Crestron Digitalmedia Recognised as Best of 2009

Gary Kayye recently published his 2009 “Crystal Ball” prediction and announced the rAVe 2009 Top Products for the best up-and-coming products of the year.  Crestron DigitalMedia (DM) is one of only ten new products receiving this award.  In his article, Kayye noted that DM is a whole-house HDMI distribution system (along with all analogue audio and video, DVI, DisplayPort, Ethernet and USB) that includes an integrated Crestron control system and the ability to route virtually any signal input (such as uncompressed HD digital) to anywhere via Cat5e or Fiber.

Gary Kayye, consultant, columnist and publisher of rAVe (Publications), analyses technology and market trends, as well as evaluates and reviews new products.  Each year, Kayye offers his “Crystal Ball” predictions and recognises emerging technologies that will impact our world in the near future.  In his latest column he offered great confidence in Crestron as the industry moves into the digital age.

Kayye:  “Control is Key:  I predicted that the control market was close to an evolutionary revolution.  There are just too many things lining up in favour of it. I know that Crestron will be part of this evolutionary revolution, but I’m not sure about AMX.

The control system is the user interface to the entire AV-enabled room.  But, as technology has allowed for sleek software features (see just about any Crestron touchpanel at their trade show booth), nice aesthetic designs, and the use of Windows-enabled drivers, many clients are wondering, “why can’t I use a $1000.00 tablet PC to control all this stuff in the room and save myself $5000.00 on the price of a traditional touchpanel or even a $200.00 touchscreen like the iPod touch?”

“The answer is simple” The key to a successful control system isn’t in the hardware; it is in the software.  Actually, you can use a tablet PC … but who’s going to manage all the control protocols for each of the devices when they’re installed (much less a year later when the customer wants to add a new source to the system)?”

Crestron provides complete system integration and thousands of certified control modules as free downloads to authorised dealers and installers.  In fact, many of the latest Crestron systems do not even require programming.  Many systems now include simple software Wizards that guide the installer through the setup process.  Installing and configuring a Crestron system has never been easier.