Running a 25-50ft hdmi cable from my mac pro a good idea?

[marklight]

I want to run a 25-50ft hdmi cable from my mac pro to my 1080p television in another room - along with an optical audio cable. Is this doable - or will that distance cause the video signal to look bad?

Also I'll have one of the dvi outs going to my main monitor (24 inch) and the other going out to the television (dvi-hdmi conversion) - so I should be able to switch between the two as the "main monitor" for proper viewing correct?

My TV does not have a dvi in. Just hdmi if you didn't pick that up from the last two paragraphs.

Thanks.

 

[scr1968]

I want to run a 25-50ft hdmi cable from my mac pro to my 1080p television in another room - along with an optical audio cable. Is this doable - or will that distance cause the video signal to look bad?

Also I'll have one of the dvi outs going to my main monitor (24 inch) and the other going out to the television (dvi-hdmi conversion) - so I should be able to switch between the two as the "main monitor" for proper viewing correct?

My TV does not have a dvi in. Just hdmi if you didn't pick that up from the last two paragraphs.

Thanks.

I am not doing this from my MAC to my TV, but I am doing this from my DirecTV receiver in a cabinet, through the walls, and to my Plasma hanging on the wall. I can't recall the length of HDMI cable I bought but it is long - definitely in the neighborhood of 25-50 feet for sure.

It works great. A digital signal should not (in theory) lose any signal no matter the distance.

You should be fine

SCR

 

[network23]

Others may have more real-life experience with this, but that length does seem a bit much.

More of a concern for me is where the receiver is in the setup (I assume there is one that's taking in the output from the Mac and feeding the monitor and tv). Will the return cable to your monitor also be 25-50ft? That will be additional signal degredation you will have to consider.

How will you control your Mac Pro from the other room? I would be severely frustrated to have to run all the way into the other room just to pause a program, and then moving the start point to where you have enough time to get back to your seat after starting it up again. Eww.

 

[marklight]

Others may have more real-life experience with this, but that length does seem a bit much.

More of a concern for me is where the receiver is in the setup (I assume there is one that's taking in the output from the Mac and feeding the monitor and tv). Will the return cable to your monitor also be 25-50ft? That will be additional signal degredation you will have to consider.

How will you control your Mac Pro from the other room? I would be severely frustrated to have to run all the way into the other room just to pause a program, and then moving the start point to where you have enough time to get back to your seat after starting it up again. Eww.

Two things. First I'm not sure about what you mean by receiver. The mac has two dvi outputs. One dvi out goes to my monitor. The other dvi out will go to the television (dvi - hdmi converter cable).

I will have my wireless mouse and keyboard that I guess I'll be able to use to control the setup (where I sit is only about 20ft away from the computer).

 

[network23]

Ah, I see now. Incorrect assumption on my part.

I don't know if you have your Mac Pro yet, but before you invest in a cable of that length, be sure to test the setup. I had some issues with getting my MBP to send a signal to my HDTV and you might need to use some third-party resolution software to get the MP to talk nice with your HDTV.

 

[marklight]

Ah, I see now. Incorrect assumption on my part.

I don't know if you have your Mac Pro yet, but before you invest in a cable of that length, be sure to test the setup. I had some issues with getting my MBP to send a signal to my HDTV and you might need to use some third-party resolution software to get the MP to talk nice with your HDTV.

Yea I'll have to look into that. I'm primarily doing this just to watch HD content that I have on my mac pro on my huge TV.

 

[marklight]

Ah, I see now. Incorrect assumption on my part.

I don't know if you have your Mac Pro yet, but before you invest in a cable of that length, be sure to test the setup. I had some issues with getting my MBP to send a signal to my HDTV and you might need to use some third-party resolution software to get the MP to talk nice with your HDTV.

Yea I'll have to look into that. I'm primarily doing this just to watch HD content that I have on my mac pro on my huge TV.

 

[XianPalin]

A digital signal should not (in theory) lose any signal no matter the distance.

You should be fine

Pretty sure that's incorrect. Despite the fact that it's digital it's still being carried just like any other signal, and just like any other signal it gets weaker over long distances.

One of the gadget sites (gizmodo, engadget, etc) did a comparison of HDMI cables to see if Monster HDMI Cables really were any better. For short cables it didn't matter, but for long cables the signal was significantly worse in cheap cables vs Monster cables - i.e. the length of the cable does affect the signal, and in those situations better quality cables help.

I believe they were also testing in high bandwidth situations over those long distances, but that's what you'll be carrying to an HDTV.