TV / AV Advice Needed
Discussion
I'm just starting the process of renovating my new house, and it seems sensible to get the phone / AV / Internet etc cabling sorted out during the build.
The only problem is that I don't know what I'm doing, and don't have vast quantities of cash to be able to pay a company to sort it for me.
Currently TV and Net are provided by Virgin, but I get little use from the paid channels, so a freeview based solution would probably be fine.
So.... can some of the knowledgeable PHers help me out with a method to achieve the objectives below.
TVs initially in lounge, office, bed 1 and kitchen, system must be able to cope with 2 more at least
Can record live TV etc etc and watch it in any room
Can control system from any room
Can record / watch multiple sources at the same time on different TVs
Digital cisco style phones
Cabled Internet presentation in each room
Can watch DVDs in any room
I assume that HD readiness would be a good thing, although I know little about it
I've already had the electrician cable each room with 2 runs of Cat 5
The only problem is that I don't know what I'm doing, and don't have vast quantities of cash to be able to pay a company to sort it for me.
Currently TV and Net are provided by Virgin, but I get little use from the paid channels, so a freeview based solution would probably be fine.
So.... can some of the knowledgeable PHers help me out with a method to achieve the objectives below.
TVs initially in lounge, office, bed 1 and kitchen, system must be able to cope with 2 more at least
Can record live TV etc etc and watch it in any room
Can control system from any room
Can record / watch multiple sources at the same time on different TVs
Digital cisco style phones
Cabled Internet presentation in each room
Can watch DVDs in any room
I assume that HD readiness would be a good thing, although I know little about it
I've already had the electrician cable each room with 2 runs of Cat 5
K50 DEL said:
RedLeicester said:
K50 DEL said:
I've already had the electrician cable each room with 2 runs of Cat 5
Get him back and do 8 to each room.I figured one for the PC and one for the phone would do... what else do I need Cat 5 for?
To each television siting point 1 x Coax and 3 x Cat5e (as you can terminate all four in a double patress)
Then 2 x Cat5e in two locations within the room
This scheme will support pretty much anything, including HD video.
If you run a Cat5e next to the lightswitch in a patress that gives you multiroom audio control when paired with speaker wires to the ceiling.
All wires running back to a central location, labelled and terminated in a panel.
Get the wire right now.
Plotloss said:
K50 DEL said:
RedLeicester said:
K50 DEL said:
I've already had the electrician cable each room with 2 runs of Cat 5
Get him back and do 8 to each room.I figured one for the PC and one for the phone would do... what else do I need Cat 5 for?
To each television siting point 1 x Coax and 3 x Cat5e (as you can terminate all four in a double patress)
Then 2 x Cat5e in two locations within the room
This scheme will support pretty much anything, including HD video.
If you run a Cat5e next to the lightswitch in a patress that gives you multiroom audio control when paired with speaker wires to the ceiling.
All wires running back to a central location, labelled and terminated in a panel.
Get the wire right now.
My house isn't exactly over-specified with places where all the audio etc gubbins could go - is the cupboard under the stairs a suitable place?
I'm assuming if cabling for multi-room audio and video then things like the Sky+ box, DVD player etc would need to be sited there?
Alternatively, create trunks (network trunks, not physical ones!) using the 2 runs of Cat5 to each room, then have a small gig switch in each room which the 2 cables each patch into. You could then patch the in-room gear into the switch (in that room) - upstream one of the switches would patch into your router (so that you could browse the web/jump off that specific subnet etc). It's basically the same concept as what you see in offices.
ukwill said:
Alternatively, create trunks (network trunks, not physical ones!) using the 2 runs of Cat5 to each room, then have a small gig switch in each room which the 2 cables each patch into. You could then patch the in-room gear into the switch (in that room) - upstream one of the switches would patch into your router (so that you could browse the web/jump off that specific subnet etc). It's basically the same concept as what you see in offices.
Which is fine for packet swtiched traffic.Almost all AV gear however uses Cat5e as a set of conductors, rather than running packet switched data down it.
Plotloss said:
ukwill said:
Alternatively, create trunks (network trunks, not physical ones!) using the 2 runs of Cat5 to each room, then have a small gig switch in each room which the 2 cables each patch into. You could then patch the in-room gear into the switch (in that room) - upstream one of the switches would patch into your router (so that you could browse the web/jump off that specific subnet etc). It's basically the same concept as what you see in offices.
Which is fine for packet swtiched traffic.Almost all AV gear however uses Cat5e as a set of conductors, rather than running packet switched data down it.
