HDMI Matrix switch in an equipment rack (is IR or RS-232 controlled) 6 sources in the equipment rack (all IR controlled, Tivo's, Popcorn Hour, etc.) 9 TV's throughout the house counting an HT room Some TV's have local IR controlled elements (e.g. locally attached DVD player) Three story house (~5,500 sqft) HT room has C4 already and I'd like to integrate the two solutions (I.E. control the Matrix switch and sources when I'm in the HT using the C4 remote)
Today my solution is using 2 unused pairs in a cat 5 cable at each TV to foward IR natively to the equipment rack using Dinky Links and a blaster. There is no IR routing (i.e. every source must use different IR codes). I use a $20 8 device remote from Sony (RM-VL610) for most of the TV's and a Harmony 880 for the Den and the C4 remote in the HT. Programming the Sony remotes was tedious since I couldn't use a computer, and each one had be taught all the codes for each Tivo IR mask.
The system works great however the new matrix I'm going to be installing will need all 4 pairs of the cat 5 cable going to each TV. So I need a new control solution. The two I'm currently considering are URC and C4. Both solutions have pros and cons that I can think of. I'm sure there're more.
URC - MRF-350, one or more RFX-250's, (8) MX-350
Pros
Mx-350 ~$100 Mx-350 has 10 dynamic button labels
Cons
Mx-350 is not computer programmed Mx-350 is kind of ugly Don't know how to integrate with C4
C4 - (9) HC200 and (8) SR-150 - I can use the my existing HC-300 for hosting the system
Pros
more flexible (can add more home automation components later) easily integrated with HT system cleaner more elegant looking remote
Cons
more expensive than URC Remotes don't have easy source selection (have to go into C4 onscreen menu which is a PIA) Extra box mounted on rear of TV
