IR extenders have long allowed homeowners to neatly hide A/V equipment and cable boxes in linen closest and other rooms. The results are awesome as you get all the functionality of the boxes without looking at the ugly things. (and it keeps them away from the kiddos) But IR extenders are traditionally clunky devices, requiring their own special wiring and large receiver units. Enter Sewell InjectIR. It’s genius.
The InjectIR system plugs into both ends of an HDMI cable. The end by the TV has an IR receiver and the end by the equipment, an IR emitter. Like a traditional extender, the IR receiver takes the IR signals transmitted by any remote and sends that signal to the emitter end where it’s broadcasted to the equipment’s IR sensor. Except with the InjectIR, the system works over an HDMI cable, which is probably already in place.
The company claims the system takes 60 seconds to install and that seems about right. There are two pieces, each going on other ends of an HDMI cable. Once those are installed, you just need to place the IR receiver and emitter in the right location, which should take about 5 seconds each. Sewell claims that the InjectIR will work even if the HDMI signal is extended using a CAT-5 balun kit.
At $44.95 it’s slightly more than a Radio Shack IR extender but features a lot smaller footprint and richer feature set. The Sewell InjectIR might be the best, low-cost way of cleaning up your TV stand and stuffing all those unsightly boxes in a closet.