Not logged in
 
Author
Topic: How can we go digital with our projector setup w/o signal lost?
member
Joined: Jun 4, 2012
Posts: 2
Reply to PostAlert Moderator
We are looking to upgrade our projector and go from analog to digital, and I wanted to know if it's possible with our current setup. We're running a 120 ft cable (vga) from a laptop to our computer room, which connects to the input of a Trulink 4-port uxga monitor splitter. In the outputs of the trulink we have (3) 35 ft vga cables for the projector and 2 monitors on the stage. Everything is great since it's analog, but won't most digital cables (hdmi & dvi) lose its signal after about 20 ft? What do we have to do to go digital?

Attachments:

Current Setup

640 × 480 pixels (98.39 KB)

Stage Monitors

640 × 480 pixels (100.23 KB)

Too far for DVI or HDMI?

640 × 480 pixels (92.66 KB)
   
moderator
Joined: Mar 28, 2005
Posts: 13,243
Reply to PostAlert Moderator
You will need to get HDMI over cat-5 extenders of some quality.

HD-Base-T is a very solid standard which will allow you to send HDMI over 300 feet without issue. Monoprice has some units which I regularly use which are very solid and are reasonably priced.

You will still need splitters and anything else you may need to get it to work, but you can definitely send HDMI signals that far without problem.

I send my PS3 50' over a HDMI HD-Base-T extender, then another 50' over a standard HDMI cable to my display. It handles 3D at that distance just fine. So, for the long run, use the extender, then for the shorter run (35') use a standard HDMI cable after the splitter.
AV Integrated - Theater, whole house audio, and technology consultation during the build and installation process in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
member
Joined: Jun 4, 2012
Posts: 2
Reply to PostAlert Moderator
Quote (AV_Integrated on Jun 6, 2012 12:38 PM):
You will need to get HDMI over cat-5 extenders of some quality.

HD-Base-T is a very solid standard which will allow you to send HDMI over 300 feet without issue. Monoprice has some units which I regularly use which are very solid and are reasonably priced.

I'm a newbie at this stuff so thanks for the info. I've never heard of Cat-5 extenders or HD-Base-T. I have no idea what they are, so I will be doing some google research. I'm just glad knowing it's possible. Thanks again, was starting to think no one was at this forum anymore.
moderator
Joined: Mar 28, 2005
Posts: 13,243
Reply to PostAlert Moderator
If you have a follow up question, just ask.

HDMI extenders come in a number of versions.

There are some which just use traditional HDMI cabling, but this is a very poor way to do things as HDMI cable is expensive and more likely to have failures over long distances.

There are dual cat-5 extenders which use two pieces of cat-5 cabling and have one box on each end of the cat-5. One has the HDMI input on it, the other has the HDMI output. These are good for standard video up to about 1080i if they are powered, but typically don't properly work with a PC and don't usually handle higher resolutions.

The new awesome is HD-Base-T. These boxes are similar to the dual cat-5 units in that you have a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter will have a HDMI connection and may ALSO have a Ethernet jack, IR control, and/or RS-232 control connection. The transmitter is connected to the receiver over a single piece of cat-5/6 cabling at distances up to about 300 feet. The receiver has a HDMI output and may have Ethernet and control outputs to match the inputs.

There are very expensive versions costing upwards of $600 a set, but I have tested these from Monoprice and they have worked well for 1080p/3D material and PC connectivity with proper EDID support.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011012&p_id=8122&seq=1&format=2

or

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011012&p_id=8123&seq=1&format=2
AV Integrated - Theater, whole house audio, and technology consultation during the build and installation process in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.