Cat6 and HDMI

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richms

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#845292 25-Jun-2013 21:40

I have had _way_ less problems with the HDMI over 1 cable solutions than the 2 cable solutions which would always drop out and have the monitor undetect and redetect quickly

Richard rich.ms

mcraenz

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#845346 26-Jun-2013 00:13

I recently moved my HTPC from the lounge into a cupboard and ran a 15M HDMI cable. Thought at that length it was a bit of a risk it might not work But even after adding a wall plate(=joiner) and another 1.5M cable at the TV end and a USB cec adaptor (=joiner) and another 1.5M at the PC end (total 18M) I've had no issues at all. All dynamics cables.

I did consider hdmi over CAT6 but have heard that the cables should both be exactly the same length and STP and ideally factory terminated. So 2x 15M CAT6 STP Solidcore patch leads + HDMI to CAT6 adapters the cost is much higher than the 15M HDMI cable ($50).

On the other hand the $10 USB over CAT5 adaptors I got off deal extream are working perfectly :) (with a powered up).

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Masterpiece

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#845392 26-Jun-2013 08:58

Alot of it comes back to cost of HDMI to run to multi points around a home. Cat6 is just cheaper, although nothing is not without some issue to deal with.

Future proofing is the most difficult problem, HDMI 2 is not far away, with that higher loads on HDMI networks. Many will not be up to it, and when 2160p starts being more mainstream issues will arrise with older long run cables of lower quality.

Right now to transmit 2160p at Rec2020 it takes 4 * HDMI cables of the 1.4 spec
I agree with Cyril, have a player device at each point to eliminate long run requirements. Also easier to upgrade and less problems with future proofing.

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rayonline

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#845528 26-Jun-2013 12:20

I've just been trying out Windows Media Center and using the Extender feature with our Xbox 360. Pretty good. I read up about Apple TV and HD Home Run that someone mentioned on Geekzone. How are these options compared to a cable run of HDMI/CAT6? If one was just watching tv or recording it, like a common consumer with their current network such as Wireless N or Cat5/6 Windows Network. I read that the HD Home Run have 2 tuners builtin.

For free to air TV, seems easiest to just run some more RG6 cable and plug it into the builtin Freeview TV or get one of the cheap decoder boxes or tuner cards. Then one can just do what they want.

overkill

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#847419 30-Jun-2013 16:21

richms: I have had _way_ less problems with the HDMI over 1 cable solutions than the 2 cable solutions which would always drop out and have the monitor undetect and redetect quickly

Yes to this for sure, we do not touch anything unless it is HDBaseT for Video Distribution, over single Cat6 and is the only standard that supports 4K up to 100M runs. Yes it is pricey, but it is the standard that is going to be installed to most new TV's shortly, Panasonic already have the chipsets in their Projectors and TV's are in the process to be done aswell.

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