[karos]

FPTV folk have a dilemma. Do I make the vga run to the projector long and keep the s/pdif run to the preamp short?


Or do i make the s/pdif run to the preamp long and keep the vga run to the projector short?


Given that vga is analog, I guess that the vga run should be short to avoid side effects (how short is short anyway?)

That means that the spdif run should be the long one (how long is long before you need a repeater anyway?).


My dvd player has toslink out, so I guess i need a convertor. Is there a quality difference here that makes any difference or will a radio shack one do? you know, toslink to coax.


Thanks.


Stefan

 

[Hugh Magoo]

I could be wrong here. But toslink is fiber optic cable. I'm not sure what converters there are if any. A long fiber optic cable sure would cost a bundle though.

 

[Karnis]

Make the optical run the long one. It uses fiber optics, which transmits light, not voltage. So no voltage drop or loss of signal due changes in impedence caused by long runs. Your only consideration at that point would be cost of the fiber cable, which isn't that bad. You can get fiber patch cables at most electronics suppy stores. Put the converter at the preamp end if you need to convert toslink to coaxial.

 

[karos]

Thank you Karnis for your reply. But can I make a 50 foot fiberoptic cable work? I thought the spec was for much less than that. Any recommended sources you like?

 

[doody]

i don't know the answer for sure, but i'd follow another poster's advice and convert it to coax. i have one 75' digital coax run to my rear speakers. no problemo. not so sure about a plastic toslink connection.


to answer your first question, though, the long digital audio signal run will be a much much safer bet than a long analog video run.


good luck.


doody.

 

[karos]

Do you use an optical to coax convertor? Karnis suggested putting it near the preamp. That defeats the purpose of a long coax run (which is cheaper than a long optical run). I guess Karnis was thinking of electrical interference that could bollux up the coax signal.


I remember, that although the signal is digital, it is electrical and ones can become zeroes and vice versa with the appropriate interference. Someone told me that there is no crc error checking with digital music signals or digital video so errors do occur.


Still, I am thinking of getting the midiman CO2 splitter/convertor. Any recopmmendations?

 

[John Moschella]

Your right in thinking that a long SPDIF audio cable is better than running a long VGA cable. There are a number of reasons for this. I don't think that the fact that VGA is analog has a lot to do with it, its more the nature of the connection. A good VGA cable will have internal coaxial cables and good ones get very expensive.


As far as the toslink vs coax debate, there are lots of issues here. The main advantage of toslink is that its a non-electrical connection not subject to noise or ground loops. However, there are issues with jitter and sound quality that gives coax an advantage. I would not worry about a 75' run, if you have a good RG6 then its not really long from an attenuation standpoint. You should base your decision on which type of connection you want, what it costs etc.


John Moschella

 

[jaymer]

karos,

1) you haven't said yet how long the VGA run would be?

2) i'm assuming that you would have read this thread on long VGA already, but just in case

 

[DanOO00]

Just as an FYI... I use a 50' long fiber optic toslink cable from my pc's hoontech adapter card for SB live to my sony DTS AV receiver , and it works like a charm. The cable cost ~$43 from the sound professionals website - http://www.soundprofessionals.com here's a link to the cable. http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cg...-15&type=store http://www.soundprofessionals.com


IMHO -very high quality cable construction

 

[karos]

Dan00oo,


Thank you. I think that's just what I need. The cable actually costs less than a toslink->coax converter (CO2 from midiman). Blackbox.com wont do >10 meters as they feel it exceeds the spec.


So, in summary, the dvd player,scaler, HDTV input will all be located near the projector. Long spdif runs from the HDTV box and DVD player will go to the preamp and amp which are near the speakers.



Moderator,


how does this sound? (pun intended)



thanks.


Stefan

 

[loganross]

I use a 25' vga cable from belkin electronics. It is their pro/high integrity series cable and is solidly made. I paid $65 for it at buy.com. You can check out their products on their web site.



I can not tell the difference between the picture using either the belkin cable or a shorter one.


I give it a thumbs up!!!

 

[jaymer]

i guess i didn't point this out (cause its in the VGA thread) but I made my own for $.32/ft, plus a few bucks for connectors (approx $10).

 

[LynxFX]

I purchased a dual shielded 25' vga cable from cableconnections and it is very solidly made. Picture looks great, no problems and was able to buy a cheaper 3' optical cable.