Home theater help

marine1

marine1

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Hey guys I need some advice please.
I have a friend who will be designing a home theater setup and need some input.
First thing:

1) Cat 5 or cat 6? Some guys are telling him not to use cat 6 cabling in house and not sure why not.
2) what media server would you recommend in the room where all equipment is going? He has a mede8tor, would that be ok or would you recommend something else.
3) on th LED tv's there are network points but how can one watch media on the TV's if the TV's dont have a media player on it? Surely you need a media player on the tv to watch a movie on a networked device.
4) I was thinking of putting a rack mounted server in the media room ??
5) he wants to control the room with an Ipad or similar tablet, say to control lights, audio, video.
Thats it for now.
Thanks
 
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1) Not too sure why they wouldnt recommend cat6, all the newer HDMI extenders use cat6
2) He could always get a PS3
3) Has he already decided to get an LED LCD TV and why?
 
marine1 said:
Hey guys I need some advice please.
I have a friend who will be designing a home theater setup and need some input.
First thing:

1) Cat 5 or cat 6? Some guys are telling him not to use cat 6 cabling in house and not sure why not.
2) what media server would you recommend in the room where all equipment is going? He has a mede8tor, would that be ok or would you recommend something else.
3) on th LED tv's there are network points but how can one watch media on the TV's if the TV's dont have a media player on it? Surely you need a media player on the tv to watch a movie on a networked device.
4) I was thinking of putting a rack mounted server in the media room ??
5) he wants to control the room with an Ipad or similar tablet, say to control lights, audio, video.
Thats it for now.
Thanks
Click to expand...

maybe a logitech harmony remote instead ?
 
Well if the LED TV has a network connection it will be able to stream media from a pc running any dlna compatible program like Windows media player, ps3mediaserver etc.

If not, the PS3 can certainly stream media from a pc.
 
Def Cat6 is the way forward if you're going to wire the house.. I'm going to be doing that in my place shortly as well.

In terms of a media server, how important are things like the UI to him? mede8r's are good.. but their UI is pretty shoddy if you ask me.

Most of the LED tv's have media players (albeit limited) in their firmware.

I wouldn't do a rack mounted server in the media room (unless you can hide it in a cupboard or something)... my rack mounted setup will be in my study...

I'm sure if he is willing to shell out for something like a Crestron system.. then he can def control stuff from his iPad
 
B.O.F.H. said:
In terms of a media server, how important are things like the UI to him? mede8r's are good.. but their UI is pretty shoddy if you ask me.
Click to expand...

Agreed. If you go through all this effort, get a proper HTPC with something like XBMC or MediaPortal.

I wouldn't do a rack mounted server in the media room (unless you can hide it in a cupboard or something)... my rack mounted setup will be in my study...
Click to expand...

Any specific reason why it has to be rack mounted? Why just not a normal pc, since you really don't need anything top of the line for what he's doing.
 
marine1 said:
Hey guys I need some advice please.
I have a friend who will be designing a home theater setup and need some input.
First thing:

1) Cat 5 or cat 6? Some guys are telling him not to use cat 6 cabling in house and not sure why not.
2) what media server would you recommend in the room where all equipment is going? He has a mede8tor, would that be ok or would you recommend something else.
3) on th LED tv's there are network points but how can one watch media on the TV's if the TV's dont have a media player on it? Surely you need a media player on the tv to watch a movie on a networked device.
4) I was thinking of putting a rack mounted server in the media room ??
5) he wants to control the room with an Ipad or similar tablet, say to control lights, audio, video.
Thats it for now.
Thanks
Click to expand...

1.) I think pure convenience - I struggled my ass off getting CAT6 in the conduit - and it was 'required' by my HDMI extender - I then tried CAT5 and it worked, so went with that.
2.) Find a DLNA server, I'm about to do this (not sure if they mede8er can do this).
3.) Check, its probably DLNA certified, which has endless possibilities - I found an andriod app that allows me to drag and drop music/video/etc from my media server to any DLNA receiving device on the network, and it starts playing.
4.) Might be overkill... and noisy if not a dedicated room.
5.) Can be done...
 
