1080p and component video....

[pjwinstalls]

Building a new house..... I start wiring next week..... I was decided on running multiple rg6 to each tv location from my server room for the HDTV and HD DVD. I know find out that the HD_dvd and bluray players wont output 1080p and even 1080i on some over component..........

I cant justify spending what i am going to spend on cabling not be able to watch 1080p material.

I am looking for some suggestions/alternatives....

Thanks

Philip

 

[johnnynine]

That's a big "gotcha" with hdmi, they give you a convenient cable with a digital signal but then put restrictions and encryption in the protocol and interfaces.

Have you considered any of the HDMI over cat5 solutions?

 

[pjwinstalls]

I would consider it but not at $500 per unit..... I have 6 tv that need to be wired for 1080p!

Any other solutions? advice?

Thanks again

Philip

 

[rocco]

Hi, Philip:

I have settled on my solution, but it's not quite available yet as 1080p.

I will be installing a uPNP Digital Media Adapter (DMA) at each TV and stereo location. I already have the uPNP NAS to hold the media, and use it now for audio. I'm stalling on video, as I didn't like what was available last I looked. For video DMAs, the prices range from $80 to $400 per TV. However, I'm not sure how the HD-DVD and BluRay DRM will work with it. My philosophy on DRM is: If I can't make it work, I will forgo.

The only cabling required is gig-Ethernet.

Yes, sad to say, but component video is dead.

 

[johnnynine]

From hdmi.org:

Q. Does HDMI accommodate long cable lengths?

Yes. HDMI technology has been designed to use standard copper cable construction at long lengths. In order to allow cable manufacturers to improve their products through the use of new technologies, HDMI specifies the required performance of a cable but does not specify a maximum cable length. Cable manufacturers are expected to sell reasonably priced copper cables at lengths of up to 15 meters. As semiconductor technology improves, even longer stretches can be reached with fiber optic cables, and with active cable technologies such as amplifiers or repeaters.

Q. I need to connect two devices with 20 feet of cable, but the cable I bought doesn’t seem to work at that length.

One solution is to buy a higher-quality cable. Another is to use an HDMI repeater.

How about these sites?

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/other/cable...-benchmark.html
http://www.av-outlet.com/en-us/dept_381.html

I don't know how many conductors are in an hdmi cable, but has anyone tried making one by putting a couple cat5 cables together to see how far the signal works?

edit: If you look at the gauge of the wire in the above links you'll see that the 50ft cables it ranges from 28 to 22. I don't see why you could get some good shielded cat6/cat6 cable and make your own for a fraction of the cost.

 

[gregoryx]

However, I'm not sure how the HD-DVD and BluRay DRM will work with it. My philosophy on DRM is: If I can't make it work, I will forgo.

Uh... if you (or anyone) are willing to pay for the cost to store HD-quality material (assuming that you crack the DRM ), then the cost of Cat5 / HDMI will seem really cheap.

The math - even with the biggest / cheapest drives / NASs out there - is pretty simple: changers are cheaper for storing DVDs... at an average of 7G - or even down at an average of 4.5G (not reality much any more) - per movie.

Oh... for reference, I've tried both approaches: I have three 400 DVD changers and two 2T NASs. I will say that the maintenance on moving the 400 DVDs to send the silly things in for service versus swapping a hard-drive is a no-brain choice... but the price per DVD for storage isn't.

What's the actual movie space for and HD / BluRay movie? even if you crack it?

I don't think DRM for these things is much of an issue for a few years... the price to copy them makes it far less expensive to buy them... unless you wanted to compress to lower quality... uh... :blink:

 

[rocco]

Hi, Gregoryx:

Agreed with everything.

But an important ingredient with my system is that my NAS supports an external DVD / HD-DVD / BluRay drive, so I don't intend to rip. Well, OK, I might rip to a temporary file, just for convenience, but I don't intend to store a lot of movies (We net-flix most of what we watch).

BTW, I calculated the cost of storing a 7Gig movie on my NAS at $10.50 ($1.50 per gig), more than we usually pay for the original DVD when we do buy them. I don't ever have more than a dozen movies in the uPNP share at any one time.

 

[gregoryx]

Sorry... I had my fingers in my ears for part of that... 'cause I'm sure you're just putting the DVDs on your NAS as a convenient backup for the actual disc that's in the closet... meaning the cost for storage is the base cost of the movie PLUS the storage.

Be sure to let us know if you find a way to stream from that BluRay / HD-DVD at 1080p; I'm very curious.

 

[weird_ideas]

Back to your original question you may want to consider running conduit. Its cheap and when the HDMI thing doesn't pan out you can run whatevers next.

 

[chevy_b69]

r your displays HDCP compatible ?

 

[pjwinstalls]

the displays are panasonic th-50pf9uk. I think they are hdcp compatible