New toy restrictions

[CMBravo16]

I just purchased a new proyector ! Epson 2350.
Would like to incorporate it to my surround system. Problem =its HDMI ,my apartment has in wall cabling that was finished 5 yrs ago using VGA endings.Am told I need to replace cables to HDMI.Do I need to do this? To me its mind boggling !
I currently use a Pioneer Elite VSX-LX 102 receiver, I also have a Dell laptop xps15-9570 .I sometimes will connect via Bluetooth to SONY Bravía tv.Looks like in theory ,should be able to do the same with the EPSOON 2350 .
As an option am told to just get an wireless HDMI TRANSMITER or a VGA to HDMI adapter with arc support?
What would be the best short term solution besides having to make holes or braking walls to replace cable that might be obsolete in a few yrs?
Any and all advise is welcomed. thanks in advance

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

hailing @BMXTRIX

 

[BMXTRIX]

VGA was outdated over ten years ago and the fact that this TRAVESTY was ever installed is a testament to how absolutely clueless the installation company was.

I wired my home a bit over ten years ago now. It was ENTIRELY wired using cat-5e/6 cabling. You will want to see if there is any other cabling at your projector besides the completely pointless VGA cable. It should be noted that the power cable coming down is also illegal as it is. We also won't mention that absolute garbage ceiling mount.

The reality is that HDMI is king. 4K HDMI travels at 18Gb/s - which is well beyond the capacity for wireless networks to properly handle. There is some in-room stuff which can do 1080p video with some so-so results.

The best solution, by far, is using a HDMI cable. It's NOT ideal. I get it. Someone screwed up big time, and you don't want to have to accept this. They installed an swimming pool when you really just wanted a stove. YES - That's how bad I consider this f'-up. The analog (VGA) sunset was upon us five years ago. VGA was dead. So, you DREAM of a wireless solution (get in line), when a $100 HDMI cable is actually the proper solution.

Then you need your surround sound system as well as some decent 4K sources.

As a possible consideration, if there is a cat5e/6 cable in place, you can use HDMI extenders. The 2350 projector only supports up to 4K/30 video which is 10Gb/s bandwidth. So, you have some solutions under about $100 which can carry that much data reliably. But, only if someone was bright enough to pull that cable.

I'm really sorry that you are in this situation. It sucks. It's also not the first time I've seen completely ineptitude on the part of installers. Gapping hole in the ceiling, wrong cabling, bad mount. This will need some money throw at it to do 'right'. Otherwise, you can just hang a cable and surface mount it. But it WILL need a cable.

 

[CMBravo16]

Yep! a swimming pool where I wanted a stove. you cracked me up with that analogy. We live and we learn .So if am lucky CAT5-6 cabling . How can I tell ?.sorry am not tech or electrical savvy .Just bought the apt, its suppose to be an "intelligent building". ...do I hire an electric engineer .I figure the distance between the receiver and the proyector might be 50 feet .would they have the presence of mind to consider the need for replacing cable or repair at some point .it is a bummer

 

[ryanosaur]

Yep! a swimming pool where I wanted a stove. you cracked me up with that analogy. We live and we learn .So if am lucky CAT5-6 cabling . How can I tell ?.sorry am not tech or electrical savvy .Just bought the apt, its suppose to be an "intelligent building". ...do I hire an electric engineer .I figure the distance between the receiver and the proyector might be 50 feet .would they have the presence of mind to consider the need for replacing cable or repair at some point .it is a bummer

Look at any ethernet cable... it will say what it is, printed on the insulation, every 1-2 feet.

 

[-Jim-]

I agree with the members above, but I wonder if the VGA Cable follows the bulkhead back into what appears to be an AV closet? I'd be very tempted to clip the zip ties off and tug the cable back at the feed end to see if it's not secured, and can be pulled out. If it is I'd cut the projector end VGA connector off, and pull back a small rope (to feed an HDMI cable) or CAT cable secured to the VGA cable. It only looks like 6 feet or so to the back wall.

If it's too secured, I'd be tempted to try to fish back through the ceiling from the bracket hole before I look for wireless solutions. But then I'm an Electrical type...

 

[BMXTRIX]

There isn't a 'great' solution here.

As I said, this is completely the 'wrong' cable and it was clear whoever installed it didn't know what they were doing. When I bought my first digital projector, about 20 or more years ago, I was already considering how I would deal with digital content in the future. It was not a concern at that time, but one thing I never did with that 20 year old projector? Hook up VGA to it.

Like I said, you can run a cable across the floor for a bit. You can ALSO consider converting from HDMI to VGA. This is less than ideal as you are making a digital to analog conversion, and the highest resolution you will be able to work with will be 1920x1080 resolution. This is a step below 4K resolution, which by itself isn't a big deal. 1920x1080 (1080p) resolution looks great and works wonderfully. The problem is that you will be converting it from digital HDMI to analog VGA.

