Ex-Royal, don't mind at all and actually glad you posted pics, haven't had time to take any yet.
You did get me curious about the IR LED, so I checked it with the only really IR sensitive device I have: my webcam.
Left the white LEDs on at the brightest setting for comparison. Don't throw away your SDU-5/E or MS-2000 just yet, but with NV you'd probably be able to notice it pretty well.
Here's a small video (AVI/Mpeg4) to show how it blinks. I used MPEG4 to try and maximize compatibility (VLC and WinAmp should both be able to play it even if you don't have the CODEC installed, and I think QuickTime should be able to play it on Mac). It's a small file (170kb) so no one should have trouble getting it.
DOWNLOAD HERE