[NPuter]

Hey everyone,


I am in the process of upgrading my home theater, which is currently wired with component video cable.

My future AV receiver (Yamaha RX-A1030) and TV (Samsung F8500) will require about a 40ft span of cabling.


I have been extensively researching my options here, but am still very unsure of which method I should use.

Here is what I'm considering:

Passive HDMI

Redmere Active HDMI

HDBaseT setup


I was pretty much set on using a 40ft Monoprice Redmere "Ultra Slim Series" cable, but I'm now seeing that those are prone to failure in the long run. Since this will be run in-wall, it would be a pain to have to replace in the future. HDBaseT seems intriguing, but is it really worth using for a 40ft span?

Either way, I will be running two Monoprice cat6 cables along with whatever HDMI setup I use (and I would like to run two HDMI cables).


Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Phil17108]

I am thinking get the 40 footers and test them before you install and If everything works, video without speckles you are good to go. I used the 22awg cables and installed then in the walls without testing them first, but did not have a problem. I also use 8 inch port savers and wall plates were the cable inters the wall, they have a 6 inch cable within them. If its a no go you are stuck HDBaseT. I have no experience with this but others here do.

 

[Joe Fernand]

If you can install conduit do so and keep that as your ‘fall back’ option.


We have plenty of passive 12m HDMI cables installed and working fine (most using unbranded budget cable stock) – we have also encountered systems which would simply not play ball with a passive 12m cable and in those systems we go with our dual or single CAT extenders (single CAT incorporating HDBaseT).

http://www.octavainc.com/HDMI_extender_HD70STPEX.html


Joe

 

[NPuter]

Thanks for the responses. Right now I'm just leaning towards just going with a HDBaseT setup - thanks for the link Joe! Will this cat6 cable be adequate for that? http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-550MHz-Ethernet-Copper-Network/dp/B001TMXK32/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1392422747&sr=8-2&keywords=monoprice+50ft+cat6

From what I'm seeing, it looks like a passive cable of that length is going to be hit-and-miss. Monoprice doesn't even list their 40ft 22AWG cable as being able to transmit anything above 1080i.

I assume there are no detriments to using HDBaseT.

 

[Joe Fernand]

‘I assume there are no detriments to using HDBaseT.’ – we find our HDBaseT solutions to be very stable devices and slightly less system ‘dependent’ vs. our dual CAT non-HDBaseT systems.


We have seen differences between various extenders which employ HDBaseT so as with everything HDMI and its many variables you can never say something will work 100% of the time.


The CAT cable you link to looks ideal – we tend to use/recommend the 550Mhz GigaTrue cable from BlackBox.


Joe

 

[Otto Pylot]

Whatever you do , as Joe suggested, I'd strongly recommend installing conduit if possible. Especially for a run that long. A large diameter conduit, with a pull-string or two will make replacing faulty cables or upgrades much much easier. That's really the only way to "fool-proof" your installation.

 

[NPuter]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Otto Pylot  /t/1517797/debating-my-options-for-a-40ft-run#post_24361508


Whatever you do , as Joe suggested, I'd strongly recommend installing conduit if possible. Especially for a run that long. A large diameter conduit, with a pull-string or two will make replacing faulty cables or upgrades much much easier. That's really the only way to "fool-proof" your installation.

Well the thing is, there are already cables running from my av cabinet to the tv (component and s-video), albeit not in a conduit. I'm going to try to use those cables to pull through the new ones. Not planning on ripping out drywall or anything.

Right now, I'm pretty sure I'm going to run 3 or 4 cat6 cables and do HDBaseT.

One more question, is there any additional video lag introduced by HDBaseT? The F8500 already has a good amount of lag from what I've read, and I would like not to exacerbate it.

Thanks for all of the help!


Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[Otto Pylot]

Pulling new cables via the already installed ones would be the way to do it if you don't want to open up walls. Just use a good quality solid core CAT-6 cables that are in-wall rated and you should be fine. And don't bend the cables around corners or whatever too sharply. I don't know about any extra lag induced by HDBast-T so someone else will have to speak to that.

 

[Joe Fernand]

No discernible delay with any of our HDBaseT solutions and we have a few 'gamers' using them!


Try setting the Display to Game mode for any Consoles and minimise any other processes when viewing Video content.


Joe

 

[NPuter]

Excellent! Thanks again for the replies.

Joe, I will most likely go with your HDBaseT system with a Cat6a STP cable from monoprice (the one I linked earlier is a Cat6 UTP - unshielded - cable)

I assume cat7 would be overkill for my relatively short run.


Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[Joe Fernand]

Hi NPuter


For the most part we see our customers using CAT6 UTP - with some of our AV Installers using CAT6 STP in 'noisy' environments.


CAT7 most folk avoid.


Joe

 

[AV_Integrated]

I have rarely found it to be possible to use old cables to pull new cables. The holes are small, the turns are tight, the friction is high, and the distance you are going is significant.


What kind of cables are you using for your component video and your s-video?


There are products which can use coaxial cables, such as those you are most likely currently using for component video and s-video which can be used for HDMI.


While I will say that if you can do cat-6 without opening your walls is 100% the better solution because of the variety of product out there, if you find you can't run cat-6 easily, you may want to look at this as an alternative product:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=817281&Q=&is=REG&A=details


I recently installed these at a client's home who had mini-HR (5 conductor mini RG59 cable) and a run of perhaps 80 feet or so, and it passed 1080/60p video without issue.


I would have pulled cat-6 if there was any way I could have.

 

[NPuter]



Quote:
Originally Posted by AV_Integrated  /t/1517797/debating-my-options-for-a-40ft-run#post_24390823


I have rarely found it to be possible to use old cables to pull new cables. The holes are small, the turns are tight, the friction is high, and the distance you are going is significant.


What kind of cables are you using for your component video and your s-video?


There are products which can use coaxial cables, such as those you are most likely currently using for component video and s-video which can be used for HDMI.


While I will say that if you can do cat-6 without opening your walls is 100% the better solution because of the variety of product out there, if you find you can't run cat-6 easily, you may want to look at this as an alternative product:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=817281&Q=&is=REG&A=details


I recently installed these at a client's home who had mini-HR (5 conductor mini RG59 cable) and a run of perhaps 80 feet or so, and it passed 1080/60p video without issue.


I would have pulled cat-6 if there was any way I could have.

That's very interesting - didn't know you could run HDMI over coax.

Running the new cat6 cables shouldn't be much of an issue. The run is exposed and accessible in my attic, and it's a straight shot from my outlet port behind the TV to the attic. I've run other cables from the attic to my AV cabinet, so I know that won't be an issue.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

 

[AV_Integrated]

Oh heck yeah! If you have attic access to a fairly straightforward run, then I would run a HDMI cable and put in a few pieces of cat-6 and call it a day. Not fun, but you only have to do this once and you should be good for many years to come.