Sep 16 Podcast #496: ZyXEL AeroBeam Wireless HD Video Kit
Through the years we’ve had the opportunity to check out several wireless audio, video and wireless HDMI systems. This week we’re adding one more option to your list of choices for wireless HDMI. If you’ve always wanted to use a front projector for huge home theater, but never wanted to cut up the ceiling to run cables, you’ll want to listen to this review. It’s the ZyXEL AeroBeam Wireless HD Video Kit (WHD6215).
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ZyXEL AeroBeam Wireless HD Video Kit
Through the years we’ve had the opportunity to check out several wireless audio, video and wireless HDMI systems. This week we’re adding one more option to your list of choices for wireless HDMI. If you’ve always wanted to use a front projector for huge home theater, but never wanted to cut up the ceiling to run cables, you’ll want to listen to this review. It’s the ZyXEL AeroBeam Wireless HD Video Kit (WHD6215).
List price: $289, current online price: $218
Setup
Setting up the AeroBeam is just as easy as any other wireless HD video system. You plug your source equipment into the transmitter, plug your display device in the receiver, and you're done. The two units find each other automatically, link up and work with minimal intervention.
Specs
According to the ZyXEL website, the unit supports:
- 60GHz Wireless Frequency
- 4Gbps Maximum throughput
- In-room range range of up to 30’
- WirelessHD™ 1.0 Standard compliant
- HDMI 1.4a (3D) with CEC support
- HDCP 2.0 content protection
- 480i (SDTV), 480p (EDTV), 720p (HDTV 2D & 3D), 1080i (HDTV), 1080p (HDTV 2D & 3D), Supports 7.1ch surround sound
Performance
The manufacturer recommends a maximum of 30 feet between the receiver and transmitter and also recommends direct line of sight between the two. This makes it a bit less flexible than other units we’ve tested. We’ve had units that could go 50 feet and almost 30 feet through walls. The AeroBeam won’t do that. We got a reliable connection at 26 feet line of sight and were unable to get it to work perfectly from room to room. In that regard, in work exactly as advertised.
The AeroBeam doesn’t tunnel IR signals. This adds another challenge from an installation point of view. You need to make sure the systems you’re controlling, TV Box, Blu-ray player, Receiver, etc., are visible to your universal remote, or you’ll have to find another way to transmit the IR signals to them. Since the AreoBeam needs line of sight, this isn’t really an additional wrinkle, but it is a difference between this unit and others we’ve tested.
But where the AeroBeam really shines is video quality. It is stellar. Other units we’ve looked at have been good, in fact, we’ve even made the statement that we couldn’t tell the difference between an actual cable and the wireless version. That was mostly true, specifically from a pixelation, loss of signal perspective. But when we swapped the AeroBeam in for an existing Wireless HD solution in our lab, we were blown away. The picture was sharper, the colors were more vivid. Overall it the picture quality was significantly improved.
We tested using HDTV, Blu-ray and an Xbox360. With a good signal, the video quality was great. We even tried 3D and it worked as expected. Video games played without a hitch. No matter what we threw at it from a video perspective, it handled the task with ease. It even switched between video formats (standard def to high def, DVD to HD) without missing a beat. Other units have to resync, this one keeps the connection without a drop at all.
Conclusion
The $218 price point is right inline with many other wireless HDMI units on the market. If you need a solution that will go 50 or 60 feet, or allow you to hide you devices in a closet somewhere, the AreoBeam isn’t the right choice for you. But if you want to run a front projector or mount a flat panel TV, and want the best possible video you can get from a wireless HDMI solution, the AeroBeam is the best we’ve seen. Not as flexible, but it makes up for it in video quality. And it will do 3D, so you’ve got that going for you.
Reader Comments (3)
Looks like #Vizio is OEMing the Wi-HD unit from #ZyXEL...#Costco has it for $170! http://yfrog.com/meoxofj
HDCP 2.0? Really? What's with this? HDCP was so much fun, let's do it again? Have any details on this?
Regarding the supposed firmware updates for forced SD spoken at CEDIA, I suspect that has nothing to do with the Image Constraint Token (ICT) and Digital-Only Token (DOT) implemented by AACS in Blu Rays.
What I imagine was being referred to is that analog sunset. For example, BluRay player manufactures (as AACS adopter agreement signers) must follow the following rules:
• Blu-ray Disc players manufactured after 2010, may continue to be equipped with component video output interface, but the output resolution shall be limited to standard definition (480i or equivalent).
• Blu-ray Disc players manufactured after 2013, shall not be equipped with analog video output of any kind.
Note the above is specifically for models manufactured as of those dates (though there may be wiggle room if the specific model already existed prior to the date). There is nothing in the agreement that states any sort of firmware update is mandatory for previously manufactured products. And logically it is very unlikely a manufacture would make such a move. It would cost them money to develop a firmware update they have no obligation to provide, and only prove to piss off customers.
Another note:
[1] “Analog Sunset” is NOT sanctioned by FCC and it does not impact Satellite/Cable delivered content. FCC Section 76.1903 explicitly prohibits the disabling of analog outputs on satellite receivers, cable set-top boxes, and ATSC tuners intended to decode the over-the-air digital ATSC signals broadcast by local television stations.
Now the above may not prevent forced SD output, but again there is no agreement that forces such a situation so do not expect it to occur. Could we see this (or the removal of analog entirely) eventually on new set-top boxes due to pressure from studios? Possibly, but it will not impact current products.
I was not in attendance at CEDIA, nor have I followed highlights as yet, so maybe some information regarding future directions may be available.
http://www.blondertongue.com/UserFiles/file/documents/Tutorial_Analog%20Sunset.pdf