Look Beyond the Touchscreen With Crestron’s Newest Remotes!

Right now, many of us are hyper-focused on our home entertainment and automation systems since some of us aren’t venturing far beyond our property. Isn’t now the right time to optimize your automation and AV controls? Though hands-free control has grown more popular as we deal with the new coronavirus, sometimes nothing replaces the familiar control we get with a traditional remote control. Remote controls allow the tactile controls you’re used to, while backlighting features let you see how you’re navigating your remote, even if you’re watching in the dark.

Crestron released its TSR-310 and HR-310 remotes back in 2018, but Crestron home automation users enjoy their capabilities to this day. Click on our original blog post to learn more, and keep reading to learn some details about both remotes.

See the original blog post here!

Our world is full of touchscreens. According to Statista stats portal, 2.8 billion touchscreen devices were shipped worldwide in 2016 alone. You have to work hard these days to find a human being on the planet that hasn’t been exposed to one. The reason is straightforward: Touchscreens present intuitive interfaces for people to accomplish tasks without resorting to a help manual. The smartphone in our pocket proves that they work for a host of applications.

As much as we all love touchscreens, there are some times when they are not always the best control experience. Touchscreens require us to look at the screen to make a choice or perform a gesture.

When it comes to A/V control, the majority of remotes still have real buttons. Vendors have added app control to smart devices – from sophisticated devices like A/V receivers to simpler ones like Roku Streamers – to extend the control capabilities and allow for an alternative form of control. There are people, particularly of younger generations that grew up with touchscreens, that might prefer the smartphone as a remote control, as it is virtually always with you.

For A/V control, sometimes the touchscreen is not the best option. For many people, adjusting the volume is easier by feeling for the right button on a hard-button remote. That way, you don’t have to look down at a screen or light up a darkened room during a movie. Transport functions like play, pause, and fast forward can sometimes be more intuitive with real buttons too. Lastly, your smartphone is doing other things than remote control, and switching or starting apps for a simple function can be tedious.

Crestron has been in the A/V and home automation business since it began. They understand the control of devices and systems thoroughly. In this age of the screen, they still offer hard button remotes to allow the freedom to control your environment the way you want.

Read on to learn more about managing your A/V and home automation systems in the Roswell area with the new, advanced TSR-310 and HR-310 remotes for your Crestron control system. These are not your average complicated remotes though – they are designed to be customized for you.

SEE ALSO: Why Working with a Smart Home Company is a Smart Move

Advanced Design

Crestron thought hard about ergonomics and put everything it knows into the design of its new remote controls. The buttons are backlit, and it lights up when picked up. It uses stable and fast Wi-Fi for communication, so whatever device you are controlling responds reliably and instantly. The buttons are tactile and can be used by feel and muscle memory.

But there's more. For more complex functions in home automation, the TSR-310 remote also includes a capacitive 3-inch high-resolution screen. Yes, we still have a touchscreen for what touchscreens do best: present options that are harder to do with just a button. The touchscreen will allow for full customization using Crestron's robust Performance UI. Performance UI is Crestron's smart interface for its Pyng automation system, and the combination enables incredible customization on the TSR-310. The touchscreen controls can present beautiful custom icons and cover art for cable and TV channels, music, movies, radio stations, and more. You have the power of the touchscreen when you need to choose something, and the convenience of buttons when you don’t have to look.

Full Control, Your Way

The remotes do more than media and A/V control. They can provide control for motorized shades, thermostats, lighting and more. If you have automated scenes – like “movie night,” for example – your shades can lower, the lights dim, and the A/V system fire up in precisely the right sequence ready for you to select something to watch.

If you’d rather that your system interpreted your wish as its command, the TSR-310 also supports voice control. So all you have to do is say "movie night," and the Crestron control system will take it from there.

We mentioned two remotes, the TSR-310 and the HR-310. What’s the difference? The HR-310 is the TSR-310’s little brother, with powerful customization but no touchscreen or voice control. It shares the same backlighting and tactile button design, but has nine programmable and custom engravable buttons that can be customized to specific functions like scenes, lighting control, shade control, and just about anything else a Crestron system can control, which is to say more than we can cover here.

Of course, if you really love touchscreens, Creston has a whole line of those too. If you are ready to experience the power of a Crestron control system in your Roswell-area home, with or without touchscreens, give GHT Group a call.

Due to our current world pandemic, many people in early 2020 are also turning to voice control to power their automation, hands free. As you can see, GHT group offers a plethora of control options that suit your needs. You can either reach out to us at (770) 955-8909, fill out our online contact form, or click the chat button below to immediately connect with us. We look forward to working with you.