[Herbiefish]

Hi guys,

Wonder if I could get some confirmation on the potential problem I have.

I have nearly finished a new build and am just about to start buying all my additional tv's hdmi splitters etc as I have just had sky hd installed.

My problem is this; I have 3 x20m runs and 1 x10m run of hdmi running back to a store cupboard where the sky hd box and ps3 is (the cables are all very thick so hope they might be half decent). I want the sky distributed to 4 tv's and also the ps3 feed. I have been scouring this forum and looking on various shops to find a splitter that will work ok with the 20m lengths but cant find one that says it is compatible. Unfortunately i couldn't get this tested before all the walls were plasterd as i needed the money for other things. I was looking at a gefen 2x4 splitter but they are pretty expensive although i dont mind paying if i know it will definitely work. i didn't buy really expensive cables - the 20m ones were £55 each and the 10m £50. if i buy a cheaper 2x4 splitter and i can't get a signal to the 20m cable tv's am i right in saying i would have to put a booster inbetween the 20m connection and the tv on each tv to get the singal perfect? or is there a way i can get a booster or something similar to boost the signal to the 3x20m cables from the cupboard with the sky box instead of individual boosters at the end of each tv

Would really appreciate any advice - have received loads so far buy just searching the forum.

thanks

james

[MarkTaylor]

Hopefully Joe Fernand will drop by as this is in his territory, but I would say that you are unlikely to find any equipment that claims it will definitely support 20m runs as that is really pushing your luck, especially if you have hopes of handling 1080p.

Not saying it won't work just that the distances are long enough for the only real answer to be 'try it and see'.

You do know that Sky HD only sends 2 channel sound over HDMI I hope?

[andy1249]

You are definitely going to need something like this ,

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...C=SO&U=strat15

They are called HDMI distribution amps /boxes , and with 4 runs of 20m are pretty much essential , no passive splitter is going to work at those distances.

There are many makes , all are about the same price , your looking at about £200 for a four way distribution box.

[MarkTaylor]

That won't really cover what is needed as there are two inputs as well as the four outputs.

Gefen make something that may do the trick:

http://www.clearly-av.co.uk/EXT-HDMI-244.html

But seriously, take some advice from some of the installers around here as they are far more familiar with what will work best for you, let's hope one of them drops by soon

[Herbiefish]

Thanks Mark, I hope they drop by too

When you say sky hd only sends 2 channel sound what exactly do you mean? Do you mean it wouldn't send out sound for a 5.1 system through hdmi? If that is the case then I have run an optical to the main living room where the 5.1 set-up is. Or do you mean it will only send sound to two of the sources?

Thanks

James

[mossym]

have a read here,

http://www.bluejeanscable.co.uk/arti...n.htm?hdmidept

i use these guys cables in my system including a 12m run to my projector and no problems.

[MarkTaylor]

Originally Posted by Herbiefish

When you say sky hd only sends 2 channel sound what exactly do you mean? Do you mean it wouldn't send out sound for a 5.1 system through hdmi?

Yes, exactly that.

Sky in their infinite wisdom limited the sound over HDMI to 2 channels, if you want 5.1 you have to run an optical cable.

How long will the run be?

If this is the 10m one then you should be OK with optical, if it is one of the 20m runs you might want to consider converting the optical output to coax and sending it that way. Long runs of optical cables can work but I get nervous past 10m or so.

[Joe Fernand]

Hello Herbiefish

HDMI is a bit of a nightmare so until you actually start hooking things together its difficult to say for sure what will or wont work.

Whilst some Switch/Distribution gear blurb will talk about 20m and 30m cable runs you'll find that most (if not all) will only ever 'Guarantee' to work up to 10m or 15m on the Output side - once you go past 10m on the Output side your relying on a decent Cable plus a decent HDMI Receiver in your Display.

Where you do run into problems an Active Equaliser is often the best 'remedy' - see http://www.tmfsolutions.co.uk/Octava_HDE-UK.htm

As MarkTaylor points out SKY Outputs Digital Stereo over HDMI - usually Ideal for your second and third room 'TV's so an Optical cable to carry 5.1 between SKY HD and your AV Receiver was a smart move.

