New Technology Reviews!.: PWHD01

<img src="http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/3343/wst299grouptestprestigi.jpg"> With a name like Prestigio Emporio, this wireless sender appears to be trying a little too hard to impress – even its packaging is extravagant. But there is substance behind the style. Both transmitter and receiver have a pancaked Mac Mini-style design that is rather attractive. Build quality is good, although there is some creak in the plastic casings. Given how slim the units are, there's only room for a single HDMI connection on each. Also supplied in the box is an IR blaster and an HDMI lead. Thanks to the paucity of connections, hooking up the PWHD01 is simplicity itself. Once the transmission source and receiving screen have been wired via HDMI, the units can be powered up. A simple onscreen text display then informs that the devices are 'Linking'. By way of confirmation, a few moments later a Sky channel appeared on our second-floor set. The IR blaster enabled us to pull up the EPG, with little obvious delay. It was as if a fully functioning Sky box was connected. In terms of ease of use, the PWHD01 proved to be the best system on test. Prestigio says the Emporio can transmit 1080p HD resolution video across 25m, with 720p HD video reaching twice that. This wireless HDMI video sender uses Motion JPEG compression rather than an H.264 codec, but the results are not great. On received footage there were clear mosquito noise artefacts around fine detail (not present on the source material). Even worse, our Blu-ray test platter confirmed significant judder and skipping during rapid horizontal movement. This all added up to poor video performance. As with the Eminent iTrio EM7100, the Prestigio receiver outputs stereo only.

Review: Prestigio Emporio PWHD01

With a name like Prestigio Emporio, this wireless sender appears to be trying a little too hard to impress – even its packaging is extravaga...