New Slingbox Delivers True HD Video

The PRO-HD isn't the first Slingbox capable of receiving HD video, but it's the first to actually transmit a 1080i signal to a laptop or another TV—provided you're sending and receiving over your home network, that is.

Set to be unveiled at CES next week, the $399 Slingbox PRO-HD (available this fall) comes with a slew of audio and video inputs and outputs, along with an IR blaster for controlling your DVR or TV set-top box. And indeed, the PRO-HD works pretty much like the older Slingbox Pro and Solo models; once it captures video from your DVR, it can send the signal to your PC, Mac, or any cell phone that works with the mobile version of SlingPlayer. Here's the difference, though: While the Pro and Solo Slingboxes could send only DVD-quality video, the PRO-HD can send a 1080i signal over your home network (but not over the Internet at large, unfortunately, and obviously not to a cell phone). That means you can watch HD video from your DVR over your laptop, or—once the long-delayed SlingCatcher finally arrives—on an HDTV in another room. Pretty cool.

Related:
CES gadgets: Sling Media unveils new Slingbox PRO-HD for moving HD video around the home [Dean Takahashi's Tech Talk Blog]