VGA over CAT5

[calvary4christ]

I did think about doing that, the main problem is trying to feed the cable down a 10' wall with the connectors on it.

[calvary4christ]

By chance is there anyone here that uses a wireless system that works for them?

[mcentrye]

Has anyone had experience with Shinybow products for video over cat5?
(website is shinybowusa.com)

[-GF-]

Originally Posted by mcentrye

Has anyone had experience with Shinybow products for video over cat5?
(website is shinybowusa.com)

I've tested many Shinybow products and the quality was suspect. We've had a lot of success with Hall Research and their Cat5 products.

Good luck!

[technerd]

I use the Magenta system on every road show. In the past I used 5 wire. There was a BNC damaged from loading out every time. Very little delay and very clean. I also use them in my signage at church with stereo audio feed to each. Great audio for plasmas down front with speakers for Q&A from the audience in corporate meetings.

[mcentrye]

So what's the current thinking on the best cable to use? I'm going to be using Kramer products. They recommend STP but say UTP will work. I'm wondering if CAT6 STP really is the best? Also, in trying to educate myself in what STP really means, I found that different manufacturers label cable as STP when there are really different types. Based on the link below, S/STP looks like the best, but I haven't located any. I'll need at least a 500' roll and would probably get a 1000' roll and use it for our networking also. It seems that what most people call STP is really FTP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twisted_pair

Your thoughts?

[Brad Weber]

"STP" is Shielded Twisted Pair, "UTP" is Unshielded Twisted Pair.

Ironically, CAT5 is usually best for video over twisted pair. CAT5e and CAT6 using correspondingly tighter and more varying twist rates for the individual pairs, which leads to increased skew for any video transmission that uses multiple pairs.

[Buck Wheezer]

My setup:

1. Dual DVI graphics card (one port to desktop monitor, the other to a splitter)
2. DVI to VGA adapter (only because the original dual VGA card died one Saturday afternoon and I couldn’t get anything other than a dual DVI card... oy...)
3. VGA splitter
4. VGA baluns (MuxLab’s passive ones—500010/14—I know, they’re for STP)
5. Unshielded Cat5 running to two projectors 150 and 170 feet away

My problem(s):

• Slight smearing and ghosting of images
• Occasional temporary signal loss
• Reduced resolution--in order to reduce the smearing, etc., I’m sending 800x600, even though the native resolution of the projectors is 1024x768.

My question(s):

1. Should a powered Cat5 distribution system (hub/baluns) take care of the image problems? Or, should I also consider signal amplification (assuming that it isn't "built in")?
2. With an eye toward “next steps” (read: I want to add DVD and VHS components), should the average switcher/scaler amplify the signal so that I wouldn’t *have* to replace/upgrade the existing baluns? That is, is signal amplification a typical “feature” of an average switcher/scaler?

Thanks, in advance, for your help!

[Auric]

Originally Posted by calvary4christ

I did think about doing that, the main problem is trying to feed the cable down a 10' wall with the connectors on it.

Calvary4christ,

Check out a company called cables to go and their "RapidRun" products. for short runs they are GREAT! the cables and wallplates or flying leads are all modular and are interchangeable. They make runner cables for PC type signals as well as other multimedia. The best part is the cable fits in a standard 3/4" conduit which is what is commonly used for network drops etc. Or if you have to fish through a wall the cable has a little ring at the end to hook the fish tape to.

I have used them in my day job for wiring up projectors in our conference rooms at work, but the runs are fairly short. (35-40 feet)

[TL5]

Can someone explain what you mean when you say, "Image smearing?"
Can you describe what is happening with the image?

[technerd]

I am on the road with large corp meetings and use these to feed my large main screens and floor plasmas for monitors down front. I also send signals through our cat 5 of our building to overflow rooms. I send out of my aux sends of the FOH board the Q&A mics in the audience to powered speakers next to the stage plasmas facing the presenters. Audio is very clear with the video down Cat5. Wonderful for overflow at our church.

[eug]

Hi everyone,

Reviving an old thread here!

We currently use CAT5e with Intelix and Kramer baluns and it all works great. All our cable runs at the moment are direct via a single length of cable, i.e. source balun to destination balun. We're renovating a new building at the moment so I'm sorting out all the cabling now.

Has anyone run VGA over CAT6 through a patch panel via an active balun? Total cable length through the patch panel shouldn't be at most 300ish feet. Any problems?

I thought about switching to HDMI but since our seamless and matrix switches are VGA, it's a lot cheaper to just stick with it. I'm running double CAT6 to each location for futureproofing though!