Home AV Trends
2022 seemingly started the same as every year but will the effects of covid 19 quarantine, users are now reliant more than ever on in-home technology and the benefits of the solutions on offer. Due to non-essential travel effecting much of the UK we have seen growth in people online an increase of laptop/desktop users and an increase in users wanting to access Zoom meetings or facetime in their homes. Another growth area we’ve seem is live steaming media, commercial cinemas are no longer open, and it has been agreed by Hollywood for the first time ever that movies can be released direct to stream. Below are some of the solutions that have grown in popularity since the outbreak.
A Window to the World
Even in lockdown Smart TV maintenance & sales have been in demand, TV has become our window to the outside world, a source for news updates, entertainment or even as a large conferencing panel (if fitted with a camera solution) to converse with business and family contacts. With the Closure of cinemas users now more than ever want to experience 4k and gain access to the new steaming platforms like Disney plus and Netflix and 4k experiencing the best sound in the business with Dolby Atmos when accompanied with surround sound setups. A TV and a Dolby Atmos surround sound setup is seen as a good investment now as we look to live with longer than predicted lockdown restrictions.
Disney Plus
Disney plus was officially launched in the UK March 24, 2020. Disney Plus offers users to a large collection of Disney’s brands from Star Wars, Marvel and all the Disney classics as well as new original series like the popular Stars wars show “The Mandalorian”. Users can get a free one-week free taster session and after that its £59.99 a year or £5.99 a month on a rolling contract. Learn more below
Garden Media Cabins
Garden Offices have already been growing in popularity but are now super charged as stay at homers seek a quiet place to hide away and work from home. But garden offices are now evolving into a multifunctional spaces that can be utilised as a school house a craft room or a second bedroom or even vacation from the home and a source of entertainment in the form of a cinema, music room or a quiet sitting room to relax and lose yourself in a book. Want to set one up? See our guide below!
Garden Cinema
Bred from the love of the silver screen experience and spending time in the garden, open air theatres have grown in popularity recently, projectors are smaller now and production has become more efficient bringing the costs down enough to warrant having one. These small form factor devices can be easily setup and have inbuilt speakers for basic sound, straight out the box with a pegged white sheet get ready for instant movies, sporting events, parties or even packed it way and take it on holiday. Want to set one up? See our guide below!
Outdoor Kitchens
Another little vacation from the house idea that is an area of growth is outdoor kitchens. This is a great solution turning a space in your garden into an Al fresco dining experience with all the comforts and functionality of a fully-fledged in-door kitchen. These spaces are a much less labour intensive than building an extension and can be completed in a quarter of the time, as they are outside these structures can be completed easily following social distancing guidelines also. As a space it can be used for BBQ’s, Sporting events and movie nights & music listening enjoying your favourite media whilst cooking in domestic bliss.
Whole Home Wi-Fi
We have seen an increase in users upgrading routers, Power lines and POE Wi-Fi access points trying to improve Wi-Fi coverage for the whole home. But users have found the right solution really depends on how large your home is and the materials it’s made of, the majority of people living in a modern medium sized home router/hub placement is a good place to resolve issues normally having the router/hub in the middle of the house will get the best performance, powerlines are fine as long as the area you want the Wi-Fi to cover is not part of an extension to the building as that means it’s on a separate circuit and the repeater powerline plug will not see the master. Users that have larger homes or have had their home extended, POE Wi-Fi access points are your next port of call and also the best performing, this network of cables and wall mounted discs will provide Wi-Fi throughout a large home with seamless roaming and a range of 100 meters with standard Cat6 cabling.
Outdoor Wi-Fi
Outdoor Wi-Fi is also in demand as families are using the garden space more for home schooling, listening to music or setting up garden cinemas. Wi-Fi coverage in gardens is usually a black spot area because Wi-Fi signal strength decreases when going through an exterior wall. A Outdoor Wi-Fi system is powered from low volt POE (Power Over Ethernet) power is sent from a single network cable that connects back to the homes Hub/router, once connected you will get the same performance as if you were connected to the Wi-Fi right next to the router/hub
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