VGA to RCA Video

Thanks. I hadn't thought about it or realized it was only using one pair each, nor that they were that cheap (granted you need 6 of them, for some reason I thought each connection for component would be several hundred, I must be thinking of the audio authority steel plate implementation).

That will make it tempting to use an approach like that, especially since I've got plenty of cat 5 going to all locations upstairs.

Rocco > So from your comment, your thinking we will see a difference in using RG6 versus the baluns? I know RG6 is the 'right way, its just tempting considering I don't think I would need to do any wiring and can repurpose existing cat5 (versus running an extra 5 sets of coax from the basement up into the attic for each room, which is doable, but not very fun).

Bah! I should just suck it up and run the cables I know....
 
Mike said:
. . . your thinking we will see a difference in using RG6 versus the baluns?
If you want to use HD, yes.

Mike, those baluns are cheap enough to give it a try ($118, altogether). An additional advantage of you using them instead of coax is that you could let us know how they work. :blink:

One word of caution: They are only rated at 8MHz, meaning they will do 480i and 480p, but no better. When you want to move to hi-def, you will be back to running coax.
 
8MHZ, hmm. I hadn't looked at the specs. Yeah for something like this that should be 100MHZ at least, ideally a little more like 200MHZ, if I remember earlier research on switches awhile back (I looked into this on component video switches when planning my component video distribution approach).

I'm going to go with coax then.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
Ahh, that gets closer to the prices I was thinking of earlier. That puts a connection to about $370 ($56 * 6 + $40 for cat5) versus $60 or so (5 runs of coax plus connectors) for materials alone of course (very rough estimate as well).

In my case, after thinking about it, I'm using patch panels to patch component sources in the wiring closet to the various rooms (or will in more than one case once I wire the rest of the house). Baluns in this case would be messier than directly patching (I suppose I could bury the baluns behind the panel and make new adapters so they patch cleanly, but it's going to eat into panel space in the back a lot as well I'm thinking.

I have to look at space for wires more as a deciding factor. I've got a lot run into the attic already, and I may just have to consider where the wires are going. If I took this approach (coax) that would mean 20 runs of coax to put a run in each room. On top of that I need cable for smoke detectors (only 1) some motion detectors, and external cameras (and most likely speaker wire in the future as well). I think I found a new path up to the attic in the middle of the house (the current path is getting crowded).

I'll probably run one set up and see what it looks like, but I'm inclined to continue on the coax route. If I have a problem with cable space, sounds like the baluns are the way to go (and I can repurpose what is already in the walls).
 
Mike said:
Ahh, that gets closer to the prices I was thinking of earlier. That puts a connection to about $370 ($56 * 6 + $40 for cat5) versus $60 or so (5 runs of coax plus connectors) for materials alone of course (very rough estimate as well).
Not quite right. You would only need two of those baluns because each one supports all three components plus audio. $56 x 2 = not that bad.
 
Good point, I went back and looked that the link you setup. It actually uses the last pair for digital audio, as my next thought was how to best send the audio.

For that price I may need to test it by getting one pair of those when I am ready, I'm just wondering if the bandwidth is high enough: I had heard earlier that you wanted 100MHZ minimum, and ideally 200MHZ for best quality.

Definitely more cost effective than I was thinking. Thanks for pointing out my mistake on that.
 
I may be off some, since I don't have a spec, but I calculated that 1080i or 1080p would need 74MHz of bandwidth. MuxLab's 500050 has 3db loss at 60MHz, which means there is some degradation at the high frequencies, but I have no idea whether that would be visible.

But two 500050s is a little cheaper than six 500012s.
 
At that price, it may be worth testing one (worst case put it on the loop with the smallest TV and you probably wont notice it, but if your calculations are accurate it won't matter).

I have to look at that a new area to run cables up to the attic, if it is as clean as I think it will be, running cables will be a breeze, and I might as well use RG6. However, since I don't even have the new TV's up there yet and am still relying on older ones that don't take component, I have time.

In the meantime, I'll see if I can find the bandwidth information I was looking at awhile back when reviewing component video switchers.

IndependentePete > I'm guessing you will be trying the baluns since you have the wires run already?
 
Mike said:
IndependentePete > I'm guessing you will be trying the baluns since you have the wires run already?
It'll be a couple of weeks before I try anything cause I've got some out of town trips coming up. But, I think I'm gonna try the 500050. Will also need a DVI to component adapter to use with these since the PC has DVI out. Not sure if I'm gonna try the one from geeks.com ('cause I suspect it only works with ATI cards) or something else.

Another option that I'm considering is using the PC's DVI to the TV's DVI, even though the manufacturer says not to. The PC has DVI-I dual link and the TV has DVI-D dual link. I believe that these are compatible. Can anyone confirm? What is the risk in connecting these?
 
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