Over the many decades of evolution in the entertainment technology field, functionality has always been ‘coming together’ into increasingly capable solutions. To listen to high quality audio in the 1950s, you needed a preamplifier, a tuner and a power amplifier. These were the core components required to drive a set of loudspeakers. Harman was the first company to integrate all of these into what became known as the ‘receiver’. In the 1990s, home cinema became a reality for many consumers and receivers became multi-channel, capable of complex source switching, packed with acoustic adjustments and ready for expansion. As the years went on, receivers became networked hubs of digital multimedia, complete with remote access and the ability to be instantly calibrated for room-specific conditions, something that would have taken a team of technicians with microphones and computers many hours to accomplish but a few years ago.

So what will the future hold for A/V technology? If we stay on the path of coalescing features and functionality, one can expect that the AVRs of the future will grow to include more than just audio and video management. Imagine virtual reality, social media, email, and even multiplayer on-line gaming all built into your new home theater component! Computer processing is growing faster, more powerful and smaller with each passing day, so the integration of such functions is merely a chipset away. Imagine a receiver that knows where in the room you are sitting and adjusts output settings to optimize listening for that location. Similarly, it can apply specific parameters if your whole family is ready to enjoy the feature film.

Cool Home Technology will be at the forefront of this continued development in home entertainment. As a technology leader, we offer the knowledge and expertise that is a prerequisite in today’s ever-changing, networked digital world.