URC Enters IP Camera Space

URC will unveil 14 products at CEDIA Expo, the latest lineup in its 18-month transition from remote control to whole-house control.

The products includes IP cameras, a new category for URC. Most of the new products will fall under the Total Control umbrella, a designation used by URC to earmark whole-house audio, lighting, climate control and IP-based surveillance products that will be shipping at different stages right after the show.

The new products include what Jon Sienkiewicz, director of marketing, calls the brains of the system: the MRX-10 network controller. It serves as the engine for two-way communications with the Total Control remotes and keypads. New remotes include the MS-1200, with a 2.5-inch touchscreen and two-way Wi-Fi capability, and the MS-780, URC’s first remote to use an OLED graphical user interface.

Also new is the DMS-1200 eight-zone amplifier, expandable to 32 zones and outfitted with four analog-to-digital inputs to enable content streaming to other DMS amplifiers. It can be programmed off premise, a benefit to specialty dealers and installers. The new DMS-100 single-zone amp is scalable and can be ganged with a DMS-1200 for additional zones. It can also be used in multiples on its own.

The SNP-1 streaming network player offers full two-way communication with all Total Control remotes and can stream photos and music from computers, network storage devices and content services such as Pandora, Rhapsody and Sirius XM.
The new KP-100 in-wall keypad comes with seven interchangeable and customizable buttons that are backlit.

The three new IP cameras include a standard VGA CMOS model for indoor use (MC-70VC), a box-type camera for commercial indoor use (MC-73CB), and a large, dome-type vandal-proof model (MC-75CD) for outdoors.

URC will display the new products at its Expo booth, which has been enlarged to 40-feet-by-50-feet. URC will also run 15
training sessions at the show. At the booth, URC will also demonstrate new modules that are compatible with Energy’s TED 5000 energy-monitoring system, which will run on any of the company’s networking remotes, Sienkiewicz said.