HD Video Distribution - HDMI Matrix?

Villan11

Hi all,

In the process of moving house and trying to plan my Home Entertainment setup. I won't be combing video and audio for distribution and my main focus is on HD Video distribution. It's something I've been hoping to do for years. Effectively I want to go into any room in the house that has a tv and watch any of my available sources and control them. For example, watch and control UPC HD PVR in one room, then pause and continue in another.

Having done some research on this I fear the only available solution is a HDMI matrix with IR support, and to make matters worse I think I'm going to need an 8x8 Matrix as I'll have about 8 sources. Initially I'll only have a few outputs but it could expand in time to 7.

The price of an 8x8 HDMI matrix with IR support seems to me to be about €4k which will be way out of my league as I think I'll also need to buy pairs of Cat6 to HDMI baluns for each output.

There is apparently an new Triax 8x8 matrix lite due for release here soon that could be cheaper but still upwards for €2.5k.

I am hoping that someone will have some experience in this regard and hopefully can find a cheaper alternative.

Thanks in advance and I hope I have the right forum.

5uspect

The super cheap alternative is something like the Raspberry Pi.
Lets say you have a central NAS drive somewhere on your network with a large library of media. (Ideally the house is wired for Ethernet but wifi should be okay) Then you add a Raspberry Pi to each TV with a unique hostname. You can use a smart phone or tablet to control each RPi with an app like Yatse.

Controlling your UPC box is going to be more difficult. There are some solutions however

Also many modern 'smart' TVs let you control them via apps since they're basically just computers. (A smart TV may even negate the need for a Raspberry Pi since they can play media files over a network)

The problem with a lot of the above is that it is based on technology that rapidly becomes obsolete. Support for certain apps cam disappear overnight while hardware may be replaced removing necessary features. The Raspberry Pi is a nice solution as it runs on open source software. You can keep a local image to do an easy restore, without relying on an app store, and you can even get the source code and edit, if you're that way inclined.

PogMoThoin

Just build a decent cat6 network with at least 2x cat6 to every TV point back to a central location. You can do with that whatever you want

Cuddlesworth

A 8x8 Matrix is 8 in and 8 out, allowing you to swap and change inputs and outputs using a control system.

I think you need to understand, in order to do what you would like to do you would need to invest in a control system like a Crestron or AMX(or some of the cheaper alternatives) installed and configured by a actual AV professional.

Then you would need to place a control device(touch control) in each room, with pre-programmed responses.

So the Bedroom device would have a UPC button, which would tell the control unit to send input 8(UPC) to output 4(Bedroom) on the matrix. Then it would present you with a menu on the Touch control allowing you to control the original UPC box in the central location all of which needs to be programmed and connected either through IR or direct RS-232. Or you end up carrying multiple remotes and IR sensors through the house.

Ideally you would also want local control over the sound in your direct environment, either through direct IR on the touch control to the TV or AMP in the room. Or again, different remotes per room and device.

Its a lot of work. Independent devices linked through the likes of a NAS are a much better option if most environments.