Browse Forums Home Theatre & Automation 1 Jun 23, 2008 11:33 pm We are thinking of having a smart wired Cat 6, RG6 cabling to each room and distribute video via starserve or sth similar
Is Clipsal strarserve a reliable product ? Particularly, how is the picture quality for distributed Video through star serve and modulator (DVD/Media cntre etc.) ? Is the quality same as connecting through s-video ? does it distribue analogue or digital video signals ? What are the alternatives to Clipsal Starserve ? (in terms of hardware , cabeling, method of distibution etc ) Re: video distribution options ?? 2Jun 24, 2008 10:25 am The Starserve is a good product/range.
That said, RF is the lowest quality carrier for A/V. That said, the more you go up in the quality you are trying to achieve, the more expensive (obviously) it gets... Re: video distribution options ?? 3Jun 24, 2008 10:50 am Thanks Rod. I don't know what is RF can you please clarify ? Is it analogue video signal (requires analogue tuner to show the video on one of analoge channels)?
Do you know if S-Video cabeling gives higher quality then the starserve modulator option (for the distributed DVD/MediaCentre only) even though it uses RG6 ? I know for Free-to-Air(FTA) starserve will carry digital signals, so that's not a problem. Re: video distribution options ?? 4Jun 24, 2008 12:24 pm RF stands for Radio Frequency, which is what TV is broadcasted at.
RG6 is a standard of coaxial cable, used mostly for TV and like cable signals. It carries all video and audio signal in the one physical conductor - 1 core of the cable. S-video only carries video info (audio would have to be transported via another cable), and splits the video up into two sets of info and sends it via two conductors. The end result in layman's terms being that the resultant picture is cleaner/better. Whether or not you would see this difference is subjective. Whether or not the difference is worth the extra effort and money - even more subjective (more sophisticated A/V distribution gear, more expensive cable and more of it). Re: video distribution options ?? 5Jul 01, 2008 4:14 pm I've decided to put the Lexcom system in rather than the Starserve.
The main reason is that everything is transmitted over data cable, meaning no mix and match of coax and cat 5, and any point in the house can be used for either data, phone or video. While it's still an RF system (well described by Rodda), my main focus was to be able to watch Foxtel or TV in any room - with flexibility. I'll update this forum once I have the installation complete. Cheers Re: video distribution options ?? 6Jul 02, 2008 1:48 pm in my electrical, we've put in the starserve system. all the sources will be distributed from HT room, to tv points in the living, bedrooms, and lounge.
with the lounge upstairs, i was thinking it's nice to have HD signal going through there as well. so is it a good idea to run a couple of RG6 cable from HT to my lounge upstairs so that in the future I can use HDMI balun to send HD signal from say.. iQ2, or bluray? can i then still use the IR extender of the starserve system to control the device? Re: video distribution options ?? 7Jul 02, 2008 2:27 pm jinroh in my electrical, we've put in the starserve system. all the sources will be distributed from HT room, to tv points in the living, bedrooms, and lounge. with the lounge upstairs, i was thinking it's nice to have HD signal going through there as well. so is it a good idea to run a couple of RG6 cable from HT to my lounge upstairs so that in the future I can use HDMI balun to send HD signal from say.. iQ2, or bluray? can i then still use the IR extender of the starserve system to control the device? I’d like to ask a question if you don’t mind. With regards to watching the same source from multiple TV’s what is the benefit of distributed A/V signals? I can understand if you’re streaming the video via a server/NAS drive or have security cameras, but cannot for the life of me understand why you would distribute DVD and or Foxtel for instance. DVD players are so cheap and a second Foxtel box is what $10.00/month. Video modulators for systems like Starserve are say $500, plus the cost of the IR targets and emitters, and in the case of DVD or Foxtel every TV would be running the same program. Most of the affordable HD over Ethernet devices are point to point I believe. IMO the current benefits of units like Starserve are with termination of cables and storing of devices for MATV, telephone and data. Re: video distribution options ?? 8Jul 02, 2008 2:30 pm Hi Jinroh.
