OK, I'm in the framing stages on my new custom home, and I'm thinking about the possibility of building custom video screens in several wall plates. The use would be for video surveillance and a few home control items. By having a video screen and some buttons in a wall plate, the user could cycle through video cameras, as well as access HA functions on a PC screen. I'm throwing out my thoughts here and you can tell me if this is crazy or not.
The idea is to place a 2.5" LCD screen into a wall plate. Here is an example screen at qualitymobilevideo . com/lcd25l.aspx. I would like to also place maybe 3 to 6 buttons under the screen. I would wire composite video to each screen to maybe a composite video matrix switch that can be controlled by a PC (RS232). The buttons would have to send some type of signal to a PC (maybe Arduino?) to tell it which button is pushed, and the computer can then switch video signals to the screen.
Scenario 1:
The doorbell rings. The HA computer turns on the video screens and switches the video to the front door camera. Button 1 initiates a voice conversation with the visitor. Button 2 unlocks the door. Button 3 maybe turns on the light at the front door. So, pressing button 2 would obviously have to work with some door actuator, like the new Kwikset ones to unlock the door.
Scenario 2:
The user wants to change the currently playing music in the whole house system (which is audio out from the PC amplified throughout the house). The user presses button 1 and the LCD turns on. The screen shows the currently playing song/artist/album info, along with details about which buttons do what. The user presses button 2 to go back to the beginning of the song. Button 3 goes to the next song. If there are more buttons, button 4 goes up a level, etc. In this case, the PC should be able to have a composite output out to the video matrix, and switch the video to the PC screen and maybe perform other functions.
I'm not thinking about controlling much more that video surveillance, basic music functions, and maybe HVAC controls. Everything else seems like it'd be better to control from a tablet (iPad or similar), so the interface can be richer.
I think I could possibly handle most of the programming part of it, just the electronic part seems a little tough to figure out, especially when it comes to the buttons. If anyone can comment on this, I would appreciate it.
Thanks!
The idea is to place a 2.5" LCD screen into a wall plate. Here is an example screen at qualitymobilevideo . com/lcd25l.aspx. I would like to also place maybe 3 to 6 buttons under the screen. I would wire composite video to each screen to maybe a composite video matrix switch that can be controlled by a PC (RS232). The buttons would have to send some type of signal to a PC (maybe Arduino?) to tell it which button is pushed, and the computer can then switch video signals to the screen.
Scenario 1:
The doorbell rings. The HA computer turns on the video screens and switches the video to the front door camera. Button 1 initiates a voice conversation with the visitor. Button 2 unlocks the door. Button 3 maybe turns on the light at the front door. So, pressing button 2 would obviously have to work with some door actuator, like the new Kwikset ones to unlock the door.
Scenario 2:
The user wants to change the currently playing music in the whole house system (which is audio out from the PC amplified throughout the house). The user presses button 1 and the LCD turns on. The screen shows the currently playing song/artist/album info, along with details about which buttons do what. The user presses button 2 to go back to the beginning of the song. Button 3 goes to the next song. If there are more buttons, button 4 goes up a level, etc. In this case, the PC should be able to have a composite output out to the video matrix, and switch the video to the PC screen and maybe perform other functions.
I'm not thinking about controlling much more that video surveillance, basic music functions, and maybe HVAC controls. Everything else seems like it'd be better to control from a tablet (iPad or similar), so the interface can be richer.
I think I could possibly handle most of the programming part of it, just the electronic part seems a little tough to figure out, especially when it comes to the buttons. If anyone can comment on this, I would appreciate it.
Thanks!