Need suggestions/help wiring AV in new house

Hi All,

I am in the process of building a house, and before I get to the framing stage I want to have worked out what cabling I need to do in order to be able to Connect my PC video card (HDMI out) to my 3 TV's, so I can watch whatever is on my PC from my 3 TV's. I have HDMI Out on my PC.

Has anyone got a solution for this? Is there a 3 way splitter that has 1 HDMI input and 3 HDMI outputs that can all run at once?

Things to note:

--the TV unit has a smart TV and surround sound system
--the outdoor TV is a regular LCD TV with standard inputs. But for this I am thinking of mounting 2 x standalone speakers under our alfresco area, but I am worried that the audio out on my PC will not be powerful enough to power these speakers.
--the TV in Bed 1 is also a regular LCD stand alone TV.

Anyone out there doing something similar?

Please see here for a floor plan of my place... http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q718/some_evil/WiringDiag_zpsec3c3f95.jpg

cheers

What is the content on the PC that you want to send to the TVs? If it is video files then you are probably better streaming it over a network. You can install DLNA software such as Serviio on your PC which can then be accessed by your smart TV. For your non-smart TVs you will need a media player such as a WDTV.

The advantage of this is that your PC is still available for doing PC things and you can be watching different content at the same time on the three screens.

If you don't want to use the speakers built-in to your TVs (and they don't have connections for external speakers) then you will need an amplifier or receiver for each location.

The cabling you will need is a single Cat 5 or 6 network cable to each TV location and at least one in your study - these come back to a central point such as the garage or your walk-in robe. At this location you can have your network switch, Internet router and so on.

Hi Paul,

Yeah its a multitude of things that I wish to view, but primarily Audio/video.

I already have my network designed, with a server cabinet in the garage with my switch and modem/router etc. Each of the TV's will have an ethernet port, connected to this switch. The smart TV is currently capable of running videos from my PC (server is running on my PC).

I am more looking at running all 3 TV's with identical audio/video such as music videos, or straight out audio.

I appreciate the suggestion for the WDTV, and thats precisely how it could work if I wanted individual viewings in each room, but because I am hoping to get simultaneous broadcasting of the same file, im looking for an alternate solution.

Thanks heaps Paul.

Cheers

I had a quick look on eBay and Monoprice - I can't find anything to combine HDMI video with analog audio. There are a few inexpensive boxes on eBay that combine VGA with analog audio to give a combined HDMI out.

Similarly I had a quick for 3-way HDMI splitters, but I couldn't see anything. You can use an HDBase-T splitter to run the signal over Cat5/6 cabling (note, not Ethernet - it needs to be a direct connection between the matrix and the display, not via a Network switch) but it isn't cheap.

The other option is to feed your signal into a DTV-modulator and make it a channel over your antenna cabling.

Hi Paul,

This seems like an option that has grabbed my attention... sounds like something I am interested in. Are these DTV modulators reasonably inexpensive and rather easy to install?

Behind my PC I also will have a antenna socket so if it simply requires that then I am half way there I believe...

It is a lot cheaper than it used to be. If you are happy with standard definition and composite or s-video input then they are less than $500. If you want HDMI input and HD output then between $900 and $1500 - This is the cheapest HD modulator I have seen so far -

oh wow, i wasn't expecting a price that high.. the wife will kill me if I spend that much on this leisure item haha! Even the standard def is a little pricey for me.

I will have to put this idea on the back-burner if it is more than say $200 (I already have all cables, its just devices/adapters now).

I am on another forum and they have insisted that there is a 1 in 3 out HDMI splitter that can run all 3 at once... but nobody has produced a link... I need to persue this avenue for the tv broadcasting I think. I will have to ask around a bit I think..

Cheers

I think this is what I can install in my roof space... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 1147174696 I will look into it.

Yes, but don't put it in your roof space. Depending on where you live, summer temperatures can rise to 50 degrees or more, which will definitely have an impact on its operating life.

Yeah I agree with the roof. I was just thinking a central location.

Just scaling off my plans, it looks like if I put the adapter in my server cabinet (in garage) the longest cable will need to be 15m long, which after reading around seems to be the limit before noise gets into the mix.

Bitek have some nice hdmi splitters which will do ir over hdmi as well. In terms of audio you can purchase some cheap 25-50w 2 channel amps that will be enough to drive some in- ceiling speakers. Connect the audio out from the TV to the input. Connect the power cable to a cheap power board which have master and slave outputs, so when the TV turns off it will cut the power to the 2ch amp.

The guys at The Cable Connection have these in stock and they are local .... makes it easier to try out the scneario and return it if it doesnt work out!

[url]
http://www.thecableconnection.com.au/TC ... 58E16.html[/url]

definitely caught my attention that did! cheers