Yes, most AV kit doesnt have an ethernet interface, it simply uses RJ45 plugs and Cat5e as a set of conductors.
We can put literally anything up a bit of Cat5e, any audio or video format, control, infra red, anything.
In almost all cases however, it won't be packet switched.
The job I am doing at the moment uses Cat5e and RJ45 plugs to send HDMI 1080p video to multiple locations.
It's not packet switched however.
We can put literally anything up a bit of Cat5e, any audio or video format, control, infra red, anything.
In almost all cases however, it won't be packet switched.
The job I am doing at the moment uses Cat5e and RJ45 plugs to send HDMI 1080p video to multiple locations.
It's not packet switched however.
Plotloss said:
Yes, most AV kit doesnt have an ethernet interface, it simply uses RJ45 plugs and Cat5e as a set of conductors.
We can put literally anything up a bit of Cat5e, any audio or video format, control, infra red, anything.
In almost all cases however, it won't be packet switched.
The job I am doing at the moment uses Cat5e and RJ45 plugs to send HDMI 1080p video to multiple locations.
It's not packet switched however.
Ah, I see. That makes sense to me now! Do you you think we will see more and more AV devices supporting Ethernet?We can put literally anything up a bit of Cat5e, any audio or video format, control, infra red, anything.
In almost all cases however, it won't be packet switched.
The job I am doing at the moment uses Cat5e and RJ45 plugs to send HDMI 1080p video to multiple locations.
It's not packet switched however.
Packet switched 1080p HDMI transmission already exists and they've done it in a very slick way.
The overriding issue is however what is the point, certainly on the control side, of wrapping up IR or RS232 into packets just so they can traverse a switch.
Its going to be easier and cheaper to just lay the cable right in the first place.
There are some neat systems, one of the big control manufacturers has a distributed java based framework that reports to the main brain what devices are on the network, the device then reports essentially its interfaces and control options to allow it to be controlled without being specifically programmed. Sort of like J2EE or CORBA for appliances.
This is at the top end of the market though.
The overriding issue is however what is the point, certainly on the control side, of wrapping up IR or RS232 into packets just so they can traverse a switch.
Its going to be easier and cheaper to just lay the cable right in the first place.
There are some neat systems, one of the big control manufacturers has a distributed java based framework that reports to the main brain what devices are on the network, the device then reports essentially its interfaces and control options to allow it to be controlled without being specifically programmed. Sort of like J2EE or CORBA for appliances.
This is at the top end of the market though.
Plotloss said:
Packet switched 1080p HDMI transmission already exists and they've done it in a very slick way.
The overriding issue is however what is the point, certainly on the control side, of wrapping up IR or RS232 into packets just so they can traverse a switch.
Its going to be easier and cheaper to just lay the cable right in the first place.
There are some neat systems, one of the big control manufacturers has a distributed java based framework that reports to the main brain what devices are on the network, the device then reports essentially its interfaces and control options to allow it to be controlled without being specifically programmed. Sort of like J2EE or CORBA for appliances.
This is at the top end of the market though.
I would have thought there would be several good reasons. Ease/Cost of deployment being right up there. No need for humongous installation costs if you can use ethernet. No need to flood cable your house if you can aggregate your connectivity. No need to worry about interconnectivity if your AV device conforms the same IEEE standard that your existing gig switch supports. etc.etc. I'm sure thats just the tip of the iceberg, but to me it just looks like another path for convergence. To put it another way, I can't see ethernet support in AV devices being a bad thing, and I'm sure if it's financially viable for manufacturers, it will be done.The overriding issue is however what is the point, certainly on the control side, of wrapping up IR or RS232 into packets just so they can traverse a switch.
Its going to be easier and cheaper to just lay the cable right in the first place.
There are some neat systems, one of the big control manufacturers has a distributed java based framework that reports to the main brain what devices are on the network, the device then reports essentially its interfaces and control options to allow it to be controlled without being specifically programmed. Sort of like J2EE or CORBA for appliances.
This is at the top end of the market though.
Trouble is, the mass market that would drive standardisation simply doesn't exist yet.
It's not like there are millions of people sitting at home thinking 'I'd unify my AV if it only I could have a standardised control set'
The facility for control and distribution exists, if you're going to pull one wire you may as well pull four, its just as easy.
There simply isnt the need to standardise nor the want in scale terms to justify it.
It's not like there are millions of people sitting at home thinking 'I'd unify my AV if it only I could have a standardised control set'
The facility for control and distribution exists, if you're going to pull one wire you may as well pull four, its just as easy.
There simply isnt the need to standardise nor the want in scale terms to justify it.
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