We are hiring! We are seeking the right technician to help us grow. The candidate needs to possess a positive can-do attitude and be ready to join a growing company and help take us to the next level. Candidate should possess knowledge and familiarity with control systems, audio/video networks, security systems, and infrastructure installation. If you feel you have the energy and experience and are ready to take your career to the next level please send a resume and cover letter to stephanie@HTandA.com. No phone calls please.

We are excited to say that our Parade home took first place in all seven categories for the Southwest Idaho Parade of Homes! Our home, constructed by Whitney Homes and located in Meridian, had phenomenal response over the weekend. The home features a Control4 home control system that was recently featured on Oprah that integrates lighting, security, audio, video, and media management into one interface that is easily accessible anywhere in the home. Contact us today to set up a time to see this great home!

Wow! I was just on our website and noticed the last time we posted anything was August! Gosh am I embarrassed. We have been busy developing new product relationships, adding manpower, and trying to manage rapid growth. There are a lot of very exciting things going on right now at HT&A so I will try and be brief so that I can hit them all.

First, we just moved into a new office in Meridian and are very excited about getting the showroom up and going. Stay posted by subscribing to our newsletter (left column of our site) and we'll send out a press release when we have our grand opening, but right now we are planning on opening the doors at the end of April. We will have a front projection system set up with full surround sound, an automation system showing lighting and audio/video control, and even a touch screen or two to show some of the fun stuff we can add to your home.

Second, we have the Parade of Homes coming up April 26th through May 11th. We have a wonderful home built by Whitney Homes in the Parade where we will be demonstrating lighting control, surround sound, and multi-room audio every Saturday and Sunday during the show. Stay tuned because we will be adding videos to our website of the Parade Home so you can know what to expect.

Third, we have joined many organizations throughout the Treasure Valley and at the national level. We are now an active member and certified company with CEDIA. CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association) is a national organization that has very strict standards regarding member performance and professionalism, giving clients the security that the company they have selected is honest and reputable. We have also joined the National Remodeling Association, Interior Designers of Idaho, and the Local Building Association. As a member of these organizations we must follow a strict code of ethics to maintain good standing, giving you the client the assurance that using HT&A as your Electronic Systems Contractor was a smart choice.

Fourth, we have added Escient Vision media servers to our repertoire. Talk about exciting, this is a hard drive based movie storage system that can allow up to 600 movies to be stored electronically, allowing you to pack away your DVDs. With the Vision system all DVD content is stored on a hard drive, allowing you to quickly and easily access any movie via a simple, intuitive on-screen menu. This is a revolutionary product that will surely blow your mind away. Stay tuned for more details.

And lastly, we are featuring a new product that will allow full control of your garage door, whether you are home or away. With this product by Card-Access you know whether your garage door is open or closed (from anywhere in the world), and have the ability to open or close it automatically (based on time of day or events) or via a webtool anywhere in the world. Contact us today to get more information on this amazing product!

Thank you for your interest in HT&A!

CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association) Expo is coming the 1st week in September! We will be sending an employee to the show to check out all the new products, including the Algolith video scalers, Yamaha's new flagship RX-Z11, new biometric (fingerprint) scanners for home security, home control applications for your cell phone (ControlThink), and too many more to list!

If you have any interests in specific new products give us a call or drop us an email with the manufacturer name and we'll add it to our list of companies to check out, then fill you in with all the details when we return.

So make sure and tie in over the next couple weeks to get all the details from the show!

We attended a training session last week and discovered an interesting fact. During the training session the trainer asked how many companies in the room owned an SPL (sound pressure level) meter. Of the 28 people present in the room, only one other company raised their hand!

An SPL meter is critical to proper set up and calibration of a theater. Even with today's automated calibration programs an SPL meter is still required for calibration and confirmation of SPLs. We always carry an SPL meter in the truck to make sure that your system is calibrated correctly.

So when you are interviewing companies to address your low voltage needs make sure they have the tools and training to integrate your low voltage system the right way.

