Screen Innovations demonstrates its dedication to the success of home systems integrators involved in the motorized shade and screen business by introducing a host of problem-solving new products at CEDIA Expo 2021. Always striving to make integrators’ jobs simpler and more profitable, SI drew inspiration from its network of systems integrators to develop technologies, products, and systems that overcome common challenges in the field effectively and efficiently, while providing end-users with beautiful, convenient, and fun smart home environments.
Whether it was an integrator’s wish for a simpler means of programming; sleeker, smaller motorized shade and screen cassettes; or more affordable installation hardware and software, SI listened, quickly pivoting to engineer and design the ideal shade and screen solution. By catering to the specific needs of its integrators, SI has carved a niche for itself, as a manufacturer that focuses its energy on providing integrators with meaningful products that make a real difference in the design, installation, and profitability of motorized shade and screen projects.
“SI is more than just a supplier, they are a partner that not only encourages suggestions from us but brainstorms with us to develop new products with one specific goal in mind—to help our business grow,” says Matt Uhl, owner of Gulf Coast Shades & Blinds, Pensacola, Fla. “It’s so refreshing to work with a manufacturer that’s open to discussion and builds the types of products we need to do our job better. The entire team at SI really cares about our success and time and again does whatever they can to help.”
It’s this open line of communication with integrators that has helped SI move consistently up the ladder as a leader in the motorized shade and screen market. Recognized this year as a Bullet Brand in CE Pro’s annual Brand Analysis Report, SI now commands second position in the motorized shade category and first in the motorized screen category.
“Despite a rocky pandemic-ridden 2020, we never stopped listening to our integrators,” says SI CEO Ryan Gustafson. “They are the reason we do what we do, and our top priority has always been to develop the types of shading and screen products they want. They tell us what we can do to improve, and we take their suggestions to heart.”
SI’s CEDIA Expo Presentation in Booth #5212 will include a range of indoor and outdoor entertainment and ambiance-enhancing solutions, including:
NEW Outdoor Entertainment Pavilion Featuring Shades and Screens
Outdoor entertaining is a hot trend that integrators, designers, architects, and homeowners are clamoring to capitalize on. SI has dedicated a 10-by-10-foot section of its CEDIA exhibit to shade and screen solutions that create comfortable, enjoyable outdoor environments. Within a custom pergola, SI will demonstrate a variety of motorized outdoor shades that turn decks and patios into year-round living spaces featuring SI’s next generation of outdoor projection screens that bring the excitement of home cinema to the backyard and beyond.
SHADES
NEW Zen 2 Design-Inspired Outdoor Motorized Shade Cassette
The first décor-minded outdoor shading solution, Zen 2 boasts an elegant, customizable, architecturally friendly design that effortlessly transforms decks, gazebos, patios, and other outdoor areas into comfortable, stylish living spaces. Zen 2 finally gives architects and designers an option that seamlessly blends into today’s home designs, thanks to a custom paintable, primed option for a perfect color match. Accommodating popular outdoor shading fabrics to 25 feet wide and 16 feet tall, Zen 2 includes everything needed for a complete installation. Another perk: Zen 2 installs in half the time of other outdoor shading systems, thanks to its unique snap-in tube and hidden bracket attachment.
NEW Fabric Wizard Ensures the Perfect Fabric Choice
To help guide integrators, designers, homeowners, and end-users through the fabric selection process, SI’s new Fabric Wizard provides one convenient place to learn about and quickly and easily determine the best shading fabric for any indoor and outdoor application.
More than 850 indoor and outdoor fabrics and insect screens from leading designer shade suppliers, such as Phifer, Mermet, Serge Ferrari, Wilson, and more, have been thoughtfully categorized according to the installation location, function, color, and other parameters, significantly streamlining what could otherwise be an overwhelming and complex exercise. SI’s Fabric Wizard starts by asking website visitors to identify the purpose of the shade, be it for UV protection, privacy, heat reduction, glare control, or insect prevention. Based on those answers, as well as color preferences, Fabric Wizard cultivates a manageable list of the most appropriate fabric choices. Integrators can present these options to their customers, confident that whichever material is selected will look and perform optimally for the intended application.
PROJECTION SCREENS
NEW Outdoor Projection Screen Options
SI offers those attending CEDIA Expo a sneak peek at its new outdoor screen cassette, Solo Outdoor. Expected to ship Q4, the weather-rated Solo Outdoor cassette features a small form factor and a zipper track and a high-wind rating that keeps the fabric taut even in challenging conditions. Also showcased in SI’s outdoor pergola is its Maestro outdoor-rated screen material, and 360, an outdoor screen material that can be viewed on both sides. These outdoor screen solutions will be paired with the latest Epson video projectors.
SI’s focus on outdoor shade and screen applications at CEDIA Expo inspires integrators to explore the outdoors when engaging with customers. SI’s range of options and ability to customize its products to suit the specifications of any job ensure integrators that they’ll have everything they need to succeed in the outdoor shade and screen business.
