HDBaseT vs. straight HDMI

3) Run both. (minimum 2 cat6/cat5e, 3 or more is better)

Cat6/cat5e is much more "future-proof" than HDMI.

The Atlona piece is very new (is it shipping?), which is why you haven't seen postings about it. Never seen the Aurora units, but they don't have IR routing for source control which should be part of your system.

Jeff

if you can swing the money to do the Atlona version, HDBaseT is so much better of a solution.

disclosure... i work for Atlona.

it has been shipping since september.

Just one story but be wary of Atlona. My installer has been trying to track someone down in head office Cali for help with my quote (I suggested Atlona to him) for one month. The Ontario sales rep told my installer that he even has a difficult time getting in contact with head office. His exact words to my installer were "good luck". This was disappointing as I was looking forward to getting a quote on my project. I'm looking to install 8 by 8 or 16 by 16 HDBaseT. My installer is certified URC/RTI/crestron. He was looking to get into Atlona based on my suggestion. Looks like I'm going to get a quote on a DM system.

How does Intelix DIGI-HD-8X8 fare against Atlona AT-PRO2HD88M ?

Its all built from the same people.
It goes, wyrstorm,anolta,and then every one els rebrands. SnapAV is the only one who makes and test there own stuff now,
You can go TBase but I would save your thousands and go with there regular double cats.

One of the most important things when doing HDMI distribution is the fact that most switchers downgrade the audio and video to the lowest common denominator. You will see hundreds of threads here or reviews on places like monoprice where individuals are upset that they are only getting 1080i or 2.0 stereo sound at their home theaters. Almost always it turns out that one of the switcher outputs is going to a basic TV with stereo sound.

I'm not sure yet if boxes exist to accept the full 1080p (or eventually 4k if you want) + HD audio and output it to the local TV. Just don't forget this in your search or you will likely be disappointed with the result.

I'm a big advocate of HDBaseT. You can see this thread I created. If you choose to run HDMI cables (don't forget the Blue Jeans series 1 are very thick are difficult to bend inside walls) do yourself a favor and run at least 1 but preferably 2 cat6 cables. This will vastly help if something does go wrong with one of your HDMI cables or an HDMI switcher. If you are adamant against sparkles I'd look towards something over cat6 and probably HDBaseT as that seems to work better than straight HDMI over long distances. Granted at 50' I doubt you'd have issues with straight HDMI but dealing with bends you may find you quickly get to 75 or even 100' when you thought it would be less.

There are boxes that accept the full 1080p + HD audio to output to the local TV, they're called $300 AVR's. Keep in mind, this will reduce the reliability on the video side.

A lot of time the purpose of these types of switches is to not have to keep any local bulky A/V equipment for a clean look. Good luck trying to hide an AVR behind a flat mounted TV.

I'd go Cat6 if budget isn't too much of an issue. Run a couple to each TV and you should have an upgrade path in the future (you may even want to pull one more to hardwire internet to the TV at the same time).

Even the best HDMI cable money can buy will have a limited like with the speed things are moving at the moment.