Help! Think my brain is about to melt....

Sorry - a little over the top, but im in need of some help if you dont mind chaps:

in the middle of redecorating and replacing absolutley everything in my lounge. Bought a very nice Hitachi 42PD5300 about a month ago which im over the moon with, also purchased a denon 500sd home theater jobby - havent yet set that up permanently yet (only tested for pic quality to ensure not faulty) as it will make its debut in a fortnuight or so. I also have Xbox, Gamecube, PS2 & sky+ kicking about along with a linksys media adaptor for streaming music.

Im also now thinking id like to add a projector and screen to the mix just for good measure...

This basically means i have more inputs than i can cater for? I want the dvd going to the plasma via component and i also want the projector via the same method for obvious reasons

What would be your recommndation for getting around this? Do i need an amp/receiver or something? Im afraid i have no idea about these two boxes - ive always thought they were for gurus and i had no place getting involved!

Or is there some other kind of bit of kit out there?

Can somebody advise on what they think is the right thing to do? with all the decorating/diy its difficult to spend any decent amout of time researching this so i need it straight from the horses mouth so to speak!

Hope to receive your advice/comments soon

Kindest regards

Sy

 

There are quite a few routes for this - depending on how much you want to spend.

Xbox and PS2 can do component, not sure about gamecube, but if so, then that's three, Linksys media adapter

You can get component switchers www.zektor.com do a HDS4.2 (http://www.zektor.com/hds42/index.htm) unit which allows 4 component devices (inc digital audio Optical & co-ax) to be fed to two devices (plasma/projector)

Audioauthority do a 4 component switch to one display (http://www.audioauthority.com/aacconsumers/1154c.html)

Not sure how many (if any) component outputs the Denon 500sd has but most AV amps/recievers can do at least 2 component inputs with some doing 3 or 4.

Just checked - 500sd has no component inputs just the output, so not able to connect anything to it like you would with an AV amp/receiver etc.


Then something like a JSTech RGB2YUV converter. This convert RGB SCART connection to Component YUV outputs, which can then be fed to one of the above units or AV Amp/Reciever

hope this makes some sense

Gary

 

The picture shows how those devices with Component capabilities would connect. The 4 devices Xbox (need Hi-def kit), PS2 (component kit needed), DVD (just cables), Sky + (would need JSTech RGB2YUV unit and cables) use the 4 INputs on the Zektor which then feed the 2 OUTputs (plasma, Projector)

Only problem is cost Zektor unit is about £400, with JSTech unit about £150 or so, then cables on top (it's only money after all )

The only other issue (which i'm not to sure about sorting) is how to connect the Linksys (S-Video, Composite) and the Gamecube (not sure what Video outputs it is capable of) to the displays.

Unfortunately, the Denon unit can't assist like a Full-blown AV Amp/reciever would be able to due to not having any Component IN ports, so hopefully someone will come along and add to the discussion.



regards
Gary

 

How about adding a 2nd hand iscan ultra as a video hub, and a Kramer 1:2 VGA multiplier on the display output. This handles RGB or component output, whatever seems most appropriate. And I think there are cheaper component switchers, round about the £120 mark. The iscan takes composite x 2, s-video x 2 and component x 2 so a couple more component inputs from a switch unit and you are in business. Have a look in the classifieds, maybe put in a 'wanted' ad. Come to that a new one is £350 or something I think, haven't sold one for a while.

 

thnks for the replies guys - any oter suggestions? the zektor looks good albeit expensive, only the one uk supplier too?


anybody else have anything to add? thanks so far

sy