Home Theater Control – It's The Remote, Stupid!

Written by Steve Faber


Continued from page 1

If you want a remote that controls everything, you need a remote with a lot of different buttons. This can makerepparttar remote a little intimidating. Sure it can do almost anything but make toast, but where to start? If you haverepparttar 149883 budget, now isrepparttar 149884 time to get a touch screen remote. With a touch screen, you typically have only a few actual buttons. These are typicallyrepparttar 149885 most used functions such as volume up / down, channel up / down, mute and possibly cursor functions.

All other buttons are just icons on a screen that you touch to initiaterepparttar 149886 desired command. The beauty of this approach is that you only need to have just a few icons onrepparttar 149887 screen at any one time. This really cuts down on button clutter and confusion. The icons can be graphical representations ofrepparttar 149888 command, which makes everything very intuitive. For example, you can have an “NBC” logo you touch to go torepparttar 149889 local NBC station.

Touchscreen remotes come in four basic variations. First there isrepparttar 149890 choice of color or grayscale. Color looks better and more information can be conveyed more quickly. Grayscale units are much less expensive. Next,repparttar 149891 communication withrepparttar 149892 remote can be one way or two way. Two way communication allows status to be updated onrepparttar 149893 remote itself. For example you can display album and artist information from a music server or checkrepparttar 149894 status of your security system or thermostats. Two way communication has been provided via a two way radio link, similar to a digital spread spectrum telephone.

The latest two way remote controls being introduced from companies such as AMX and Crestron use WiFi. This allows a whole host of other possibilities. The range is spectacular for one thing. You can roam around your entire home. On some units you can browserepparttar 149895 internet too. Imagine, you are watching a game but you want updates from aroundrepparttar 149896 league. Just go to ESPN.com on your remote and take a look.

The remote can really make or break your system. You can have an unusable system with 7 different remotes or a slick system that even visitors can use with no instruction. It’s all up to you, your budget and your programmer.

Steve has 15 yrs in electronics. He is a CEDIA certified designer with ISF and THX certificates. Experience includes: installer and programmer; system designer; business unit director for an a/v importer; sales rep for a CE distributor; and principal of a $1.5M+ CEDIA firm. He's now senior sales engineer for Digital Cinema Design in Redmond, WA. See him at The Home Theater and Automation Guide


Lean Manufacturing Through Factory Floor Innovation

Written by MDSS-Machine performance


Continued from page 1

So why not think creatively fromrepparttar get-go and put a factory floor information system in place that can help you and your company move forward with Lean concepts of identifying problems,repparttar 149856 flow of parts, and measure change over times? Just because Toyota did not use electronic information systems, does not make it wrong to install them onrepparttar 149857 floor. Torepparttar 149858 contrary, it isrepparttar 149859 American Manufacturer that hasrepparttar 149860 opportunity to improve on these Lean concepts with information systems that can be married into a Lean process improvement program. 1. Make surerepparttar 149861 entire factory floor is involved withrepparttar 149862 system and that they are empowered to identify problem/alert situations.

2. Allowrepparttar 149863 system to provide a JIT production approach, which is dynamic and can be reactive to customer and floor demands.

3. Find a way to record changeover times tracked to specific assets and people.

4. Identifyrepparttar 149864 opportunities for process improvement and keep a record of it.

5. Allowrepparttar 149865 floor personnel access to better communications like email where appropriate.

6. Improverepparttar 149866 operator’s access to data by providing electronic “paperless” display of current, as well as, newer style electronic image and video documents.

7. Makerepparttar 149867 quality checks part ofrepparttar 149868 process and capture it electronically so alert conditions of non-conformance conditions can be captured in real-time.

Implementation of Lean Manufacturing through a factory floor system can save time and money and put you inrepparttar 149869 driver seat towards more profitable production.

Think creatively. Use information tools creatively. Userepparttar 149870 information tools that are designed to improverepparttar 149871 process.

For more information, visit MDSS-manufacturing shop floor software company

About MDSS: Since 1984, MDSS has been a leader in the development, implementation, and support of software products for manufacturing companies. MDSS sells products that help manufacturers better manage inventory, shrink cycle time, and increase productivity. The current focus of MDSS is on FACTIVITY, a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) with modules for time and attendance, shop floor management, machine monitoring, and more.


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