Building the IR Blaster: YZC Electronics

YZC Electronics Flat IR Extender

YZC Electronics & Technologies Limited, a Singapore invested joint venture company, is a worldwide leader in IR (Infrared) products, founded with the vision that IR & wireless would revolutionise the way people interact with their electronics equipment. We caught up with Mr. Kobayashi, president, to ask more about the category of IR and IR extenders/blasters.

Who uses the Flat IR Extender/Blaster and why?

Many homes prefer closed cabinets that hide electronics. Our Flat IR Blaster lets residential installers control that hidden AV equipment. It’s simple and effective yet adds value to any home installation. And while Flat IR Blaster is designed for home theatres-- even some CCTV systems and the hotel market have found our product solves their problems.

You are currently recruiting European distributors for a new remote control IR extender system. You call it “a breakthrough in the AV industry.” Why do you believe this is a breakthrough?

Installers and their consumers now no longer need a DC adaptor to power up their IR Extenders. The designed-in low power consumption lets Flat IR Blaster’s replaceable battery last for up to 18 months. If that isn’t enough to make installers happy, Flat IR Blaster is also the only one of its kind in the market with flat cable features.

And the IR Blaster is built in?

Yes. The Flat IR Blaster comes with a receiving distance of 8.0m, emitting blasting distance of 30cm, emitting frequency range of 38 kHz to 56 kHz and a receiving frequency range of 34 kHz to 60 kHz. Most importantly, it works with almost all brands and models of remote control including those with new IR code formats (such as RC-MM) used in many newer HD devices and digital TV decoders.

The Flat IR Blaster includes a Single Emitter of extreme blasting capabilities, a feature that amplifies or extends the remote signals for all the AV equipment-- without necessarily sticking an individual emitter onto each piece of equipment.

You actually have a range of products. Tell us more about the full range.

We are the only company in the world which has full focus on IR Extender, and I mean only IR Extender. We try to satisfy customers from all levels be it end users or integrators. We have the basic cable type which is easily available in most of the electronics stores and the more sophisticated ones (HT series) for integrators when the home owners wanted more than a basic IR Extender.

We are very careful about pricing to protect our distributors and avoid a price war. We usually do not have more than 2 distributors for every 6-8 million of population. To encourage loyalty and marketing for our distributors, we do an Annual Rebate as well as a Festive Purchase program which all our current distributors simply love and benefit from.

Tell us about how YZC Electronics came into the business of infrared electronics…

We started off in 1989 as a Singapore agent for Sanyo Semiconductors and we worked and supplied integrated Circuits to an EMS in USA. In 1996, we had the opportunity to work with one of the Chief Engineers, Mr. Yu, when he left the position and we foresaw the Intelligent Home as “the next big thing.” So we decided to start something simple for smart home. Little did we know this “something simple” would lead us to a milestone of almost 20 years.

Along the way, we wanted to add some other AV accessories in our product line but we backed off after careful research. We feel we should stick to what we know best. It has not been easy to be where we are today if not for the acknowledgement of importance in sincerity. We are still trying to keep things simple yet sophisticated at the same time ensuring stringent cost and quality control to share profits with all our distributors.

Watch The Short Video with How IR Extender/Blaster Works

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