Omega Scientific

Looking for a way to slice and dice your HDMI signal from a single source to two separate displays? Look no further than Gefen’s EXT-HDMI-142, this phenomenal device will allow you take the HDMI signal coming from a source, like your PS3, Xb0×360, Blu-Ray DVD player, and so forth-and mirror that signal onto two monitors, LCDs, Plasmas, or whichever is your display of choice!

When it comes to display splitters, one must always be wary of getting a passive display splitter, for those devices simply chop the incoming signal in half and send each half to a display, resulting in serious degradation of visual quality due to the signal loss. Fortunately, there are alternatives to passive splitters, such as the EXT-HDMI-142, which is an active signal splitter, meaning that it goes through all the processing necessary to duplicate the inbound signal flawlessly before sending a complete signal to each of the two displays!

This technology boasts a variety of potential uses, from uniting home media stations throughout your house to coordinating the workflow in your office, HDMI splitters are an invaluable addition to anyone’s multimedia arsenal.

So why wait? Heavyweight technology and heavyweight support without the heavyweight price; available today at Sewelldirect.

HDMI 1.3, the newest revision of the popular HDMI interface, is starting to make waves in the high definition home entertainment arena - it’s the next big thing. So what, you ask, is so cool about the newest HDMI on the block? Here are a few highlights (compared with the last release, HDMI 1.2):

• Signal Bandwidth:
  • Then: 165 MHz Now: 340 MHz
• TMDS Bandwidth:
  • Then: 4.95 Gbit/s Now: 10.2 Gbit/s
• Video Bandwidth
  • Then: 3.9 Gbit/s Now: 8.16 Gbit/s
• Highest possible Resolution
  • Then: 1920x1080p60 Now: 2560x1600p60
• Maximum Color Depth (bits per pixel)
  • Then: 24 Now: 48

Other highlights include xvYCC Color and Deep Color capability, supporting over one billion colors.  And good news for Dolby fans:  Dolby Digital Plus (DD+), Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, truly high-fidelity audio experiences, can all be carried over HDMI 1.3.

Companies are already selling many HDMI 1.3 switches and splitters, like the EXT-HDMI1.3-441, a 4×1 switcher that allows you to switch one HDMI 1.3 source between up to four different displays.

Since VGA is an analog signal, you don’t have to worry too much about repeaters until you get into the 100 ft. range.  At that point you’ll probably begin to experience some signal loss.

Still, there are advantages to using special components to sending your VGA far.  Instead of getting an expensive 100 foot long cable, you can use Cat5 which is far more economical.  For example, say you get a 100 foot long cable and the cable gets kinked or damage sometime down the road.  The whole cable becomes worthless.  With the EXT-VGA-141SR by Gefen you can send a VGA signal to up to 150 feet.

Not only is Cat5 cable more cost effective and easier to install, the Gefen VGA extender will ensure that your VGA signal arrives to its distant destination without any loss.

This is a question that I’m asked a lot - how can I add another monitor to my laptop?

Most laptops have at least one additional VGA or DVI port, so adding an additional monitor is pretty easy. You simply get a VGA or DVI cable and hook up your monitor and your laptop, enable the monitor through your display settings and everything works. Not too hard.

If you don’t have an external port for an additional monitor, though, you need a workaround. Also, if you want to add more than one additional monitor (say 2, 3, 4 or 5) you are pretty short on options.

Recent technology breakthroughs by DisplayLink, though, put you in business. With an external video card (also known as a USB to DVI Adapter), which uses the DisplayLink chip, you can easily add up to five additional monitors without having to mess with internal cards, video splitters and complicated desktop software.

An external video card will also work with a desktop and is great for people who don’t want to pony up the cash for a multi-port video card (which can be very expensive if it has more than 2 video ports).

Many people are intimidated by the prospect of networking their own home. For some reason, network seems to belong in the office in many people’s minds. But with the widespread availability of NAS devices and media servers, as well as baluns and other tools that let you extend media and other controls over Cat5, maybe it’s time you started considering some advantages of networking your home. Get some inexpensive cat5e and a crimper and hop to!