[lapino]

Sorry, but need to get this off my chest. I've been trying for several days now to get my HDMI over UTP to work, but nothing seems to work. Things I've tried:

* buy a different brand extender
* try with 2x 15m CAT5e cables (factory made connectors)
* re-fitted new connectors on my CAT6 cables

Results:

* most of the time I get a picture, but after a while static shows up, sometimes losing signal, sometimes not but when the static starts, it does not go away

The only thing I've not tried so far is buy 2x factory made CAT6 cables and try these. That might work (I still suspect my CAT6 cables inside the tubing are faulty) but it's again an added costs for those cables with no 100% guarantee for succes.

Only other option I have is buy a 10m long HDMI cable and just connect that whenever the projector is used. Not a clean and nice solution, but one that will work 100%.

My question is: is it possible that my CAT6 cables are at fault? Even after re-fitting new connectors? Or could the cables be affected by some other wiring inside the tubes (there's one power cable inside another tube next to it, and two speaker wires in another one). Also, why don't these extenders work with 15m long factory made CAT5e cables? I know CAT6 is better, but they all advertise 'working' with CAT5.

I'm very disappointed in this technology. I have already spent about 200 euro on two different brands, cables, connectors etc but it never seems to work

ps: I do have 0 problems with 1080i or lower, but as soon as I go up to 1080p, problem arise

[Drag0nFly]

You failed to mention which type of extenders you are having a problem with.
I had similar problems after trying two different brands. The first was caused by a combination of bad quality of the baluns themselves, and the other problem was caused by issues arising from a HDMI Matrix from MonoPrice which was in the loop, which only showed problems in combination with the HDMI extender (!).

So there is a lot of things which can cause this. Usually the network cables are not to blame.

[lapino]

Type of extenders are these: MegaView60 HDMI extender over CAT5 . I also tried a pair from Neetcables which do seem 100% identical save from the colour.

All my devices work fine now, except 1080p. When I set things to 1080i or 720p, I get a very clear, noise-free picture. The only source that has 0 problems is the Xbox360 at 1080p for some strange reason. I only have three possible causes for 1080p not to work: cabling, baluns or the strength of the hdmi signal.

I have a HDMI repeater on the way to rule out that a weak hdmi incoming signal might be the problem (thinking that the Xbox might put out a stronger hdmi signal than the other sources). If that doesn't work, I might try to get 1080p over two new CAT6 shielded cables. If that doesn't work, my only option left is trying Octava extenders, but this is very expensive and I have no shop that's willing to let me test them before buying.



ps: I have to add that Neetcables have been VERY supportive to get this solved. They even offered me to send me a HDMI repeater for FREE to test things out.

[Joe Fernand]

Hello Lapino

Any Octava reseller will offer you the option to return the HDMICAT-UK or HDOCAT-UK Extenders should they fail to resolve your problems.

Joe

[lapino]

Yeah, in the UK but I live in Belgium and it's night and day difference how shops here treat customers, especially when it comes to customer service and pre-sales. There's a reason why I buy almost all of my stuff in the UK

[Joe Fernand]

Not that much more expensive to ship to you or talk to our Distributor in Holland !!!

Joe

[lapino]

Well, if the repeater turns out as a non-solution, I'll get back to you ok?

[lapino]

Follow up: installed the HDMI repeater yesterday and have been having 0 issues so far with 1080p (either 50/60/24). Knocking on wood...but it seems the repeater has fixed my problems.

[lapino]

Back to where I was. Projector/HDMI repeater/Balun solution stopped working, getting all blue spots in picture. Strange that it suddenly stopped working. Also tried a new set of 10m CAT6 cables, same problem (albeit a little less spots). Guess my only option now is try the Octava's. Too bad they're so expensive

[Jamie S]

We have new models that you may want to consider:
HDMI over CAT 5, Cat 5e and Cat 6 Balun Kits - HDMI over Ethernet

All new and far more reliable than all our previous.

[lapino]

Well, I just ordered a pair Octavia extenders which I can send back should they not work. Had I known earlier...

