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Theatron Media Announces its Range of Six UK-Manufactured Media Servers (6/5/2010)

Theatron Media Ltd was established in 2009 with the aim of becoming the lead manufacturer of ‘value orientated’ single and multiroom media servers in the UK.

A custom installer with five years experience, Theatron Managing Director Asher Charman created the company on a simple premise – the cost and quality of ‘affordable’ media servers in the UK market was appalling

“The financial crisis at the end of 2008 really was a watershed moment. Our tech savvy customers were demanding more for less. I was consistently being asked for good value media centre solutions, but having worked with most of the servers available on the market under the £4K mark I was underwhelmed considering the features offered and more importantly the user experience and installer support offered. I realised I could create a far better solution for that money”

Encouraged by the release of Windows 7, Asher recognised the potential for a more stable, consumer friendly and feature rich platform than is predecessor Vista had provided.

“Although we considered LINUX as a platform, the cost of creating an equivalent solution negated the driving reason for us creating the product in the first place. Windows 7 provided us with BluRay capability and enabled us to create a stable product at an excellent price point.”

Now with six products in the range, and entirely designed and manufactured in the UK, Theatron provides excellent value for money. “Theatron’s feature list is very strong for the price. The Theatron Stellar offers a two way interface for use with Crestron, AMX, HAI, RTI and URC, outputs one full HD AV stream and four audio streams, stores BluRays and DVDs, provides access to iPlayer and Sky Player, Freeview TV with 4 simultaneous recordings, plus picture, photo and music libraries all under 4K. That plain and simply is the best value in the market right now, and is what our customers continue to demand”.

Theatron Media sees itself as a positive addition to the UK Custom Install market, and aims to simplify the life of the installer by continuing to expand its interoperability with many control systems and multiroom solutions. Theatron's servers can be used in conjunction with other media players such as Crestron's ADMS, Control4's Media Player, HAI's Music Gateway and NuVo's Grand Concerto/Essentia, among others.

Theatron also recognises the value of custom installers. Servers are only available to purchase from custom install dealers and Theatron offers an uplift of 35%. “We believe a good installation is the key to our success. An upfront quality install satisfies everybody. In turn we realise the importance of installer support because we have been there. So if an installer is having trouble with an install at 1am on Sunday night, we will support them.”

Accurate delivery times, prompt response to technical or sales queries and listening to dealers and end-users is built into their DNA. Theatron believes in not leaving its most important people stranded.

Theatron is currently in an exciting period of growth, with partnerships being forged throughout the UK. “We’ve largely been growing on word of mouth up to now. We continue to seek install partners in markets across the UK and Europe.”

The future is bright according to Asher. “We expect to see an ongoing market for us as consumers continue to seek great value and installers continue to appreciate a great product with good support.”

www.theatronmedia.co.uk