RTcom HS-88M HDMI Matrix Router Preview

RTcom USA showed off the new the HS-88M high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) Matrix Router. This is an 8x8 matrix routing switcher that can simultaneously route any of 8 HDMI inputs to 8 outputs. This makes it one of the industry's first fully digital routing matrix switchers. Add to that the fact that it's only a couple of rack spaces tall and you've got a nicely compact product sufficient for switching HDTV in the finest of palatial mansions. Bill Gates probably has 3 of these in his dining room. At $7,499 this isn't exactly a "consumer" electronics product so much as it is a brilliant solution for truly high-end whole home applications. Of course, with HDMI being so difficult over long runs, installers will want to pair this with some solid fiber optic solutions to get from point A to point B.

The HS-88M set itself apart from other products in the Video Switching Distribution category in that it is actually the industry’s first HDMI matrix router with eight in/eight out ports. It can be controlled by RS-232C, LAN (TCP/IP), Infrared or front panel keys, making it extremely flexible in terms of how it is addressed within home control systems.

With the HS-88M, HDMI signals can be routed from any source: computers, cable/satellite set top boxes, Blu-ray players, whatever – and can be sent simultaneously to eight different displays or A/V receivers without degradation in signals. Audio and video. The HS-88M is compliant with HDMI version 1.3 and supports resolutions up to 1080p@60Hz with 36-bit color depth (Deep Color), Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD. The HS-88M has an EEPROM to save EDID data from the display and supports any HDTV with maximum resolutions. It even supports non-VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) resolution including projectors with unique resolution. User can select factory pre-programmed EDID data or use external display’s EDID data simply. The HS-88M also features full High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) compatibility, alleviating the problem of HDCP encoding, which previously blocked signals from being transmitted from audio-visual products to multiple displays.

The HS-88M Matrix Router is currently available at an MSRP of $7,499.00. To purchase the products customers in U.S. may contact Aurora Multimedia at (732) 591-5800 or sales@auroramultimedia.com and international customers may contact RTcom USA at (973) 383-4878 or rtcomusa@earthlink.net. I'll be ordering three for my patio. For more info check out www.digitalextender.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.