HDM-GA1 Gigabit Accelerator Makes 4K Upgrades Easy

HOLLY HILL, Fla. – December 1, 2015 – Metra Home Theater Group, a leading provider of home theater products and accessories, announces the Ethereal HDM-GA1 to its lineup of products. The Ethereal HDM-GA1 Gigabit Accelerator allows the installer to utilize existing in-wall passive HDMI® cables up to 15 meters in length to upgrade and support the full 4K/60, 4:4:4, HDR signal now available in many video products.

The compact in-line Gigabit Accelerator has a 2” by 1” aluminum chassis that is powered from an external USB power supply through a USB mini connector - and is simple for anyone to install. The HDM-GA1 rebuilds the video channels to a level that exceeds the HDMI 2.0A standard while repairing the data timing clock channel. The simple ‘plug and play’ device from Metra takes micro-technology and transforms any quality 24-gauge passive cable up to 15 meters to 4K with full signal integrity. This new innovation from Metra gives dealers with a very simple way to upgrade current installations to the latest 4K technology, meeting 4K/60, 4:4:4, HDR standards with existing HDMI cables.

Updated and new products to debut

HOLLY HILL, Fla. – January 04, 2015 – Metra Home Theater Group, a leading provider of home theater products and accessories, announces additional features to the award winning Ethereal HDM-GA1 and Velox Cables along with new Helios mounts.

The Residential Systems CEDIA EXPO Best of Show and CE Pro Best award winning HDM-GA1 Gigabit Accelerator now supports in-wall cables extending up to 17 meters. The Ethereal HDM-GA1 allows the installer to utilize existing in-wall passive HDMI® cables to upgrade and support the full 4K/60, 4:4:4, HDR signal now available in many video products. The compact in-line Gigabit Accelerator has a 2” by 1” aluminum chassis that is powered from an external USB power supply through a USB mini connector - and is simple for anyone to install.

The Velox Cables from Ethereal are now available in various sizes up to 15 meters, compared to the previous 12 meters. The evolutionary designed cables support the latest generation of HD, Ultra-HD and 4K video applications with the new Targa 1 Module developed in In-Visions Technology, Inc. The Velox UHD cables support 18 Gb/s HD signal for higher resolutions, frame rates and colors over HD digital interconnects. Like the Ethereal HDM-GA1, the Velox Cables are proudly assembled in the USA.

New surveillance cameras and accessories featured at CES 2016

HOLLY HILL, Fla. – December 14, 2015 – Metra Home Theater Group, a leading provider of home theater products and accessories, announces new Spyclops cameras, DVRs and power distribution boxes to their growing lineup of security products at CES 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The new NVR Kit 4 wireless 720p bullet cameras features a four-channel wireless connection with high-definition 720p resolution, VGA and HDMI® outputs and 3.6 mm fixed lens. The IP66 rated camera can be viewed simply on Android and iOS apps and include 1 terabyte of hard-drive space. The NVR Kit requires only a singular Ethernet cable to provide power and data to the entire unit making it an easy install option for any home or office.

The new Hybrid Security DVRs include 4-channel capabilities with embedded LINUX operating system that supports analog 960H, 720p, 1080p and IP (up to 1080p) cameras. The Hybrid Security DVR’s playback in the recorded resolution with a multi-camera view, up to 30 frames per second recording per camera and feature 1080p on all channels.

Thru the years the complexity of HDMI® based installations have grown, because of this we have seen a marked increase in “system failure” support calls. This can be very upsetting to dealers, consumers and causes stress on the support side.

The most common “system failure” is as follows: everything was working great for about a week or so, then we started to see [insert one/more of the following] sparkles, picture fade, and/or dropping of resolution until there is no picture or sound. Trouble shooting this can be a real problem due to the fact that at our end we rarely can get a truly complete picture of the install over the phone.

We think Thermal Overload is the problem.

New releases in the home theater industry’s product technology are never ending! By the time you learn about the latest and greatest technology, it’s already being replaced with something newer and better. What you thought was emerging is now obsolete, and you haven’t even had time to review, no less educate yourself, on all the details of what’s changed.

This can be costly if you don’t know the details of the new HDMI® 2.0 and 2.0A specs. Education is more important than ever due to the hot–button feature everyone is talking about: High Dynamic Resolution (HDR).

With all the hyperbole about this new technology being thrown around, along with the talk about new cable certifications, it’s easy to get confused quickly.

Here’s an example that occurred in our office last week. One of our staff members received a typical sales email from a manufacturer that read:

Dear friend,
Good day. Attached is our HDMI 2.0 HDCP 2.2 100m extender (HDBaseT) for you.

Whoa, wait a minute! HDBaseT has upgraded to HDMI 2.0 and can therefore now support 4k/60, HDR and 4:4:4 color? Without a clear understanding of HDMI 2.0, 2.0A, 4K and HDR, one would think this HDBaseT was something to consider purchasing for use with the new 4K, HDR components because of the “HDMI 2.0” listed spec.

DR, one would think this HDBaseT was something to consider purchasing for use with the new 4K, HDR components because of the “HDMI 2.0” listed spec.