Distributing HDMI throughout the house

I

Ice2Cool

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Hey guys,

I am building a new house and have a guy who specializes in home entertainment who is wiring the house for HDMI signal distribution to each bedroom. He quoted R1300 for each room, which to be seemed suspiciously low. In any case he has wired the house up with Cat 5e (should have just wired Cat 6!!! GRRR). I was at an electronics store today and told them what I was doing - they told me to definately go wit a brand called "Kramer" for my HDMI distribution.

What would you guys recommend as something that is good and economical? I had one of the so called "Pro" companies give me a quote, and they quoted me a ridiculous figure of like R140,000 for hdmi whereas the guy who is doing my house is charging R25,000 for the HDMI distribution. Before he wires up the distribution equipment, I just want to ensure he is putting in a decent system before hand. Basically the only thing that will be distributed is DSTV HD - so 720p max. The signal will be distributed to 8 rooms (kitchen, study, bedrooms, lounges, gym etc)

Cheers!
 
question, how are you going to manage DSTV in all these rooms?? Do you seriously need coverage in the whole house? lol

I have a friend in the market, I will enquire about Kramer and revert
 
We plan on using an SD-PVR + HD-PVR (Xtraview). The HD decoders signal will be the only available on HD - but we will also distribute its signal via Coax (Analogue). The 2 channels from SD-PVR will be distributed by COAX. Using tv-link will allow us to change channels. Is this what you meant? BTW - while I have 8 points, only 5 or so will have TV's. The others are just there incase we want something there in the future.
 
If you are willing to give me your phone number via private message, I'd be happy to forward your details to my brother, who does home automation and AV installations such as this for a living - if not to sell you equipment, to advise.
 
you can probably get a cheap Ellies unit for under R1k - but I've been through them at client's houses like women go through toilet paper...and then we replace them with decent ones from Kramer which are about 4k for a pair (tx & rx) and then never have to go back. The kramer units come with a 7 year warranty too. and its single cat5 that they work on...
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feedback ^^
 
How many screens and how many sources?

You get what you pay for. Kramer or Gefen is the way to go.
 
Quantum Theory said:
How many screens and how many sources?

You get what you pay for. Kramer or Gefen is the way to go.
Click to expand...

1 source (1 HD Channel)
8 HDMI points in the house (so provision for 8 screens).

Analyzing his quote it appears to be an Ellies unit, but I have asked him to tell me what he intends on using so I can redirect him to another unit if need be.
 
I use HDMI over single ethernet boxes that I bought some time ago(3 years+), from a outfit in hongkong. They were cheap (~R500 per line), and have worked flawlessly since. Just bear in mind that unless you plan on buying a HDMI matrix, you will be stuck with the same HDMI source on all your TV's. Unless you have alternate sources (media players etc) at each TV.

Ian
 
Ice2Cool said:
Hey guys,

I am building a new house and have a guy who specializes in home entertainment who is wiring the house for HDMI signal distribution to each bedroom. He quoted R1300 for each room, which to be seemed suspiciously low. In any case he has wired the house up with Cat 5e (should have just wired Cat 6!!! GRRR). I was at an electronics store today and told them what I was doing - they told me to definately go wit a brand called "Kramer" for my HDMI distribution.

What would you guys recommend as something that is good and economical? I had one of the so called "Pro" companies give me a quote, and they quoted me a ridiculous figure of like R140,000 for hdmi whereas the guy who is doing my house is charging R25,000 for the HDMI distribution. Before he wires up the distribution equipment, I just want to ensure he is putting in a decent system before hand. Basically the only thing that will be distributed is DSTV HD - so 720p max. The signal will be distributed to 8 rooms (kitchen, study, bedrooms, lounges, gym etc)

Cheers!
Click to expand...
This was a plan i wanted to do when i get a house.
Anyways, currently we have 2 HDPVR decoders, one for me and one for the person living there.
We currently run Cat 5 e at 25 meters, to my bedroom and have the main PVR displaying in the lounge with CAT 6 to main bedroom.

The cabling for the CAT 5 e was about +/- R400 then the actual switch. http://www.hdcabling.co.za/hdmi-ext...-25-meter-1080p-30-meter-720p1080i-p-171.html

I experienced so much interferance with this Cat5 e setup that i was forced to use 480 to get sounds and picture.
So a thunder storm came through and blew this device (And the DSTV) out and had to get a set, though i didnt go for the same set, i went for this.
http://www.hdcabling.co.za/hdmi-bal...50-meter-720p1080i-hdcp-12-hdmi-v13-p-53.html

No this has solved all the issues of the previous one, got sound and picture at 1080.


Now for the main decorder to the main bedroom.
We are running CAT 6 over 47 Meters, this works like a dream, cable cost +/- R700 and the same adapter was used (http://www.hdcabling.co.za/hdmi-bal...50-meter-720p1080i-hdcp-12-hdmi-v13-p-53.html), however what was included was a HDMI Signal splitter from 1 to 2 output HDMI so that the lounge could still have DSTV and the main bedroom too.

I dont think what he is charging is resonable.
Though i cannot answer for your "Kramer"
 
ArchieChoke said:
This was a plan i wanted to do when i get a house.
Anyways, currently we have 2 HDPVR decoders, one for me and one for the person living there.
We currently run Cat 5 e at 25 meters, to my bedroom and have the main PVR displaying in the lounge with CAT 6 to main bedroom.

