In wall component video installation question

[rkweekly]

New to this site, I'm sure this must be addressed somewhere but I have not been able to find it.

I need to run a component video signal from a receiver in an adjacent room to a LCD TV wall mounted approximately 30 feet away. I envisioned using wall plates with 3 RCA connecters on each end but do not know what wire to use (possibly coax or cat 5 ?) or if I need to amplify the signal.

I’m planning on running an i/r repeater set up as described in the great i/r repeater installation thread and would run the video into the same wall box the i/r receiver.

Any info or ideas greatly appreciated.

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Definitely not Cat-5. It’s not shielded, nor is it the 75-ohm –rated cable you need for video signals. RG-59 coax will work fine.

(With a question like this someone inevitably chimes in with “RG-6 – it has better bandwidth capabilities.” However, that’s only relevant with radio-frequency (RF) signals. With signal-level video, 75-ohm is what matters, not bandwidth.)

Regards,
Wayne

[rkweekly]

Thanks Wayne,

Any idea how lond the run can be without amplification?

Robert

[brucek]

Any idea how lond the run can be without amplification?

It depends on the frequency of the signal you're transmitting and the cable you plan to use. You can look the specific cable up and see its loses at the frequency of interest.

Thirty feet is nothing though. Don't be concerned......

brucek

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

rkweekly wrote:

Any idea how lond the run can be without amplification?

I intended to address that – sorry!

Like brucek said, using the right cable, 30 ft. is nothing, at least for what you’re talking about (component video). Just use the RG-59 and you’ll be fine.

Regards,
Wayne

[lcaillo]

Try passing a video sweep through a 30 ft cable and look at the other end, terminated at 75 ohms...you might have a different view of how far you can run coax for this application. You will actually see that different cables behave quite differently. 30 ft will ususally result in just enough rolloff that you can tell the difference, but maybe not. 50 ft is pretty notieable.

[brucek]

Try passing a video sweep through a 30 ft cable and look at the other end, terminated at 75 ohms...you might have a different view of how far you can run coax for this application

Yeah, interesting. I guess cheapy cable could make a difference at these short lengths. I can't imagine any problems with decent cable (such as Belden 7710A). It has such low attenuation at HDTV bandwidths (nominal cap/ft = 16.2 pF/ft), I would think that you could easily travel 50 feet with no perceivable effect.

I guess you have to assume 1080p as worst case (~180MHz). Do they allow 1080p on component, or is the requirement for that labelled for HDMI only?

Decent cables are expensive though. A quick look at some 7710A cables yields this at $127 for 30 feet. Nice cable, nice connectors though. Yikes.

brucek

[rkweekly]

Thanks to everyone for the info. If I use the RG-6 or RG-59 is there a wall plate that has RCA fittings on the exterior and F style connecters on the interior or will I have to use RCA to F adapters? I have looked at some sites but have not found anything. It would seem to me that this must be a common application; maybe I am not searching correctly.

I stumbled across this product on a number of sites, basically an amplified setup using cat 5 and wondered if anyone had any experience or opinion about it.


http://globalhomeaudio.com/cat_5_drivers.html

[rkweekly]

Flashes of insight always seem to come after you hit the send or post button. I guessing there are RCA connectors I can use with RG-6 or RG-59 cable. I’m sort of new at this.

[lcaillo]

Try to avoid wall plates and leave enough length to go direct. Extra connections are convenient, but less reliable.

Use compression fittings such as pro-connect or similar.

[ACGREEN]

I agree. I am using RG6 to distribute HDTV throughout my house. I am terminating with RCA connectors. You should leave extra cable and avoid the extra connections. I like the clean look of the wall, but it is better to go with the direct connection.