New Media Room Setup

[cshortreed]

Ok, please forgive me, I'm a newbie to this type of setup. I'm a computer guy and have a grip on much of what needs to be done, but I hope I can have some of the experts out there fill in the blanks for me!

I want to create a media closet for all of my a/v components (I'm tired of every room having $2,000 worth of electronic equipment and the mess that goes with it).

I've picked out a hard to reach location in my basement (still trying to figure out the best way to home run to here, but that is on me).

What I want to have in my media closet is: 400 DVD Jukebox, 600 CD Jukebox (2 x 300 changers), a cable converter, an HDTV cable converter and a couple VCR's in addition to the normal receiver etc. Additionally I'm considering putting in a Windows Media Center 2005 system but still haven't figured out how that benefits me other than for digital pictures, MP3's and pay-per-view streaming movies from the Internet.

I understand everything but cabling really. From what I have read I need to run two cat5e and two cat 6 coax to every room. In my case I plan (and tell me if this is overkill) to run 4 cat5e (1-telephone, 2-network, 3 & 4 for use with IR and future needs).

I think everything has to be amplified and the video modulated, but I don't know the best way to accomplish this, there are so many choices with so many options.

My big question is HDTV. How do you cable from the basement to the upstairs for HDTV? My new set has the HDMI, Component, Composite, S-Video and COAX. My current HDTV cable box has Composite video out but I don't know how to extend/amplify/modulate that signal.

I'm trying to run this setup to 1) Movie theater I built about 50' from the future media closet, 2) Upstairs to the new HDTV set, 3) Upstairs to three bedrooms. So I need to run the whole shabang to 5 rooms and perhaps 6.

Any suggestions?

 

[cshortreed]

Wow, nobody has any suggestions about this?

 

[Tom Andry]

I know there are people on this forum that have the answer to your inquiry (not me), I'm sure you'll get one soon.

Chin up!

 

[BMXTRIX]

I have not heard of a way to modulate HDTV signals w/other video signals onto a single piece of coax. It is possible to do within a Crestron environment over a single piece of CAT-5. You can run 1 piece of CAT-5 to any room, use a breakout box, and have composite, s-video, and component video at that display location.

But, Crestron can get pricey to do this. I am not aware of Extron selling equipment that is a lot more affordable that can accomplish the same thing.

Traditionally, and most often, you actually run the cables you need for each video source to the room you need it in.

So, if you want composite video, s-video, and component video - that is 6 total pieces of RG-6 coax to each display. It is not terribly expensive, but is a lot of cable. I would also include a piece of cable for IR repeaters/control. I used 22/12 stranded wire instead of CAT-5 for my home because it is easier to work with.

There is no question in my mind that you quickly begin to lose quality as soon as you mutter the word: MODULATE

That is, you take the best possible video quality, compress it down to garbage, then wonder why it looks so bad when you decompress it at your television, when it looks so good right out of the box. Derrrr....

I ran 15 pieces of coax to my projector and to my plasma as well as having the option to run it upstairs to my master bedroom later on if I want to. This provides me with full PC, audio, component, s-video, and composite video connections if I want them at every location. I have some smaller displays that are only being setup with modulated video, but I acknowledge that is all they will ever display. Oh well.

2 * RG-6 + 2 * CAT5 is what is called a 'standard multimedia drop'. It gives you phone, ethernet, and 2 cable feeds at ONE location.

A. It's dumb - you really want your phone sitting on top of your TV?
B. It's dumb - you (specifically) aren't putting a cable box in every room.



Sounds like you need to sit down and talk to a consultant to get some things figured out.