But, it is a solution with the cabling that is there and will give decent results. You will need a HDMI splitter that removes copyright protection...

Top 5 HDMI Splitters To Bypass HDCP & How-To Guide

What To Know In this article, I will show you how to bypass HDCP with an HDMI splitter and also list out the top 5 best HDMI splitters for this job. Let’s get started! Disclaimer: We do not support…

pointerclicker.com

I've used the unit by ViewHD before and it works well for 1080p video when I've had issues.

Then you need a HDMI to VGA converter.

C2G Pro HDMI to VGA and Audio Adapter - F/F - 40714 - Audio & Video Cables - CDW.com

Buy a C2G Pro HDMI to VGA and Audio Adapter - F/F at CDW.com

www.cdw.com

I have NOT used a HDMI to VGA converter, and you must use an ACTIVE unit. That is, HDMI is digital, VGA is analog, so you can't just use any old HDMI->VGA cable, it must be a plug-in adapter that takes the incoming digital signal then pushes out analog VGA video.

Another option, which I have never used over actual VGA cable, is a HDMI over RGB extender. RGB cabling is what is inside a VGA cable. So, while I've never tried it, if there is no good way to replace the VGA with cat-5e/6 cabling, then I might give this a try:

Gefen HDMI over RGBHV Extender

Buy Gefen HDMI over RGBHV Extender featuring HDMI over Coaxial Cabling, Cable Runs Up to 150', Resolutions Up to 1080p, 2k, 1920 x 1200. Review Gefen null

www.bhphotovideo.com

Those units are VERY discontinued by Gefen, and would need to be purchased via eBay.

Pardon Our Interruption...

and

Pardon Our Interruption...

I used a set of those in an installation where RGBHV cabling was run to a projector without any conduit and no cat cable. It worked well for 1080p video to his projector.

If you DO open things up to run a new cable, then you will want to run at least one fiber/hybrid HDMI cable and TWO or THREE cat-6 cables. Cat-6 cables are SUPER inexpensive and running extras is always a good game plan.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

To add a bit of personal experience to what BMX said, even as far as 2002-3, connecting PC monitors with (analog) VGA vs. (digital) DVI - was a massive difference in quality, even for a relatively very short cable. I assume the difference in PQ would be exponentially more significant for a longer cable.

 

[Kingnoob]

To add a bit of personal experience to what BMX said, even as far as 2002-3, connecting PC monitors with (analog) VGA vs. (digital) DVI - was a massive difference in quality, even for a relatively very short cable. I assume the difference in PQ would be exponentially more significant for a longer cable.

Which one was better, and funny I think I have a few old vga hd pc monitors don’t know what ever happened to them. Is hdmi better and do regular non hdr things do fine with regular hdmi or do you need something special for short runs ?
can regular hdmi do hdr?
Sorry to the op that’s just insane..

 

[BMXTRIX]

Which one was better, and funny I think I have a few old vga hd pc monitors don’t know what ever happened to them. Is hdmi better and do regular non hdr things do fine with regular hdmi or do you need something special for short runs ?
can regular hdmi do hdr?
Sorry to the op that’s just insane..

Digital was a huge improvement in overall image quality because it wasn't subject to the interference which was common with VGA. Or more often, the very slight color offset which would occur due to difference in cable lengths and timings. VGA could look quite good in reality, especially with shorter cable lengths. It just wasn't digital. It did not have the dead-on accuracy of a digital signal. So, DVI was definitely a step forward, and that has (mostly) be replaced with HDMI, or DisplayPort (on laptops).

Short run HDMI cables can typically carry a signal up to 1080p (3.4Gb/s) in data without much issue. Newer formats such as 4K/HDR content run at much higher bandwidth at about 10Gb/s or 18Gb/s. HDMI cables, at any length, need to support that higher data rate. Most HDMI cables sold in the last few years have been designed to support 18Gb/s data rates. They may be labeled as HDMI 2.0 cables. They are supposed to be labeled as 'PREMIUM HDMI'.

Standard, High Speed, Premium, and Ultra are the four proper labels for HDMI cables. They should be marked on the cable itself as well. If you own a cable without any markings and you have no idea the speed it is rated for, then assume it is 'standard', and may not work beyond 1080p video. MAY NOT WORK is not the same as 'will not work'. Some old 'standard' speed HDMI cables work just fine for 10Gb/s content, or even 18Gb/s content, because they were well made cables.