[Jamie S]

No worries, the Octava extenders are very good units. I'm sure they will alliterate all the headaches you have been having.

Long distance HDMI transmission, (unlike short distance) can quickly turn into a false economy when using cheaper/poorer quality products.

Unfortunately and frustratingly for you, yours is a case in point.

Similarly for us as a retailer, we have also had to adjust our product choice.

We have both learnt the hard way.

The moral of the story.......... listen to Joe.

[lapino]

I just received the Octava extenders but I'm very disappointed to see that these do not seem to cure my problem. In fact, they seem to perform even worse than my cheap baluns. I get either static, or flashing pictures or even pictures with completely wrong colours. Tried them with and without my hdmi repeater too, same result.

The only way to get them to work seems to be shutting my Optoma off and back on. Could of course be that the Optoma HD20 is very picky about the signal and the syncing. It's not that of a big deal having to shut it off and back on whenever I change sources, but this is far from a good solution. Have you heard of any problems with the Optoma projectors? Have not been able to do some more testing, but it seems my problem is probably related to the optoma+baluns not communiting well.

Keep in mind, I'm using pretty short UTP cable lenght (about 8m) but I have the same result when using 10m long CAT6 cables (factory made). The octava's seem to work ok and seem to not need a repeater to make the hdmi signal stronger, but it IS annoying having to turn the projector off and on whenever I change inputs.

[Joe Fernand]

Hello lapino

Limited time on here today - lots of snow around and still got a few pre Christmas things to sort out!

What's your system components and configuration?

Are you powering everything Off at the wall when your installing Extenders, Repeaters etc?

Joe

[lapino]

Well Joe, I've been testing things quite a bit yesterday and finally figured out it's definitely my Optoma HD20 which has problems syncing, not the extenders or any other component. How I found this? I used my plasma tv as output instead of the HD20 et voila, everything works fine, syncs fine, great picture. But as soon as I connect the HD20 the sync problems start. The HD20 shows great picture, but as soon as I change inputs or video signal, it seems like the Optoma just hangs.

I now ordered a 10m long HDMI cable just to check if the Optoma does work well with a direct connection. If it does, then it's just obvious that Optoma doesn't like my setup (for whatever reason, I know hdmi handshaking can be very picky). Only thing left to decide then is to either get a different brand projector, or just use a long hdmi cable and connect this whenever I use the pj (which I really don't like)

[lapino]

Tried every possible combination I could think of with cables, extenders, repeaters, with or without receiver, etc. The thing is, my HD20 still refuses to sync properly. What's even more strange, is that the HD20 definitely shows the right input information in the lower right corner, but the picture is all screwed up. This seems to be in the memory of the HD20, because when I turn off my receiver, extenders, sources but leave the pj on and then switch everything back on, the distorted picture keeps showing up, only way to fix this is turning the pj off and back on. It's almost like the projector receiver the right signal but within a few secs just hangs, like a software problem.

Like I posted here, when using the same sources/extenders with my plasma as output device, everything works fine. Question is: why does the HD20 have these problems when other sources do not? And is there a way to fix this? I looked inside the service menu for the HD20 but couldn't find anything there (like a way to delay the sync a little?). Firmware is C02, I've heard there's a C03 too but no idea what this is supposed to fix.

[lapino]

For anyone following my 'adventures' with getting HDMI over UTP to work. I might have found a solution, but it's a VERY unorthodox one. Since I get clear picture with the Octava's but a shortcircuit on the Optoma HD20 when switching inputs, and a not so clear picture with my cheap Neetcables baluns but no shortcircuit, I tried combining both...and lo and behold, as far as I have been able to test this, it seems to work.

So my current setup is like this:

Source>hdmi in>Marantz SR6004>hdmi out>Octava CAT5 extender>UTP>Neetcables cheap Balun>Cheap no-name HDMI repeater>Projector.

Please do not ask how many combinations I have tried to get to this But so far it seems to work. It's almost like the Octava receiver sent too much 'current' to the projector (or it's broken?). Need some more testing but I really hope this is a final solution (although it's a very weird one).