Full house Audio and Video - The last piece of the puzzle.

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  • Andrew Millne
    Automated Home Ninja
    • Nov 2007
    • 269

    Full house Audio and Video - The last piece of the puzzle.

    I now have plans for most aspects of my upcoming install including heating, lighting, security, communications etc but I've left the most complex two pieces of the puzzle til last. I'm talking about whole house audio and video which I realise warrants as much planning as the rest put together.

    At the moment I'm running a media centre server in my home office which is connected to an xbox 360 with A/V receiver in the living room and also an xbox 360 in one of my housemates bedrooms. There is a dual freeview tuner in the server which works well for the most part with very few viewing conflicts appearing (only been tempted to add another tuner card once).

    What are other peoples thoughts on windows media centre? my only grumble is the fan noise on the xbox 360 is awful and not ideal for movie watching in the living room.

    At the moment I'm thinking of putting a different media centre extender in the living room but this is not really feasible for the rest of the house (kitchen for instance) also I would like audio/video in the bathroom at a later date and audio in several other locations in the house.

    Also the media centre approach does not allow for synchronised playback in different zones.

    Where do I start?
    Visit my blog and Follow me on Twitter...
  • Paul_B
    Automated Home Legend
    • Jul 2006
    • 608

    #2
    For audio only have you had a look at the Squeezebox from Slim Devices (now part of Logitech)? It is a great piece of kit with a gorgeous display (the display can be used to display loads of things and is integrated into Idratek).

    For video I haven't really looked into this seriously but have kept an eye on Kiss (now part of Linksys / Cisco) or if you want to do it properly at HD quality then look at Matrix Switches from Gefen, Kramer, etc (but they ain't cheap. You can also send video over CAT. 5 have a look at the Kat 5 forum on here.

    HTH

    Comment

    • toscal
      Moderator
      • Oct 2005
      • 2061

      #3
      Have a look here www.abitana.com for Abitana or here http://www.intouchtech.co.uk/ for lexcom.
      IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
      Renovation Spain Blog

      Comment

      • chris_j_hunter
        Automated Home Legend
        • Dec 2007
        • 1713

        #4
        Full house Audio and Video - The last piece of the puzzle.

        we're looking to do something similar ... still doing my homework, but for HDMI distribution (audio & video) this looks promising & affordable, using Cat-5 :



        not sure yet how a mutli-screen set-up would be arranged - eg: can splitters be on either end of a Cat-5 run, etc ?

        for some of our set-up, we'll be using old-fashioned analogue balanced lines, for the real hi-fi bit ... but for the rest, looking at Apple Mac options, and Squeezebox, too, especially due to its Idratek options ... no feel for what can be displayed though - is it just a few lines of text, or is it more ??
        Our self-build - going further with HA...

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        • Paul_B
          Automated Home Legend
          • Jul 2006
          • 608

          #5
          Chris,

          The SB3 screen is a VFD rather than LCD which gives a very high quality and bright output. You are right with it having two lines but these can be subdivided or made into a single line. Plus it will scroll. So you can use it to ouptut virtually any info.

          To give you an idea of what is possible here is a Weather Date Time plugin that uses RSS data from Weather.com to display local conditions:

          Attached Files

          Comment

          • chris_j_hunter
            Automated Home Legend
            • Dec 2007
            • 1713

            #6
            Full house Audio and Video - The last piece of the puzzle.

            Paul -

            thanks, interesting ... could be handy ...

            gives hope, too, that larger displays could be fed by Idratek, as well !
            Our self-build - going further with HA...

            Comment

            • Paul_B
              Automated Home Legend
              • Jul 2006
              • 608

              #7
              Back to the topic of the upcoming Visual Modules from Idratek

              Comment

              • toscal
                Moderator
                • Oct 2005
                • 2061

                #8
                HDMI distribution

                Abitana do a special HDMI distribution amplifier
                http://www.abitana.com/index.php?id=49&L=0&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=20&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1&cHash=cae4cd11ec
                They cost 76 euros each on their webhop.
                IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
                Renovation Spain Blog

                Comment

                • chris_j_hunter
                  Automated Home Legend
                  • Dec 2007
                  • 1713

                  #9
                  Full house Audio and Video - The last piece of the puzzle.

                  >Abitana ...

                  interesting web-site, and catalogue, too ... page 47 of which includes something on fitting plug etc ...

                  >HDMI distribution amplifier ...

                  seems not to include HDMI connector ... but says it is HD ... so, not sure ! ?
                  Our self-build - going further with HA...

