Pc to tv across the room connection

barrelofwine · 25 Dec 2020 at 19:03

Hi all.

I would like to connect my front room PC to my living/dining area smart tv. I would like to be able to use USB connected Xbox gamepad and to generally control my pc while sitting on the sofa in front of the telly.

As far as I'm aware I will need an HDMI cable ( 7m) and USB cable (9m) to make the connection.

What's your view on this setup guys?

Any potential drawbacks? Would you organize this differently?

See the attached diagram.

Haze · 25 Dec 2020 at 19:11

Exactly what I do, with no problem

barrelofwine · 25 Dec 2020 at 19:19

Wouldn't the USB length be an issue?

Haze · 26 Dec 2020 at 05:48

Why do you need the pc in a different room, if you are using your TV as the main screen? Mine is tucked down the side of my sofa

Jamin280672 · 26 Dec 2020 at 09:13

I do it too with no issues, run movies from my PC to my TV and play some games, in total I have 3 cables including an optical cable running to my AVR, total length of my cables are 5/6m

barrelofwine · 26 Dec 2020 at 10:36

Haze said:
Why do you need the pc in a different room, if you are using your TV as the main screen? Mine is tucked down the side of my sofa

The biggest reason will probably be gaming, but I think it's a nice feature to have access to your pc on your telly.

Jamin280672 said:
I do it too with no issues, run movies from my PC to my TV and play some games, in total I have 3 cables including an optical cable running to my AVR, total length of my cables are 5/6m

What resolution you're gaming/watching movies? Can you comment on the refresh rate? Can you access 4k @ 60Hz? Would there be a issue with the usb controller with such a long lead?

Jamin280672 · 26 Dec 2020 at 10:48

barrelofwine said:
The biggest reason will probably be gaming, but I think it's a nice feature to have access to your pc on your telly.

What resolution you're gaming/watching movies? Can you comment on the refresh rate? Can you access 4k @ 60Hz? Would there be a issue with the usb controller with such a long lead?

I stream movies at 4K, and game at 1440p to keep the FPS up, all to a Sony 55" 4k Android TV, The PC also has a monitor, but some things are just better to the TV, like the new Microsoft flight sim looks the dogs doo da's on the TV, and obviously movies.

Not sure about the USB length you are going for, My PC is in the same room as my TV, its just the other end of a quite big room, hence needing 5/6 meter cables, I have a wired xbox controller which came with the longest cable in the world ive ever know on a controller lol, I think its about 5 meters itself.

Haze · 26 Dec 2020 at 11:20

All my games go through the tv

barrelofwine · 26 Dec 2020 at 12:23

Do I need additional lead to hear the sound? I'm intending to run 10m dp to hdmi.

Haze · 26 Dec 2020 at 12:56

Hdmi transmits both

MagicBoy · 26 Dec 2020 at 13:01

USB is designed for a maximum length of 5m, so you'll need an active repeater cable. Unsure about HDMI @ 4K - however you'll need a decent quality cable.

Ben97 · 26 Dec 2020 at 16:45

It probably will be easiest to find 2 10m cables. You will just need to make sure the HDMI specifically states it can handle 4k content. You can get them for under £20. I'm new to this forum and not sure if I can share links to products not sold by Overclockers, so I will only discuss what I mean.

As MagicBoy said, the USB cable will need to be an active repeater cable. This basically means it is powered at the female end partly related to the loss of power over the length. You will just need some 5v wall charger to power it. They usually have some 5v DC socket at the female end. The USB 2.0 active extensions are usually a similar price to the HDMI I suggested. But the price shoots up if it is USB 3.0, especially if you go for decent brands. Probably more like £30 - £50. Depending on what you are using it for, it may not matter and USB 2.0 could be enough.

Jamin280672 · 26 Dec 2020 at 18:07

barrelofwine said:
Do I need additional lead to hear the sound? I'm intending to run 10m dp to hdmi.

HDMI carries the audio too so you'll be fine, just get a decent quality one, I buy 8K 60hz cables just to make sure they can handle the 4K at the length im running at.
I only run the optical cable so I can have high quality audio out of my AVR, but its not required if you just want to use the TV speakers.

barrelofwine · 26 Dec 2020 at 20:29

Jamin280672 said:
HDMI carries the audio too so you'll be fine, just get a decent quality one, I buy 8K 60hz cables just to make sure they can handle the 4K at the length im running at.

Any cable recommendations? Are Amazon links permitted?

SoundsGood · 26 Dec 2020 at 20:32

Might make more sense to get a wireless xbox pad plus the USB dongle

Ben97 · 26 Dec 2020 at 20:48

I've been trying to find the rules saying if links can be shared and haven't found any. If this is inappropriate, it can be removed though.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/kenable-Su...rds=10m+active+usb+3.0&qid=1609014931&sr=8-16

This is the cheapest active USB 3.0 extension I can find. Kenable is a good budget brand and I've got quite a lot of their stuff. If you don't need the transfer speeds to be at USB 3.0 specification, you can save quite a bit and go for this that is USB 2.0:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CSL-extens...ords=10m+active+usb+3.0&qid=1609015154&sr=8-7

Don't think CSL is a well known brand or anything, but I've got their cheapest range HDMI cable that only claimed to handle 1080P, but it handled 1440p no problem as well as 4k with an adapter from my camera to my TV aswell. So I think you can trust this brand.

Here is an HDMI cable from them too:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CSL-Ethern...ds=CSL+10m+8k+hdmi&qid=1609015362&sr=8-4&th=1

Lets hope 7.5m will be ideal for you! This is rated for 4k, not 8k like jamin suggested, but you may be OK as 7.5m isn't all that long. I once tested an HDMI cable that I took home from work that was well over 15m in length and I connected it from my PC to 4k TV and it worked no problem and wasn't rated for 8k content, so this CSL cable I've linked should have no problems.

Jamin280672 · 26 Dec 2020 at 21:11

This is the cable I brought, I cant find the longer ones at the moment, maybe sold out, very high qaulity though: 8K HDMI Cable, Lcueguk HDMI Cable 100% Real 8K, High Speed 48Gbps 8K@60Hz 7680P Dolby Vision, HDCP 2.2, 4:4:4 HDR, eARC Compatible with Apple TV, Samsung QLED TV (2M): Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

barrelofwine · 26 Dec 2020 at 22:46

Anyone running HDMI 2.1 with the new RTX? It might be a more future proof solution. Worth a go?

pp111 · 27 Dec 2020 at 18:04

I know this is not really relevant here but most of this can be done without cables if you have a wifi card in your PC. Only issue is the resolution is not high enough for you, but I thought I would mention it anyway.