PC in another room

AdrianR

Hi,

I've gone through most of the posts here but I still have a few (a good few tbh) questions.

Currently in my sitting room I have a plasma TV, VCR, Sky digi box, DVD with 5.1 receiver and 5.1 speaker setup.

Across the hall I have a pretty decent PC with XP Pro, P4 3.2Ghz, 512MB and 160Gb HD (I would need to get and additional HD). I'd like to leave the PC where it is for now.

Initially I'd like to set up the PC to play music (MP3s etc) in the sitting room and have a jukebox display on the TV, to do this I intend doing the following:

For picture:
My PC has a DVI out on the graphics card and there's also one on the TV. I'd like to run a DVI cable from the PC to the TV, I'll probably have to run a bare cable and attach the connectors afterwards. The distance would be about 35 feet, I don’t think this should be a problem? Would I be able to display the PC image on the TV and the PC monitar at the same time, or would the second connection to the DVI output cause problems?

For sound:
I currently have two pairs of good quality speaker cables running from one room to the other. I'll probably run the audio from the line out of the blaster card and into the receiver.

For control:
I was thinking of getting an RF wireless keyboard with embedded mouse, anyone know where to get one of these, Komplett only appear to have the IR type?

Getting rid of the DVD player:
I know I could just run everything of the PC and not bother about the image on the TV but as I progress, I'll probably switch over to playing DVDs on the PC and get rid of the DVD player. The only problem I can forsee with this is how do I get 5.1 sound from one room to the other? Can I get a sound card with an optical out and If so can I get an optical lead long enough? Or would I need to run 4 more pairs of speaker cables from one room to the other?

Ultimately getting rid of the VCR:
Ultimately I'd like to get rid of the VCR, this is the part I know least about and I had been contemplating buying a standalone DVDR, but from what I've read here I could record onto the PC, this in itself rases a few questions as I have the poor mans channels coming in via an arial and the rest via the digibox.

Your comments and any further advice would ge greatly appreciated.

SouperComputer

TBH, you really need either another PC or to move the existing one. It will solve A LOT of potiental issues.

Do you plan watching and recording TV on this setup?

AdrianR

Do you plan watching and recording TV on this setup?

To be honest we rarely record anything, and I can use the TV setup as it is at the moment simply by switching the AV button on the TV. If I do decide to use this system for recording I can get a second PC or move the existing one.

8T8

Well cables could be tricky (according to Google results) the maximum length allowed by DVI is roughly 5 meters which is only 15 feet well short of your 35 (according to Lindy it is 7.5m). That said Lindy sell cables far longer than that see some of their super long distance range, they have a 10m cable which should just about do.

There are also workarounds including repeaters and an ethernet interface that will carry the signal (<- but very expensive).

Next up the desktop resolution ideally you just set the graphics card to clone display mode assuming the computer's monitor and TV can support the same resolution - not sure about independent resolutions on either display something you'd have to test yourself or try Ultramon I think it can help XP in this area.

As for control some of Logitechs keyboards/mice are RF based see the Logitech Cordless Desktop S 510 on OcUK who ship to IE I'd check the range on Logitechs website though.

Oh yeah on the audio, well it's not an area I'm very clued in on but I think you are correct in that for analogue 5.1 you would need to run the extra cables, for digital you should only have to run the one but if you have no SPDIF output on your existing sound chip then you need a new sound card, (Lindy also sell the require length audio cables).

As for the recording stuff from the aerial and digibox don't know on that front, Windows MCE really is only meant for one or the other and limited in that sense other media centers programs may be more flexible in this area so are worth checking out I think.

AdrianR

Well cables could be tricky (according to Google results) the maximum length allowed by DVI is roughly 5 meters which is only 15 feet well short of your 35 (according to Lindy it is 7.5m). That said Lindy sell cables far longer than that see some of their super long distance range, they have a 10m cable which should just about do.

There are also workarounds including repeaters and an ethernet interface that will carry the signal (<- but very expensive).

The distance is probably more like 25 feet, 2 x 8 foot walls and the the hall is about 9 feet wide. They use an LCD TV here at work for notices and the PC is about 24 feet from it, the connection is via the normal 15pin connection and it's working fine, I figured the digital signal should be OK.

8T8

Actually I agree I'd say you should be fine with the DVI at 7-10m from looking at it a bit more. Lindy have a 7.5m cable going for €47 cheaper than the cables Komplett has.


The maximum legnth of VGA is 10m so 24 feet is about 7.4m, thats probably the reason why it works in the office.

AdrianR

Thanks for the advice, I'll let you know how I get on (When I get around to doing it)