Crestron Ships Core 3 Control Systems
Crestron announced the immediate availability of its next-generation MC3, the first 3-Series control system powered by the company’s new Core 3 operating system.
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Crestron MC3
Crestron announced the immediate availability of its next-generation MC3, the first 3-Series control system powered by the company’s new Core 3 operating system. Developed and engineered like an IT platform instead of an AV system, the 3-Series s a cloud-based architecture designed to provide a foundation for powerful integrated building technology and advanced home control, according to the company.
Crestron officials said the MC3 combines the agility and speed of a computer operating system with the reliability of a network appliance, enabling real-time multitasking in order to run up to 10 independent programs simultaneously.
“The MC3 represents the future of our industry. It’s the first control system built like an IT platform, designed for intelligent home and building management,” said Crestron executive vice president Randy Klein, in a statement. “The MC3 is just the first in what will be a full line of 3-Series control systems powered by our Core 3 OS.”
In related news, Crestron announced the Core 3 versions of its affordable Prodigy home controllers, thePMC3 and PMC3-XP. The XP model offers a seamless upgrade path to the full Crestron line so that homeowners can start simple then expand their control systems.
When performing upgrades to any single part of a Core 3 control system, integrators no longer have to take down and update the entire system. Because each module is partitioned, a restart or upload of one program does not affect the others, resulting in less programming and no downtime, according to Crestron
Upgrades can be performed on any individual subsystem—AV, lighting, climate control, and security systems, for example—while allowing the other programs to run seamlessly in the background, the same way IT performs upgrades. Until now, to make a change to one subsystem, the whole system had to be shut down.
“As an industry, we have to start thinking about AV as infrastructure, rather than as a standalone entity,” said Crestron vice president of technology Fred Bargetzi, in a statement, “The decision makers are no longer the traditional AV manger. They’re IT managers, facilities managers, architects, real estate developers, and builders. They want all their systems—lighting, HVAC, AV, building management, and others—on a single platform, but until now, no one has been able to offer a solution.”
