I have been involved in many projects with video distribution of an analog signal using a matrix switcher (Crestron PVID), but how will this be done using digital signal? Can HDMI span the distances comparable to analog? Is Video over IP the answer? With HDMI and HDCP showing up in consumer electronics, which is the best way to implement video distribution?

use component video.... hdmi or dvi switchers aint so good yet. not to mention you cant make your own cables for those.....

you could use caqt 5 with balums but then you have issues...component is still most reliable

hdmi and dvi are only rated for about 30'. Not a very far run.

At one time wasn't it thought that s-video could only be run a maximum of 30feet or something like that? If HDMI is the way of the future I would say just give it a few more months and someone will have it figured out.

Not exactly. One of the "features" of the s-video idea was that the cable would be no larger than the composite cable. To do this, they used two small cables (one for chroma, one for luma) that actually were smaller than a single RG-59. The result, though, was that THE CABLE characteristics attenuated the signal too much for it to go more than about fifteen feet.

I have run s-video over a 100' by adapting from an s-connector to two BNCs, running RG-59, then adapting back to s-connectors.

The thing that usually limits digital signal transmission is similar in some ways. If the signal is drastically lower in level at the far end, I suppose some input circuit might be able to restore its level, but if cable capacitance, or just plain signal transmission along the transmission line, rounds off those nice square zero to one and on to zero transitions, then the solution might well be larger individual cables.

Since some of the digital cables used balanced lines, these larger cables would include something like a balanced 75 ohm cable along the size of RG-59, but with a twisted pair inside.

And when do you think we will see an adaptor to go from all of the conductors of a DVI or HDMI cable to BNCs or three-conductor connectors so we can replace the skinny wire with beefy low-loss-at-long-distance wire?

How soon?

Not soon.


If HDMI is the way of the future I would

With the digital transition not so far off, we are pulling cat5e x 2 for any long runs. We don't have to use it now, we can roll analog but it's good to know I can generate future revenue with a little forethought. We have used Gefen baluns with fantastic results.

Are you using these baluns for HDMI transmission?

I've heard (and seen spec sheets) of HDMI balun systems using two CAT5's that claim 150 feet. Has anyone actually used it that far?

Most importantly, the specs I've seen require 1 of the CAT5's to be sheilded. Is that the case?

Till these new platforms get de-bugged, RGBHV/component distribution is the way to go.

Analog video will travel farther than digital. You cannot use CAT5 for HDMI and use it for any distance at this time. However you will see some fancy adatpor cable systems using CAT5 within a few years.

I used to be amoung those who thought that DVI/HDMI cables were useless for the CI market. They only improve the picture quality marginally, if at all over component. But with HD-DVD and Blue Ray around the corner the situatuation has changed. You will not be able to take advantage of the higher resolutons without a HDCP compatable format which is a fancy way of saying if you fail to run a HDMI cable you are left with 480i/480P. Anyone who has seen 720P or 1080i program content does not wish to go back to lower resolutions.

Secondly, there are HDMI switchers on the market and there will surely be more. They will be more expenisve than their analog counterparts because of the EDID and HDCP handshakes require them to have a built in scalers

Lastly, I have run 75 ft HDMI cables and they have worked. Key Digital claims ( but I have not field tested ) that their cables with a cable powered repeater in the middle can be used for distances up to 150 ft. We are finding that in most cases 150 ft is realastic, which means that it has sufficed for most real world cable runs. The biggest issue is the price of those 2 75 ft cables and the repeater; that an the fact that if you need 65 ft of cable you can only use a 75 ft cable. That's a lot of extra cable that is hard to neaten up. Anyone know how long a CAT5 cable carrying data can be? And if you install a switch?

Alan

Alan, there is no real distance spec for Cat5 as the real spec is for Ethernet on twisted pair (802.3). The original published spec distance for 802.3 BaseT is 100 meters or 328 ft. It's not you couldn't go farther, but it's the spec that is used for all premise based twisted pair communication cables. The only difference between cable types is supported band width and immunity to external noise sources.

ceied---
What issues? Are you using the Muxlab baluns??

I agree with Alan. You can routinely go 75 ft with the Key Dig pieces, and we have used Gefen extenders to double that. The one big issue right now being cost. A 4x1 HDMI switch, 3 60-120ft HDMI runs, and the repeaters, not cheap when compared to the analog equivalent. But much better for your wallet in the long run.

no i'm refering to the fact its not 100% sometimes you get incription error(problems) spell check. sometimes sync is way off...... not to mention all the other b.s that goes on....... yeah we prewire 2 cat 6's to every display just in case....but thats a long way off till we do it in actual practice

i'll stick with my ADA suite16 with component for now...... they will eventually have a cat5/6 dvi ballum upgrade........

Extron calls it "skew", and surpisingly enough (note the sarcasm) Extron makes a special Cat-5E cable that was developed to reduce skew with their baluns.

MuxLab and Gefen are starting to get a decent amount of units in the field, and the results are pretty good so far... Time will tell.

"Radio Rahim" = cool screen name!

I'm sure not many here know where that comes from (without Googling) -- not the band, but the original :-)