Home theater rooms are made to provide a captivating entertainment space where friends and families can gather to play games, enjoy movies, or watch sports during their free time. For a home in Little Rock, Arkansas, a child-friendly household was seeking to implement an immersive home theater experience that would provide an enormous wow effect without compromising simplicity for any of the system’s users. To create an amazing-looking installation, integrator FX Pros tapped RTI’s line of residential control solutions to turn a 378 square foot space into a spectacular home entertainment hub.

“The client was adamant on implementing a home theater system that was over-the-top in terms of entertainment value while appearing both unique and innovatively elaborate,” said Jeff Jenkins, Owner of FX Pros. “Primarily used by children with the occasional use by parents and guests, the comprehensive system needed to accommodate the preferences of different age groups while remaining incredible intuitive for both children playing video games and adults looking to just sit back and relax. To better manage energy usage should the children forget to turn off devices, the family sought to incorporate auto-off functions in addition to control capabilities that would allow parents to monitor the home theater system without actually being inside the room.”

To accommodate both adults and children in the household, integrator FX Pros installed dual 60-inch LED TVs in addition to a retractable 130-inch projection system. The dual displays provide an easy solution for children looking to play multiple gaming systems while allowing adults to watch TV simultaneously. For an even more immersive experience, users can drop down the big screen to watch any connected content source. Crown molding, RGB LED lighting, custom carpet, and handcrafted cabinetry for speakers and racks were implemented to provide an impressive yet cohesive appearance for the system. Subwoofers were also added directly to the room’s seating riser for an even more impressive audio effect. To keep the home theater system powerful yet incredibly easy to use, RTI’s RTiPanel app allows seamless navigation of each of the sourced components using instructional text boxes on almost every page — intuitively guiding users of all ages through any operation. With RTI’s KX7 7-inch in-wall touchpanel, users can obtain further direction through a voice guide, which follows each activity selection to add simplicity and more wow factor. For handheld control, RTI’s sleek T2X wireless controller provides further ease-of-use via the device’s completely customizable 2.8-inch color touchscreen interface.

To keep energy costs down and safeguard that all systems are properly powered down after use, the integrator turned to RTI’s XP-8s control processor to implement event scheduling, which ensures that all equipment is properly shut off at the end of each day. Featuring advanced control interface options including two-way RS-232, relay, routable IR, and Ethernet control, the XP-8s executes a nightly “Room Off” macro where it tests the state of the projector, the receiver, and both TVs before automatically powering down components. It then performs a test on lighting status to turn off any active lights as needed, making the installation extremely energy efficient. To provide parental control over the children’s home theater experience or whenever audio becomes a little too loud, the RTiPanel app allows adults to remotely control elements such as adjusting system volume, setting subwoofers to “night mode,” or muting bass sounds altogether from the convenience of their mobile phones. The RTiPanel also allows users to verify lighting status easily in order to double-check that all lights have been properly shut off.

RTI’s XP-8s allowed the integration of Numinus NuLED Spectradrive 16 RGB controllers — adding RGB LED lighting to the setup’s macro sequences. As a result, the execution of a “watch”, “listen”, or “play” macro changes the room’s lighting color depending on the selected source. For instance, watching content via Blu-ray changes the room’s lighting tint to blue while selecting Netflix fades the interior lights to red. Followed by white for Apple TV, green for Xbox360, and the activation of yellow wall lights whenever a user selects “Play PS3.” Upon selecting “watch”, the entire ceiling automatically switches to fiber optic lighting — allowing the users to add impressive lighting effects at the touch of a button.

“Initially a small space, we expanded the room to create an incredibly impressive, immersive, and easy-to-use home theater system for the home’s adults, children, and guests,” added Jenkins. “With dazzling video quality, all-around sleek control components, and a sensational look and feel, the room can be easily shared by different types of users without compromising any quality or usability elements. Extremely pleased with the installation, the homeowners have confessed that the children now spend most of their time in the room, and the space has now been claimed months in advance for upcoming sporting events. Using the power and flexibility of RTI’s control systems, we were able to turn a client’s vision into reality, creating a simply amazing family entertainment space.”