‘Smart wiring’
‘Home networking’
‘Connected homes’

However it’s marketed, smart wiring is becoming an important factor as the nbn is implemented throughout Australia. We’re suddenly connected with internet speed unseen before and its’ opened up the opportunity to utilise fast internet in all areas of our home. And herein lies the problem. If your home is not cabled and ready to distribute, an opportunity is being missed.

In essence, smart wiring is the convergence of various technologies into one platform. Network communications, security, lighting, solar panels and battery storage, blinds, free-to-air TV, satellite TV, audio visual communications, speakers, intercoms, door locks, air-conditioning systems and others are all wired into a single location and integrated to allow for seamless control of all these applications. It’s amazing technology. At times it’s beautiful to watch and control.

It’s also not new. Technology like this is commonplace in commercial sectors. It has been around for decades. The same practices are emerging in the residential market. While companies like AMX and Crestron dominate commercial automation, we see companies like Elan, Logitech, Push, Savant and Control4 dominating the residential scene. Even Clipsal (and their renowned lighting control arm, Cbus) are moving into the home automation market.

It’s an exciting time to build a new house. Depending on your budget and your requirements, you should cable for the future. Don’t let naysayers convince you that connecting technology within your house is a trend. Even if you don’t see value with running cables everywhere (and don’t forget spares) include it in your budget, because in ten years it will be expensive to retrofit. This is a real problem I’m personally facing now – in an older house with limited cabling access. Even if you have no intention to automate your new home, have a cabling backbone installed to allow for this to easily be retrofit. It is a valid selling point if you ever move to offload your home.

Here are a few things to remember when preparing to automate your home:

• Write a list of applications you wish to integrate.
• Do some research on the automation brands available and make sure they meet your requirements.
• Talk to your audiovisual integrator, builder or electrician about your requirements.
• When dealing with a builder or an electrician, don’t be afraid to bring in your preferred audiovisual integrator. Some builders align with a few smart wiring companies who have been known to charge exorbitant rates for basic systems.
• Ensure adequate wireless coverage throughout your house.
• Run spare cabling to most (if not all) wired points in the house.
• Request high quality cabling (eg for video transmission over Ethernet request shielded cat6A cable).
• Ensure you have experienced technicians/commissioners/programmers working to complete your system.

Finally, embrace the wonderful world of automation. There is a wealth of control available at your fingertips, and when implemented correctly, will improve your relationship with technology at home tenfold.

You’ve decided to buy a UHD 4K TV – those gorgeous televisions that deliver four times the resolution of HD – and you’ve also decided the brand you want, screen size, and if you should go curved or flat.
But wait. There’s one more thing you need to choose, and it’s a big one: panel technology.

Let’s start with the oldest and cheapest technology - LED LCD.
As opposed to conventional LCD TVs, which use fluro tubes to light up the screen, LED-based LCD TVs use "light-emitting diodes" behind the liquid crystals. The advantages to a back-lit or edge-lit LED TV are:

• Vastly improved contrast levels over fluorescent-based LCD TVs - which means deeper blacks
• A much brighter screen, and with richer and more vibrant colours
• Thinner and lighter, which make them easier to mount on a wall
• More eco-friendly, because they consume less power than competing technologies

While somewhat older technology than OLED and quantum dot, LED TVs will be the least expensive and have the greatest selection in size  and brand.

OLED

LG’s super thin OLED TVs have won several awards for their outstanding picture.
More recent OLED TVs (Organic LEDs) are made from materials that emit light when electricity is run through them. Many devices (such as smartphones) use OLED panels because of the advantages they bring:

• OLED TVs are incredibly thin because each pixel (dot) is its own light source, therefore no backlighting is required. Most OLED TVs are only a few millimeters thick. OLED TVs are slimmer than LED TVs and quantum dot (QLED) televisions.
  
• These televisions deliver unrivalled contrast ratios and outstanding brightness compared to older LED-backlit TVs (the bigger the “nits” number, the higher the brightness). When your buying a TV, always ask about the nits.
  
• OLED TVs are much more energy efficient than other TV panel types as they sip rather than gulp electricity.
  

OLED TVs are generally sold in larger sizes: 55" and up. LG has the largest range of OLED televisions, but has recently been joined by Sony.
As you can imagine, new OLED televisions are priced accordingly. Using a 55-inch television as an example, LG’s 4K OLED TVs start at about $3,500 for a 2016 model, or up to $10,000 for its high end 2017 OLED television.

QLED/Quantum dot

Utilizing ‘quantum dots’ for amazing color, Samsung’s new QLED TVs are now in stores.
Instead of adopting OLED, Samsung has put all of it's eggs in the  “quantum dot” technology basket. Quantum dots are tiny “nano” crystals — microscopic dots as small as one billionth of a metre – which are a fraction of the width of a human hair. We’ll cover QLED momentarily, but some advantages to quantum dot:

• Quantum dot TVs can match the “infinite” contrast ratio of OLED, delivering hugely dark blacks and much whiter whites, and offer more nits (brightness) than OLED TVs.
  
• These TVs showcase a wider, more realistic color palette – especially when it comes to reds, greens, and cyans – compared with OLED-based displays.
  
• Unlike OLED materials, quantum dots are inorganic, which translates to longer-lasting displays and don’t suffer from any “burn-in” issues, though LG has developed technologies to counter this.
  

While not as thin as OLED TVs, quantum dot televisions are less expensive, starting at about $2000 for a 55-inch 2016 model.

So, what’s with QLED? These are Samsung’s recently unveiled next-generation quantum dot TVs.
Starting at $2,799 for its flagship 55-inch television, QLED utilizes a new and advanced metal alloy quantum dot material to achieve improved color accuracy, a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, and wider viewing angles (thanks to a new pixel structure).

So which should you buy? Really it comes down to your budget. If you have the money, its hard to pass up the appeal of a 2mm thick OLED TV. For me personally, I'd rather put that extra money into a bigger sized TV. Give me an 80" LED over a 55" OLED any day of the week. It's not going to look as crisp, but it'll sure impress the hell out of your friends.