The cabling for the CAT 5 e was about +/- R400 then the actual switch. http://www.hdcabling.co.za/hdmi-ext...-25-meter-1080p-30-meter-720p1080i-p-171.html

I experienced so much interferance with this Cat5 e setup that i was forced to use 480 to get sounds and picture.
So a thunder storm came through and blew this device (And the DSTV) out and had to get a set, though i didnt go for the same set, i went for this.
http://www.hdcabling.co.za/hdmi-bal...50-meter-720p1080i-hdcp-12-hdmi-v13-p-53.html

No this has solved all the issues of the previous one, got sound and picture at 1080.


Now for the main decorder to the main bedroom.
We are running CAT 6 over 47 Meters, this works like a dream, cable cost +/- R700 and the same adapter was used (http://www.hdcabling.co.za/hdmi-bal...50-meter-720p1080i-hdcp-12-hdmi-v13-p-53.html), however what was included was a HDMI Signal splitter from 1 to 2 output HDMI so that the lounge could still have DSTV and the main bedroom too.

I dont think what he is charging is resonable.
Though i cannot answer for your "Kramer"
Click to expand...

You think he is too expensive? He actually came out the cheapest from the few guys I asked for quotes. The house is big - approx 900 sqm - fortunately the distribution point is roughly in the middle, thus the furthest point is probably about 40-50m away from the distribution point.

In any case, he just responded to me saying he will send me all the details as soon as he is back in the office tomorrow so I should know. But its really nice to know what u guys are using so I can make a more informed choice!

He's done a few houses before - and he has to provide backup service as well so I'm sure its in his best interest to put quality goods in the house. I would have done something like this myself if it were a smaller house - but to do something this big (with th risk is fooking it up) I didn't want to take a chance. Thanks for all the help guys
 
I think DIY for this isn't to bad but that's not the issue!

I think it's NB to 1stly use quality CAT cable, and then obviously the right splitters and extenders, I don't have much experience with them but seems to be some good suggestions above!
 
Ice2Cool said:
You think he is too expensive? He actually came out the cheapest from the few guys I asked for quotes. The house is big - approx 900 sqm - fortunately the distribution point is roughly in the middle, thus the furthest point is probably about 40-50m away from the distribution point.

In any case, he just responded to me saying he will send me all the details as soon as he is back in the office tomorrow so I should know. But its really nice to know what u guys are using so I can make a more informed choice!

He's done a few houses before - and he has to provide backup service as well so I'm sure its in his best interest to put quality goods in the house. I would have done something like this myself if it were a smaller house - but to do something this big (with th risk is fooking it up) I didn't want to take a chance. Thanks for all the help guys
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Sorry about that, it was an actual spelling mistake, i should have said his pricing is reasonable, considering cable pricing and labour work.

If you were going to do this yourself, like we did, ofcourse you would require the right equipment, like wire stripper, grimper and Cat cable tester, that could work out +/- R350 at a electronics shop ( I could recommend a electronics shop by East Rand mall if you were in that region).

I would also highly recommend that you use CAT 6 no matter what they tell you.
If you have the input and output source near any 2 pin chargers that generate a large amount of EMI, or lighting that the cable will run over, then stick with CAT 6 STP.

The chances of having interferance in this day in age is high.We used a oscillocope in the house and lets say in every room there is erractic sign waves looking like hedge hogs.
 
ArchieChoke said:
Sorry about that, it was an actual spelling mistake, i should have said his pricing is reasonable, considering cable pricing and labour work.

If you were going to do this yourself, like we did, ofcourse you would require the right equipment, like wire stripper, grimper and Cat cable tester, that could work out +/- R350 at a electronics shop ( I could recommend a electronics shop by East Rand mall if you were in that region).

I would also highly recommend that you use CAT 6 no matter what they tell you.
If you have the input and output source near any 2 pin chargers that generate a large amount of EMI, or lighting that the cable will run over, then stick with CAT 6 STP.

The chances of having interferance in this day in age is high.We used a oscillocope in the house and lets say in every room there is erractic sign waves looking like hedge hogs.
Click to expand...

Ah okay makes sense! Yes - I myself would have though Cat 6 would be an obvious choice - and it was an oversight on my part as i should have insisted on Cat 6. Unfortunately, I only found out the guy put in Cat5e after he had already pulled through all the wiring. In any case, if it doesnt work its his problem as he will have to chase through Cat 6 at his expense.
 
Ah kak one, but like i said its not a huge issue to resolve, i mean i eventually re-wired the TV area to sort out the AC power charges and it sorted out the issue.
Dont think you will have issues, but to troubleshoot i usually unplug ac adapters around where the cable is near the plugs.
If this doesnt rectify the issues, then start setting the video from 480,520, then 780 up to 1080 and find which one has less interferance.
I generally find that small cellphone charges cause me to loose Video but not audio.

All I can say to you is dam thats a really awsum setup to have, Full HD in every room is awsum.
 
the more I read and the more I speak to my friend, the more I see/hear that cat6 is the way to go. You pay like R5 more per meter, so might as well go the whole hog.

OP, do you wanna be able to change the dstv channels in each room? that is something that you havent mentioned
 
techead said:
the more I read and the more I speak to my friend, the more I see/hear that cat6 is the way to go. You pay like R5 more per meter, so might as well go the whole hog.

OP, do you wanna be able to change the dstv channels in each room? that is something that you havent mentioned
Click to expand...

Hey techead,

Yes I completely agree with you - Cat6 is definately the way to go. Its quite silly of him to have put anything less - hes risks a much larger expense if Cat5e doesnt work and he has to rewire the whole thing.

Regarding your question of changing channels - Yes I do want to be able to change channels. We are running coaxial cable alongside the HDMI and the changing of channels will be facilitated by the TV-Link feature on the DSTV decoders. I have my doubts over this working - but lets wait and see.
 
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