News

Philips upgrades Pronto remotes to enable advanced two-way multi-room control (11/12/2007)

Stand K10, Integrated Systems Europe 2008

Philips successfully introduced a significant upgrade to its award-winning Pronto home control system to allow two-way multi-room control in a mid-end touch-panel unit. The add-on, called ProntoScript, is available for the Pronto TSU9600 and TSU9400 models. The latest release of the ProntoEdit Professional editing software, available as a free download from www.pronto.philips.com, includes the Prontoscript tool that enables two-way communication with the Philips Pronto remote.

The increasing integration of home entertainment and automation systems, together with the advent of multi-room A/V servers that allow content to be shared throughout the house, has driven consumer demand to control and monitor diverse home systems from a single device.

The Philips Pronto TSU9600 and TSU9400 control panels with ProntoScript provide a completely integrated two-way home control solution in affordable, easy-to-use touch-panels. The units can receive feedback from RS232 or IP-controlled devices in real-time, providing advanced two-way functionality beyond controlling home entertainment and automation systems. The Philips Pronto TSU9600 and TSU9400 with ProntoScript allow the user, for example, to check whether the lights are currently on in a given room, consult temperature levels of HVAC systems or quickly read volume levels for A/V devices - all from the screen of the control panel.

ProntoScript allows custom installers to easily configure system feedback and dynamic user interfaces on the Pronto control panel by selecting from a list of pre-configured modules, downloadable via www.prontoscript.com. Thanks to its straightforward, JavaScript-based, programming language, ProntoScript also offers the ability for custom installers to write simple modules to further enhance customization and adapt to set-ups to particular client needs. Several manufacturers have already joined the Philips Pronto partnership program to enable their equipment to work with the Pronto TSU9600 and TSU9400, with many more manufacturers expected to deliver modules in 2008.

Some examples of modules already available:

* In the lighting domain, Lutron HomeWorks, DynaLite, LiteTouch and Helvar are supported.
* With HVAC equipment, Aprilaire Systems and Carrier solutions are supported.
* In A/V Servers: Escient Fireball DVD and Music Managers, Escient Vision products, Imerge SoundServer S3000 and Xiva supported music servers (Elan VIA! DJ series 2, Revox M37 mkII, Niles DMS4, SpeakerCraft Mode Jukebox and Xantech Xmusic W+), NuVo, Arcam and Kaleidescape Server Systems are supported.
* For high-end amplifiers, two-way communication (e.g., volume feedback) with Denon, Marantz, Yamaha and Onkyo models is supported.
* For multipurpose systems integration, Hai, HAL and Vantage modules are developed.

More details on the Pronto portfolio:

The vertically aligned Pronto TSU9400, winner of a 2008 CEA Innovations award, is a hybrid of full functionality. This ultra-thin remote features a stunning 3.5-inch QVGA color touchscreen and can blend into practically any modern interior with its designer looks and geometric aluminum and black gloss finishing. Sensational design and a breathtaking color display give the Pronto TSU9600 instant appeal. The landscape control panel features a razor-sharp top-of-the-line 3.7 inch touch-screen display with full VGA. To support total home control and multi-room wireless and wired remote control installations, the RFX9600 serial extender and the RFX9400 wireless extender seamlessly integrate with both the TSU9400 and TSU9600.

www.pronto.philips.com