If you want to know more about HDMI cables, read this article here: https://www.pcmag.com/news/slaying-the-cable-monster-what-you-need-to-know-about-hdmi-cables

 

[Kingnoob]

Digital was a huge improvement in overall image quality because it wasn't subject to the interference which was common with VGA. Or more often, the very slight color offset which would occur due to difference in cable lengths and timings. VGA could look quite good in reality, especially with shorter cable lengths. It just wasn't digital. It did not have the dead-on accuracy of a digital signal. So, DVI was definitely a step forward, and that has (mostly) be replaced with HDMI, or DisplayPort (on laptops).

Short run HDMI cables can typically carry a signal up to 1080p (3.4Gb/s) in data without much issue. Newer formats such as 4K/HDR content run at much higher bandwidth at about 10Gb/s or 18Gb/s. HDMI cables, at any length, need to support that higher data rate. Most HDMI cables sold in the last few years have been designed to support 18Gb/s data rates. They may be labeled as HDMI 2.0 cables. They are supposed to be labeled as 'PREMIUM HDMI'.

Standard, High Speed, Premium, and Ultra are the four proper labels for HDMI cables. They should be marked on the cable itself as well. If you own a cable without any markings and you have no idea the speed it is rated for, then assume it is 'standard', and may not work beyond 1080p video. MAY NOT WORK is not the same as 'will not work'. Some old 'standard' speed HDMI cables work just fine for 10Gb/s content, or even 18Gb/s content, because they were well made cables.

If you want to know more about HDMI cables, read this article here: https://www.pcmag.com/news/slaying-the-cable-monster-what-you-need-to-know-about-hdmi-cables

So you do have to buy special 4k cables for anything not 1080p?? Or so high speed ones work for that too..I swore I read somewhere there the same.
I have the worst 4k tv ever made it seems, the struggle to get cable to look any good on it … con men Sony, and h.h. gregg ..

SONY XBR55X810C Looks horrible when on cable .

Help I can’t figure out any remedies to this , cable is un-watchable. I hoped getting spectrum would fix the issue with at & t but it looks almost as bad . spectrum app connected to roku, cable box I don’t have for this tv. It won’t look any better.. :(

forums.audioholics.com

 

[CMBravo16]

to my surprise the cables in my bldg are cat 5 or higher + fiberoptic ,It was build 5 yrs ago.(INTELIGENT BLDG) I was deceived by rhe VGA end.this kid just out of school used a 4k HDMI extender and a 4k HDMI 1x8 splitter and HDMI cable .SEEMS TO WORK.

 

[Kingnoob]

to my surprise the cables in my bldg are cat 5 or higher + fiberoptic ,It was build 5 yrs ago.(INTELIGENT BLDG) I was deceived by rhe VGA end.this kid just out of school used a 4k HDMI extender and a 4k HDMI 1x8 splitter and HDMI cable .SEEMS TO WORK.

Hmm I’m using a roku what’s the $99 HDMI extender do, does the roku not have that built in or anything?

 

[CMBravo16]

your guess is as good as mine .I just added a firestick

 

[Kingnoob]

your guess is as good as mine .I just added a firestick

Yeah not much help so far I wish tv makers could stop make garbage and selling it as a $1100+ tv , I wish I had just gotten a 1080p
It’s so bad I had it in a box unused for a year or so, now 2 more year’s collecting dust .

SONY XBR55X810C Looks horrible when on cable .

Help I can’t figure out any remedies to this , cable is un-watchable. I hoped getting spectrum would fix the issue with at & t but it looks almost as bad . spectrum app connected to roku, cable box I don’t have for this tv. It won’t look any better.. :(

forums.audioholics.com

 

[mtrycrafts]

I agree with the members above, but I wonder if the VGA Cable follows the bulkhead back into what appears to be an AV closet? I'd be very tempted to clip the zip ties off and tug the cable back at the feed end to see if it's not secured, and can be pulled out. If it is I'd cut the projector end VGA connector off, and pull back a small rope (to feed an HDMI cable) or CAT cable secured to the VGA cable. It only looks like 6 feet or so to the back wall.

If it's too secured, I'd be tempted to try to fish back through the ceiling from the bracket hole before I look for wireless solutions. But then I'm an Electrical type...

That is a good suggestion about using that VGA cable to pull if not stapled anywhere but I would pull both a string and an HDMI at the same time. String for future needs and you'd have both cable with one pull.

 

[Kingnoob]

That is a good suggestion about using that VGA cable to pull is not stapled anywhere but I would pull both a string and an HDMI at the same time. String for future needs and you'd have both cable with one pull.

VGA cable were the installers on a binge drink or something? Lmao
cmon man, would hdmi adapter make to same quality as hdmi or no ?
I used to hook vintage VGA hd pc monitors to my laptop before the power port broke .