New Member & Longlining HDMI

[RiSimba]

Hi Forum Members,

I am new here and was recommended to this site by OttoMate and was hoping that you would have a solution to my dilemma. :?: :?: :?:

I recently took delivery of a new Pioneer 506XDE, which comes with a Media Receiver box.

The TV is located in the lounge, while all my HiFi/DVD Player/Computer equipment is located in the office upstairs - yes my wife hates the sight of black/silver boxes cluttering up the living room.

However, I have retro-fitted wiring with regard to speaker cable, etc, from my office upstairs to the living room. Video was via composite video - yuk.

My problem is now that I have taken delivery of the TV, I want to install the Media Receiver upstairs, and 'longline' the HDMI cable from upstairs to downstairs, using the Gefen CAT-5 HDMI Extender: EXT-HDTV-CAT5 solution coupled with an Octava 5 port HDMI switcher.

I think this solution will work, after much research and consultation with friends and colleagues.

Now imagine my horror when I connected the Media Reciver box to the TV - the 'umbilical' cord comprises an HDMI and a DVI cable [labeled Black and White respectively on the Media Receiver box and TV].

After all this, forgive the lengthy context setting, I thought about the implications of trying to use the Gefen Extender, which is HDMI only [there is also a DVI only Extender too, but I dont want to pay for 2 boxes - 1 HDMI, 1 DVI], when there is also a DVI connecter in the equation as well.

I though I would try and run the TV without the DVI cable plugged in to the TV, and all I got on the set was coloured squares on the screen.

Can anyone tell me if there is a way of getting around the need to have the DVI connecter plugged in. Is there a menu setting on the TV to ignore this cable? Or do I have to look to a different solution?

Thanks in advance for any help/pointers.

Vince.

[smarthomey]

Hi RiSimba

The "umbilical" cables that link the plasma display to the media receiver box are DVI-D and MDR. The MDR cable is for data and control signals from the media box to the display.

Pioneer sells an optical cable extension kit in various lengths from 15M up to 30M allowing you to connect the media box to the display at longer distances. However this is expensive at around the £650 mark. There are also other equivalent solutions out there, although make sure that they have compatible DVI-D and MDR cables.

There is a very informative FAQ for Pioneer plasma displays at:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323983

I hope this helps.

John Peckham
www.smarthomelife.co.uk
Smart technology for life

[RiSimba]

Hi RiSimba

The "umbilical" cables that link the plasma display to the media receiver box are DVI-D and MDR. The MDR cable is for data and control signals from the media box to the display.

Pioneer sells an optical cable extension kit in various lengths from 15M up to 30M allowing you to connect the media box to the display at longer distances. However this is expensive at around the £650 mark. There are also other equivalent solutions out there, although make sure that they have compatible DVI-D and MDR cables.

There is a very informative FAQ for Pioneer plasma displays at:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323983

I hope this helps.

John Peckham
www.smarthomelife.co.uk
Smart technology for life

John,
Excellent response. Thanks for getting back to me. I was beginning to think that no one had a response for me.

Thanks.

I will be getting in touch...