Building a new home in Bend (or anywhere in Central Oregon) comes with a long checklist. Framing, plumbing, electrical, inspections... and somewhere down the line, someone mentions low voltage. Usually right before drywall goes up.

By then? It’s often too late.

At Summit Sound and Visuals, we work with builders, homeowners, and general contractors to make sure low voltage wiring is done right — and on time. Here’s why involving a low voltage expert early in your build isn’t just helpful — it’s essential.

🔌 First: What Is Low Voltage Wiring?

Low voltage refers to systems that run on 50 volts or less. That includes:

• Security cameras

• Doorbells & access control

• Surround sound and in-wall speakers

• TV mounts and cable management

• Smart home controls

• Networking & structured cabling (Ethernet, mesh Wi-Fi, etc.)

• Intercom and gate systems

Unlike your main electrical work, these systems need a separate plan — and the earlier that plan is in place, the better.

🛠️ Why You Need a Low Voltage Expert Early in the Process

1. You Only Get One Chance to Prewire

Once the drywall is up, fishing cable through walls gets harder, messier, and more expensive. Running CAT6, speaker wire, or HDMI through walls during framing is clean, quick, and future-proofs your space.

We’ve seen too many homes where someone thought they’d “just use Wi-Fi” — until they couldn’t stream movies in half their house.

2. Electricians Don’t Handle This Stuff

A licensed electrician focuses on high voltage: outlets, lighting, panel boxes. Most don’t handle AV wiring, media cabinets, or home automation setups. And they shouldn’t be expected to — it’s a different field entirely.

Bringing in a low voltage pro fills in that gap. We coordinate with your electrician and GC to avoid overlap and optimize efficiency.

3. You’ll Save Money in the Long Run

Planning low voltage systems from the start means:

• No extra drywall repairs

• No ugly wires running down your wall

• No retrofitted solutions that "sort of work"

You’ll spend less and get a cleaner, more customized result.

🏡 What We Do at Summit Sound and Visuals

We partner with homeowners and builders across Bend, Redmond, Sisters, and La Pine to install:

• Smart home systems

• Whole-home audio & zone control

• Structured cabling and network panels

• Surveillance and security

• Rack mounting & cable organization

• Clean wall-mounted TV setups

Whether you want to keep things simple or build a fully integrated home, we’ll walk you through it from planning to post-move-in support.

👷‍♂️ Ready to Talk About Your Project?

If you're in the early stages of a build or remodel, we’d love to talk. We can review blueprints, recommend a wiring plan, and coordinate with your contractor to make sure your home is built ready for the future.

📍 Serving Bend, Redmond, Sisters, and surrounding areas
📞 Call Summit Sound and Visuals today or contact us online to set up a free consult.

If you're planning to upgrade your home theater in 2025, there’s one screen making waves in both performance and design: the LG G5 OLED. Whether you're building a smart home from scratch or just want to create a cinematic experience in your living room, this display checks every box.

At Summit Sound and Visuals, we stay on top of AV trends so you don’t have to — and this one’s worth a closer look.

🟢 Quick Summary: LG G5 OLED Ratings

Category

Score

Mixed Usage

9.0

Home Theater

9.0

Bright Rooms

8.7

Sports

8.8

Gaming

9.1

Brightness

8.9

Black Levels

10.0

Color Accuracy

8.9

This screen is ideal for… pretty much everything.

🛠️ Key Features: What Makes the G5 Stand Out

The LG G5 OLED is LG’s 2025 flagship and the first OLED to feature their new RGB tandem panel, designed to enhance brightness and widen the color range even more than previous WOLED models.

🔹 Crystal-Clear Visuals, Even in Bright Rooms

With a glossy finish, 165Hz refresh rate, and MLA (Micro Lens Array) technology, the G5 OLED handles both sunny living rooms and dark home theaters like a champ.

🔹 Dolby Vision + Gaming Ready

This display supports Dolby Vision, HDMI 2.1 on all ports, and modern gaming features like VRR. It's even rated 9.1 for gaming, making it perfect for pairing with a high-end gaming PC or next-gen console.

🔹 Black Levels: 10/10

The G5 delivers perfect contrast — no blooming, no gray shadows — just deep, pure black. This matters whether you're watching a late-night movie or reviewing surveillance footage in a control room setup.

✅ Pros (According to RTINGS)

• Near-infinite contrast with no blooming

• Wide viewing angles (great for large seating areas)

• Excellent brightness in SDR mode

• Accurate, lifelike colors

• Modern gaming performance

And shockingly? No major cons listed.