You'll likely find too that you have to set your PS3 to Output Digital Stereo over HDMI if you want to Hear it in your 'non 5.1' locations too - this may mean you have to manually reconfigure the PS3 Sound settings depending on where you want to view/listen to it. If your AV Receiver is not compatible with 5.1 or HD audio over HDMI you will also require an Optical cable from the PS3 to the AV Receiver.

In terms of the main HDMI 'Hub' what do you require in terms of being able to view Different Sources simultaneously around the House?

Joe

[Filbert]

Herbie,

The first thing I suggest you do is, get your Sky HD Box hooked up, connect one of the HDMI cables in to the back of the Sky HD box, and the other end in to one of the TVs. See if the picture works OK. Repeat this for each TV.

There is no point in worrying about what HDMI amplifier/distribution system to buy if the cables you currently have cannot carry the required signal to the TVs in the first place.

Also, if I understand you correctly, you have two sources (Sky HD and PS3) and 4 TVs, what happens if TV1 wants to play PS3, and TVs 2,3 &4 want to watch Sky? How does the user control this? How does the customer play on the PS3 when it's 20m away? Or are you using it as a Blu-Ray player only? What about Infra-Red signals to change channels on the Sky box? Have you also run a co-ax aerial cable in to each room?

[Herbiefish]

Thanks for the replies Joe Fernand and filbert

Joe; In terms of the hub all I will require is the the ps3 and sky hd to be hooked up to this and then to have the ability to either play games/watch movies on the ps3 on one tv and to be able to watch sky hd on another but to obviously be able to switch it about between tv's. I would also like the ability to see the sky feed in all the rooms at the same time and change the channels (i have magic eyes via coax in each room).

Filbert; in reply to your questions I am not sure about if tv1 wants to use ps3 and tv's 2.3 and 4 want to watch sky, I assumed that you could choose on the amplified splitter which singal to send ot to which hdmi? If this is not the case then I will not bother with 2 inputs, only 1 (for sky hd).

In my current house I play approx 15m away from the ps3 using the wireless controller. I have to do this because my router is not strong enough to to reach the ps3 in the bedroom so I have put the ps3 in the hall via a 20m hdmi cable - the ps3 then picks up the routers signal and the wireless controller works perfect from approx 15m away - even with the door shut!. Haven't yet tried to see if it works the whole 20m but I only really intended to use the ps3 in the main living room and study anyway, which are not too far away from the location of the ps3 (about 7m straight distance bar one wall so the controller should work)

Infra-red singals on the tv, yes you're correct I have run 2x coax to every room and hope I will be able to change channels via magic eye from each point. I ran two in case I ever add another box on then hopefully all I will have to do is switch the hdmi lead over so the spare tv's can all be linked to the new box - So long as I can get a HDMI signal to every point!!!

Once again thanks for everyones replies. I am learning....just slowly!!

[Joe Fernand]

Hello Herbiefish

In terms of budget outlay your wish last starts off well with 'all I require' and then gets increasingly more complex/expensive as you add in the 'at the same time' requirements

So Two Sources (SKY HD and PS3) to Four Displays with the ability to view any Source on Any Display or can you limit the PS to certain Displays only?

Any plans to add in additional HDMI equipped Sources and is there an HDMI equipped AV Receiver anywhere in the System?

Joe

[Herbiefish]

Hi Joe,

I have an onkyo 605 receiver (2x1 hdmi)for the 5.1 system in the living room with the pioneer 508xd. The other three tv's I would love to be able to use with the ps3 but am ok to take the ps3 out of the equation if it is going to cause me problems and a lot of expense. My main wish is to be able to get the sky hd working on all 4 tv's with the ability to change each one with the magic eye (I know the tv's will all have to watch the same though).

My problem now is I think I should have wired it so that the onkyo should have been housed in the cupboard with rest but at the time I wanted to keep the speaker cable run to it's absolute minimum

Thanks
James