Articles and whitepapers

Product Article: Clever Media Control Multiroom AV (2/4/2007)

By John Turner, COMPUTERLINKS UK

Introduction

While the taditional multiroom custom installer may feel under gradual attack by mainstream IT companies, the huge customer benefits of storing media libraries of music, movies and pictures on Microsoft Media Center PCs 'matured' into a stable multiroom solution requiring CI expertise, means installers can also benefit.

The new Clever Media Control (CMC) range of products, available exclusively through Computerlinks UK, is designed to allow Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition (MCE) to sit at the heart of a whole-house digital media solution. The system provides a single, easy-to-use wireless tablet interface for viewing, searching and playing back media stored on MCE and for controlling a multiroom audio visual distribution system as well as other commonly-used entertainment products.

The CMC system can scale up from a simple single-source single-zone system to a six-source, six-zone implementation. Further expansion up to 12 sources can also be achieved using additional CMC products. CMC offers a full range of products for distributing and controlling multiroom audio and video including the Clever Media Control Server, the Clever Media Control Client CMCC, and the Clever Media Server CMS.

Example of a three-source, four-zone system

Clever Media Control Server (CMCS)

The CMCS application is a control protocol designed to provide network control of an MCE2005 and Vista Media Centre over a standard IP network. It also provides full control of any Media Centre Extender (MCX) attached to a master MCE PC such as the XBOX 360, which means that a single CMCS server can support up to 6 independent music streams.

The CMCS can be purchased 'pre-installed' on a Clever Media Server that offers up to 3.5TB of RAID protected storage, or as a software-only product to be installed on any standard Windows Media Centre Edition PC. It uses the Autonomic Home MCE Control Server to provide part of its feature set, which makes it compatible with both AMX and Creston control tablets.

Clever Media Control Client (CMCC)

The CMCC has been developed by Clever Technologies to provide an intuitive user interface for controlling all of the services offered by the CMCS, including a fully-featured music browsing interface complete with album artwork. Any music added to the MCE music library becomes instantly available within the CMCC interface.

Browsing by album using the Clever Media Control Client

Not only can a CMCC control one CMCS and multiple MCX devices but also multiple CMCS units. This provides even greater flexibility to cater for even the most demanding system requirements.

In addition, the CMCC also provides control of multiroom audio distribution products from NuVo and Russound. Commands are sent to the CMCS which queues the commands and forwards them to a Global Cache (IP to RS232/IR gateway) via IP. The Global Cache then forwards the commands to the Russound multiroom amplifier via an RS232 connection. Features include source selection, zone selection, party mode, per zone bass and treble controls and zone coupling.

Source selection view using the Clever Media Control Client

The CMCC has been optimised as a touchscreen application, making it ideal for installation on the latest generation of ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs) or tablet PCs, and it can also be installed on any Windows XP PC for maximum flexibility.

The Samsung Q1 UMPC

Multiple CMCC-enabled devices can be configured to provide multizone control, or a single CMCC device can be moved from zone to zone to provide control wherever it is needed. The CMCC also provides a touchscreen MCE remote control interface to control the entire Media Centre experience from any location.

MCE remote control view

The CMCC also offers a customisable remote control feature to allow control of just about any piece of audio/visual equipment through its XML-based universal remote and Global Cache interface. Currently, adding new devices is only supported by requesting the service through Computerlinks. Current product templates include support for Sky and Sky+ receivers.

Clever Media Server (CMS)

The CMS is a range of Media Centre-based network-attached storage solutions which can be used as centralised media centre systems or as CMC music/video sources (pre-installed with CMCS).

The CMS network-attached storage solutions

Example of a whole-house audio/video distribution system

Conclusion

The Clever Media Control system offers the benefits of being able to use wireless tablets to control multiple Media Center audio/video sources in any room within a home, having secure, scalable storage of media libraries, and making a sensible contribution to a custom installer's margin.

Whilst the product launches officially at the beginning of April 2007, we have worked with two Clever Media Control resellers during 2007 who have successfully installed CMC to control multiroom AV solutions they have been working on. One install into a Premiership footballer's house for example, even includes a 5.5TB CMS RAID storage array to accommodate his extensive media collection.

John Turner is the Head of Multimedia Networking at COMPUTERLINKS, a leading distributor of IP security and Internet technology solutions.

www.computerlinks.co.uk/multimedia