ACCESSORIES
NEW Troy IP Control Gateway Simplifies Shade and Screen Programming
The Troy IP Control Gateway enables integrators to program the movement of motorized shades and screens efficiently, simply, and affordably. A task that once took hours to accomplish on a dedicated windows PC, with multiple software applications for keypads, RF remotes, and motor configurations, now takes a few minutes from any standard web browser. Through Troy’s programming interface, shades and screens can be assigned unique ID addresses, particularly useful when grouping products together and delivering repeatable designs, like those for MDU installations. In a similar fashion to shade and screen configuration, Troy walks integrators through the process of assigning commands to specific buttons on keypads and handheld remotes.
NEW Kratos Low-Voltage Power Supply Breaks Cost Barriers
When Matt Uhl, owner of Gulf Coast Shades & Blinds, approached SI president Ryan Gustafson about the need for an affordable power supply for low-voltage shades and screens, SI immediately went to work, introducing Kratos a few weeks later. Although dramatically less expensive than SI’s flagship Janus power and control hub, Kratos sacrifices no build quality or operational performance. The durable steel chassis runs cool to the touch and is plenum-rated for in-wall, riser, and general plenum installations. Plus, each of Kratos’s eight ports is protected against electrical shorts and mis-wiring. As an ideal complement to SI’s Zigbee 3.0 low-voltage motors, at a suggested retail price of $389, Kratos gives integrators a complete, turnkey low-voltage shading solution as an alternative to hardwired 485-based shading designs.
NEW Fontus Dongle Enables Two-Way Power and Control Over Two-Conductor Wire
SI introduces integrators to Fontus, a revolutionary new product that enables SI low-voltage motorized screens and shades to be powered and controlled via any type of traditional two-conductor wiring. SI’s Fontus allows integrators to utilize wire that may already exist inside a commercial building or home to connect screens and shades to a modern control system.
No bigger than a pack of gum and easily mounted to a DIN rail, Fontus can make a two-conductor wire perform 485-based communications as if it were an eight-conductor wire, significantly simplifying the installation. As long as there is a two-conductor wire available near the screen or shade location, Fontus, a dongle that plugs into SI’s new Janus power and control hub, converts low-voltage communications signals and power from a five-conductor system for distribution over two-conductor wire. The signal is decoded for reception at the screen or shade via a second Fontus dongle with no loss of signal.
NEW Janus Power and Control Hub
In the past, integrators have had no choice but to mount huge panels or run conduit to deliver power and control multiple motorized screens. SI’s revolutionary Janus hub, however, can do the job at a fraction of the size of traditional panels, without the need for conduit. Janus is 75% smaller than its closest competitor yet has the capacity to accommodate connections for as many as eight screens and eight accessories, such as keypads. Its ultra-compact form factor combined with huge capacity for commercial and large residential projects sets Janus in a class all its own. Ideal for projects requiring the installation of multiple screens, the expandability of Janus is limitless. It can utilize all wire topologies, even a Cat5 or Cat6 can be run 45.7 meters or more to SI’s largest screen motor.
NEW Zigbee 3.0 Mesh Controller and Edge Router
SI introduces two new products enabled with Zigbee 3.0 technology, the latest iteration of the Zigbee wireless communications protocol. The Zigbee 3.0 Link Pro Z Mesh Controller and Zigbee 3.0 Smart Outlet join SI’s previously introduced Zigbee 3.0 enabled line of ultra-compact Nano indoor shades and improved Smart Plug to create a complete communications ecosystem that seamlessly interoperates with a wide range of Zigbee 3.0-compliant third-party devices and systems, including automation systems from Crestron, Control4, Savant, Elan, and others. Additionally, SI’s new Zigbee 3.0 devices enable the control of Zigbee 3.0 and RTS shades (Radio Technology Somfy) via the Somfy TaHoma app on any smartphone or tablet, as well as voice assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant, and soon Josh.ai.
To see SI’s entire portfolio of shade and screen technologies and accessories, go to https://www.screeninnovations.com/accessories/?pa_product-category=shade.
Where to See Screen Innovations
To see SI’s new motorized shade and screen, connect with the SI team, and learn how shades and screens can contribute to a more lucrative business model, visit Booth 5212 during CEDIA Expo.
For those unable to attend CEDIA Expo and who would like to learn more about the brand and its offering, please contact [email protected].
For more information about SI and its growing portfolio of products and technologies, go to www.screeninnovations.com.
About Screen Innovations
Innovative shades & projection screens, making life beautiful, convenient & fun. Dedicated to developing the most innovative and design-forward projection screens, window covering, and outdoor shading and screen solutions for home and corporate environments, Screen Innovations engineers and hand-builds every product it sells in its 75,000-square-foot factory in Austin, Texas. Always putting the customer first, SI listens, learns, and delivers a wide variety of design-forward products, services, and online tools. Committed to doing its part to limit the company’s impact on the environment, SI follows LEAN manufacturing principles and monitors production processes closely to minimize waste wherever possible. For more information about SI please visit screeninnovations.com and follow the company on social media platforms Facebook @screen innovations, Twitter @SIScreens, Instagram @siscreens, and LinkedIn screen-innovations.
Media Contact
For interviews or reviews of CEDIA Expo please contact Katye (McGregor) Bennett of KMB Communications by phoning (425) 328-8640 or emailing [email protected].
All products, product names, trademarks, and registrations mentioned are the property of their respective owners, all rights reserved.