Multimedia and Networking

Charles Alarm has recently began installing new media services for Home Networking and Media Networking. Here is an example of some benefits to the hardware that we install.

The SMS3 or SMS3-250 Smart Media Server is an intelligent audio source that plays music stored on its hard drive and Internet radio in three independent output streams. Through a multi room audio system, it can play the same or different selections in different rooms at the same time. The Media Server also stores and organizes digital photographs for presentation on a video display. The photo scan be shown individually or as slide shows and can be combined with music.

An easy-to-navigate graphical user interface is used to create themes and organize the music and photos. The interface can be viewed on a TV screen or within a web browser on a networked computer. It displays album covers, artist and album information, and song names. As an ideal music source for a Russound RNET® system, the Media Server can be controlled from the system’s UNO keypads or touchscreens, which display theme, artist, and song title information. It can also be controlled by IR remote control, from a computer, or through an RS-232 serial port. The listener loads music from CDs into the Media Server through a built-in CD-ROM reader or transfers music files from a connected computer. The listener can then organize the music into themes by genre or artist for random playback or put songs in playlists for playing back in a specific order.

As the Media Server is used, its unique Personal Media Assistant learns the listener’s music preferences for each theme and applies those preferences toits automated song selection. The Media Server has a schedule feature that can be set to play themes at specified times. It can also pick up an Internet radio feed at scheduled times of the day for news or favorite programming. With an Internet connection, the Media Server obtains CD information from Gracenote® music recognition service and album cover art from Muze® entertainment information service. This information, called metadata, includes song title, artist and album name, and genre (rock, jazz, etc.). When no Internet connection is present, the Media Server checks the database loaded into its firmware for CD information. The Media Server is available with either a 160 GB or a 250 GB hard drive. To preserve catalogued music and server configurations, Russound recommends making periodic backups of the Media Server’s hard drive. An external hard drive connects to the rear panel using a USB 2.0/1.1 or FireWire IEEE 1394 interface.
Watch an Online Demo


Here you can see the interfaces for viewing photos on your television and playing music.

Page Design by Brian Donohue
Last updated on 03/31/2006