Two hd tv's from one cable box
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New member Username: RustyedgePost Number: 1 Registered: Sep-05 | Last year I finished my basement and installed a home theater w/ceiling projector. It is a home made set up with in-ceiling speakers and an Onkyo amp. It's nothing exotic but it works good and has a pretty good 104 inch picture. In another part of the basement I want to add a wall mounted flat screen LCD TV. Can I run splitters off the componant outputs from the HD cable box and view the projector or flat screen together or separately? Thanks for any replies. |
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Gold Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 1377 Registered: Feb-04 | Russ, you can do this, but please don't use cheap audio splitters. Use something designed for this purpose with RG-6 cables, like this: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10422&cs_id=1042205 &p_id=2899&seq=1&format=2&style= |
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Silver Member Username: WestcottLeague City, Texas Post Number: 141 Registered: Oct-05 | Doesn't your cable box have hdmi? Just hook up your projector or new LCD with hdmi and use component for the other. It would make more sense to get an hdmi switcher because that is the way everything is going. Also a good excuse to upgrade the DVD player. |
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New member Username: RustyedgePost Number: 2 Registered: Sep-05 | Of course cable and DVD are routed through the amp for video/DVD switching. If I run the LCD with hdmi can both projector and LCD play at the same time? Will hdmi also route through the amp or will it go direct from cable box to LCD? hdmi sounds like the way to go but I am clueless as to how to hook it up. And why upgrade the dvd now? Will the old one not play using hdmi? Thanks again. |
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Gold Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 1378 Registered: Feb-04 | "If I run the LCD with hdmi can both projector and LCD play at the same time?" Yes, assuming your cable box does have HDMI out, and assuming that the cable box will output an HDMI video signal simultaneously with its component video output. By the way were you planning to use the LCD's internal speakers for audio? Keep in mind component carries video only--and HDMI would provide audio as well. "Will hdmi also route through the amp or will it go direct from cable box to LCD?" If your Onkyo has HDMI switching then you could run HDMI through it. If not then it would be HDMI out from the cable box and into the LCD. "And why upgrade the dvd now? Will the old one not play using hdmi?" What Westcott is talking about is an upconverting DVD player that scales video up from the DVD format's normal lines (480) to a higher figure by repeating the existing picture data. This improves the picture to some degree. HDMI is used to send that upconverted picture to the TV. It is not likely your old DVD player has that feature along with an HDMI output. "Can I run splitters off the componant outputs from the HD cable box and view the projector or flat screen together or separately?" See what happens when you ask a simple question?  |
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Bronze Member Username: HodedofomeTX USA Post Number: 43 Registered: Dec-06 | It would probably be best to get a component video + audio distribution amplifier. Something like this: http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=509&sku=41065 |
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Bronze Member Username: Gixer41960Adelaide, South Australia Post Number: 13 Registered: Dec-06 | I don't know how your cable boxes setup etc but over here we select in the setup how we want the picture to be processed so that if you want the best quality picture to be processed you select HDMI or DVI which renders the component side of the cable box obsolete. Would Russ be able to run HDMI to one part and use component for the other? Like I said I don't know how your boxes etc setup but you wouldn't be able to do that over here, you would have to use a splitter. |
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New member Username: RustyedgePost Number: 3 Registered: Sep-05 | Looks like the distribution amp is they way to go. That way the cable and dvd will still be swithed through the Onkyo amp the way they are now. Next question. What is the best and biggest LCD I can get for $1000 and where can I get it? |
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New member Username: RustyedgePost Number: 4 Registered: Sep-05 | Bump. I bought a distribution amp, 75ft component cable, a 50inch 720p plasma and went at it. In the end, it all worked great. Thanks for the replies. I couldn't have done it without you. I ended up buying a floor model 50inch Philips for $1200.00. I thought that was a good price. One thing I did learn about this home theater amp. When you switch on the "B" speakers, everything plays in stereo and you lose the rear channel on the "A" side. So, what I did was run a speaker selector box. "B" speakers from the amp feed the input to the selector. A, B and C from the selector go to diffrent rooms in the basement. I bought another selector at radio shack that has two inputs and one output (the speakers). D from the first selector feeds in the B input on the new selector. The rear channel from the amp feeds the A input. Now, by pushing a couple buttons, I can have stereo to any or all speakers, or swith back to the "A" speakers only for home theater. Sounds complicated but it really isn't. |
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Gold Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 1535 Registered: Feb-04 | Hopefully, that Onkyo won't buckle under the load.  |
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