? for the AV/ Computer guru's

[snaggle]

I am currently finishing my basement into a family room. It will eventually have a large plasma or LCD and I would like to be able to hook up the TV to my computer. My question is what is the best way to accomplish this. It will be 35-40 feet of cable to get from point to point. Any help would be appreciated.

[jmh992003]

best suggestion is to pre run the wires before you finish the walls. Secondly find out what type of tv cbale out put your computer video card supports. Examples, S video, hdmi etc... and make sure those are compatble with the tv or the surround sound reciever.

[Honclfibr]

At that distance, you need to run fiber optic HDMI cable. Copper's no good beyond 15-25 feet.

[SSearchVT]

Video won't be as much of a problem as audio. Good video cards have DVI and Svideo outputs. The longer the cable, the more signal distortion you'll have. Sound cards with pre-amp out are tough to find. I ended up going with a miniplug to RCA cable and controlling the distortion through the volume level setting in XP.

Having tried both routes (Linux and XP) - XP is much easier to get running. Media center, or Vista ultimate offers even more features. Ultimately I'm working on putting the server in the basement, and having a media player at each TV. The catch is finding a reasonably priced player that allows surfing.

Fan noise is a big problem with the PC in the entertainment center. Since it's in the basement - is it possible to mount the PC on the opposite side of a wall (closer to the TV) allowing shorter video cables, and then running RCA for the audio, and a single USB to a hub for the keyboard and mouse/glidepad (or possibly wireless)?

[Jim]

check out gyration for wireless mouse and keyboard. they work 30' and much better than logitech's wireless. as far as what SSearchVT said, i'd go with a Media 2005 machine. Noise from the PC wont be an issue if you search for the right hardware. look into the Antec solo tower with their EarthWatts PSU's. the tower has rubber bands inside so the hard drive wont vibrate. their PSU's are 85+ efficient and have low noise. i've stuck with coolermaster for CPU and case fans, but i know the more expensive ones are quieter. make sure you use artic5 thermal past on your CPU to keep the temp down about 5 degrees lower, which will help the CPU fan spin at a lower RPM.

for audio cables, i just hooked up a surround sound setup last week in the president's office. we actually used CAT5e cables, and got CAT5e --> RCA jacks from blackbox. punched down the CAT5e on the jack and plugged in RCA cable to the reciever. i know it's not as good as optical, but it's low cost if you're looking to mount speakers far away.

[Crash Dummy Denno]

nerd alert!

[Jim]

damn it! i forgot to add that! denno you missed my last reply when someone asked a windows XP question

[Tricky Mike]

Your LCD likely has a DVI input... In which case You could also consider an Extron Distribution amp to boost your DVI signal which can transmit over two CAT5 cables... but to be honest, if you're only talking 30-40 feet I'd just give it a shot first. I've run 150' of VGA without even a DA (just to see if it would work) and you really couldn't tell the difference between the amplified and non-amplified signals.

Extron Electronics DVI & HDMI Extenders

[Kurlon]

I've got a 40' DVI cable that hasn't failed me when running 1920x1024.

[Crash Dummy Denno]

damn it! i forgot to add that! denno you missed my last reply when someone asked a windows XP question

i saw it and i felt the pride a new father feels

[1/2pint]

i saw it and i felt the pride a new father feels

if that is the case you just had one fugged up looking kid

[Jim]

if that is the case you just had one fugged up looking kid

nope, i look like the cable guy

[snaggle]

"best suggestion is to pre run the wires before you finish the walls"

Exactly!! thats what I am asking about.

Thanks for the responses. I think you guys are getting way more serius that what I am looking for. I am only interested in outputing video to the TV, so if I wanted to stream a race from motogp.com, I could watch it on a decent size screen. So if I am understanding this right I could probably do with a 35 foot s video cable from the computer location to the TV, and some Simple RCA audio cables for sound if I wanted it? Also is there a network box that I could stick at the TV and just run ethernet to it from my network, that would convert to a signal the TV could see?

[SSearchVT]

"best suggestion is to pre run the wires before you finish the walls"

Exactly!! thats what I am asking about.

Thanks for the responses. I think you guys are getting way more serius that what I am looking for. I am only interested in outputing video to the TV, so if I wanted to stream a race from motogp.com, I could watch it on a decent size screen. So if I am understanding this right I could probably do with a 35 foot s video cable from the computer location to the TV, and some Simple RCA audio cables for sound if I wanted it? Also is there a network box that I could stick at the TV and just run ethernet to it from my network, that would convert to a signal the TV could see?

I took an Svideo cable from the video card to my reciever, and the mini-plug to RCA converter from the audio card to the reciever (adjust the volume level in windows to minimize distortion). Although the PC is right next to the entertainment center. Wired LAN will work better because of speed. Mine works great - also take a look at musicchoice.com, pandora.com, and all the TV stations.

It is possible to use a media device (look on tiger direct) at the entertainment center to pull content off a server. I've seen it done - most of the time with media center on the PC, and freeware on the device.