A/V beginner with Receiver questions

[kemps12]

I'm finishing my basement and am starting to do some planning related to home theater and A/V equipment, placement, etc. My setup will include large TV on basement wall, with all electronics to be housed in a small closet about 20 ft. away. In addition I will have a second smaller TV above the bar on the other side of the room from the larger TV and about 10-15 ft from closet with all equipment.

My goal is to have HD signal going to both TVs from the same dish receiver. I don't need seperate signal for both TVs and don't want to pay the monthly charge for the second TV.

I can easily run an HDMI cable from the larger TV to the closet, but the ceiling is already drywalled and I'd prefer not to rip it open too much, which makes it much harder to run HDMI from the closet to the second TV. I have been told that some receivers can transmit HD signal wirelessly to allow my bar TV to be on the same signal as the larger wall mounted TV. Is this in fact possible? If so, does anyone have any recommendations or know what features I should be looking for in a receiver.

This may be an extremely basic question, but I literally know nothing about this kind of stuff, other than what I want to be able to do.

[markw]

I have been told that some receivers can transmit HD signal wirelessly to allow my bar TV to be on the same signal as the larger wall mounted TV. Is this in fact possible?

Not that I've ever heard of. You might want to pump those "experts" who suggested this for more info, and share it with us.

[BoredSysAdmin]

Lets clarify few things:
a) Some receivers do have 2nd HDMI out which is mirrored of 1st - usually used for projectors

b) I never heard of receivers with built-in wireless hdmi

c) you could get aftermarket wireless hdmi extenders - some cheaper, some more expensive - they mostly work, BUT don't expect miracles

here are some of them:
For only $154.81 each when QTY 50+ purchased - Wireless HDMI® Extender Up to 65.6ft | Wireless HDMI
Amazon.com: Belkin ScreenCast AV4, 4 Port Wireless HDMI for AV/HDTV: Electronics
GefenTV Wireless HDMI Extender 5 GHz Review — Reviews and News from Audioholics

[markw]

I dod stumble across THIS gee-gaw during a quick search but can't say I've ever heard anything about it, either good or bad. Nothing at all, actually.

[kemps12]

markw and BoredSysAdmin:

Sadly I'm not sure I'd call my sources "experts" but they are fairly knowledgeable so we'll see what I find out.

I had looked into some of the wireless transmitters which you each mentioned, so I may give one of them a shot and see how it performs.

In the end it sounds like I may have to split the cable and find a way to get it to the 2nd TV.

Thanks for your input and quick responses.

[BMXTRIX]

I recently did this with a dual setup.

The Fios cable box is split using a quality HDMI splitter and then using a wireless HDMI transmitter to their main TV (Sharp 70") and a direct feed to a Samsung 40".

It works well, though it does seem like the HDMI wireless doesn't look quite as good. On the other hand, it was a lot easier than ripping up drywall.