Review twisted pair HDMI extender
Lenkeng LKV372AE
The Lenkeng LKV372AE extender is considered basic in Lenkeng's lineup. It transmits video with a maximum resolution of 1080p at 60 Hz for a distance of up to 230 feet over a CAT6 cable.
It should be noted that the cable category is based on the requirement for a 23 AWG wire cross-section. Theoretically, you can use CAT5e cable (24 AWG) and the range should be at least 130 feet.
Going forward, during the tests we got more encouraging results for the range on CAT5e cable.
The kit comes in a gray box without any advertising pictures. This usually suggests more professional applications, where "wrapping doesn't matter".
If you open the box, you can immediately see the transmitter, the receiver, and the instructions. Additional accessories (power supplies, IR transmitter, and IR receiver) are located under the soft padding.
The receiver and transmitter have a very compact design. What catches your eye are the lugs on the housing for easy mounting to surfaces. They will come in handy if you need to screw it to a wall or under a table.
The transmitter and receiver housings are made entirely of high-quality metal. Except for the plastic overlay with HDMI Extender labeling, which displays the maximum range (70 meters is 230 feet) for information and to identify the Transmitter or Receiver. This plate is covered with a protective film that can be removed after installation.
There are connectors for HDMI, power, and IR transmitter and emitter connection on the front side of the transmitter and receiver. There are also the Reset button and the LED indicator that helps to determine if there is power and if there is contact between the devices. I would like to note a good fit of the inner board with connectors to the housing. All parts fit with minimal gaps and nothing inside is loose if you shake it.
In the package, you can find an IR emitter and an IR emitter for sending the IR signal back. This additional feature is very useful for controlling an IR remote control, e.g. a TV set-top box from the TV side.
The Transmitter and Emitter come with double-sided adhesive tape for attaching to surfaces. It is very odd that it is supplied separately and not glued immediately
Right away we want to note the thickness of the metal from which the housing is made. It is thick enough. Perhaps this is because the smaller the housing, the better heat dissipation is needed. Anyway, we can see that the manufacturer did not try to save money here.
The board is inserted in special slots that secure it. And the edges of the board are insulated with special tape.
In our opinion, the soldering is of high quality. The only disappointing thing is a little bit crooked gluing the cooling radiator to the chip. But it shouldn't affect the performance.
We prepared a small test bench which consisted of a laptop, a monitor, and a set of HDMI cables, CAT6 and CAT5e of several lengths.
We would like to point out that for testing we used 6-ft HDMI cables, which is the standard for cables that come with many devices (monitors, TVs, set-top boxes).
Initially, we tested the operation in standard mode - video transmission with 1080p 60Hz resolution using a CAT6 cable 230 feet long.
We had no complaints at all. The video was transmitted on the laptop monitor and the external monitor through the transmitter and receiver set without distortion and visible delays.
During the next test, we replaced the CAT6 cable with a CAT5e, which has a smaller cross-section (CAT6 is AWG23, CAT5e is AWG24).
Although the difference in the diameter of these cables is 20%, the vendor claimed that the kit should transmit video to a distance of up to 130 feet when using CAT5e cable. Maybe he decided to play it safe.
We started our tests with 190 feet.
The test result surprised us because everything worked flawlessly.
We can assume that it's all about the claimed performance characteristics:
In addition to the basic 1080p60Hz video specification, the manufacturer has said that 4:4:4 color can be transmitted as well as HDR10. These two video specifications require a lot more bandwidth. In reality, most users use video with 4:2:0 color sampling and without HDR10. Only a small fraction of users will require 4:2:2 and possibly HDR. So if you already have a CAT5e cable and are unable or do not want to change it to CAT6, then first it answers a few questions:
1. What length is needed? In practice, such devices are often used to extend the signal by 100-130 feet.
2. What type of video will you be transmitting? If you are going to transmit video from a laptop, CCTV, or TV set-top box, then most likely you will not need high color and HDR
3. What kind of application are you going to use the extender in? 4:2:2 color and HDR are typically used in home entertainment applications (movies, video clips, and games). And it is more applicable to 4K equipment. It is less applicable for 1080p.
In conclusion, we can say that the tested set pleased us with its good appearance, quality of assembly, and fit of parts. With some small imperfections, which do not affect the operation.
We had no complaints In terms of performance, and we were even pleasantly surprised by the results. It all depends on the area of its application.
We recommend buying the kit for those who need a high-quality inexpensive 1080p HDMI extender over twisted pair up to 230 feet.
