| VGA VIDEO + AUDIO + IRcontrol... what's best for me?
Your advice please.
I would like to distribute VIDEO (preferably VGA) + AUDIO + a spare 3-wire signal (#see footnote) over CAT5e and/or COAX.
I'm using a home-theatre pc (HTPC) as my entertainment hub in the living-room for freeview/music/DVDs/games. The VGA-port on my videocard simultaneously outputs a very crisp 856x480px image to my Loewe TV; and the DVI-port outputs 1024x768px to my projector.
However, I'd now like to add a 17" TFT-monitor to the bedroom, and watch, listen & remote-control whatever is being displayed on the HTPC downstairs.
My house is CAT-5e pre-wired (including patch-panel), so I think it's best to utilise this infrastructure to distribute the necessary signals to the bedroom TFT, rather than use wireless technology.
There is 1x CAT5e wall-plate free in each room, and 1x COAX cable wall plate (quality unknown) free in each room.
From what I can see I have three options:
1) VGA distribution:
* Use a VGA-splitter (because I still need the VGA signal locally), then distribute the duplicate VGA-signal using a 'VGA over CAT5e distribution' box solution.
* Disadvantage:
Still need someway of controlling the HTPC remotely, as all wires in the CAT5e cable would have been used for video+audio transmission.
2) Modulation:
* Use a VGA-splitter and a VGA-modulator in the Living-Room to encode the VIDEO+AUDIO into a single-channel that will then be fed through to the Bedroom and connected to the TFT TV (rather than a monitor). In terms of control, I can send serial signals (#see footnote) over the free CAT5e to the Living-Room HTPC.
* Disadvantages:
I've heard modulators are costly,
Requires the use of both two cables,
Perhaps the signal-quality of the 856x480px VGA signal will not modulate well (?)
3) S-video disbribution:
* Use a VGA-splitter and a VGA>S-video convertor connected to one of the many all-in-one 'AV CAT5e distribution + IR control' box solutions I've seen on the net. S-video routed to TFT MONITOR in bedroom.
* Disadvantages:
Picture quality of s-video is not as crisp as the original VGA signal which is a shame because of the quality potential the bedroom TFT-monitor could offer.
Perhaps I will be limited to standard TV S-video resolutions? (640x480, 800x600)
I may have problems utilising the bundled IR-control distribution method with my existing IR-control hardware (#see footnote)
* Subject to further tests, I *may* be able to output s-video from my video-card (ATI Radeon 9600XT) simultaneously as the VGA+DVI signals (?) and therefore avoid the whole VGA-splitter & VGA>S-video conversion.
#footnote:
I have an IRtrans USB device inside my HTPC that allows me to receive IR-signals from any remote and act on it accordingly (software). I also have a extender-module that can be located remotely and used to send IR-signals from the bedroom back to the main-module in the living room.
Distribution of the signal requires 3 seperate wires.
Any advice will be much appreciated!
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