We strive every day to impress our clients. We recently received a comment card from Russ and Sunny of Meridian that said, "Your company is one of the finest vendors we have ever done business with."

Every day we focus on improving our client experience and providing our clients with what they want, fast prompt service that is high quality, reasonably priced, and focused on them.

Give us a call today to find out what we can do for you!

We continue to grow with more and more people experiencing the HT&A difference. Whether it be the top notch customer service, reasonable prices, attention to detail, or open, honest communication, more and more homeowners and builders are realizing that there is a trained, high quality low voltage contractor in the Treasure Valley !

We were on a service call recently and upon completion the client said, "Wow, I have never, in my life, experienced customer service like what you provide." Ron from Eagle is an older gentlemen, so it was great hearing that even people who remember the old days of service and support still rate us great.

So if you are thinking about adding an addition, remodeling, or building a new home, give us a call! We guarantee that you will be surprised at the level of support, professionalism, and quality.

DirecTV just finished up their first annual trade show, with booths by many of the DirecTV partners. The most amazing news was the launch of a 20" LCD TV with integrated satellite box. And with a price of only $499 it is a great solution for those kitchen or nook applications. It comes with a tabletop stand and is fully wall mount compatible.

Also exciting was DirecTV's press release of over 70 HD channels by late fall. And these aren't weak channels that nobody watches. Channels will include TBS, Comedy Central, and many more big names. Stay tuned for more announcements over the summer.

There is lots of exciting news coming from DirecTV these days, whether it be the new roster of HD channels, the phenomenally successful HD-DVR, or the specialty sports channels like NFL Sunday Ticket, NASCAR HotPass, or March Madness.

P.S. There is rumor of a black HD-DVR coming...stay tuned.

The Electronic House Expo is focused on products to make your life easier. And this year they didn't disappoint. With wireless HD video broadcasting from Gefen, great audio/video/HVAC/security integration opportunities from Netstreams, and Z-wave integration from HAI, the show was full of products that can add value to your home today.

For those front projector fans out there the big news was from JVC. Their new DLA-RS1 is simply the most amazing projector I have ever seen. JVC was feeding it 1080 from HD-DVD onto a 120" 2:35 (cinescope) screen. The image was so sharp I could stand three feet from the image and still not see pixelation. And the most amazing part is that the unit only runs $6299. When you are ready to truly bring the theater home there is not a better projector out there.

We also saw some great products out there for the control system side. Z-wave lighting has officially launched from Leviton under the Vizia RF brand. I don't mean to go crazy, but Z-wave will revolutionize the home control system. The protocol brings so much to the table that there is no way I could explain it all in this article. If you would like more information just drop me a line at eric@HTandA.com and I can answer any questions you may have. There was also a great hard drive based DVD media server from Axonix. The solution is 1/3 the price of Kalidescape with even more functionality. Another great solution is the new wireless HD media streamer from Gefen. Due to launch in the next couple months, this will make remodel home theaters possible even when ceiling access isn't available. Drop us a line if you'd like to be updated when they are available. LifeWare also had a great display. For those that aren't familiar, LifeWare is a software application that runs on top of Windows Media Center for whole home control. If you have cable for your home entertainment there is no better way to integrate your home than with LifeWare.

However the product we were most excited about at the show is actually a family of products from Honeywell. Basically it is a home control system for integrating your security, lighting, HVAC, and audio at prices and usability that are unmatched in the industry. It sounds a little far fetched so we will be doing beta testing on the hardware over the next couple months to determine it's true value. If you'd like updates throughout the process just drop me an email at eric@HTandA.com.

Thank you for visiting our site and as always if there are any questions we can answer feel free to call or email.

For those that have been out of the loop, there is a pretty big VHS/BetaMax battle going on right now for the seat of the next generation in DVDs, high definition DVD. On one side is Blu-Ray Disc, with higher single layer capacity (and therefore possibly higher overall disc capacity). On the other side is HD-DVD, with less capacity per layer, but much less expensive hardware.

