HDTV Question That May Be of Interest to Others

Stallion · Post by **Stallion** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:10 pm

Got a question for those of you that have multiple high definition TVs but are limited by your satelite, cable of other HD provider to 2 HDTVs.

Have any of you tried the HD signal splitters on the market that allow you to split the HD signal to multiple HDTVs so that you can have 3 or more HDTVs getting HD in one house?

On the internet some of the most highly recommended ones are made by a company with a great reputation named www.monoprice.com (example is #3049 which however I think is only 1.2a compliant-that's the one you read about in many many blogs and sites as successfully splitting the HD signal).

Anyone have an positive experience using a 1.3 compliant as opposed to a 1.2a splitter? I've got a 1.3 compliant TV and 1.3 compliant high speed cables which btw are sold for a great price by monoprice.com and can be purchased for a fraction of those overpriced Monster cables in the stores. The 1.2a compliant splitter should be sufficient to deliver a 1080p picture but I'm not sure it will be sufficient for certain newer applications availiable now and in the future such as "Deep Color" and Dolby HD sound.

Its seems so ridiculous that with HDTV starting to saturate the market that satellite and cable companies won't offer to set up as many HDTVs as you want. I thought some of you might be interested in this option too.

mrydel · Post by **mrydel** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:19 pm

I think it would be easier just to get a dual HDTV DVR. That could run 2 tvs and if you got 2 dual units you could run 4. I only want 2 HDTVs, one upstairs and one down so for $50 Dish is bringing me a 2nd HDTV DVR for my upstairs. I think it would be a little higher for a dual control but it is a one time charge and is probably not much if any more than the splitter and the picture should be as good as it gets.

Stallion · Post by **Stallion** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 12:27 am

well actually the cost of this procedure isn't expensive-only a one time cost of about $60 for the splitter and about $40 for the 25 Ft HDMI cable which is very cheap at monoprice. You wouldn't have to rent the extra equipment from Dish or DirectTV and could watch HDTV in multiple rooms (3 in my case)which is what I'm looking to do-once you watch High Definition the Standard Definition doesn't cut it.

HB Pony Dad · Post by **HB Pony Dad** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:46 pm

I usually check out AVS Forums when trying to figure out HDTV configurations.

http://www.avsforum.com

Might be worth searching the forums there and/or joining and asking as they are a good group!

BTW I sent Thad Home

mrydel · Post by **mrydel** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:52 pm

HB Pony Dad wrote:I usually check out AVS Forums when trying to figure out HDTV configurations.

http://www.avsforum.com

Might be worth searching the forums there and/or joining and asking as they are a good group!

BTW I sent Thad Home

The current line is that Thad will find his way back in 6 weeks. I took the under.

smu diamond m · Post by **smu diamond m** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:27 am

FYI, monster cables on digital signals are virtually worthless. Signal degradation in digital is irrelevant unless dropping incredibly long runs.

Sorry, I use an HTPC to feed my TV.

Stallion · Post by **Stallion** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:04 pm

BTW anyone interested in doing this-it works like a charm. We now have split the HD feed into two rooms. We used the Monoprice Part# 3049 active (important that it is active not passive) Spliter with 25 ft 22AWG 1.3 compliant cable(Part # 3990) (22AWG is better than 24AWG which is better than 28AWG cable). There are some "handshake" issues sometimes between the receivers and spliter-we had to work with the order the devices were turned on to get the system to "handshake" but eventually we got it to work. If you are going run more than 25 feet of cable you might want to research this more in forums like the Monoprice board, AVS, HDF and others on the internet as you may run into more trouble over 25 feet but I've seen reports that with an active spliter it can work much longer even say 50 feet-they just won't make that representation it because the cable is not certified for that length. Total Coat $112.