HDMI over IP

[B_i_l_l_y]

There are a few posts about this topic but none recent.

I want to get my virgin box signal to my shed at the end of the garden. I have power and ethernet in the shed via Powerline, plus I have various other units using the ethernet such as hue, xbox, smartthings hub, virgin v6 box, etc.

So I have been trying to research whats best and what will work. I have read some issues that hdmi over ip will not work powerline ... is this still the case? is there any units that will work? any other solutions?

 

[Rroff]

You can get specific powerline HDMI senders - but the two most common variants of HDMI over IP adaptors won't work with powerlines - one uses a passive signalling method that isn't compatible with powerline adaptors and I'm not sure what the issue is with HDBaseT but that is problematic as well - I'm guessing due to signal degradation/SNR but not sure.

EDIT: From what I can see powerline specific variants are expensive - typically around £300 for the good ones.

 

[bremen1874]

I've got a set of HDbitT HDMI extenders.

No complaints about the picture from a Sky+ HD box to upstairs over a single Cat5e cable.

I did try them over Powerline (AV600) and you could see them trying to work but I guess there wasn't enough bandwidth.

I also tried them over my existing wired network. They worked but flooded the network and everything else eventually ground to a halt.

They ended up on a dedicated cable.

 

[Avalon]

Standard active or passive balun kits that use one or two 5e/6 cables do not operate over IP, they will not work over power line, you can get IP products, but they don't co-exist well with other devices and are expensive. It would usually be easier to use a HDMI matrix and run dedicated feeds to allow for IR passthrough.

 

[Steveocee]

If you already have power to your shed then maybe look at running some cat5s down there as well?

1 for network, 1 for hdmi and then another couple for spares as you can never have enough!

 

[Caged]

There are boxes that send the video as multicast data that will then go over a wireless link, powerline, fibre, whatever. A cheap HDMI-over-Cat6 kit isn't that, neither is HDBaseT.

 

[B_i_l_l_y]

The powerline option is very expensive and unsure if you still can use the powerline for other network traffic .... so running a cat6 down to the shed and getting HDMI extenders is the cheapest option

 

[bremen1874]

At least running network cables is relatively easy (compared to mains wiring anyway).

 

[Steveocee]

I ran a cat5 down to a family members shed for them. Took a morning, used 50m of cat5 and you can barely tell where the cable is. Has been in place for over 2 years now and not had a single issue (granted it was for IP only).

Honestly it's the best way and most often the cheapest.

 

[visibleman]

I have read some issues that hdmi over ip will not work powerline ... is this still the case?

In theory (never personally tested it), 'HDMI over Ethernet'/HDbitT over powerline should work but bandwidth is the problem and you probably won't end up with a stable picture.
Otherwise it works pretty well and you can get a TX and RX pair from the jungle store for around £80/100 (additional receivers are around £40). It's worth mentioning that if you plan to run the 'HDMI' traffic alongside the rest of your network then you really need to VLAN* it off otherwise you'll end up with the network being flooded.

However, if it's just a point-to-point connection then i would personally opt for running ethernet to the shed (plenty of runs for other devices) and using active/powered HDMI baluns - will be cheaper to do and generally a lot less faff.

* Some HDMI over Ethernet manufacturers require VLAN's when using their TX/RX units especially if using multiple input sources as that's how they switch sources for the receivers.

Edit - Shows HDMI over Ethernet over Powerline @ 25m25s