Key Digital KD-CATHD500
Jan 4, 2013 1:04 PM,
By Patrick Barron
Style of RS-232 Connector: DB9
MSRP: $799
HDBaseT: Yes
Maximum Distance:
· Cat-5: Works up to 250ft. at all resolutions tested
· Cat-6: Works up to 375ft. at all resolutions tested
· Blu-ray player: Cat-5 works at 1080p and 1080 3D up to 200ft. Cat-6 works at 1080p and 1080p 3D up to 375ft.
The Key Digital extender was well packaged and fully ready for shipping in the retail package. It was in the middle of the range of prices compared to the other extenders in this test. There were some very unique features about this extender that made it stand out from the others. The transmitter has an HDMI passthrough, which functions as a built-in distribution amp. This is perfect for sending the same signal to two displays. The transmitter can send HDMI out to a local source such as a monitor in a lectern while sending a mirror of the same signal over the Cat cable to the receiver. The applications for this feature are endless, but I have seen this used in the education market as previously described and in the residential market to send the same signal to a second display in a display in an adjacent room. Daisychaining of Tx and Rx units allow almost unlimited extending of HDMI/DVI, RS-232, IR, and Ethernet signals. There is a rotary dial to override the default EDID that will help with problematic displays that won’t show a particular resolution. The Internal EDID Library features 10 default EDID configurations including native EDID data from any output/display. It has the built-in feature of auto-adjustment of feedback, equalization, and amplification, depending on the length of cabling used. This extender has indicator lights to show the presence of an active HDMI signal as well as an indicator showing that a Cat cable link is established. It also supports bi-directional IR.
REVIEW OTHER HDMI EXTENDERS
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Aurora Multimedia DXE-CAT-S2
CE Labs HM1CK-3
Crestron HD-RX1-C/HD-TX1-C
Digital Extender UBHD-100 (RT COM)
DVIGear DVI-TPS-RX90/TX90
Factor HD-BaseT-Balun
Gefen Pro Gef-HDCATS-ELRPOLS
Intelix Liberty AV Digi-HDE-R/S
Key Digital KD-CATHD500
Kramer Electronics TP-573/574
Kramer Electronics TP-581T/TP-582R
Octava HDCATS100-TX/RX
Pure Link HTE
QVS HD4-C6E
Shinybow SB-6335/SB-6335R
Star Tech Com ST12UTPHDMI
Wyrestorm EX-1UTP-IR-100
Zektor Solo-CAT-HDE
Zigen ZIG-HAVEX
Zigen ZIG-HVX-70-RX/TX
Zuum Media HE1LBIR232
