I'm learning nothing from these manufacturers web-sites, apart from maybe what their products "could" do, but in practice can't !!
P_D
Hi,
Well, it is either just wrong, or a victim of poor editing; trying to compress information about PIRs and cameras into one sentence.
Cameras need a coax and two wires for power (although the more modern approach in keeping with the title of this thread would be IP cameras using Power over Ethernet, so a single Cat5/5e/6 is all that is needed).
PIRs need at least 4 wires - two for power and two for the zone (You can probably get away with 3 because on most panels one size of the zone input is ground, but you can't get 3 core alarm cable). Using different end of line resistors many panels can support tamper and zone on one pair of wires.
I agree that many of the manufacturer sites aren't particularly helpful - many are just designed to pique your interest and drive you to an integrator.
You can get lots of good practical information on C-Bus at The C-Bus Forums.
As far as blinds go, the best way to use C-Bus is to bypass any control system that come with the blinds and use the special purpose C-Bus relay. Most systems use one set of wires for up and another for down. The C-Bus shutter relay has two interlocked relays with the appropriate time outs and time delays to ensure that both up and down aren't energised at the same time and that the motor is turned off after a maximum time.
Media integration is done via either IR remote or serial/Ethernet depending on the capabilities of your equipment.
A/C is difficult because many manufacturers see integration as a commercial rather than residential requirement. My old house had an ancient AC controlled by switches and an electro-mechanical thermostat, so it was easy to install a C-Bus thermostat. My new house will have Actron air, which provides a contact input so that an automation system can turn it on/off but there isn't any more sophisticated control available. Given that all of these things have microcontroller brains and the availability of low-cost Ethernet chips, hopefully we will see more options for IP integration. A universal protocol would be nice, but I would be happy with a documented protocol and an open, IP interface.
Paul