cables - thinking ahead

[flash_uk]

Folks

I'm in the process of having the house wired for multi-room AV.

One thing which I am very unsure about is what I need to do to allow remote control to be effective.

All of the kit (Slybox, MediaPC, AV Amp, Tuner, DVD etc etc) will be located in a closet. There will be TVs in 3 rooms, speakers in 4 rooms.

What are my options for remote control? My basic understanding is that I have 2 options:

(1) use an RF remote solution to control all kit, which means that I don't need line of sight to a receiver
(2) use an IR remote solution to control all kit, which means I need an IR receiver in all rooms, plus a cable in all rooms to pass the IR signal back to the closet

Are my 2 options correct? If so, what is the most common choice for a solution?

If I use the IR option, do I need a dedicated cable for the route back to the closet, or can i piggy-back a TV coax or use Cat5e?

Many thanks for any answers for dumbo here.

Flash

[flash_uk]

can anyone help?

Many thanks

Flash

[hornydragon]

flash IR control should be dealt with by your multiroom solution, if you are going it alone without a system and using an AD-hoc collection of boxes then your going to hit issues FTP cat5 is the cable to run but how you run it depends on the system

[dj-dulux]

As HD has said, what system are you going to use to do the switching and control of the sources? This will really define what control method you need. I also like to control the TVs from the central controller (therefore use TVs with RS232 control), this means you have total control of the installation and it is less likely to go wrong because the TV is set to AV3 rather than AV2! I would run 3 Cat5 to all TV locations, one for control, one for picture and one spare. I would do the overall control over WiFi using Philips Prontos, TSU9600 or 9400, not really a DIY programmable remote, but if you spend some time with it (2 to 3 8 hour days) you should be able to do most things.

All you need now is a decent matrix switcher and the programming time, unless you chose to use an off the shelf solution from somewhere.

Dupe…

[flash_uk]

Fab. Thanks for the replys guys. I have 4 Cat5e going to all the TV locations, so should be able to cope with most options I hope. i've attached a schematic of how I hope things will be connected up.

Not fully thought through yet but:

- I was thinking of the Kramer VP-64ETH 6x4 RGBHV/Balanced Audio Matrix Switcher for the AV matrix solution, but...
- I really only need one video source going to the lounge TV and another video source going everywhere else, so I am contemplating forgetting about a matrix switch, and getting the Denon 4308 AV receiver, which allows independent zone 2 component video selection. If I had this, plus a component 1x3 distribution amp (£100) then I probalby don't need a Kramer (£1800) matrix switch.

So with the Denon, I could have whatever I want through HDMI and 7.1 audio into the lounge, and a different AV source going though a component/audio distribution amp to all the other TVs in the house via the zome 2 on the amp.

So this is where I lose the plot on remote control. Everything except the TVs will be in a kit cupboard. So I want to be able to use a remote in any room with a TV or ceiling speakers, to control the TV and the AV sources or control the audio sources for the speakers.

Please don't hesitate to point out the stupidity in any of my ideas :-)

Flash

[dj-dulux]

Mr Flash, it sounds like you have a very good concept, a little bit messy, but very much along the same lines as a pro installer. You appear to have plenty of Cat 5 installed which is a good start. I think you need to simplify a little and keep with the Kramer option; otherwise you will have so many different components switching its going to be a pain to program and potentially unreliable. I work in a very similar way to your original concept. I would go for the larger Kramer switcher; the 16 * 16 would then enable all you’re switching in one place, much easier… Again I would recommend the Philips remotes to drive everything, the success of any of your options is really down to how well you program it, put flow diagrams together BEFORE you start to really understand your requirements.

Hornydragon can probably suggest an off the shelf option if the programming sounds too scary!

Dupe…

[hornydragon]

2 issues control and functionality you will need RS232 to get feedback reliable control Philips RS232 extenders are not cheap and are not available direct to the public other options include RTI but again not really consumer level programming now it could be done with just IR but there is a lot of potential hassle also how are ceiling speakers driven? This is where the difference between an Ad-hoc system and a dedicated system will start to manifest itself

[flash_uk]

Yes the feedback question has been bothering me. The more complex the control environment, the more chance something doesn't work, therefore all the better to have decent feedback to find out what the problem is...

On the audio speaker side of things, the diagram sets out an end state. To start with I'll only have speakers active in 3 rooms (Kitchen, Dining Room, Bedroom), so I'l probably drive these off a cheap but easily controllable hifi amp with enough channels.

Flash

[hornydragon]

hifi amps gernearlly only have A/B manual switching and not zone dependant source selection

[flash_uk]

Yeah I'm not fussed about different sources in different rooms. AV amp can handle living room. All other rooms can go through another amp.

F