Audiovox HDP100: HDMI Through Powerlines

You know the drill. You go to install some new equipment, but you're faced with a dilemma. Do you run cables across the floor, put the TV screen in a non-ideal position, or even giving up the idea of having HDTV in a room that doesn't have a satellite receiver. Audiovox has a potential solution.

There are wireless HD transmission systems, there are other whole-home systems, but the Audiovox HDP100, marketed under their Acoustic Research brand, is a very affordable and robust system. It can carry HDMI signals, audio, and 1080p video. It's being marketed to the general public, but custom installers are also excited about this product.

What's in the box?

What's in a Name?

A lot of profit, if you're talking about trusted names in consumer electronics. But some of those reassuring brands we grew up with — RCA, AT&T, Westinghouse, and Polaroid — bear no relation to the American companies we associate them with. In many cases, it's Chinese companies looking to make inroads into the lucrative U.S. market, where branding is everything.

In the case of RCA, the buyer is another well-known American company, Audiovox, which this week signed a definitive agreement to buy the RCA audio/video business from France's Thomson. Thomson bought the RCA trademark in the late '80s, a year after General Electric had acquired RCA (including its broadcast business) and replaced the famous red RCA neon letters with GE atop Rockefeller Center in New York City.