[Jon Weaver]

I currently feed my TVs around the house with RF fed from my SkyHD box into an 8 way distribution amp. The picture quality is pretty poor, but it works and is effective for what I need.

I have just upgraded my 50" Plasma with another 50" and after realising that I would only get £200-£300 for my old one, I figured I would keep it and put it on the bedroom wall.

Again I was planning on feeding this with the same RF that my other TVs get, but since its a 50" screen its going to look shocking.

I wondered if its worth having a look at HDMI Extenders. I could run a couple of CAT6 cables fairly easily (they would be 15-20m in length) and my amp has 2 HDMI ouputs, so I was thinking of giving these a go:

HDMI extender by cat-5e/6 cable 1080p 30M HD-DVD PS3 ST on eBay (end time 06-Dec-09 05:08:08 GMT)

But how well do they work? At the end of the day, I was happy to go with RF, so even if these aren't going to give 100% HDMI quality.. But what I do need is for them to work at 1080p, as my amp can only output the same format on BOTH outputs, so I don't want to affect my main TV.

If this cheap extender is no good, then does anyone have any recommendation?

Jon

[hornydragon]

Cheap ones will offer mixed results they may work or not or may work sporadically or be perfectly fine. The other option is to send Higher qaulity Analogue video such as component to the bedroom and leave HDMI for the main screen.

[Joe Fernand]

Hello Jon Weaver

Who would have thought all that worry over your choice of PDP and it would end up being worth next to nothing!!!!

When planning to run everything via the AV Amp keep in mind you may need to keep the Amp on at all times (unless it has an HDMI Standby Passthru function), will have to always view the same source on both Displays, will likely require/force you to limit your BD to 1080i if your 'Old' Display lacks 1080p24 support and can run into audio issues if your source is set to deliver 7.1/5.1 Bitstream/LPCM via HDMI to the AV Amp.

As hornydragon says with HDMI it either works or doesn't - the only in-between state being something that works intermittently (quite common with HDMI).

For many folk a 1x2 HDMI 'Splitter' Distribution Amp on the Output of the SKY HD box plus a set of HDMI over CAT5/6 extenders will be a better option that running via a Dual Output AV Amp.

Joe

[Jon Weaver]

Originally Posted by Joe Fernand

For many folk a 1x2 HDMI 'Splitter' Distribution Amp on the Output of the SKY HD box plus a set of HDMI over CAT5/6 extenders will be a better option that running via a Dual Output AV Amp.

Joe

Thanks all.. My amp has a Dual output which in standby outputs Sky to BOTH all the time.. So this part of my plan will work and I don't need any extra hardware to achieve what I want (other than then extenders)

It will also mean that IF I wanted to watch a DVD, I could turn the amp on downstairs and run it this way...

I thought about component, but this would mean running a component lead through the outside wall, up the outside and in through the loft.. And this is going to be difficult.. The same with a long HDMI lead..

Running 2 thin CAT5/6 cables is going to be comparatively easy so I am certainly going to go with that option.

If I don't go with one of these 'cheap' HDMI extenders, what should I go with? Does anyone know of a extender which has worked with good/consistent results? When you say "set of HDMI over CAT5/6 extenders", what are you referring too? Is this not exactly what I am looking at on Ebay?? Or have I missed something?/

Jon

[hornydragon]

You can run component over Cat5/6 with Digital or stereo audio and IR control and its alot more robust than many HDMI solutions which is why we still use it alot.

[Joe Fernand]

HDMI over CAT5/6 extenders are very definitely not all created equal!!!

I'm biased of course

Media Factory - Octava HDMICAT-UK, HDMI over CAT5 extender

Joe

[Jon Weaver]

Originally Posted by hornydragon

You can run component over Cat5/6 with Digital or stereo audio and IR control and its alot more robust than many HDMI solutions which is why we still use it alot.

Thats a good point.. I could take the component out of my AMP (which I am not using).. But I would need to check whether that works when the amp is switched off...

Jon

[Jon Weaver]

Originally Posted by Joe Fernand

HDMI over CAT5/6 extenders are very definitely not all created equal!!!

I'm biased of course

Media Factory - Octava HDMICAT-UK, HDMI over CAT5 extender

Joe

Does this one work over CAT5? Or does it have to be 5E/6?? I have a box of CAT5 so could install it for nothing.. But if I should be looking at CAT6, then I would have to go and buy something...

