Home Theater extension cables

I have a dilemma I'm trying to help solve...maybe one of you home theater buffs can help me find an inexpensive solution.

We have a PC with a DVI-D video connector in the sound/video booth. We want to connect it to a HDTV with an HDMI connector. The cable run is about 90 ft. Is there any way to do this inexpensively? The display will be used mostly for powerpoint, although sometimes for DVD, etc.

This looks like a great solution, but it's pretty pricey.

Crap...

ok. Thanks for reading.

Have read just no answers. Extending DVI or HDMI is very expensive as you've found out. The compromise would be to use component video as you can buy cheap extenders which work over Cat5.

Yeah...that's what's in there now. The color is piss-poor though. The reds are really dark and the blues are too bright. Text isn't very clear either.

I'll probably end up with that product linked above. It's just sad that we'll end up spending almost half as much as the TV cost connecting the two.

How about co-locating the PC and the TV? And using CAT-5/ethernet to another box with a remote desktop/shell?

Good thought, but we'd still probably drop about $500 on the remote box. I'd rather just get the cable extender if it's going to be about the same price.

Or what about co-locating the PC and using KVM-over-ethernet from Raritan. I have one of these and they're really great. It answered my age old question of "How DO they run that special KVM cabling any further than 15 feet and through walls?" Of course, KVM-over-IP (also offered by Raritan) is another solution, but I like to keep it simple.

Those are certainly cool (I think you meant to link these?), but there's a problem: The whole reason I posted is that I'm looking for something cheaper than the above linked unit.

Thanks for the idea though...it's definitely an angle I didn't consider coming at the problem from. I'm still open to fresh ideas.

We use that Raritan IP kit on one of our projects at the moment. 200+ workstations. Each connected to a little box the size of a packet of cigarettes. VGA+PS/2 on one end and an RJ45 on the other. The quality is excellent, shame the price is so high per workstation.

I just spoke with the guy I'm doing this for...they took a more acurate measurement and the cable only needs to be about 66 ft.

I just found this DVI mini-repeater.

I'm not entirely sure it'd be cheaper though.

$150.00 mini-repeater in boost mode
$150.00 20 meter DVI-D super long distance extension cable
$ 30.00 6ft DVI-D to HDMI cable
------------
$330.00

Just to let you know most of the DVI cable extending devices add a few milliseconds delay and will cause audio/video sync issues.

I'll report back on how well this works if we get it. 90% of the time, this will be used for powerpoint with no audio, so it won't be as much of an issue. I'll try it out with some DVD's and see if there is a noticable delay though.

Wow, there's no way I paid $900 for the Raritan Z-series starter kit. Bought it two years ago and leveraged educational pricing, may explain it. Odd, I was expecting it to be $350 or something.

Have you looked at Gefen's products?

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/cav-extenders.jsp

Bruno

Yeah, I linked one in my first post. They have extenders and repeaters too, but they're more expensive. They may be higher quality though.

John, how did this solution work out for you? I'm looking at doing something similar.
We've an NEC LCD4000 at the end of a 50 foot VGA cable and it is suffering from screen burn. So while we're replacing the screen - I'm open to suggestions here as well, don't need really high resolution - , can I use something other that VGA with out spending huge money and get an improved signal.

And I have a related question, too. What's the length limit for a DVI cable? I want to wall mount my LCD TV and the 6-foot cable just isn't enough. I could probably get away with 12 feet.

Tony:
A 12-foot DVI cable will work. I've got a 30-foot or 9 meter (can't remember) DVI cable running from the PC to the projector at home. The PC is at the front of the room and the cable runs up the wall (inside) thru the ceiling and out the ceiling about 15 feet from the front wall.

Tony, I want to say it is 6 meters, but in the L-com catalogue I have to hand it says "....the recommended 5 meter maximum for DVI cables". Both of which would work for you.

I've been using a 5 metre cable between plasma and PC these last couple of years. Translated from pounds, it was the cheapest I could find for around 30 dollars from Farnell's, and it works fine. They do a 10 metre one for around 90 dollars, so presumably they think it'll work.

Unfortunately, the funds dried up before we got anything, so we're still running a lousy composite video connection. I may donate it eventually (it's for our church.)

I too have ran a LCD Projector from my HTPC via a 10meter DVI to HDMI cable with excellent results. The image was great. I ended up selling the Sony-hs51 and going back to CRT. There is just no comparison.

Side note, welcome to the NorthWest! Just remember to tell everyone "It always rains up here, It always rains up here."

Have you had a chance to see much of the country? I can think of few places with as much geographic diversity. It's truly beautiful here.

Thanks. I've been up to the cascades, and down to the waterfont on Lake Union. That's about it so far.