Extending connections and compatibility

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sonolink
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Extending connections and compatibility

Post by sonolink »

Hello,
I am looking into extending connections with CAT5 or CAT6 protocol. I would need some insight for the following situations:

1) Connecting a 32" TV to a PC and a Mac located in a different room.

The screen has the following inputs:
SCART (x2)
Antenna (x1)
HDMI (x4)
Components (x1)

The comps have the following outputs:
PC: VGA, DVI
Mac: DVI

2) Connecting USB ports for portable HDDs, printer, Mouse, Keyboard, MBox, etc..

3) Connecting Firewire ports for portable HDDs, Motu Ultralite Mk3, etc..

So, essentially, I would need to know if it's possible to use i.e. a firewire/USB/video to Cat5/Cat6 adapter, and run said Cat cable into a female firewire/USB or relevant video connector. Is this possible? Is it expensive? Can it be done running several adapters. Is this the best way or is there another one?

Thank you very much for your time and help
Sono
Why sleep when you can mix?
M.P.Stavrou
sonolink
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Re: Extending connections and compatibility

Post by sonolink »

Nobody?
Why sleep when you can mix?
M.P.Stavrou
Soundman2020
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Re: Extending connections and compatibility

Post by Soundman2020 »

Your TV is a problem: You don't have component output on your PCs, and you don't have DVI input on your TV. You will need some kind of converter. Distance is not a problem for component video: you can run good quality coaxial cables for hundreds of feet with little or no loss. So you should therefore look for a DVI to component video converter that you can hook directly to your computer, then run long coaxial component video cables to the TV. I don't know if there is any way to do that over CAT-5. Maybe.

However, if your TV is just a TV, then you are probably out of luck: it will most likely not be able to sync to the very high frequency, high resolution video signals coming out of your PC. If it is an HDTV (flat panel), then you might be OK, but if it is an older NTSC CRT type TV, then you are probably out of luck. Even if you can get the cables there, you won't be able to see any picture. You could get a scan converter, to convert the video to a lower frequency and resolution, but it would not look good, and would be rather expensive. To be honest, I'd just buy a modern flat-panel HDTV of some sort that already has a VGA input on it, and just run a long VGA cable from the PC to the TV. (Use a simple DVI to VGA converter for the Mac.)


USB over CAT-5 is easy:
http://www.vpi.us/usbc5.html
http://www.tecdatawire.com/usb-extender-cables.html
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc ... ories&sku=
http://www.smartvm.com/USB-EXTENDER-VIA ... -P7252.htm


Firewire over CAT-5 is easy:
http://www.thefind.com/computers/info-f ... ender-cat5
http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-2561.html
http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-fw- ... ender.html
http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-fw-cat5-s400.html



- Stuart -
sonolink
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Re: Extending connections and compatibility

Post by sonolink »

Stuart,
Thanks a lot for the links and the info. That's very helpful and kind of you. My TV is almost 2 years old. It's a Philips 32pfl7803D Full HD 1080p flat panel. I don't think there should be a problem.
Cheers
Sono
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M.P.Stavrou
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Re: Extending connections and compatibility

Post by Soundman2020 »

My TV is almost 2 years old. It's a Philips 32pfl7803D Full HD 1080p flat panel.
Are you sure it doesn't have a VGA input? Most Full HD units that I've seen have them.

- Stuart -
sonolink
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Re: Extending connections and compatibility

Post by sonolink »

Nope. Just checked the manual. No VGA. It says yo connect a PC through DVI to HDMI. I noticed though that it also has S-Video. Which one would you use: DVI to HDMI, components (Y Pb Pr), or S-video?
Cheers
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M.P.Stavrou
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Re: Extending connections and compatibility

Post by Soundman2020 »

What distance do you need to cover? DVI is good to about 5 m, with HDMI you might be able to stretch that to 10m or so. If you need to go longer than that, then both component and S-video can easily do 100 m. The advantage with DVI and HDMI is that they are digital format (well, OK they might be analogue too, but are more likely to be digital these days), while S-Video and component are analogue. Component is better quality than S-Video, technically, while both DVI and HDMI are even better.

So, like always, the answer is: "It all depends..."... :)

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sonolink
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Re: Extending connections and compatibility

Post by sonolink »

Actually, I just realized I'll probably HAVE to go DVI to HDMI anyway, cos the DVI connector is never going to fit the conduit (and I'd rather avoid having to solder one of those). So I'll probably get a DVI to HDMI adapter, and then run an HDMI-HDMI cable to the screen through the conduit.


One of the graphic cards on the PC has DVI AND S-Video output. I guess the same signal is present at both outputs don't you reckon? If that's so maybe I could connect the big 32" to S-Video, one small 19" to DVI and another 19" to the other graphic card (VGA). That way I would have two 19" screens on the desk to work with, and a copy of one of them on the big 32". I wonder if the quality of S-Video is good enough for 32" though...
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Re: Extending connections and compatibility

Post by gullfo »

DVI is HDMI (for most intents) without the audio... so a DVI to HDMI cable should be pretty easy to get. the HDMI output can go to 1080x1920 (1080p) whereas s-video and vga will not... plus the analog nature of the s-video and vga will degrade pretty quickly over distance. a proper category 2 cable (not to be confused with cat5/6) should be able to go 5m without a DVI repeater. higher resolution will likely reduce that distance. i run 5m HDMI from my PC to 42" monitor (1080p) without a problem. before that I had DVI to HDMI using a 25ft cable without a problem.

in the future, I'd probably get an HDMI balun which converts the signal so i could run it over cat6 much much further and to other devices. example: http://www.ambery.com/hddviexbycac.html or http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=7955
Glenn
sonolink
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Re: Extending connections and compatibility

Post by sonolink »

Yeah, I just realized S-Video for a 32" is just not a good idea, and that balun link is not that expensive.
Thanks for the link :mrgreen:
Cheers
Sono
Why sleep when you can mix?
M.P.Stavrou
adam
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Re: Extending connections and compatibility

Post by adam »

Also, a just a heads-up about HDBaseT which will provide HDMI (and more) over 100 metres of CAT5, built directly into devices. Samsung, LG and Sony are on board so it looks pretty likely to happen.

If you go with CAT5 + balens in the meantime, you're probably future proof.
sonolink
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Re: Extending connections and compatibility

Post by sonolink »

Is something like this possible? Affordable? What is the name of the device to do this?
(Ins and Outs are interswitchable)
Thanks a lot
video net.jpg
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M.P.Stavrou
gullfo
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Re: Extending connections and compatibility

Post by gullfo »

probably something like this: http://www.octavainc.com/HDMI%20compone ... erter.html
or http://www.octavainc.com/HDMI%20switch%203port.htm

(looks like a number of cool products including a single wire CAT5/6 extender)
Glenn
sonolink
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Re: Extending connections and compatibility

Post by sonolink »

That site is really ace!! Thanks for the link :mrgreen:
Why sleep when you can mix?
M.P.Stavrou
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