4k over Cat 6 or repair my HDMI cable?

5to1

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I've got several HDMI cables buried in the wall to TV's around the house. I managed to break the one running to the living room TV (sods law its that one) whilst moving stuff around in the comms cupboard. Fortunately I had two Cat 6 cables running to each TV as well. At the time I didnt have any 4k sources so I just grabbed a cheap Cat 6 extender and that resolved the issue.

Few months ago I managed to get a good broadband deal from Virgin which included BT Sport 4k. And today I managed to get Sky to extend my 50% discount on my full package and throw in a free 2TB box and free Sky Experience. So I've now got sports and movies in 4k, but no way to get them to my TV.

I did order one of those terminal block type HDMI repair terminators, but never bothered repairing the cable. It's a bit fiddly as it only extends a meter out of the cupboard. Is it at all plausible I can get 4k over a cable repaired in this one? Or am I just going to waste hours of my time buzzing out the cables, cutting them and soldering the ends?

Are there any "cheap" 4k (4:4:4) over Cat 6 extenders that can save me some headache.

Running a new cable will be a PITA and involve getting the chisel out and then some skimming :( so I dont fancy that route.

And before anyone says it, yes I should have run a spare HDMI cable. Atleast to the primary TV :(

Any help/pointers would be gratefully received.
 
What length is the existing cable? If it’s over 7m then it’s not going to cope with full fat 4k anyway and you would need another solution. Whether the current 4k compatible extenders that use various forms of compression would be suitable depends on what you want to achieve and what compromises you could line with. You could use a hybrid fibre solution such as Ruipro, but a future cable fault still means ripping out the entire thing and replacing again. There are fibre-based extenders which offer full 4k without compression where the electronics are separate to the fibre so theoretically could be seen as upgradeble options (if much more expensive than any of the alternatives), but again if you damaged the fibre it still needs replacing.

So to be future proof you would need to design an install some kind of trunking/conduit that allows easy cable replacement. If that is impractical then you have to resign yourself to the disruption of replacing cables when they fail in future or no longer meet the required standards.
 
The cable is either 5m or 10m. The living room is the closest TV, but I may have just got 10m for the lot or grabbed the shorter length for the living room TV. Been several years since I installed them.

I have the same cable running to a bedroom. That one is definately 10m and i've tested the Virgin box through it and it seems to work. But i'm not sure wether BT Sport UHD on Virgin is 4k 4:4:4 or not. And of course that cable is intact, so hasn't had a repair.

Trunking/conduit will be difficult. So if I do smash things up i'd probably install several spares/etc.

I'm not looking to spend a fortune :)

It sounds like trying a repair will be a waste of time. In which case a Cat6 extender is probably the best route. Presume, despite compression it will still be worthwhile over just sticking with HD extender.
 
Cheap and HDBaseT are not two words that go together unfortunately, especially at 4K and if you want 18Gbps even less. You maybe lucky and find some Wan Key product on Amazon that works but realistically look to spend £150+ for a reliable solution.
 
Any recommendations for products I should look for?

I guess I could try one of the generic ones of Amazon. Would be able to return it if not up to scratch. But just worried compression issue may show up down the line :/
 
Been having a scour on Amazon and cheapest I can find is:

XOLRORspace

Or this one that explicitly says it supports 4K 4:4:4 @ 60HZ:

PW-HT223 HDMI Extender

Are they likely to be stretching the truth?
 
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
Ok, from the specs it looks like it will cover Sky Q & Virgin UHD. But thought i'd ask if you'd pushed either source through it.

I know the "its somewhere safe" feeling :D Sky dont install 2 TB box till 24th, so not a big hurry.

Would like to negotiate a bit since I'm the buyer this time :D Hate negotiating when I'm the seller ofcourse :D
 
Sorry, Sky Q, Apple TV 4k, 4k Blu-ray and Xbox one s were all linked through it. Only thing i haven't tested with it is hdr but that's only because my projector doesn't do hdr!!!
 
Ok, from the specs it looks like it will cover Sky Q & Virgin UHD. But thought i'd ask if you'd pushed either source through it.

I know the "its somewhere safe" feeling :D Sky dont install 2 TB box till 24th, so not a big hurry.

Would like to negotiate a bit since I'm the buyer this time :D Hate negotiating when I'm the seller ofcourse :D
Sorry for the slow response - had a quick look at the weekend but didn't see it. Not to say I've lost it, yet! Will have a proper look this weekend if thats okay!
 
Sorry for the slow response - had a quick look at the weekend but didn't see it. Not to say I've lost it, yet! Will have a proper look this weekend if thats okay!

That's no problem mate.

Sky aren't switching my box until Sunday anyway.
 

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