HDMI over cat5 veterans - Help!

orderoftheflame

orderoftheflame

orderoftheflame

Soldato
Joined
28 Mar 2005
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Newbury
I'm looking at getting some HDMI over cat5... "adapter things". But need some questions answered. :)
  • Does it have to be a direct connection for the cat5? I presume being able to run through switches wouldn't work and you need to go HDMI > Adapter > Cat5 Adapter > HDMI? I'd love to be able to do this.
  • Presumably there's nothing to degrade the quality with these? I'd have thought all the adapters should produce the same result if they work?
  • I've seen some adapters that only require one cat5 cable, and some that take two? Is there a major difference? I've seen examples of both types claiming 1080p.
  • Are there any brands to avoid? Should cheap ones be ignored? Or is it like HDMI cables, where as long as it works, the cheaper the better?

Much thanks in advance. :)
 
1) yes, any break in the cable (wallplate, patch panel, join etc) will almost certainly break the connection. Never run the signal over a network, this will break your equipment!
2) the quality is the same. The signal is simply sent over the twisted pair of the cat 5. In fact this means it can be sent further than a regular HDMI cable.
3) Avoid single cat 5 solutions, these are flaky with 1080p and will cause problems, plus they aren't as flexible as the dual run solutions that offer optical & IR over the cable. In a dual system, 1 run is for video and 1 is for audio*
4) I have baluns from HD Cable (£80) and Neet (£30,Amazon) and they're the same unit! Well, the PCB looks identical to me.. Just some flashy outer markings on the box. Beware of some that say you don't require power at the receiver end. I've tested this, and while it's fine for 1080i, some sources don't send enough power over the cable to allow 1080p without additional 5v.

* Worth noting there are several variations of HD over cat 5.

HD over dual cat 5 - best quality, needs direct connection, 2 cat 5 runs required, no LAN support, £30-100 per balun
HD over IP - almost full quality, can pass through IP network (obv), bit more expensive
HDBaseT - The daddy! Full quality over 1 cat 5, can pass through wallplates and patch panels (no LAN), but expensive at £400 per kit.

I've personally tested HDBaseT, and the only reason I didn't go with it was that my Onkyo amp didn't like the setup. All other sources were fine.. That's an AV receiver trait though.

I've now got the cheap Neet boxes on my setup and it's all good :)
 
It all depends on what devices you are looking at. There are plenty of devices on the market that will do HDMI over IP rather than just HDMI over Cat5/6. Most will require a managed switch but that is their only real limitation. Many of the pro AV/HA companies are moving towards AV over IP because of the flexibility that it offers.
 
If I understand you guys correctly, if I use the Neet baluns over CAT5 cable I can't route them through the patch panel I have in the loft. Correct?
 
You can try, but in my experience it won't work without problems.

At best it'll work, but you'll have sparkles, possibly audio dropout, and worst you'll have no picture.

What I did was pull the 2 cables out of the patch panel, then crimp RJ45 plugs on the end. That way, if you ever abandon the baluns, you can always re-punch them in the patch panel.
 
Are the HDMI CAT BALNUS that work reliably with patch panels/structured cabling in general?

When i get around to wiring a house i only really want to have to put CAT6 in everywhere rather than lots of runs of different cables.
 
You can run Cat6 everywhere. The thing about video over IP is that it doesn't sit well sharing a router with normal data traffic.

All of the professional systems I've had a look at down at CEDIA recommend or insist on running a dedicated switch for the Video over IP system. You can still wire everything back to a central point, but if you want it to work reliably then you'll have two switches and two networks - one for data and the other for video. That's not hard to do though, is it.

There may well be some cheap systems available that claim to work with a single switch. Ebay and the web is full of all sorts of promises (HDMI to VGA cable anyone? ;) ) and a lot is based on trading cost for time & hassle. I'm not into playing guinea pig or nurse-maiding a system though because I install professionally and my customers expect near 100% reliability. DIY is a different thing though, especially if one is prepared to be the unpaid on-site tech support. Horses for courses as they say.
 
Interesting people are saying don't run them through patches as that's exactly what 3 guys at work do as their kit is under stairs or in lofts etc.

Pretty sure they're not running anything exensive either, can't ask them until I get back off holiday.
 
Hmm, i'm not too fussed about running it over IP (if i wanted to do this i'd just use mini PCs everywhere - the idea here is to leave the computers in the server rack)

Might just be worth trying cheap baluns to see how well it copes, i'm sure with a decent run and well terminated panels it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Shame about needing 5v on the receiver side, suppose i could always mod the TV or similar to cut down on mess...
 
I'd say my termination was perfect, but, you can always try :p

For the 5v supply, you can always use a USB from the TV, if you have one.
 
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