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Slingbox Pro-HD December 2010
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n uk.slingbox.com n £250
Test media streamer
Slingbox Pro-HD You’d expect a Slingbox with HD inputs to support HDMI and Freeview HD. Lower your expectations
Features SD in: Composite video, S-video (all loopthrough) HD in: Component video (loopthrough) Audio in: 2x stereo, coaxial digital audio (all loopthrough) Features: Double IR blaster, HD streaming Data: Ethernet, USB (non-functional)
Ratings PLUS
n Watch TV from home anywhere
in the world
n Control your home TV system
remotely
n Easy to set up
Minus
n No HDMI or optical digital
audio
n No Freeview HD n No Freeview programme guide
Build Setup Searching Performance Features Value
hhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhh
70%
The Slingbox has always been one of our favourite excuses to leave home because you never have to be away from the TV shows you don’t want to miss. All you need is a broadband internet connection and you can access not only live TV, but also the recordings on your PVR, anywhere in the world. The idea is known as placeshifting, and it’s very satisfying. The quality of the audio and video has also been very satisfying. Even a 400kb/s connection can deliver a watchable picture, and around 700k delivers an experience easily comparable with BBC iPlayer’s low-bandwidth feeds. Higher bandwidth means higher quality, both for audio and video. The downside is latency, as the Slingbox re-encodes the video to match the changing quality of your connection. When the original Slingbox arrived from the USA it was fitted with both a Scart passthrough adapter and a Freeview tuner, so you could even watch TV without interrupting someone else on your PVR. The Sling range has since evolved to include player software for watching on mobile phones, the Slingcatcher for watching your Slingbox on another TV and two new Slingboxes – the Solo, which has just one input and no built-in tuner - and the Pro, which can accept component video highdefinition signals, although it can’t stream HD, but it did improve the picture quality significantly. The PRO-HD takes the Sling experience further, based on the surprising discovery that most Slingbox owners were actually using it to watch TV in different parts of the house, rather than from a remote location, and so had faster network connections that could support HD.
Hooking up the PRO-HD It follows a similar design to other Slingboxes; a low-profile trapezoid, but much wider because there are so many connections on the back. This one is in silver and, unlike previous models, a red light snakes across the Sling symbol on the front when it’s in use. If it’s next to the TV this is quite annoying for anyone in the same
room – and you can’t turn it off. Hooking up the PRO-HD is straightforward – you have Ethernet to your router, composite video, S-video and stereo audio loopthrough inputs for SD, plus the Scart passthrough adapter, although this won’t siphon off higher-quality RGB video for better-quality standarddefinition video. There’s a Freeview tuner, but it’s not a DVB-T2 Freeview HD tuner, and a set of YPbPr component video, coaxial digital audio and stereo audio loopthrough inputs for HD signals up to 1080i. There’s also a USB port, although it doesn’t do anything yet. These connections allow you to have two input devices connected, controlled by an IR blaster dongle, plus Freeview. But here’s the rub; we have three HD-capable devices – a Sky+HD 1TB, a Humax FoxsatHDR, and TalkTalk+. None of them has component video outputs, and not all have coaxial digital audio. Both are common in the USA, but not over here. Ultimately, we couldn’t assess the PRO-HD with an HD source. That’s a shame, because even standard-def streams look and sound very good with a high-speed network connection, and the latest setup process is seamless if your router supports UPnP. If not, a trip to portforward. com will walk you through setup for any router. The latest PC player software also lets you buffer up to an hour of playback if your PC has enough hard disc space, so you can pause while watching. Finally, unlike the US version, there’s no internet-delivered programme guide, lthough that may come along in time n Alex Lane
Verdict Sling says it’s still working on both technical and legal issues around HDMI and its HDCP security, while Freeview HD tuners are still too expensive. There will be a truly HD product in future, but for now this isn’t going to be an HD streamer for many people. Unless you have a component video source, the cheaper Slingbox Pro is a better solution.