The purpose of this guide is to illustrate the various types of professional HDMI extenders on the market, the differences between one model and another and what to evaluate for an informed choice without wasting time and money in a simple and quick way.

On Oniroview you will only find professional HDMI extenders under the Alpha Elettronica brand; all our products have a 24 month warranty.

The extender allows you to extend the maximum distance to be able to transport an HDMI signal between source and TV using a LAN cable.

HDMI extenders are divided into three families:

• Tdms
• OverIP
• Hdbaset

In this post our focus will be on tdms extenders, the most common and sold, and whose connection is defined as point-to-point , i.e. a transmitter and a receiver. They are suitable for both domestic and commercial use and are capable of carrying the HDMI signal up to 70m.

RESOLUTION
The first aspect to take into consideration is the resolution supported and it depends on the source we have. Most sources still transmit at 1080p, but the market offers new products with 4K resolutions even if they are less popular products.

So the question to ask is: at what resolution does my source output, 1080 or 4K?
Here you will find professional extenders at 1080 and here with 4K resolution

This way you can filter a large variety of products, reducing and simplifying the selection.

DISTANCES
There are no big differences in distances, almost all extenders reach up to 50m without loss of quality, the only requirement is to have a category 6 or higher LAN cable.

LOOP OUT

When choosing the professional HDMI extender it may be useful to view the video signal where the source itself is also located.
In video surveillance, for example, it may be necessary to view the images both on the monitor near the DVR and on a second screen connected via the extender.

If you are looking for this feature what you need is an HDMI extender with loop-out output.

The loop-out output on the transmitter allows you to split the HD signal and transmit it to the receiver with just one device.
Here is a selection of extenders with loop-out output

IR REMOTE CONTROL
If the extender is connected to a Sky Q type decoder, in order to view the signal in a second room, the pair of extenders will need to have infrared support to also transmit the remote control signal so as to be able to control the decoder remotely.
In this case we will have the accessories for the infrared remote control supplied.

OTHER
Among the secondary aspects to take into account, the possibility of connecting USB peripherals for remote control of a computer. The HDMI signal and USB signals for mouse and keyboard will be transmitted via the extenders.
This function is generally used in commercial settings, presentations, conference rooms etc.
This specification is referred to as KVM .