Due to their flexibility and multi-purpose layouts, media rooms can be fun to design – until you have to incorporate the technology. From the TV display to the surround sound system, receiver, cabling, and more, interior designers and homeowners alike must be able to master the art of seamlessly blending A/V technology into their media room designs without intruding on style.

Our A/V professionals at Sound & Theater can help you craft the perfect media room with concealed and camouflaged audiovisual equipment and cabling so you never have to worry about bulky, obtrusive technology compromising your project in Orchard Park or the broader Western New York area.

Keep reading to explore three hidden A/V solutions we offer for a sightless, high-performance entertainment system in any media room.

SEE ALSO: 3 Ways Smart Technology Elevates Your Home’s Design

These SunBriteTV Models Are Your Top Contenders 

There’s a reason you don’t often see TVs installed in backyards and patios: The TVs found indoors are simply inadequate for outdoor use. Not only would their screens be virtually impossible to see due to sun glare, but their performance would quickly diminish from weather, temperature, and damaging UV rays. 

Fortunately, your dream of backyard entertaining at your home in the Ellicottville, New York area can still come true. SunBriteTV, the leader in outdoor televisions, offers three series of all-weather, ultra-bright LED-LCD TVs precisely designed for outdoor use. These TVs feature technologies that make them perfect for year-round outdoor use, from their durable aluminum casings that protect against insects and weather to their built-in heaters and fans that allow the TVs to operate in temperatures as low as -24 degrees and as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Explore each SunBriteTV model below to decide which would be an excellent addition to your outdoor entertainment system.  

Ditch Your Traditional Blinds & Drapes for Smart Shades 

Smart homes are on the rise largely in part to the convenience they bring to homeowners’ everyday lives, and motorized shades play a big role. Adjusting the blinds and drapes in your home is a daily recurring task, so why wouldn’t you want to automate it and save a few minutes for yourself?

Everyone likes to save time where they can, but motorized shades do so much more for you, too. Below, we lay out three unique advantages of motorized shades that traditional blinds and drapes just can’t beat at your home in the Amherst, New York area. Read on to learn more!

Wow Your Friends & Family with an Elevated Outdoor Entertainment System 

Spring is here, and it’s time to gear up for poolside parties, alfresco dining, and movie nights under the stars. But just how prepared is your backyard for months of outdoor entertainment? If you know your exterior living spaces could use an upgrade, now is the perfect time to get started as the weather here in Buffalo and Western New York continues to warm.

Explore three must-have technology solutions below for the ultimate outdoor entertainment system that will be sure to wow your guests, add value to your property, and elevate your lifestyle during the upcoming warmer months.

About the author: Jennifer Karami is a writer at Redfin, a modern real estate brokerage that uses technology to help people buy and sell homes. With a 1% listing fee and full-service agents, Redfin is redefining real estate in the consumer's favor.

Imagine walking into your living room, bowl of popcorn in hand, and telling Alexa to “dim the lights, turn up the sound, and play ESPN.” Just a decade ago this possibility was reserved only for superheroes and billionaires, but today, smart home technology makes it not only possible, but practical and affordable to upgrade your home’s IQ.

A smart home device uses WiFi to connect with other devices around the household. Together with smart hubs and virtual assistants, these devices make up a smart home ecosystem, in which you can automate a series of actions using voice commands.

The living room is an ideal space to start building a home theater, since most modern TVs, stereos, and entertainment devices are already WiFi-enabled. Whether you have a vision of hosting game days with friends, bonding over family movie nights, or simply enjoying Netflix from the comfort of your home, smart tech will take your home theater system to a new level. We’ll cover the main options for smart hubs, the latest audio/visual devices on the market, and explain how to sync them to work together seamlessly.

Choosing a smart home hub

Before buying all the shiny new devices for your home theater, you’ll want to choose a smart home hub. This is the AI-powered helper that will talk to you and allow you to control all your devices from one place. Hubs typically have three components: the virtual assistant (AI), the speaker (hardware), and the phone app. The biggest players in the market are Amazon, Google, Apple, and Samsung. Depending on your lifestyle, there are pros and cons to each option.

A Smart Home Installation Doesn’t Mean the Detriment of Your Property’s Style 

It’s a common misconception that smart technology hinders a property’s interior and exterior design. Many homeowners and designers still think a beautiful home and a future-forward smart home are mutually exclusive.

So, we’re here to set the record straight: Not only are today’s smart home installations perfectly fitting for any type of home design, but certain solutions can even add to your property’s style. Read below for three smart home technologies you can be sure will boost the fengshui inside and outside your Buffalo, NY home.

Your Residential Lighting Control Upgrade Made Easy 

Smart lighting control is not just a utility. It’s an aesthetic used to create ideal experiences for family and guests at your home. With the unparalleled convenience of one-touch controls and integrated scenes, it’s no wonder smart lighting control is making its way into new-construction projects at a growing rate.

But what if you’re looking to make a smart lighting upgrade in your Orchard Park, NY home that’s already built and lived in? Such a task would require tearing into your walls, rewiring all your lighting, and spending loads of cash on an extensive retrofit project, right? Think again!

Control4’s wireless residential lighting control solutions make it easy to upgrade your lighting control system without the hassle of gutting your home in the process. Keep reading to learn about Control4’s cost-effective wireless lighting control solutions below.

Turn a So-So Media Room Design into a Jaw-Dropping Experience 

There’s a lot of good to be said about home media rooms. Compared to home theaters, media rooms provide more flexibility for social events, from chatting with friends during the big Sabres game to hosting a movie night with family. To put it simply, media rooms are more practical for those who want to do more than just sit in a quiet, dark environment and watch films.

