Advice & Opinion Archives - Essential Install

Sonos 27: Why AI Could Turn Sonos into a Truly Smart Home Music System

Sonos 27 represents more than a software update. With AI-powered control, custom agents and products that can dynamically change their role within the home, So...

Why Ultra-Wide Screen Success Starts With Installation

Nevil Botschinsky, Information Display Business Development Manager at LG, explains why installation is key to long term success with displays. Display...

The SRND Guide to Projector Mounts and Mirrors

This SRND Group guide covers the purpose, range and key considerations for selecting a projector mount or mirror, to help installers decide which option suits ...

Native KNX Integration: Why Distributed Audio Belongs in Modern Smart Buildings

As buildings become increasingly intelligent and interconnected, distributed audio is evolving from a standalone AV system into an integral part of the smart b...

SRND Group: How to Choose Fabric for a Stretch Fabric System

Stretched fabric panels appear in nearly every residential cinema, used to hide audio equipment and acoustic treatment. They can form wall-to-wall finishes, la...

Don’t Trash the Timeline: What Can Integrators Learn From The X-Men Timeline Debacle?

It won’t surprise you to learn EI is a massive movie fan. Titles old and new are enjoyed most days. We have long argued that integrators are essentially an ext...

The Smart Home Has Evolved. Has Its Hardware?

Smart homes are becoming more capable than ever. Repenic, creator of high-quality switches and sockets, says the next challenge is bringing intelligence, intui...

Future Homes Standard: Building Future Homes Requires Future-Ready Infrastructure

Daniel Camm, Group Environment & Sustainability Leader at GTC, the UK’s largest independent provider of multi-utility networks and infrastructure to the ne...

Does AI Music Matter to the Smart Home/AV Installer?

Tidal has taken a stand on ‘protecting’ its subscribers and the artists present on the platform from AI-generated music, but should the companies designing and...

Is Water The Next Utility The Smart Home Needs To Manage?

For years, the smart home industry has focused on making homes more intelligent through lighting, heating, security, entertainment and, more recently, energy m...