[haventgotaclue]

Hello to all.

This is my first post so please be gentle! I've had a look around a few of the forums trying to find answers to my situation but nothing seems to compare. And if it's in the wrong forum I apologise now!

Basically I am at the 1st fix stage of my new living room extension and want to have all cables between tv and av equipment plastered in. The problem is I don't know which leads I need to be using! The set-up will be -


Wall mounted LCD tv.

Approx 10 feet away - Sky+HD box, BluRay 5.1 Home Cinema System, PS3 and possible Nintendo Wii.

I need to know which cables to take from the tv to the cupboard containing the equipment. All the electronics will be new and will have HDMI/SCART connections. Will I need 1 HDMI cable for each box to go to the TV (if the tv has enough HDMI connections) or can I connect the boxes to each other and run 1 HDMI to the TV? Do I need to take any co-ax from the SKY box to the TV? And will I need a 'phone point near the SKY box (I already have SKY in another room connected to the 'phone line, but it's not HD).

Also, I was thinking of putting LED striplights behind the tv - they are remote controlled. Will I need to bury the remote sensor cable in the wall and take it to the cupboard where all the other equipment is or will it pick up a signal from behind the tv?

Finally, would you recommend putting in any other cables/leads at this pre-plastering stage to help 'future-proof' the system?

I know these questions are probably very simply answered but believe me, I haven't got the foggiest!


In anticipation, Carl.

[davepuma]

Hi Carl,

Welcome to AVF Have you bought any of the equipment yet? The reason I ask, is if you haven't I would reconsider buying an all-in-one home cinema (in a box) type system. A separate AV Receiver would be a better option and would able to act as both a hub for your AV setup and also supply you with the audio. With the right AV Receiver, you could get away with 1 HDMI cable going to the TV, utilising the receiver's video conversion facility. The wii uses composite video but it's better to invest in the component cable (green/blue/red) and an upconverting receiver could take this input and output it as a single HDMI cable. If you add any more equipment, they would simply connect to the receiver and you would not have to run any additional cables to the TV. Obviously an HDMI Switch could also do this but it would rely on all your equipment being HDMI. Therefore you will have less (long) cables going to the TV. You do not need to connect coax to a sky box unless you're using the RF2 output. Connect the aerial cable from the wall straight to the TV or via a DVD / HDD Recorder if you have one.

I have LEDs mounted behind my TV. I have the IR sensor stuck on the bottom of the TV. You don't notice it at all. I bought the LEDs from the powerbuy in this forum. I can recommend this setup and also fitted some to my parents TV as well and they're chuffed with it.

Officially you are supposed to have your sky box connected to the phone. I don't. The only time I have done was to set up remote record and as soon as it was setup, I disconnected it.

Re. fitting the cables now. I would run a couple of HDMI, some cat6 network cables, sat coax, power cables for the TV and obviously RF for the TV's tuner. Some audio cables for the TV might also be worth considering ie. phono (analogue) or optical. Keep the power cable separate, run the cables in conduit and terminte the entry and exit points with brush faceplates (Mark Grant sells them). Have a look at the DIY forum, it is littered with tidy installations, so you should be to see what others have chased into their walls. If possible test the cables prior to fitting them but if there is plenty of slack and they're in conduit and the exit points are fitted with brush faceplates, you should be able to pull them through in the future should anything go wrong.

[haventgotaclue]

Davepuma, thanks for your reply.

No, at the moment I haven't got any of the equipment and so am open to suggestions as to what to get. The main issue was getting the cables in the wall before plastering.

If I got a separate AV receiver would this act as a sort of hub to which all the other equipment connects? If this is the case, can I not just run one HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV and thats all, or will I still need other leads to connect the consoles/SKY etc. to the TV? And I presume I'd also need to get a BluRay player (not bothered about using PS3 as a player) and that the receiver will have a connection for this?

Finally, if everything does connect through the receiver does it automatically switch from one piece of equipment to another e.g If I switch the PS3 on will the TV change from SKY to the PS3? Basic stuff, I know, but my username tells you all you need to know!

Just had a look at Denons website at their receivers and it looks like theres a million connections on the back of them! I hope their instruction manuals are very good!

[davepuma]

Originally Posted by haventgotaclue

If I got a separate AV receiver would this act as a sort of hub to which all the other equipment connects? If this is the case, can I not just run one HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV and thats all, or will I still need other leads to connect the consoles/SKY etc. to the TV? And I presume I'd also need to get a BluRay player (not bothered about using PS3 as a player) and that the receiver will have a connection for this?

Providing the receiver/amp supports video conversion also known as upconversion the receiver can convert analogue sources to HDMI resulting in a single HDMI cable going from the amp to the TV. The Denon AVR-1610 is about the cheapest receiver that supports this. With separates, you would need a separate player. The PS3 is a cracking bluray player, the only downside being having to purchase a (non backlit) remote for it and the remote using bluetooth, which requires adapters to work with IR universal remotes. That said, if your gear is going to be elsewhere in a cupboard, have you thought about how you're going to control it?

Originally Posted by haventgotaclue

Finally, if everything does connect through the receiver does it automatically switch from one piece of equipment to another e.g If I switch the PS3 on will the TV change from SKY to the PS3? Basic stuff, I know, but my username tells you all you need to know!

The TV would stay on the same HDMI input, so the only switching would be via the amp. You would select the source at the amp's remote and the amp would switch the audio and video inputs so that they match up and output the correct source to the TV. A universal remote e.g. Logitech Harmony would also simplify things even more.

J

Originally Posted by haventgotaclue

ust had a look at Denons website at their receivers and it looks like theres a million connections on the back of them! I hope their instruction manuals are very good!

Denon manuals aren't the easiest to understand but a nice fellow called Batpig has written a guide, which you can find via google. If you run into any problems, the folks at AVF can point you in the right direction.

[haventgotaclue]

Thanks again for the reply.

How do you mean re controlling the equipment? I'm envisaging the tv being wall mounted and a low level housing unit where all the other equipment will be. Are you thinking that I won't be able to control them via remote because they'll be in the cupboard? The cupboard will be in the same room, I just don't want to see all the consoles/players etc. on display. Will I still be able to control everything with the cupboards doors shut? If not is there some kind of discrete IR sensor/sender that can be mounted outside the cupboard to control the stuff inside it?

Apologies again for appearing clueless ('cos I am!) but the replies you're posting are a great help.

Cheers, Carl.

[davepuma]

Infra-red (IR) is line-of-sight so wouldn't work inside a cupboard. Keene.co.uk sell IR extenders which I use myself to control equipment in a wardrobe. Another alternative would be an RF (radio) based remote such as Logitech Harmony 895. Check the remotes forum for details. I use the One in my main setup, which is the best remote I've owned and a 525 for my bedroom setup but these are non RF models.