HDMI over distance... cat5/6 or repeaters

Brayruit

I hope the title sums up the question...

Is there a loss of signal integrity if I use hdmi -> 2/cat6 -> hdmi instead of a long hdmi cable (with repeater(s))?

I have researched a bit on line but have not seen a conclusive statement.

Brayruit

ding!

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=4559

mathias

What price is that ? ..........do I see 3999.00 dollars at the bottom of the page , or is that a mistake , 4 grand for a switch :eek: ....surely a mistake ?

Brayruit

That's a fairly mad price alright... hdmi components do seem ridiculous... seems that this whoel hdcp thing is really adding to costs for the end user.

The alternative is a component (or hdmi) based switch with baluns for component (or hdmi) / cat5 conversion at each end (pricey as well!!)

I wonder is component based as good as hdmi 1080p... anyone have any direct experience?

mathias

The problem with component is no HDCP , which may stop some content from playing.

Ive seen powered HDMI switches going for around the 100 -150 mark , as each one would act like a repeater it would probably be best to extend a pure HDMI run with those as opposed to paying mad money for the HDMI / cat 5/6 converters.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=336775&view=detailed#ProductTabs

I would imagine you could run approx 10 meters between switches with no loss

How long is the run you have in mind?

Brayruit

mathias wrote: »

The problem with component is no HDCP , which may stop some content from playing.

Yikes!!! :eek: That knocks component on the head then!

mathias wrote: »

Ive seen powered HDMI switches going for around the 100 -150 mark , as each one would act like a repeater it would probably be best to extend a pure HDMI run with those as opposed to paying mad money for the HDMI / cat 5/6 converters.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=336775&view=detailed#ProductTabs

I would imagine you could run approx 10 meters between switches with no loss

How long is the run you have in mind?

I'm looking at several runs back to a central point. Some of them well over 10 metres. Total of about 100 metres. That's why I'm thinking of cat6 wiring. in fact I reckon I will go into total overkill mode and wire 4 runs of shielded cat6 from a central point to 8 rooms. Should provide future proofing too.

Meanwhile... www.wirelesshd.com ...

1not24get

this seems like the answer to the porblem...or is it? It claims to verifiy HDCP compliance???

http://www.hdtvorigin.com/hdtv/honeywell-hdmi-to-cat5-converter-introduction/

mathias

That looks good , it seems to have all the elements needed to transfer the signal ( 2 cat 5 cables to HDMI and a power connection to boost the signal ) and their would be no reason for it to be non HDCP compliant , as that is implemented in source and destination equipment , as long as the signal gets from A to B it should be fine.

Im glad to see that reasonably priced long distance HDMI is becoming a reality , obviously I'd like to test one , but it looks like a good solution.