Because our main focus as a company is to support those technologies that are in the best interest for the customers of the A/V industry, we back HD-DVD. Without going into the extraneous details, there are four reasons for this.

One, content. As of 1/31 Amazon has 191 HD-DVD titles, yet only 141 Blu-Ray discs. Second, player cost. Most players for Blu-Ray are still around $1,000 (unless you can find a PS3), whereas HD-DVD players can be had for $500 and as little as $200 if you have an Xbox 360. Third, quality. Review after review shows that HD-DVD continues to produce a better quality image than Blu-Ray. And fourth, the additional capacity of Blu-Ray does not provide any immediate value to the end customer, because a full 1080p resolution movie fits on an HD-DVD with room to spare.

So when reviewing the facts we believe HD-DVD is the best choice for our customers. If you have any comments or questions about this or any other articles please feel free to send me an email at eric@HTandA.com.

1080 vs. 720, Which is Better?

With the drastic drop in prices on projectors, many are wondering if they should make the jump (both in resolution and price) from 720 to 1080. Before immediately jumping on the ‘higher resolution is better’ bandwagon, let’s back up a little bit and talk about the two HD resolutions.

With the current limits on cable/satellite bandwidth, the highest resolutions available for the foreseeable future are 720-progressive and 1080-interlaced. Because the 720 resolution is progressive it is more adapt at displaying fast moving activity, such as sports or action (airplanes, cars, etc). On the other hand 1080, with its obviously higher resolution, is better at fine detail items such as scenery. Knowing this, it is safe to say that a 720p projector will be better at displaying 720p content and a 1080i projector will better at displaying 1080i content because the source will not have to be rescaled to meet the resolution of the projector.

So when choosing the resolution for your new projector, take into account what type of broadcast material you will be watching. And keep in mind that HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are capable of 1080p, so if you watch a lot of movies then a 1080 projector is definitely worth some thought. Although 1080 projectors are still about double the price of their 720 counterparts, if you watch a lot of movies or a lot of 1080 broadcast sources then the extra cost may be well worth the improved viewing experience.

As many are aware we have seen some huge price drops in plasma and LCDs over the past couple months. For example, one of the standard 42" plasma TVs we carry has came down about $400 just over the past four months. Now that the holidays are over the pricing has stabilized, so if you are thinking about upgrading to a thin TV that can be hung on the wall, there is no time like the present. Give us a call today to find out how easy it can be to get rid of that big, heavy TV and replace it with a high definition unit that you'll really enjoy.

With CES (Consumer Electronics Show) now complete many are wondering what is new in the home technology market. Although the show was great with lots of new products, there was one item that basically stole the show. Vista, the new operating system from Microsoft, is the first system to really make some waves in the residential A/V market. As many of you know, up till now HT&A has not recommended media center PCs. Although they can bring significant value to the media side of the home, the reliability history and compatibility issues associated with Windows have prevented us from wanting to recommend them to our customers. However, Vista appears to be the tipping point. With significant enhancements that will allow easier, more compatible integration into a home, the Windows system may be ready for our media rooms. HT&A will begin full evaluation once the system is released, so stay tuned for updates.

We'll have another update next week on 1080 vs. 720 projectors and what is the best choice for you, so stay tuned!

Definitive Technology, the leader in high performance loudspeakers, is now available in the Treasure Valley through Home Theater & Automation. HT&A is proud to carry the Definitive line and believes that their technology, product offerings, and value are best in the industry. And with their bipole towers, in-walls, and in-celing solutions, they have a speaker for almost any installation. Our private demo room is currently set up with four of their Mythos Gems and a Supercube subwoofer. Give us a call if you would like to experience bipolar surround systems.

Visit www.definitivetech.com for more information.

HT&A, LLC adds computerized label printing to all installations, resulting in improved readability to the customer and faster installations, saving end users money.