                  Comment

                  • TimH
                    Automated Home Legend
                    • Feb 2004
                    • 509

                    #10
                    Originally posted by chris_j_hunter View Post

                    >HDMI distribution amplifier ...

                    seems not to include HDMI connector ... but says it is HD ... so, not sure ! ?
                    It has a component interface via RCA plugs, aka "phono" plugs, plus SP/DIF for the audio, quoting: http://www.abitana.com/index.php?id=...ash=cae4cd11ec
                    The component video interface (Y, Pb, Pr or Y, B-Y, R-Y or Y, Cb, Cr) is presented on 3x RCA/Cinch gold-plated high quality connectors. The digital Audio 5.1 interface (S/PDIF) is presented on 1x gold-plated high quality RCA/Cinch connector.
                    HTH,

                    Tim.
                    My Flickr Photos

                    Comment

                    • chris_j_hunter
                      Automated Home Legend
                      • Dec 2007
                      • 1713

                      #11
                      Full house Audio and Video - The last piece of the puzzle.

                      Tim -

                      many thanks .. it's just that HD is such a minefield, with lots of dubious claims, if it' not very specific in the words & it doesn't have an HDMI connector, then I'm suspicious !! ... what sort of HD does it actually do / support ... and over what length of cable ... 760, 1080, i, p ... 10m, 20m, 30m ... etc ! ? !
                      Our self-build - going further with HA...

                      Comment

                      • TimH
                        Automated Home Legend
                        • Feb 2004
                        • 509

                        #12
                        Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component_video) has this:
                        Component video is capable of carrying signals such as 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p, although some TVs do not support 1080p through component video.
                        Keith's KAT5 modules will carry AV signals great distances over Cat5 cable with negligible signal loss (www.kat5.tv). He can do modules with custom connectors as one-offs (BNC, RCA, etc.). I don't know whether Keith actively markets his units as supporting HD but several UKHA-ers have reported success IIRC.

                        The big issue with HD over component vs. HDMI is that the copy protection, "HDCP" (see Wikipedia) signals can only be passed through the HDMI cable
                        A secondary point is that you'll need separate cable(s) for audio if using component.

                        HTH,

                        Tim.
                        My Flickr Photos

                        Comment

                        • chris_j_hunter
                          Automated Home Legend
                          • Dec 2007
                          • 1713

                          #13
                          Full house Audio and Video - The last piece of the puzzle.

                          Tim -

                          thanks ... even so, so far as I understand these things, I'd have expected 2xCat-5e cables to be required to carry the HD information, certainly if it was 1080p, and maybe for the lesser ones, too, and that there would be limits on cable length (longer with the lesser ones) ... but this one seems to used only one Cat-5e cable ...

                          eg: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI> quote: ... active cables (fiber optic or dual Cat-5 cables instead of standard copper) can be used to extend HDMI to 100 metres or more ...

                          Chris
                          Our self-build - going further with HA...

                          Comment

                          • TimH
                            Automated Home Legend
                            • Feb 2004
                            • 509

                            #14
                            Originally posted by chris_j_hunter View Post
                            Tim -

                            thanks ... even so, so far as I understand these things, I'd have expected 2xCat-5e cables to be required to carry the HD information, certainly if it was 1080p, and maybe for the lesser ones, too, and that there would be limits on cable length (longer with the lesser ones) ... but this one seems to used only one Cat-5e cable ...

                            eg: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI> quote: ... active cables (fiber optic or dual Cat-5 cables instead of standard copper) can be used to extend HDMI to 100 metres or more ...

                            Chris

                            I don't pretend to be an expert either, but AIUI "HDMI" is different from "high definition video over component".

                            Primarily, HDMI is digital and component is an analogue video standard.

                            HDMI includes all the visual content as well as up to 8 channel audio, and the HDCP (copy protection) information. In contrast, "high definition video over component" is just the video stream and as such only needs 3 of the 4 Cat5 pairs... The 4th pair could be used for digital audio, and/or a second Cat5 cable for extra channels (typically 4 extra).


                            Cheers,

                            Tim.
                            My Flickr Photos

                            Comment

                            • chris_j_hunter
                              Automated Home Legend
                              • Dec 2007
                              • 1713

                              #15
                              Full house Audio and Video - The last piece of the puzzle.

                              ah, thanks, analogue ... now I'm wondering about picture quality, as well as the HD standard ... can't believe it, sorry !!! I need to do my homework on Composite, but it's difficult to believe picture quality wouldn't be compromised quite a lot ... digital source, analogue conversion, baluns (presumably), long cable, baluns, conversion, digital again ... ?? Still, I've not tried it, or seen it ... could be wrong !
                              Our self-build - going further with HA...

                              Comment

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