I'm not sure how many people run multiple display rooms, but I would gues quite a few run front projection/lcd plasma combinations.
I contemplated my own issues that have been compounded by the addition of a 4rth display. I own run a 46" LCD on my mantle, a 59" plasma up front, and dual projectors, the use of which has probably been narrowed more to one projector, but the other still remains for backup.
I know there is some switching equipment available, but I have also read mixed reviews of some of it. Since my environment is quite casual and cable friendly, ha, I decided to try a rather manual approach to my cabling.
I run 3 hdmi sources, DirecTV, BlueRay, and HD-DVD. The primary sources are of course, DirecTV and BD. These normally stay connected to my plasma. from the source about 6 feet away (6 foot cable, a bad idea), to tight. 12 is a better run length.
Now is where it gets tricky.
I have two 15 meter HDMI cables, granted, a bit overlength, but usable. I purchased two Phillips HDMI cable extenders, these are merely patching connectors, that neither take anything away from the signal, nor add anything to it.
I figured I could get away with one fine. But interestingly, I wound up patching from the main set connections to projector, and from projector to LCD on mantle. The cables are ran in place, and merely a few feet apart. With a few quick disconnects/connects, I am set to watch any of the 3 primary source devices on any of the 3 output devices , all using a single output cable from source.
I saw little if any degredation from source, even in my LCD which would include 2 patch connections and at a distance of about 36 meters of cable! (I could cut this to 30 meters with 2 more 12 foot cables probably. But I'm happy with the 15 meter cable results.
Impressive results for a functionally simple solution to my sourcing issue. I suppose someday maybe an HDMI switching A/V processor would take care of my issues. But it would have to be broadcast quality, and effective. For now, this is fine with my Lexicon MC-12 still operating the audio side.
I contemplated my own issues that have been compounded by the addition of a 4rth display. I own run a 46" LCD on my mantle, a 59" plasma up front, and dual projectors, the use of which has probably been narrowed more to one projector, but the other still remains for backup.
I know there is some switching equipment available, but I have also read mixed reviews of some of it. Since my environment is quite casual and cable friendly, ha, I decided to try a rather manual approach to my cabling.
I run 3 hdmi sources, DirecTV, BlueRay, and HD-DVD. The primary sources are of course, DirecTV and BD. These normally stay connected to my plasma. from the source about 6 feet away (6 foot cable, a bad idea), to tight. 12 is a better run length.
Now is where it gets tricky.
I have two 15 meter HDMI cables, granted, a bit overlength, but usable. I purchased two Phillips HDMI cable extenders, these are merely patching connectors, that neither take anything away from the signal, nor add anything to it.
I figured I could get away with one fine. But interestingly, I wound up patching from the main set connections to projector, and from projector to LCD on mantle. The cables are ran in place, and merely a few feet apart. With a few quick disconnects/connects, I am set to watch any of the 3 primary source devices on any of the 3 output devices , all using a single output cable from source.
I saw little if any degredation from source, even in my LCD which would include 2 patch connections and at a distance of about 36 meters of cable! (I could cut this to 30 meters with 2 more 12 foot cables probably. But I'm happy with the 15 meter cable results.
Impressive results for a functionally simple solution to my sourcing issue. I suppose someday maybe an HDMI switching A/V processor would take care of my issues. But it would have to be broadcast quality, and effective. For now, this is fine with my Lexicon MC-12 still operating the audio side.
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