8-10m digital video and audio cables

[fishmanpete]

i need some product and technology advice, please.

i plan to move my computer to a different room from my tv as it is too noisy. for this to work, i will need:

- a dvi out of my pc (vista at 1920x1080) into an hdmi (into my sony w3000 tv)
- a digital audio cable (optical or coax) out of my pc into my amp

cables would have to be around 8m. would there be signal quality loss at these distances? most cables i see end at 5m.

for the video, is it better to get a dvi-dvi and add an hdmi adapter or get a dvi-hdmi cable? i wouldn't much have use for a dvi-dvi cable otherwise, i'm after best quality for this particular setup.

for the audio, again quality loss at this distance? optical or coax, or are they the same at these distances still? the cables will be curved around one door, making a u-turn.

i would appreciate any product/brand suggestions. i'm after quality and reliability, not necessarily the cheapest cable but i've been told that the more expensive ones wouldn't be worth the money until the distance is above 20m.

thanks!

[MarkTaylor]

Coax not optical for the sound cable and I'd suggest an HDMI cable with an HDMI-DVI adapter on the end.

The coax will cope with the distance and the curve around the door better, the optical only has a poor little led to power it and it hates going round corners which even if they don't break the cable they do cause reflections that will sap the signal strength.

The HDMI cable will probably be of more use in the future and it is easy to add a DVI adapter to it.

[fishmanpete]

thanks, mark. that's what i thought about the optical, that's why i emphasized the curve. as for hdmi, is there no quality loss when the adapter is used? also, any recommendations for a quality hdmi brand? i usualy go with belkin but they only seem to make up to 5m.

[MarkTaylor]

My preference for HDMI cables is www.bluejeanscables.com they have a UK site as well linked from the main one.

Can take a few days for them to arrive as they ship from the USA but the product quality and price is excellent.

There is always a risk of quality loss when adding something to a cable, but with an HDMI -> DVI adapter you are doing little more than rearranging the pins with very little to affect the signal so I wouldn't worry to be honest.

[QuantumUK]

Originally Posted by fishmanpete

thanks, mark. that's what i thought about the optical, that's why i emphasized the curve. as for hdmi, is there no quality loss when the adapter is used? also, any recommendations for a quality hdmi brand? i usualy go with belkin but they only seem to make up to 5m.

There is a Belkin cable but in their PureAV Silver range that comes in 9m and 15m.Alternatively QED come in at that length in their Performance range.

http://www.quantumelectronics.co.uk/...mi_silver.html

The problem is you get pricey at that end of the spectrum.

[fishmanpete]

thanks guys.

qed is good but 150gbp for the hdmi cable alone will be out of my budget.

i've read about bluejeans and mark grant on this forum, hadn't heard of them before, they seem to be good.

mark, which bluejeans do you recommend i get? the series-1 or series-f? the former is their 'best cable' but i'm not sure if for my purposes i need a flexible cable. i need to curve the cable around a wall column that is 40cm in width, it doesn't have to be a professional flush installation directly against the wall as i don't care how the cable looks, but how the pq looks. i don't want to waste my money on the f if i'll have to get the 1 series later.

[pjclark1]

10m flat HDMI cable for £15
www.cableuniverse.co.uk

They are really quick on delivery

[MarkTaylor]

Originally Posted by fishmanpete

mark, which bluejeans do you recommend i get? the series-1 or series-f? the former is their 'best cable' but i'm not sure if for my purposes i need a flexible cable. i need to curve the cable around a wall column that is 40cm in width, it doesn't have to be a professional flush installation directly against the wall as i don't care how the cable looks, but how the pq looks. i don't want to waste my money on the f if i'll have to get the 1 series later.

Skip the series 1, I doubt you'd get it round the corner

I've got a series F here and I'd say it had a bend radius of about 50mm so it will go around corners but nothing too sharp.

These are serious well constructed cables and a Series F should be fine for 8-10m.

[fishmanpete]

the only problem is the longest is 15 foot (4.57m)...

[fishmanpete]

Originally Posted by pjclark1

10m flat HDMI cable for £15
www.cableuniverse.co.uk

They are really quick on delivery

the 'flat' only goes up to 5m, the 'low profile' exists in 10m.

http://www.cableuniverse.co.uk/catal...oducts_id=1554

http://www.cableuniverse.co.uk/catal...oducts_id=1816

which cable do you have?