HD TV and HD projector in different rooms

[admin_exported]

I have a Sony 46X 2000 HDTV in a fairly small dedicated TV room, with a Sky HD box and an effective surround sound system (Pre-HDMI) with decent Polk speakers.

However, a Panasonic PT-AE 2000 projector just bought (following Clare Newsome's advice in previous correspondence) will have to be installed in another room which can accomodate the screen and projector. A PS3 player playing Blu-Ray DVD is portable enough for viewing in either room as required. I am also resigned to the fact that I need to buy a second cinema surround sound system for the projector.

But my dilemma is how do I get the Sky HD signal to the projector from the TV room . One question is (as Ski multiroom monthly rates can be quite expensive over a long period) will Sky allow me to buy a second HD box and keep just one Sky card which I can swap around to the room of my choice, since I can only watch in one room at a time?

Alternatively what is the maximum working length of an HDMI cable. I have bought a 10m cable, but the distance between the rooms may require about 25m of cable. Can cables be connected using for example, an Onkyo Surround Receiver to make good cable losses? Any comments please.

 

[professorhat]

Well, you can get HDMI cables this length (see here for a Chord cable - expensive though!). The other option is to convert the HDMI signal to CAT5 (same cable as you connect your computer to a network with). This webpage shows a solution for it, though I can't comment on how this affects the video quality. Also, a new amp with two HDMI out sockets would give you the ability to input everything into the amp and then output it to the TV and the projector so you wouldn't need to start carting things around. This would probably have a multi-room set up as well, allowing you to drive the speakers in another room. Obviously this is ramping up the expense though, but if you add the cost of getting Sky multi-room and a new surround amp, it might not be turn out to be much more expensive...

 

[professorhat]

Also, you could consider an HDMI switching box like this one.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Professorhat for your comprehensive reply.

It may be that I will have to ditch the Sky reception for the moment and concentrate on movies via the PS3.

Would you recommend a medium price range receiver and speaker kit (reasonably small to please the wife) for the surround system with a bit of potential to house the Sky input eventually.

Regards Neville

 

[professorhat]

Well Neville, I've not set up a multi-room solution like this before (have had to send video signals to more than one display a few times, hence my knowledge on Lektropacks, but that's it). I've done a bit of research and come to the conclusion that getting 5.1 in two rooms is going to require two receivers / amps anyway. So the way I see it, you have 2 choices:

1. Get a receiver with the correct pre-outs to allow you to send the 5.1 signal through to a power amp in the second room. My limited research shows (I think) you want at least something like the Onkyo TX-SR705 or the Denon AVR-1908 in the main room. This isn't a recommendation on these, just that these look to be the lowest priced amps made by either Onkyo or Denon which provide the necessary pre-outs for all 5.1 speakers (which you can see in this picture on the Onkyo at the bottom near the center). Obviously other manufacturers do amps with these as well, I've just used Onkyo and Denon as examples as they're well known. This allows you to have everything in one room and not have to move sources around.
2. Just buy two reasonable surround receivers and move the PS3 from one room to the other when necessary.

I had another thought on this though. How far apart are the two rooms? The reason I ask is, since you are using the PS3 (which relies on a Bluetooth remote control), if you keep the PS3 in the other room, will the remote be able to communicate with the PS3 still? Bluetooth has a range of about 30 feet apparently, but you should test this first I reckon. If it can't, I don't know of any methods by which you can extend this range so you may have to go with option 2 and move the PS3 into the projector room when you want to watch a movie (or buy a second PS3

).

If you are able to control the PS3 from the other room, my choice would be option 1 as (a) you don't have to cart things around and (b) it'll probably work out cheaper as I guess you wouldn't need as good an amp in the second room since the sound processing is all being done in the main room.

You then have a choice of getting a main surround receiver which has two HDMI outs allowing you to send the signal to both the TV and the projector or you could get one with one HDMI out and use the switch box I've suggested above. I don't know how much of a compromise this has on video quality, but it seems to suggest it won't alter the quality.

Now my disclaimer! As I say, I've never actually done this, so I may have got some of the information slightly wrong. If I have, please can someone let both of us know!!

EDIT - linked the wrong image in previously, now updated showing correct image for back of the Onkyo!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Professorhat

Thanks for your reply, I already have a surround receiver in the main TV room, and now I have decided I will buy a second receiver (maybe the Onkyo as you suggest) and speakers for the projector room, which is actually a sitting room. I am also happy to move the PS3 between the rooms depending on which room I'm using.

The rooms are about 30 feet apart in terms of a cable run,but probably too far for Bluetooth which is not really part of the equation.

As a longer term option, (as I think I have decided from our interactions) I would like to receive Sky HD in the projector room. At the moment I only receive SKY HD in the TV room.

For additional onformation, this may be a red herring, but I do have a separate cable running from the satellite dish to the projector room, only cable of receiving the free Sky channels, (eg BBC, ITV, Channel 4 etc,) via an older Sky box (without HDMI) but like Freeview not requiring a subscription. Which is why I proposed buying a second SkyHD box for the HDMI output in the projector room in the longer term, and swapping the SKY card around depending upon which room I am using.

Clear as mud?

Nevertheless, thanks for your useful comments which I will mull over

Regards

Neville