TV/Projector Wiring

[IncrdblHulk9]

Yet another question for the forums ...

What do most of you do to handle the pre wiring of projectors or wall mount tvs?

Has anyone run conduit behind the walls to be able to pull the wires post-drywall?

How do you clean-up the exit point where the wires exit the drywall? some sort of grommit?

Looking for any/all ideas here. Wall Mount TVs dont seem that bad - thinking about mounting a box behind the tv and one behind AV cluster. I can always snake additional wires later. The projector is more critical - because snaking wires up and over ceiling will be next to impossible.

Thanks

 

[CollinR]

Sure you can do conduit if you prefer it's still kind of a pain thought as it doesn't always go right. If it's an exterior wall you'll be stuf using tiny conduit. I once had a prewire where the theater had attic access on 3 walls and I put flexible conduit between the side walls and the theater's attic above. This worked very well but everything was perfect. If you get too many bends in your conduit or run too close to it's capacity right off it can be impossible.

I would run 5 RG59s, then another 4-5 runs of Cat5. You can do basically anything at that point with almost any combination of components. The RG59 will allow for RGBHV, component, componet+2 composites, 5 composites or VGA. The Cat5 can do a multitude of additional stuff with adapters plus your IR controls and motor controls if the projector is motorized. That and Cat5 is dirt cheap so putting in 4-5 runs is well under $50 in most homes, also it's easy to pull.

Do you have attic access above the projector? If not you'll need a pretty sizeable junction box to hold all of that, consider building something to both conceal and insulate it from the high voltage needed to powert th projector. Optionally you can put the whole thing inside a box and just have the drywall guys texture that too. It kinda depends on the design of the room and the quality level the customer expects.

If you have attic access just a double gang box and a blank cover, you paint the cover to match the ceiling and I use automotive wire loom to cover the cables between ceiling and projector. This way you can vary the diameter of the passthrough with your drill bit selection.

 

[Steve]

DataComm plates work well behind TV's, etc.

 

[mdesmarais]

In this day and age, you should make some sort of allowance for an HDMI cable too, or you could find yourself locked out of HD sources down the road.

 

[CollinR]

Yes thats precisely why I said 4-5 runs of Cat5, today you can use 2 for HDMI and in 10 years when HDMI is dead or has been fully standardized you can change without rewiring. Of course HDMI cables are cheap enough definately wouldn't be a bad idea to throw one in.

 

[mdesmarais]

Yes thats precisely why I said 4-5 runs of Cat5, today you can use 2 for HDMI and in 10 years when HDMI is dead or has been fully standardized you can change without rewiring. Of course HDMI cables are cheap enough definately wouldn't be a bad idea to throw one in.

I curious- what do you use to go from HDMI to Cat5? What kind of lengths can you maintain 1080p over?

Thanks

Markd

 

[Steve]

I think he means something like this. Which says 1080i up to 300 feet and 1080p up to 150. But they also have 'Superboost Cables' like these that look like they are good up to 150 feet. No experience with this, just info from their site and I'm sure there are others I just happened to know of the Gefen brand.

 

[royalj7]

Also, the RapidRun product is a possibility for this type of project. Allows a very wide range of connection types and allows you to switch them as future equipment dictates.

--Jamie

 

[CollinR]

I think he means something like this. Which says 1080i up to 300 feet and 1080p up to 150. But they also have 'Superboost Cables' like these that look like they are good up to 150 feet. No experience with this, just info from their site and I'm sure there are others I just happened to know of the Gefen brand.

Spot on.




But the real idea here is what if HDMI goes the way of BETA tapes in 5 years... As you can tell from a quick search you can run just about anything over Cat5 and since the stuff is <.2 $/foot it makes sence. No promises on being able to convert HDMI to X will be here in 10 years. No promises of future technology being able to be carried over Cat5 but I think Cat5 will still be readily available for some time to come.

 

[pkoslow]

Here are a couple products I use a lot behind flat panels. Both are "dual voltage" meaning they have the proper separation to accomodate high & low-voltage.

The first one from Carlon is best behind larger screens that have a hole in the middle of a rectangle mount. You can even use the Datacom plates that Steve linked (2-gang) on the low-voltage side to run wires through. Leviton and other modular wall plates also work great!

http://www.carlon.com/Master%20Catalog/RDV...300PRB_7F96.pdf

The second is smaller and works better behind small 19" - 26" LCDs that generally have mounts that attach to the wall in the wall in the center of the unit (on a single stud). This box is small enough to be placed to the side... works only with Leviton quickport jacks. The outlet, backbox & divider are all included. New work or Old work, but must be mounted next to a stud. You can replace the backbox if you are doing Old work and need to have a box with the tabs that swing out to clamp on the drywall:

https://www.tselectronic.com/leviton_ac/690.html

I often run conduit to TV locations if the wall is not accessible from above or below after construction is complete.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[IncrdblHulk9]

Thanks for all the useful responses!

Sounds like everyone uses the leviton Quickport connectors. Where is the best place to buy those? They seem so darn expensive!

I am thinking about running 5xRG6 (for component video and then marybe Cable or audio), running 2xCAT5s for future expansion, and adding an HDMI wire. I was hoping to terminate everything (besides HDMI wire - because cant seem to find HDMI ports) on the wallplate at both ends (behind TV and A/V nest).

I also need to purchase more Quickport connectors for all the cable, phone, cable throughout the house. So I need to buy a bunch.

Also, any advice on planning out location of box behind the TV - prior to buying the TV or wall mount kit???

 

[Ranger Digital]

pko, SOLD! love those carlon three gang boxes. thanks for the great find. my builders will love them. thanks!

 

[royalj7]

For the quickport connectors, AutomatedOutlet.com always gets high marks for service and competitive pricing. Also, HomeDepot carries a good bit of the Leviton DataComm line. Things are more expensive, but the convenience of having a local source sometimes outweighs the price.

On the HDMI cable, how do you plan to run that? I'm not familiar with any non-terminated HDMI cables and didn't think you could field terminate them. For the 5 coax, I would run RG59 solid copper core. It works well for component video and is easier to run (more flexible and smaller diameter) than RG6.

--Jamie

 

[opie]

On the HDMI cable, how do you plan to run that? I'm not familiar with any non-terminated HDMI cables and didn't think you could field terminate them. For the 5 coax, I would run RG59 solid copper core. It works well for component video and is easier to run (more flexible and smaller diameter) than RG6.

--Jamie

You wouldn't need to field terminate the HDMI, just use a F-F HDMI wall plate like this one. (Just an example link, maybe not the best quality or price.)

Like Jamie said, you want to make sure you get Solid Copper core and Copper Braid (or tin copper 95% coverage) as well. Since line level signals are such low voltage, you want the best conductor available. I like to use bundled mini RG-59 for projectors; easy to run.

I also would run several Cat5e like Collin said and if you have the time it's not a bad idea to run some Carlon LV conduit.

 

[royalj7]

That is a pretty nifty product, but it looks like you just plug the HDMI cable in to the back of the wallplate? I've never done it myself, but I would suspect running a HDMI cable with the end on it is pretty hard through all but 2" conduit. If you have the space and the access, running a premade cable definitely would be the easiest solution.