So, that is the back story. Now my church (The Chapel) has been making the move to recording and showing our services in HD. In the past we would just throw the video and audio into an RF modulator on some unused channel like 66 and all would be well. The problem is that we have wide screen HD TVs everywhere now and an RF modulated signal looks horrible!
So after looking at several pricey options of HDMI and Component extenders I came to the conclusion that it would be quite expensive. I was about to make the recommendation that we just make the largest TV in the lobby HD by using a Component extender box (about $300 - $500) when I started wondering if we could make our own DTV channel. All of out new TVs have DTV QAM tuners in them so I thought it could be a great solution.
The first company that came up in my searches was from http://www.computermodules.com/ but at about $10,000 was way out of my price range. I almost gave up but last night after some more searching I found the Zv100 from http://www.zeevee.com/. For $500 I can get one of the first consumer level VGA to QAM modulators! This may be just what I need to get HD video to all 7 of our HD TVs in the building. That is only $72 per TV and we can use our existing cable! It would cost me way more to buy and install extenders and I don't think that I would get as good of a signal.

Some other notable new video devices that I came across while researching are:
- WD TV HD media player - I saw this at Best Buy and it got me th
inking about using it for HD streaming or digital signage. It is designed to work with external storage such as WD's "My Passport" external hard drives but will work with any external hard drive or USB flash drive. It boasts HD up to 1080p and has HDMI connectivity with Digital Audio as well as composite video and stereo outputs. The menu looks slick too. The down sides? Well, there is now Ethernet so you can't steam anything or manage it remotely. Beyond that it's not bad for $130 and is even available at Best Buy.
- SlingCatcher - I know SlingBox has been around for a while but they didn't impress me too
much. I was looking for HD and the SlingCatcher only provides 640 x 480 resolution at this time which is weird because the PC client supports 1024 x 768. It is packaged nicely in a shiny black enclosure. Seams over priced for $300.
- Hava Platinum HD - Not bad for $150. It provides much of what a SlingBox would do plus
it also has DVR features if you add an external hard drive. The downsides are that they don't have a device like the SlingCatcher to receive streams. You can only send to phones and other computers at this time.
I'll let you know what I think of ZeeVee if we get one!
If any of you are sending HD to lobby TVs, post some comments! I would love to hear!