Home Audio/Video distribution

Matutu · 28 Jul 2013 at 12:14

Guys,

My new house is now turning into ground zero refurb..... Lol. Obviously being a planner this was planned..... Not lol. Bank account not a happy place

.

This however makes it a great time to change it and get everything ready for the future. So I'm think kitchen mounted touchscreen/tv and video/audio distribution.

Now I am thinking 2cat 6 cables per access point, now I am correct In thinking this is the easiest way to distribute HDMI? By converting the source to cat 6 then patching at the switch and do finally converting back at the output point?

Any advice people can give on this and just general advice on home audio/video distribution while my house has no floors/open walls etc would be great!

bitslice · 28 Jul 2013 at 13:20

Why run two cables just to run HDMI to a fixed point when you already know that you want to run HDMI there?
Just buy a set of terminated cables and install them to all the usual places, then feed that from a HDMI distribution amplifier.
Keep the Cat6 for network/POTS, don't make things harder than they have to be.

Don't forget alarm/CCTV wiring and FM/DAB distribution, and maybe a few heating/lighting sensors.

Matutu · 28 Jul 2013 at 13:35

Well I wanted the flexibibility to patch the HDMI from sky etc etc to any room and also have the option to change this and I thought CAT6 would give me the most options.

bitslice · 28 Jul 2013 at 13:50

That's what a distribution amp does, one input (Sky) to many rooms?

By the time you've bought a couple of Cat-HDMI converters, you've doubled the cost of installation and got a crappy signal as well.

Converting one signal to another and running it over a different cable isn't a "solution", it's a bodge designed to overcome some other limitation like distance. With HDMI you want to keep it as one cable until it gets to the TV, not have other gubbins in the signal path.

/

Matutu · 28 Jul 2013 at 16:50

OK Bitslice would you recommend running a single HDMI cable with Faceplate, and then a CAT6 cable to each access point then?

Thanks

bitslice · 28 Jul 2013 at 23:21

Depends on budget I guess,
I believe HDMI 1.4 allows for Ethernet, so you won't need a separate cable for TV apps, that leaves a spare Cat6 for "stuff".
That should be OK for a kitchen/bathroom. For bedrooms I'd run several more Cat6, and even more for a front room/study. I'd add a second HDMI for a living room, you never know if other sources will become available.
A decent FM/DAB signal isn't often found inside a house, so I'd add some coax to each room.
There are a couple of ways of distributing IR remote, so whatever suits.

Cable is cheap, relative to trying to add more later, I'd always run more Cat6 and leave it coiled up in the wall somewhere.

Document where you've run cable (pictures), you really won't remember anything after a year of doing other stuff

Matutu · 3 Oct 2013 at 18:18

Well guys house is coming on!

All walls plastered, we now have stairs again! etc etc.

So now on to the home AV.

Have gone for full CAT6A

480metres of the stuff..... Thanks to the MET office

(Work)

Most rooms have 4-6HDMI points, with every room having a COAX also.

So now I am looking at getting the actual gear required.

I am looking at a ShinyBow SB5645CT 4x4 HDMI switch this will be controlling XBOX ONE, SKY, MAC mini running Plex + Spare for future.

All the others will be DATA outlets ready, for anything required.

I am looking at adding some IP cameras, does anyone have any recommendations? Also anyone know if it is possible to mount a small Tablet PC or something by the door to act a incoming door camera?

Thanks.

bitslice · 3 Oct 2013 at 22:55

What box(es) are you using to recover the HDMI signal from the Cat6?

Matutu · 4 Oct 2013 at 09:16

Within the ShinyBow package it comes with all items including the Rx's and remotes.

I am new to all this Networking though, so I am trying to understand how I take my router broadband connection and take that to a patch panel to make all data outlets have data :S.

Trying to learn fast!

Shaz]sigh[ · 4 Oct 2013 at 13:31

A patch panel will double your terminations.

Without it it would be:

Router->Switch->Room Plate->Device

With it it would be

Router->Switch->Patch Panel->Room Plate->Device

Ie, you'd crimp in to the back of a patch panel then run a patch from the panel to the switch. Both ways work and either way you need a switch with the amount of ports required for your rooms.