Roger.Wilco said:
Agreed. If you go through all this effort, get a proper HTPC with something like XBMC or MediaPortal.



Any specific reason why it has to be rack mounted? Why just not a normal pc, since you really don't need anything top of the line for what he's doing.
Click to expand...

Completely agree on the HTPC products.. I personally run Mediabrowser onto of Windows Media Centre since I like the interface.

as for the rack mounted aspect, the only reason I have that kind of stuff is due to the networking, and servers I'm running.. I have firewalls etc, but then my home setup is FAR from normal.. its bloody immense overkill but its fun :) as for this guy, well maybe a normal PC in the study (to keep the noise away from the Home Theatre) would do the job.
 
B.O.F.H. said:
Completely agree on the HTPC products.. I personally run Mediabrowser onto of Windows Media Centre since I like the interface.

as for the rack mounted aspect, the only reason I have that kind of stuff is due to the networking, and servers I'm running.. I have firewalls etc, but then my home setup is FAR from normal.. its bloody immense overkill but its fun :) as for this guy, well maybe a normal PC in the study (to keep the noise away from the Home Theatre) would do the job.
Click to expand...

I agree, but maybe think of using a small itx case with something like a core i3 cpu, since the integrated graphics that come with it is good enough for hd playback so you wont need a noisy graphics card

i'm actually planning to use a setup like this, already bought myself the case http://www.take2.co.za/electronics-cfi-6719-black-mini-atx-chassis-5313651.html

As for the cat6 thing, I would actually stick with cat5e, imo cat6 is just a waste of money, unless you are really sure all your components can perform at that speed, otherwise there will be a bottleneck somewhere you just end up with an expensive cat5e equivalent speed network
 
janee said:
I agree, but maybe think of using a small itx case with something like a core i3 cpu, since the integrated graphics that come with it is good enough for hd playback so you wont need a noisy graphics card

i'm actually planning to use a setup like this, already bought myself the case http://www.take2.co.za/electronics-cfi-6719-black-mini-atx-chassis-5313651.html

As for the cat6 thing, I would actually stick with cat5e, imo cat6 is just a waste of money, unless you are really sure all your components can perform at that speed, otherwise there will be a bottleneck somewhere you just end up with an expensive cat5e equivalent speed network
Click to expand...

But cat6 might become neccessary if you want to use with HDMI extenders/converters with 1080p content over longer distances.

What is the difference in price between the two?
 
gifs said:
But cat6 might become neccessary if you want to use with HDMI extenders/converters with 1080p content over longer distances.

What is the difference in price between the two?
Click to expand...

errr I recently bought this cat5e cable roll:
Cat5E Lan Cable (box of 100m) Cattex 199.00
Cat6 Lan Cable (box of 100m) Cattex 348.00

i guess considering the amount we spend on our systems an extra couple of hundred bucks wont hurt, i'm just always trying to keep my costs down ;) plus I find 100mpbs enough for streaming my hd stuff over my network which is what i use my cable for, but i guess hdmi extenders (which i know nothing about) is another story
 
With HDMi you are talking multiple gigabits per second.

At those prices I think it might be well worth being sure and going for cat6
 
Cat6 is not really necessary. Cat5e has actually been successfully tested to 10gb and is certified to 1gb. Cat6 is also certified to 1GB. Distance per run on UTP (unshielded twisted pair) is around 100 meters. STP (shielded twisted pair) which you should use if you're running in the same conduiting as power cabling due to electrical interference can be run up to 130 to 150 meters.

You also need to have Cat6 installed by a professional as the RJ45/wall plugs need to be attached in a special way for the installation to be certified.

Judging by this if you want to future proof you might as well go Cat6a as it is certified to 10GB although still under development.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twisted_pair
 
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