Don't know how viable HDMI over RG6 would/could be. Apparenly it's not going to be capable of everything HDMI is capable of, and I wouldn't have a clue about the IR... Re: video distribution options ?? 9Jul 02, 2008 9:18 pm kiwi056 I’d like to ask a question if you don’t mind. With regards to watching the same source from multiple TV’s what is the benefit of distributed A/V signals? I can understand if you’re streaming the video via a server/NAS drive or have security cameras, but cannot for the life of me understand why you would distribute DVD and or Foxtel for instance. DVD players are so cheap and a second Foxtel box is what $10.00/month. Video modulators for systems like Starserve are say $500, plus the cost of the IR targets and emitters, and in the case of DVD or Foxtel every TV would be running the same program. Most of the affordable HD over Ethernet devices are point to point I believe. IMO the current benefits of units like Starserve are with termination of cables and storing of devices for MATV, telephone and data. you're correct on that one, the main reason we're getting the starserve is for the data/telephone network, but the a/v distribution works for us as well. the point we're using the starserve for distributing DVD/foxtel was to keep the TV in the bedrooms and also the one near our kitchen/living looks neat. we plan to hang the TVs on the wall in these rooms and no cabinet, etc nearby the TVs, to put the second dvd/foxtel box. it's nice to have more foxtel box so we can watch different channel at one time, but i dont think we're going to need that as only 2-3 ppl, all working full-time, going to live in the house, so i hope there won't be much fight over the remote Plus, if for instance we also want to have access to foxtel in the bedroom, lounge, living room, that's going to need more than 1 extra box, so i guess we better off stick with one channel at a time. Also, i'm going to modify my now old computer as a media center HTPC next year when the house is finished. so when the blu-ray-drive comes down in price, i'll just swap the dvd drive. so yeh, i'm planning to distribute videos from the PC around the house as well. So the starserve is good for distributing the signal to the bedrooms and living room where the HD A/V is not so neccesary for us, but I really want to get the HD signal extended to the lounge upstairs. Rodda Hi Jinroh. Don't know how viable HDMI over RG6 would/could be. Apparenly it's not going to be capable of everything HDMI is capable of, and I wouldn't have a clue about the IR... oops, my bad on that one. it's not RG6, but CAT6 data cables. so something like this: http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/06/inte ... over-cat5/ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ it requires a pair of CAT6 cables. Rod, have you used one before? how well will it maintain the signal quality? but they're pricey Re: video distribution options ?? 10Jul 03, 2008 5:54 am jinroh you're correct on that one, the main reason we're getting the starserve is for the data/telephone network, but the a/v distribution works for us as well. the point we're using the starserve for distributing DVD/foxtel was to keep the TV in the bedrooms and also the one near our kitchen/living looks neat. we plan to hang the TVs on the wall in these rooms and no cabinet, etc nearby the TVs, to put the second dvd/foxtel box. it's nice to have more foxtel box so we can watch different channel at one time, but i dont think we're going to need that as only 2-3 ppl, all working full-time, going to live in the house, so i hope there won't be much fight over the remote Plus, if for instance we also want to have access to foxtel in the bedroom, lounge, living room, that's going to need more than 1 extra box, so i guess we better off stick with one channel at a time. Also, i'm going to modify my now old computer as a media center HTPC next year when the house is finished. so when the blu-ray-drive comes down in price, i'll just swap the dvd drive. so yeh, i'm planning to distribute videos from the PC around the house as well. So the starserve is good for distributing the signal to the bedrooms and living room where the HD A/V is not so neccesary for us, but I really want to get the HD signal extended to the lounge upstairs. Rodda Hi Jinroh. Don't know how viable HDMI over RG6 would/could be. Apparenly it's not going to be capable of everything HDMI is capable of, and I wouldn't have a clue about the IR... oops, my bad on that one. it's not RG6, but CAT6 data cables. so something like this: http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/06/inte ... over-cat5/ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ it requires a pair of CAT6 cables. Rod, have you used one before? how well will it maintain the signal quality? but they're pricey You can always put your DVD/Foxtel boxes in the wardrobes in the bedrooms, and sacrifice a cupboard in the kitchen to house them as well, plus you can get more Foxtel boxes if you need/pay for them. Yikes those HDMI Baluns are expensive. At the end of the day you're the one that needs to be happy, and if what you're doing works for you then thats all that matters. Re: video distribution options ?? 12Jul 04, 2008 5:21 am kiwi056 You can always put your DVD/Foxtel boxes in the wardrobes in the bedrooms, and sacrifice a cupboard in the kitchen to house them as well, plus you can get more Foxtel boxes if you need/pay for them. Yikes those HDMI Baluns are expensive. At the end of the day you're the one that needs to be happy, and if what you're doing works for you then thats all that matters. Cheers perryr Wow - they are expensive. Them you also need to set up an IR repeater so you can change channels. with the starserve IR repeater system, is it always on all the time, no power button, etc? I mean, since at the moment in the electrical plan, we already have 1 tv point + ir repeater from starserve in the lounge upstairs, so if I now run additional pair of CAT6 for HD signal, i'm assuming that I still can control the devices using the starserve IR repeater while watching the HD signal from HDMI. I hope it does make sense lol, i think i'll just run the cable first and then wait for a good deal on those balun Building Standards; Getting It Right! 1. optional, you can but normally just use the earth from the main switch board 2. should be enough but the distance determines voltage drop - sparky should work it… 1 28761 Standard uninsulated double brick has an R value of around 0.7. An insulated standard 90mm stud timber frame can have an R value of around 2.7. 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