Hello, All

Rookie question here, so be nice!

Is the only way to distribute a digital video signal around the home, from my media room/HT, to multiple HD-capable flat-panels, HAVE to be over either DVI or HDMI cables pre-wired into the house during new-construction?

Or put another way, if I want 1080i/p going to various TVs, thru a switcher/matrix, can it be done over component video cables, which is what is built into this house?

Most of the video distribution devices I see output component video to the zones; will this transport hi-def?

Thanks in advance!

Jeff

Short answer: yes.

Component will handle 480i (SD/DVD) as well as 720p and 1080i (the current broadcast HD resolutions) just fine. There is no consumer standard for 1080p over component at the moment.

Question related to original: What wire do you use for in-wall hdmi cabling?

You use either CL2/3 rated HDMI cables, or you use multiple cat5/6/shielded cables and HDMI baluns.

Right, cannot field-terminate HDMI, so you install complete in-wall rated cables.

So, is there a current "standard" for wiring a new construction to be multi-room-HD-video ready? Used to be RG6 and CAT5 everywhere, now do we add either DVI or HDMI? Or a switching device, like the one I found from Xantech...

Xantech makes a video switch, that transmits HD over CAT5. Anyone have
experience with one of these, model HD44CC5?

Jeff

Jeff,

Most common is component still, as HDMI was not designed for long runs it is always an adventure. There are plenty of HDTV component switchers out there, either over CAT5 or RG6 (or a mini variant).

Personally, I have mini cables (23 gauge) from Liberty Cable run for component, switched with a Neothings component switcher. I have HDMI run to some key places (theater) and 2" conduit all over the place for when an 8x8 hdmi switcher finally arrives.

Curt

I agree with the posts here.

I use the Audio Authority cat-5 drivers to distribute hi-def video and digital and analog audio to 2 HD TVs. The inputs and outputs are Component. This takes care of 2 HD Tivos, XBOX 360, XBOX (XBMC), upscaling DVD player and a HTPC. I then have run a 75' run of an HDMI cable from monoprice to 1 TV downstairs so I can potentially send HDCP encrypted content from an HD-DVD or Blueray player.

Matrix Switched component is easy and you can do it with cat-5/6 or with RG6 cables. I like the cat-5 drives because with 2 cheap cat-5 runs I can get component video, analog and digital audio and run an IR receiver back to the wiring closet.

My .02.

Short answer: yes.

Component will handle 480i (SD/DVD) as well as 720p and 1080i (the current broadcast HD resolutions) just fine. There is no consumer standard for 1080p over component at the moment.

What do you mean by that? You can do 1080p over component no problem. The question is what the devices are capable of. But there certainly are standards for 1080p, have been for years.

Use your existing component distribution. It will pass HD. The only caveat is that you'll be limited to 576p for HD-DVD and Blue-Ray, and you'll be limited by the bandwidth of the cable and the distance of the runs that were decided upon when your house was built. It's likely it won't be able to pass 1080p without significant signal loss, but 1080i and 720p should be fine.

As far as future-proofing, don't run HDMI, DVI, or Component. Run two Cat6 (for gigabit streaming) to each room and use component or HDMI baluns, for now.

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What do you mean by that? You can do 1080p over component no problem. The question is what the devices are capable of. But there certainly are standards for 1080p, have been for years.

Most component video cables can easily handle a 1080p signal over a fairly long distance and there are quite a few devices that will accept 1080p over component video. However, I think that he means that there are no consumer devices that will pass 1080p movies over component video since there is no copy protection that way. I also think that you already knew all this :)

CJ

Most component video cables can easily handle a 1080p signal over a fairly long distance and there are quite a few devices that will accept 1080p over component video. However, I think that he means that there are no consumer devices that will pass 1080p movies over component video since there is no copy protection that way. I also think that you already knew all this :)

CJ

HD-DVD and BRD do right now no problem. In the future they may set the ICT flag on discs but right now it's not set on any content I'm aware of so you can go 1080p out with component without problem. Obviously it would be a good idea to run an HDMI/DVI cable to be future-proof, or even better run a large conduit that can fit HDMI/DVI at least, that way you can pull whatever wires you may want to pull in the future.