[gizzygone]

I'm in the middle of finishing my basement. I'm looking at having two TV's in the space (one for the Bar, and a second for a seating area). Additionally, I'd love to move my HT equipment in my living room downstairs. First of all: I know HDMI has limitations when it comes to length of runs. So what alternatives do I have? Secondly: is there a reliable way to split a source so it can run to two TVs at once, without losing quality?

 

[gec5741]

For extending your HDMI cable length you can use HDMI over Ethernet adapters. Basically you have 2 adapters each with eitehr one or 2 Ethernet connections on it. You connect the two adapters with the ethernet cables and then from both your source and devices you just use a standard length HDMI cable. http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=104&cp_id=10425&cs_id=1042501&p_id=8009&seq=1&format=2

For the question of splitting your signal are you wanting to be able to play 2 different channels on each tv or just control the same channel on both tv's. There are HDMI matrix setups that will allow you to send your signal to multiple sources like this one. http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=109&cp_id=10914&cs_id=1091403&p_id=10226&seq=1&format=2

There are other ones so look around but this gives you an idea. there is also something called HD Homerun prime or something like that. It will allow you to use basically a cable card and PC based clients in order to watch different channels on different sources. I havn't looked into it in a while but I believe there is a separate forum for all this also. I have to figure out what I'm going to do in my basement as I have 3 locations and I really don't want to shell out the extra cash a month to my cable provider for separate boxes. I just haven't gotten around to deciding on what I'm going to do myself.

 

[rfb6435]

I have a 65ft monoprice redmere cable running to the gym off from a splitter on the directv box that also runs my theater. I don't have any issues with it. I think the projector is running a 50ft redmere cable too. It is also going thorugh wallplates...

Directv DVR->3ft nickle series HDMI->Splitter box->6ft24ga flat cable->wallplate->65ft redmerge->wallplate-> 1.5ft ferrite core hdmi cable->42" TV.

I do find that it is much better to use an external HDMI splitter box than my onkyo AVR. I had issues with HDCP not working when switching between the projector and TV with the 2 AVR outputs and I also found that running the AVR in passthrough left its HDMI board powered and warm all the time so I would rather wear out a $20 HDMI splitter box than the AVR's HDMI section. My AVR also only wants to run in stereo mode when it enables the audio over HDMI. The splitter is before the AVR which eliminates that issue.

I have a 3rd TV running on a 75ft component run from the same DVR for 3 TVs total. A component line plus a toslink cable is reliable if you aren't concerned about a slight loss in contrast. Just be sure to get the premium cables from monoprice if you do inwall stuff. The RCA stereo and RG59 component cables aren't inwall rated....

-Rich

 

[gizzygone]

Yea, just looking to split a game up across two TVs, using a single source. Or use two sources to play two games using PIP.

The Ethernet extendeders I've seen (HDbaseT), but it doesn't seem to have taken off, and I've heard they have tons of handshake issues? Is this true?

I've seen red mere as Well, but I believe that only sends signals in one direction correct? (That wouldn't let me use the smart tv functions and my surround receiver)

 

[scotter]

Yea, just looking to split a game up across two TVs, using a single source. Or use two sources to play two games using PIP.

The Ethernet extendeders I've seen (HDbaseT), but it doesn't seem to have taken off, and I've heard they have tons of handshake issues? Is this true?

I've seen red mere as Well, but I believe that only sends signals in one direction correct? (That wouldn't let me use the smart tv functions and my surround receiver)

I have setup 100's of HDbaseT products. The monoprice ones work OK. For simple extensions they work pretty well. You get into some issues with the matrix switch they offer (basically, it dumbs the signal down to the lowest common denominator display.

Mux Labs, TrippLite, Kramer and Crestron (amongst others) offer extenders over Cat5/6 - some with additional features. They generally call the spec by their own name, but we have fed Crestron DM to Panasonic 'digital link' to without many issues. As far as small footprint/one cable the best seems to be the Kramer products. Have some running continually for over a year, never needing a reset or anything.

We love HDBaseT stuff in our office...

 

[RBalwinski]

Mux Labs, TrippLite, Kramer and Crestron (amongst others) offer extenders over Cat5/6 - some with additional features. ... As far as small footprint/one cable the best seems to be the Kramer products. Have some running continually for over a year, never needing a reset or anything.

I have been researching these devices since starting my basement remodel. I Keep hoping the the technology will improve and the costs will fall by the time I am ready for them. I checked out the Kramer transmitter over Cat6, the price looks pretty good, and the recommendation is very helpful.

I potentially need to send a signal to 3 additional TV locations from the main screen. Do you have any recommendations for a HDMI splitter to feed three HDBaseT transmitters? My receiver has two HDMI out, so the projector will get a dedicated connection, the 2nd should feed this splitter. Not sure if it would be better to just have a HDMI splitter, or a HDBaseT splitter.

Thanks!

I hope to actually be ready for this stuff by summer.

 

[jautor]

I potentially need to send a signal to 3 additional TV locations from the main screen. Do you have any recommendations for a HDMI splitter to feed three HDBaseT transmitters? My receiver has two HDMI out, so the projector will get a dedicated connection, the 2nd should feed this splitter.

Be careful here - do some serious reading down in the Home AV Distribution forum about the HDMI "common denominator" issue when sharing sources among TVs and AVR setups. Using the 2nd HDMI output from an AVR to feed a separate room is not a good idea unless the AVR has a matrix switch built in - and even then, the common denominator issue still applies.

Basically - each HDMI-connected source can only output one audio format (and video resolution, but this is less of a problem these days, until we add 4K into the mix). The source will send a format (2-channel stereo, DD5.1, DTS-MA, etc.) that can be supported by all attached displays. So if you have a simple TV connected - the source will likely have to send 2-channel PCM stereo (to all displays or AVRs attached) as that is all that is supported by most TVs (some new models do have DD5.1 - but DTS-MA support is still rare).

Jeff

 

[scotter]

I have been researching these devices since starting my basement remodel. I Keep hoping the the technology will improve and the costs will fall by the time I am ready for them. I checked out the Kramer transmitter over Cat6, the price looks pretty good, and the recommendation is very helpful.

I potentially need to send a signal to 3 additional TV locations from the main screen. Do you have any recommendations for a HDMI splitter to feed three HDBaseT transmitters? My receiver has two HDMI out, so the projector will get a dedicated connection, the 2nd should feed this splitter. Not sure if it would be better to just have a HDMI splitter, or a HDBaseT splitter.

Thanks!

I hope to actually be ready for this stuff by summer.

Flexibility-wise, I would concentrate on the Cat6 home-runs from your source location (media rack, whatever) to the remote display locations. The products and pricing changes as things improve. For home use (where you might do 4K and 3D at some point) the PT-580 series from Kramer is flexible and provides a lot of bandwidth over the true HD Base T standard. Their DGKat variant is what we have a lot of, but our sources are 720p generally (and not 3D, often we don't even have a sound component). For home I would go with their HD Bt line.

If your displays are all similar, the Monoprice matrix setup would work for you I bet. If you don't need any matrix switching (sounds like you are mirroring the same thing all over) then the basic Monoprice 1:4 setup is probably pretty good (it goes on sale on the time). http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=109&cp_id=10914&cs_id=1091405&p_id=10684&seq=1&format=2

The deal with that is that it can do some IR relay if needed and it will extend ethernet on to the TV itself (or whatever else you might have at the TV location). So its a DA (splitter) and ethernet switch.