🧠 How to Know If It’s Right for You

This is the screen for you if:

• You're building a dedicated home theater

• You want the best-of-the-best image quality

• You need top gaming performance

• You want to future-proof your home with 4K @ 165Hz and Dolby Vision HDR

• You live in Central Oregon and need expert installation in a space that might have variable lighting, sound reflections, or layout quirks

🎯 Our Take at Summit Sound and Visuals

We’ve worked with all kinds of AV setups — from single-room installs to full-home automation systems. The LG G5 OLED is one of the most versatile high-performance screens we’ve seen in years. Whether you're mounting it in a living room, office conference area, or building a full Control4 system around it, we can wire, configure, and optimize the entire setup for your space.

📍 Serving Central Oregon with Expert AV Installation

If you're considering upgrading your display, we can help:

• Wall-mounted TV installs (hidden cable runs, clean finish)

• Control system integration (Control4, Loxone, etc.)

• Surround sound and speaker calibration

• Network optimization for streaming + gaming

• Rack building & AV wiring during remodels or new construction

📞 Ready to upgrade? Contact us here or call today for a free consultation.

✅ Pros & ❌ Cons

Pros

Cons

HDR10+ support

No local dimming

Smooth Tizen OS experience

Lacks HDMI 2.1 and VRR

Good Dolby audio passthrough

No Dolby Vision or DTS support

Voice and AirPlay support

60Hz panel limits motion performance

Bottom Line: Great for those who want Samsung’s QLED visuals at an affordable price. Just set your expectations accordingly.

Meta is making serious waves in the AI world. On July 25, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Shengjia Zhao, a co-creator of ChatGPT and GPT-4, has been appointed as Chief Scientist of Meta’s newly launched Superintelligence Lab.

This move signals Meta’s aggressive push into the next frontier of artificial intelligence. Zhao, formerly a top research scientist at OpenAI, played a pivotal role in building some of today’s most advanced AI models—including GPT-4, its lightweight variants (like 4.1 and o3), and the foundation for ChatGPT itself.

In his Threads post, Zuckerberg emphasized that Zhao will work closely with him and Meta’s Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, who was previously at Scale AI. Together, they’ll be steering the scientific direction of Meta’s Superintelligence Lab—a new division launched to centralize efforts on Llama models and broader ambitions for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

A Shift in the AI Talent Wars

Zhao’s move to Meta is part of a larger trend: a quiet exodus of top AI researchers from OpenAI. In what’s becoming an intense talent arms race, Meta is offering lucrative compensation and startup-style perks to draw talent from its rivals. The hiring spree follows some disappointment with the performance of Meta’s Llama 4 model, pushing the company to double down on talent and innovation.

Notably, the Superintelligence Lab operates independently from FAIR (Facebook AI Research), Meta’s long-standing research arm led by deep learning legend Yann LeCun. This strategic split reflects Meta’s dual-track approach: one focused on long-term breakthroughs and AGI, and another on practical, applied AI.

Open Source and AGI: Meta’s Vision

Meta’s open-source-first philosophy—especially when it comes to powerful models—has sparked both optimism and concern across the AI landscape. Zuckerberg has made it clear: Meta wants to build full general intelligence and share it with the world. Whether that openness will lead to innovation or unintended consequences remains to be seen.

For now, one thing is certain: with Shengjia Zhao on board, Meta just made a bold statement about where it's headed—and who it wants leading the way.

As the AI arms race intensifies, one question looms large: Can China outpace the West in AI compute? A recent report from Epoch AI argues—not anytime soon. Despite a surge in state-backed investment and a sharp focus on domestic chip production, several barriers are holding China back.

🚧 The Hardware Hurdle

China's top AI chips, like Huawei’s Ascend 910C, have improved dramatically but still lag behind Nvidia’s cutting-edge models by a factor of around 3×. Even with promising new GPUs from domestic startups like Lisuan Tech, the West maintains a lead in raw performance and chip manufacturing scale.

🏗 Infrastructure Is Scaling—Slowly

China has launched over 250 AI-focused data centers and is actively building out a national compute grid. However, Western nations benefit from a more mature ecosystem of supercomputing, cloud services, and distributed compute infrastructure.

🛑 Export Controls Still Bite

U.S. export restrictions have made it difficult for Chinese firms to access advanced semiconductors and tools. While domestic efforts are growing, including partnerships and alliances between Chinese AI firms, it’s clear these efforts will take years to match the sophistication of Western supply chains.

🌐 The West's Edge

The West continues to benefit from:

• Advanced chipmaking (e.g., TSMC, ASML)

• Deep academic and industry collaboration

• Balanced governance focused on safety and transparency

Meanwhile, China’s centralized AI approach, while fast-moving, lacks the open innovation culture that drives breakthroughs in the U.S. and Europe.

🧠 It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint

China is catching up—but not leaping ahead. The global AI landscape is shifting, but the West’s lead in compute, research ecosystems, and regulatory frameworks remains intact—for now.

Sources: Epoch AI, Reuters, Business Insider, Tom’s Hardware