systems Committee. Mario is a CEDIA Subject Matter Expert, Certified Professional Designer, Certified Home Theater Designer, and Certified Instructor.

Home Tek Design

Digital Video Resolution

Digital Video Resolution

Standard Definition Television (SDTV)

High Definition Television (HDTV)

Total Resolution

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Core Beliefs

Core Beliefs

Figure 1. Core Beliefs Worksheet

Your Homework: Create Your Core Beliefs

Share

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Hybrid Home Lighting Control Design

Hybrid Design

Benefits and Drawbacks of Centralized Design

Drawbacks

Benefits

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Surround Sound Outlet

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Telephone & Networking Outlet

Television Outlet

Surround Sound Outlet

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Digital Video

Digital Video

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Create Your Mission Statement

Mission Statement

Figure 1. Mission Worksheet

Creating Your Mission Statement

Questions to help you think about your role in your company.

Questions to help you determine the purpose of your company.

Questions to help you determine your company's business.

Questions to help you define and document your company's values.

Microsoft's Mission Statement

Your Homework: Create Your Mission Statement

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Mission Discussion

Centralized Home Lighting Control Design

Centralized Design

Let there be light!

Benefits and Drawbacks of Centralized Design

Drawbacks

Benefits

Article Keywords

Create Your Life Statement

Your Life Statement

Figure 1. Life Statement Worksheet

Your Homework: Create Your Life Statement

Share

Distributed Home Lighting Control Design

Distributed Design

In-Line Dimmer Control

Benefits and Drawbacks of Distributed Design

Drawbacks

Benefits

Article Keywords

Television Outlet

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Telephone & Networking Outlet

Television Outlet

A long time ago …