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Old 12-19-2016, 12:44 PM
Tony F Tony F is offline
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HDMI cables and splitters

Hello, I was talking to a friend of my fathers and he asked me how to get a signal from his cable box via HDMI to 2 other tv's in the house. His main tv is in the den with his cable box. The only output on it is via HDMI. He doesn't want to rent more "boxes" and figures the best way to get video to the other 2 tv's in the house would be to run a 50' HDMI cable to a HDMI splitter that would have 2 more 12' cables to the other sets. He knows that the same source would be on all 3 tv's and that is ok with him. Is this the best way to go about this ? I told him to look on ebay for a 50' and 2 12' cables and a splitter but he got confused when some of the splitters are powered and some are not. I don't have this problem as I have a satellite dish and he has to have cable because there are too many trees on his property for a satellite dish. Does he need a powered HDMI splitter for a 50" cable run ? He also got confused with all the different Chinese suppliers of HDMI cables and splitters on Ebay and kind of gave up and asked me. I thought I'd refer it to the pro's here.
Thanks!
Tony
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Old 12-20-2016, 10:26 AM
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SpaceAge SpaceAge is offline
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As I understand it, the passive (not powered) HDMI splitters are pretty much worthless. Even with very short lengths of cord being used, the signal often becomes unusable weak. With 50 feet plus 12 more you will probably need a powered unit. I would skip eBay and look at Amazon. The reality is pretty much all these boxes are going to be from off-brand, fly-by-night companies. Just pick one with decent reviews. while none of them are likely to be high quality, some will be better than others and this will be reflected in the reviews. As far as cables, buying the fanciest one is pointless and doesn't improve clarity or anything. The tv either gets the signal at 100%, or it blacks out. There's not much in the middle. Monoprice sells HDMI cable the cheapest, period. They may also sell a powered splitter. Otherwise, Amazon's house brand line "Amazon basics" is perfectly good. Best Buy also has an inexpensive lineup called "dynex direct" or something like that. I'm not an expert but have been asked to set up my fair share of TVs and home theatres, this is all based on my observations.
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Old 12-20-2016, 12:43 PM
Tony F Tony F is offline
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SpaceAge,.. Thank you for the info. I hadn't thought about Amazon. I figured that the "almost free" shipping out of China would make him happy, if the cables and splitter turned out to be garbage. I told him to just cut down 1 tree and go satellite, but he won't have anything to do with that. I will pass on the info about the powered splitter and some half decent cables and let him decide.
Thank-You
Tony
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Old 02-15-2017, 09:18 PM
mgross0 mgross0 is offline
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Hdmi

Just keep in mind that not all HDMI cables are the same. If he intends to have 4K or whatever, try to get newer cables with the current video standard (HDMI 2.0/2.0a). The older standard cables will surely work, but they may not give the best video signal, especially over such a long run with a splitter. Not saying you should spend a fortune, but $30-40 extra may be worth it.
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