Hands On: ZeeVee ZvPro 250 Media Streamer

ZeeVee recently unleashed its ZvPro 250, designed to provide integrators with a painless way to create an HD video distribution system through existing coaxial wiring.

It also rolled out a free firmware upgrade that enables 1080i output.

The product makes sense for commercial projects, but it’s also good for residential applications in which clients want to access HD content on monitors throughout their home.

It improves on the ZvBox 150, which maxes out at 720p, that was designed for residential use and has a relatively low MSRP of $999.

Features

ZvPro 250's step-up features include:

• 1080p output using the VGA input and up to 1080i using the component input
• Fan-cooled, the ZvPro 250 can be installed in racks while the ZvBox 150 needs more breathing room because it uses its chassis as a heat sink and runs warm
• RS-232 serial port that can be configured as a control port for switching inputs from VGA to component, etc.

ZeeVee says there’s no limit on the number of HDTVs that can receive content from a single ZvPro 250. Connected to a cable or satellite box, the ZvPro 250 makes the channels accessible from any TV connected to the venue’s coax network. If the box is also a DVR, the recorded content becomes accessible, too.

ZeeVee, known for its Zinc Internet Video Browser, also allows users to browse online videos from any TV on the network. If the client wants to integrate a PC into his system and run Zinc, ZeeVee supplies optional RF remotes, keyboards and RF receivers. Not every CE pro is wild about integrating a PC with a home A/V system, but it’s an option.

Installing the ZvPro 250 is simple — barely worth mentioning considering that it takes about 1/100,000 the time it would take to retrofit a wired HD video distribution system — but it does require a professional, according to ZeeVee.

HD Distribution

The overwhelming benefit of the ZvPro 250 is how inexpensively and easily it allows installers to create a large-scale HD distribution system. On a small scale, however, my 650-square-foot condo provides a nice illustration of what the ZvPro 250 offers CE pros.

In the living room, we have our main TV, cable box/DVR and surround–sound system. The bedroom is small and oddly shaped. My wife and I had to be pretty economical with space in order to get everything in there. We have an LCD TV mounted to the bedroom wall, but there is literally no space for a cable box, so the coax runs directly to the TV.

In Boston, Comcast only provides very basic cable channels with that setup. The ZvPro 250 expanded our options dramatically. I loved being able to catch the end of Red Sox games in HD while lying in bed — even though Comcast would prefer that I pay another $10 or so per month for that privilege.

My wife likes being able to access her recorded shows in the bedroom. We also have a roof deck that has a cable input. That means we can plug in a TV and watch cable, DVR and online content under the stars.

Why look at the view of Boston when you can watch every episode of “Cheers,” right? OK, maybe not, but the point is that we could if we wanted to.

My wife and I are pretty enamored with how easily the ZvPro 250 — a sleek component that we could barely see in our A/V rack — turned the coax wires in our 100-plus-year-old building into an HD distribution system. CE pros should definitely take a look at it.

MSRP: $2,499