Information & advice

In an ideal world, connecting your audio-visual equipment together is relatively simple matter of connecting the outputs of your source equipment (possibly via an amplifier here or there) to the inputs of your display equipment and your speaker terminals. And then there's the real world!

If you don't want your audio-visual equipment on view, then you'll either want to put it in a cupboard or possibly put it in a completely different room.

The smart phone or tablet is rapidly becoming the universal remote control of choice, replacing the plethora of separate remote controls that lurk on coffee tables (and down the backs of the countless sofas) across the land!

The smart phone or tablet is rapidly becoming the universal remote control of choice, and now you can use it to control your X10-enabled electrical devices.

Home cinema is about recreating the ambience, atmosphere, tension and excitement of a true cinema auditorium, whilst adding a few home comforts - such as being able to pause and rewind the film, and not having to suffer interruptions from errant mobile phone owners, popcorn munchers or sweet wrapper rustlers!

You've got a smart AV cabinet for your Sky or Virgin box, DVD player, home cinema amplifer and games console. The result is neat and tidy, but now you have to have the cabinet doors open just so that you can change channels. Sound familiar?

You've got your Sky or Virgin box, DVD player, home cinema amplifer and games console in an AV cabinet, but the cabinet is tucked away out of sight, or even in a different room. Suddenly changing channels or pausing the DVD is a problem. Not any more!

It may be that you've distributed the outputs of your audio-visual equipment so that you can enjoy them in different rooms (not just the room where the kit is actually located). It may even be that you've followed the hot trend and hidden your Sky or Virgin box, DVD player and sound system completely out of the sight in the attic or a media room. Now you just have to work out how to control it all.

X10 is a way of automating and controlling electrical appliances around your home using the existing electrical wiring to transmit the control signals. In this article we look at how X10 works and introduce the main components of a typical X10 system.

The Opus 300 system is a simple, yet highly intuitive system for multi-room projects in any home. It's operated using discreet wall-mounted keypads and remotes which along with in-ceiling speakers are the only visible clues to its presence!