15m HDMI Cable

Soldato
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Hi all,

I am looking to pass a HDMI cable through a wall, up the ceiling, over the ceiling, and down another wall. It's from my PC to my TV.

I've decided on getting around 15m - It's probably a little bit overkill, but I figure it's better to be too long than too short :p

It will mainly be used for Gaming and Movies, so would like to get 4K over.

Is it OK to just buy an Rainforest Basic cable for this sort of job?

Thanks,
Marky
 
Soldato
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Since hdmi spec changes, and require a hdmi cable change, I'd probably use conduits so you can replace said cables in a few years time.

Not sure what max length for hdmi is, it's certainly not a lot, unlike optical cable.
 
Man of Honour
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The simple answer is no.

4K - or UHD to be more accurate - comes in a scale of bandwidths. Basic 2160p at 24/25/30Hz (frame rate, or fps) without HDR and WCG is the lowest, and so puts the least demand on the cable. This is what you'd get if you had a Sky Q box with the resolution set to UHD 4K. Depending on frame rate, the cable is passing up to 9 Gbps. For short runs of a couple or 3 metres, you'll get away with a good 1080p cable. As the cable length increases then the spec has to go up.

The next step up in the scale is adding Wide Colour Gamut and High Dynamic Range to the 2160p 24/25/30Hz spec. This is what you'd get from a UHD Blu-ray player that is DolbyVision rated. Here, the cable is transporting up to 13.2 Gbps.

At the top of the tree is 2160p at up to 60Hz with either 8bit RGB or 12bit Component. This is what you'd get running a graphics card at 3840x2160 rest at 60fps. RGB uses the full 8bit bandwidth on each of the three colour-channels. Component uses colour compression. The bandwidth for both is 18.2 Gbps. This means that in 2160p 60Hz Component mode, the signal supports WCG and HDR. In RGB mode at 50/60Hz you can't have WCG and HDR.

Why's all this important?

It's for when you read the reviews.

Most people have no clue about the differences between the refresh rates and colour depths (8-bit/10-bit/12-bit). They just focus on the resolution. Someone connecting up a SkyQ box at UHD res may well find that their cheap 15m UHD/4K cable works just fine, so they'll post a positive review without realising that it only works because the signal is low bandwidth in 4K/UHD terms Someone else with a UHD BD player says the same cable doesn't work. That's because they've got discs with HDR and WCG. They return one then spend more on a higher spec cable and find it work. The cycle repeats. They post a review, and then someone with gaming PC buys the same cable only to find that it works fine for streaming and UHD BDs, but not for gaming because that needs the full-fat 18Gbps to work.

Sending UHD 4K @ 60Hz over distance is really difficult. Go to AVForums and search to see what people are buying now in longer HDMI cables. The Amazon basics isn't going to do it unless you've got very basic needs.
 
Soldato
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Oh wow, I'm so glad I asked before purchasing! I had no idea I would need to go for a fibre cable - Thanks a lot for all your help, I will take a look at getting a 15m fibre HDMI cable for this.

Quick question... I see that you have ethernet through HDMI... I suspect this is impossible, but is it possible for my router to connect to my TV, connect my PC to my TV through HDMI and share the ethernet connection to my PC?
 
Soldato
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the, linked avforums thread, also reffed in earlier oc threads, still recommends the ruipro , but £130 ... uk distributor & lifetime warranty (albeit 5 years might be the most you'd want)
choice, between that and £52 probably depends on how much of the 18Gb/s you will really be exploiting....

you cannot buy a flatter/shorter cable with floor protectors ?
also, for wall routing I'd take care you do not put acble through tight radius curves, the ruipro and £52one, must specify turn radius somewhere.
 
Soldato
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the, linked avforums thread, also reffed in earlier oc threads, still recommends the ruipro , but £130 ... uk distributor & lifetime warranty (albeit 5 years might be the most you'd want)
choice, between that and £52 probably depends on how much of the 18Gb/s you will really be exploiting....

you cannot buy a flatter/shorter cable with floor protectors ?
also, for wall routing I'd take care you do not put acble through tight radius curves, the ruipro and £52one, must specify turn radius somewhere.

I’m actually starting to go down a different route regarding routing through the walls and ceiling... There is a small wooden corner piece along the floor on top of the wall trim, and I have wondered about replacing it with a small white trim and run the cables through that. It would involve 2 x 90 degree angles, but according to the description on the £52 cable, that should be fine.
 
Soldato
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I use a fibre optic one into a HDMI switch. Little bit pricey, but does what I need as works no issues with 10bit UHD Sky, PS4 etc. Got the switch on Amazon, but the cable off of ebay for half the price. Mine also runs round corners with bends etc. Cable is very versatile and also a lot slimmer that it will fit in d-line micro trunking if you needed to use that.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Cable-Premium-18Gbps-Support-black/dp/B078KB993Z

https://www.amazon.co.uk/XOLORspace...OLORspace&qid=1589193004&s=electronics&sr=1-8
 
Soldato
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I use a fibre optic one into a HDMI switch. Little bit pricey, but does what I need as works no issues with 10bit UHD Sky, PS4 etc. Got the switch on Amazon, but the cable off of ebay for half the price. Mine also runs round corners with bends etc. Cable is very versatile and also a lot slimmer that it will fit in d-line micro trunking if you needed to use that.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Cable-Premium-18Gbps-Support-black/dp/B078KB993Z

https://www.amazon.co.uk/XOLORspace...OLORspace&qid=1589193004&s=electronics&sr=1-8

Thanks for your comment Simmz, and for the trust email, very helpful. The D-Line trunking was actually the stuff I was looking at - looks very discrete :)
 
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