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Consumer Electronics Daily News 3 7 Tuesday, January 9, 2018 2018 Best of Show Control4 Named CES 2018 Innovation Awards Honoree for When >> Then Automation Control4 Corporation, a leading global provider of smart home solutions has been named a CES 2018 Innovation Awards Honoree for the When >> Then Automation homeowner customization feature, as part of the newest Control4 OS 2.10 software release. Sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)™, products entered in this presti- gious awards program are judged by a panel of independent designers, engi- neers and members of the trade media to honor outstanding design and engineer- ing in cutting edge consumer electronics products across 28 product categories. Launched in September 2017, When >> Then brings exciting and much need- ed customization capabilities to the cus- tom-installed Control4 smart home. When >> Then personalization takes a simple approach: the user selects a When (a triggering event, such as when a time is reached on a schedule, the touch of a button or after an event occurs) and selects a Then action to take place (turn on a light, start a playlist or send a push notification). These actions can range from turning on a fan, turning lights on and off or powering down all AV devices in a room to playing a specific playlist, tuning to a favorite radio station or even sending a push notification via the Control4 App. The When >> Then per- sonalization feature is included with the Control4 4Sight Service ($100 U.S. MSRP annually) and to homeowners who have installed Control4 OS 2.10. "When we announced When >> Then in September, we were excited to bring an entirely new level of home per- sonalization to our Control4 customers," said Brad Hintze, Senior Director of Product Marketing for Control4. "We believe that giving homeowners greater control over their home, backed by the support and expertise that a Control4 managed system offers, is a key differen- tiator for consumers looking to get start- ed with a custom-installed smart home. We're excited to be recognized as a CES 2018 Innovations Award Honoree." Control4's ecosystem of nearly 11,000 third-party compatible consumer electronics products offer tremendous choice and selection for homeowners. For more information on Control4 visit www.control4.com. About Control4 Control4 is a leading global provider of automation and networking systems for homes and businesses, offering personal- ized control of lighting, music, video, comfort, security, communications and more into a unified smart home system that enhances the daily lives of its con- sumers. Control4 unlocks the potential of connected devices, making networks more robust, entertainment systems easier to use, homes more comfortable and ener- gy efficient, and provides families more peace of mind. Today, every home and business needs automation horsepower and a high-performance network to man- age the increasing number of connected devices. The Control4 platform interoper- ates with nearly 11,000 third-party con- sumer electronics products, ensuring an ever-expanding ecosystem of devices will work together. Control4 is now available in 100 countries. Leveraging a profes- sional distribution channel that includes over 5,500 custom integrators, retailers, and distributors authorized to sell the full- line of Control4 products, Pakedge brand- ed networking solutions and Triad Speakers, Control4 is delivering intelli- gent solutions for consumers, major con- sumer electronics companies, hotels and businesses around the world. 20th Century Fox, Panasonic and Samsung Forge New Partnership 20th Century Fox, Panasonic Corporation and Samsung Electronics announced a new partnership to create an open, royal- ty-free dynamic metadata platform for High Dynamic Range (HDR) through an associated certification and logo program, tentatively called HDR10+. Together, the three companies will form a licensing entity that will begin licensing the HDR10+ platform in January 2018. The entity will license the metadata broadly to content companies, ultra-high definition TVs, Blu-ray disc players/recorders and set-top box manufacturers, as well as SoC vendors, royalty-free with only a nominal administrative fee. "As leaders in home entertainment content and hardware, the three compa- nies are ideal partners for bringing HDR10+ into the homes of consumers everywhere," said Jongsuk Chu, Senior Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. "We are committed to making the latest tech- nology available in our TVs and are con- fident that HDR10+ will deliver premi- um quality content and enhance the way you experience television programs and movies in the home." HDR10+ is a cutting-edge technolo- gy, building upon the benefits of HDR tel- evisions, which offers the best possible viewing experience for next generation displays. HDR10+ provides unprecedent- ed picture quality on all displays with brightness, color, and contrast automati- cally optimized for each scene. In previ- ous iterations, static tone mapping applied a fixed enhancement across an entire piece of content. With HDR10+ dynamic tone mapping, every scene is individually enhanced to bring to life vibrant visuals and achieve unprecedented picture quali- ty. This new enhanced visual experience will allow consumers to see pictures that match the intention of filmmakers. "HDR10+ is a technological step forward that optimizes picture quality for next generation displays," said Danny Kaye, Executive Vice President at 20th Century Fox and Managing Director of the Fox Innovation Lab. "HDR10+ provides dynamic metadata, which pre- cisely describes every scene to deliver unprecedented picture quality. Working in partnership with Panasonic and Samsung through the Fox Innovation Lab, we are able to bring new platforms like HDR10+ to the market that more accurately realize the vision of our film- makers beyond the theater." There are several key benefits for partners who wish to adopt the platform for their HDR10+ compliant products. HDR10+ offers system flexibility, allow- ing a variety of partners, including con- tent creators, content distributors, TV manufacturers and device makers, to incorporate this platform and improve the viewing experience for audiences. The HDR10+ platform was designed to allow for future development and inno- vation in order to deliver a more power- ful technology in the years to come. "Panasonic has a long history of working with industry leaders to develop lasting technical formats. We are delight- ed to work together with 20th Century Fox and Samsung to develop a new HDR format, which will bring consumers so many benefits," said Yuki Kusumi, Executive Officer at Panasonic. "By offering considerable HDR picture quali- ty improvements across a wider range of TVs while accelerating the amount of premium HDR content available, we expect HDR10+ to quickly become the defacto HDR format." About Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recog- nized global industry leader and a sub- sidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film. TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions as well as all third party distribution partners on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, Digital HD and VOD (video-on-demand). Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it serv- ices to retail outlets and digital stores throughout the world. About Panasonic Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development of diverse elec- tronics technologies and solutions for cus- tomers in the consumer electronics, hous- ing, automotive and B2B businesses. Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2018, the company has expanded globally and now operates 495 subsidiaries and 91 associated companies worldwide, record- ing consolidated net sales of 7.343 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2017. Committed to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better world for its cus- tomers. To learn more about Panasonic, go to www.panasonic.com/global. About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wear- able devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems and memory, system LSI and LED solutions. For the latest news, visit the Samsung Newsroom at news.samsung.com.