Still a bit confused as to whether these devices work on traditional 'CAT 5'

Jon

[Joe Fernand]

HDMI > YUV Component - wont work with an HDMI equipped Source; no mater if the AV Amp is In or Out of Standby.

Joe

[Joe Fernand]

The HDMI over Twisted pair units are simply using the physical properties of any Category cable you employ (CAT5/5e/6).

With a 1080i signal you ought to have no problems with CAT5 at the lengths you indicate - as you push for longer lengths and or higher bandwidth signals (1080p60) you are better employing CAT5e and better still CAT6.

You can use CAT5 for the Data channel and CAT6 for the video channel on a Dual cable extender pair if you want to minimise any additional outlay on cable.

Joe

[Jon Weaver]

Originally Posted by Joe Fernand

HDMI > YUV Component - wont work with an HDMI equipped Source; no mater if the AV Amp is In or Out of Standby.

Joe

Oh yes.. Good point. If I am feeding it with HDMI, its not going to 'convert' unless the amp is on.

But I am intreagued where you say "HDMI > Component won't work if the amp is out of standby".. Unless I am misunderstanding, my AMP certainly converts analogue to HDMI when it on.

However, for the purpose of this discuss, my application MUST be HDMI due to the way my setup is connected.

Jon

[Jamie]

I think the person who said to use a Component Balun instead of HDMI was presuming you had one of the older SkyHD boxs that had HDMI and Component outputs (The older thompson box did I believe)
If you have a different flavour of HD box then this wont be an option.

I'll let other people talk about the suitability of various baluns but I do foresee one possible issue.

If your amp does pass through SkyHd in standby don't forget that this means it will only be possible to watch Sky on the upstairs TV when the amp is in standby or also watching Sky. From my own perspective this would be bad as I couldn't send the Mrs upstairs to watch eastenders and get a bit of PS3 time!

[Killa_bx]

Just thought i'd just add my own very limited experience...

I've just bought a hdmi extender over cat5e/6 from tv cables for just over 30quid

HDMI Cat5e - Cat6 Extender - HDMI Over Cat5e / Cat6 1080p 30m Only £32.29 at TVCables

i bought a pair of 20m cat6 cables to go with it.

So far total success on sending sky hd to a projector (via amp) and from ps3 blu-ray straight back to lcd tv. It doesn't need the power adaptor for 20m range either.

So very pleased with the result!!

[Joe Fernand]

Hello Jon

HDMI is all about protecting copyrighted content - the mechanism used is HDCP.

HDCP is a digital encryption layer and doesn't allow for conversion of a signal on the HDMI signal bus to YUV - there are a few 'unauthorised' Black Box's that will allow HDMI to YUV conversion but nothing produced by a big brand AV manufacturer is going to break the rules.

High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joe

[Jon Weaver]

Thanks everyone for your help.. I decided to order a pair of extenders from Ebay as I figured that for £16 it was worth a punt.

These are especially good value as you don't need HDMI cables either.. They just plug straight into the socket.

I have a box of CAT5 cable in the garage with a few 100s meters in it, so I can do some experiments to see what the results are like.

Thnaks for all your help.. But I guess the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, so I will have to wait and see!

Jon

[lapino]

Originally Posted by Jon Weaver

Thanks everyone for your help.. I decided to order a pair of extenders from Ebay as I figured that for £16 it was worth a punt.

These are especially good value as you don't need HDMI cables either.. They just plug straight into the socket.

I have a box of CAT5 cable in the garage with a few 100s meters in it, so I can do some experiments to see what the results are like.

Thnaks for all your help.. But I guess the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, so I will have to wait and see!

Jon

Can you send me a link to the extenders you ordered?

[Greene1]

Hi Jon

Please let us know how you get on with the £16 baluns. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be interested!

By the way, I cannot find the thread, but know there is somewhere, which includes details of a box which combines Sky+ HD's HDMI output (converted to DVI),plus its TOSlink output, and throws it out as a single HDMI. That way one can distribute digital audio alongside the HD picture. Does anyone know where that thread is, or about the box? I imagine it's unlikely to be as good as the equipment Hornydragon or Joe supply, but might provide a cheaper, if less reliable, option for those of us on a budget.

Thanks

[Jon Weaver]

Originally Posted by lapino

Can you send me a link to the extenders you ordered?

Its in my original post:

HDMI extender by cat-5e/6 cable 1080p 30M HD-DVD PS3 ST on eBay (end time 06-Dec-09 05:08:08 GMT)