But because of their more “general-purpose” design, media rooms can lack the proper essentials needed for that jaw-dropping movie experience. So, how can you have your cake and eat it, too? Keep reading to learn about three media room design essentials that will turn any so-so media room in the Amherst, New York area into one that’s movie-buff approved.

Wow Clients and Staff with a Conference Room Design That’s a Step Above the Rest 

As a business manager, you have enough responsibilities to tackle without letting daily operations distract you from the bigger picture.

This year, turn your focus toward the success of internal operations by upgrading your office’s conference room design with top-grade technologies that improve operating efficiencies and put your Buffalo, NY business a step above the rest.

Ready to move your company forward? Prepare your conference room for the future with these four must-have technology solutions.

Here’s a Glimpse into the Future of Home Theater Displays 

Another year of the CES exposition has come and gone, and with it more than 188,000 techies who traveled to the show in Las Vegas. Every year, CES welcomes a wide range of companies, from tech titans to small startups, to show the world what technology innovations it can expect to see in the coming year.

Despite the sheer number of products showcased at CES every year, TV displays reliably steal the show. And this year didn’t disappoint. From whopping 219-inch displays and MicroLED technology to 8K picture and even rollable TVs, the exhibit floor was impressive.

If you stayed home in Amherst or in Western New York and missed the show, here’s a brief rundown of some of our favorite TV displays showcased at CES, some of which could even make their way into your next home theater installation.

Play Audio Throughout Your Home from a Variety of Sources 

Technology innovations today have taken the joy of listening to music in your home to new heights, especially with the streaming revolution. But if you still have love for old-school audio sources like CD players and turntables, don’t fret. You can also connect those sources to your home audio system for timeless listening.

Ready to revolutionize how you play audio throughout your Buffalo, NY home? Keep reading to learn about four sources from which you can play music, podcasts, and more on your home audio system.

Leave All Your Smart Home Dreams to Sound & Theater 

Popular smart-home platforms like Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple HomeKit are sparking a new wave of consumer technology trends that help make the home life easier. And at big-name stores, you can now purchase smart thermostats, smart surveillance cameras, lighting control, and more at affordable prices.

It seems like the array of consumer technology available would make it easy to create a robust smart home by yourself, right? If you think so, you might be asking yourself the wrong questions.

In this blog, we help guide you through the right questions for your smart home installation and discuss why you may want to hire a local professional instead here in the Clarence, New York area instead. That’s where Sound and Theater can help. Just keep reading to learn more!

Ready for Winter? With this Smart Home Addition, You Will Be. 

Forecasts may predict a milder-than-normal winter this year in the greater Buffalo area, but that doesn’t mean we won’t still see below-freezing temperatures and lots of snow. How do you prepare for the cold here in Western New York? Blankets, hot chocolate, and lots of layers is a start. But add motorized shades to that list, and you’ll see benefits that last all year long at home.

In this blog, we explore how motorized shades are the perfect smart home addition to keep your space warm this winter. You’ll learn how motorized shades can benefit you during every season, too! Just keep reading to learn more.

Let the Smart Home You Take Care of Also Take Care of You 

As IoT and automation become increasingly prevalent in our everyday home and work lives, we’re finding ourselves living a more sedentary lifestyle behind computers and other technology devices. To make things worse, the studies often pair the advancement of technology with growing health issues such as weight gain and higher risk of diseases.

So, we’re going to set things straight for those in the Buffalo, New York area. Your home automation system can foster your health in several ways that others might tend to overlook, from air-quality testing to simulated natural lighting and more.

Let us give you the facts. Keep reading to learn four ways your smart home can boost your wellness and encourage a healthy lifestyle.

These Home Theater Solutions Are Music to a Minimalist’s Ears 

There’s a lot of gear that goes into creating a high-end home theater. The equipment list starts with a projector, a screen display, and some speakers. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You must also consider source components, an A/V receiver, a remote-control system, acoustics, and other room accessories. And depending on your vision, the list can drag on.

So, if you lean toward a more minimalistic style, we get why a home theater system could seem like a great way to clutter your house with bulky technology and disarrange a clean, simplistic space.

Luckily for the minimalist in here in the Buffalo, NY area who desires the luxury of a home theater system, there are plenty of solutions that can complement your style. Read on to learn a few simple ways you can accomplish a clutter-free home theater.

Consider These Upgrades to Your Home Entertainment Systems 

The year is just beginning to wind down. The air is getting chilly, the Buffalo Bills are on the gridiron and you’re probably already planning your next big family gathering.

From the meals to the gifts and all of the quality time you get to spend with each other, you’re going to need something that connects the dots. Entertainment that everyone can enjoy may be just the trick.

Of course, that might mean you need to upgrade your home audio video system. In this blog, we’ll show you smart reasons to start enhancing your system now to get the most out of the holiday season.

Incorporate Intercom Anywhere into Your Home Automation System

Leaves and temperatures are falling in here New York, which means most people are switching gears for the holiday season. If we know anything about this time of year, it’s that with holiday cheer usually comes holiday stress. Parties, dinners, traveling, hosting and shopping are just some items on our to-do lists that tend to kick menial tasks to the curb.

We’re optimistic for those in the Williamsville area with a home automation system that can automate everyday tasks and keep their home controlled amid this season of chaos, but Control4’s new Intercom Anywhere solution can take your home connectivity to a whole new level of efficiency just in time for the holidays.

Read on to learn four ways Intercom Anywhere would be a perfect addition to your smart home system.