• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

Best way to send a 4K signal over longer distances

scaramanga

Paul Miller
Staff member
I'm rearranging my AV rack at the moment and running some cables again from scratch. As a 4K upgrade to my projector is on the horizon, it seems sensible to future-proof the cabling. Longest run is around 15-20m.

So I'm already running 1080p over ethernet to both my projector and my tv. As far as I can see, my options are currently to keep the cables I have and use HDBaseT, or run a fibre optic HDMI cable or two. It appears as if the recommended option is fibre given no other constraints, but I already have CAT6 run all over the house. Is there really much difference between the two options?

Thanks nerds.
 
Be careful with fibre, a lot of the cables are using misleading ads, quoting figures that have nothing to do with anything.
Cat6 'should' work for 4k and even hdr if its solid core copper cable.
I'd order a fibre cable and an extender from amazon, try them over the 28 days and return which ever isn't suitable.
The whole 4k hdmi is a pig in a poke, not helped by the format wars.
Of course the other thing is a lot of 4k projectors aren't actually 4k but upscaling.
It's something like £5.5k for the cheapest native pj.
 
Be careful with fibre, a lot of the cables are using misleading ads, quoting figures that have nothing to do with anything.
Cat6 'should' work for 4k and even hdr if its solid core copper cable.
I'd order a fibre cable and an extender from amazon, try them over the 28 days and return which ever isn't suitable.
The whole 4k hdmi is a pig in a poke, not helped by the format wars.
Of course the other thing is a lot of 4k projectors aren't actually 4k but upscaling.
It's something like £5.5k for the cheapest native pj.
I've looked at the "budget" 4K projectors and the native ones and the only difference I can see on a screen size like mine (92") is the clarity in darker scenes - which appears to be the case across all lower priced projectors.

I'll try the ethernet option first, as it means not having to run any cables at all - if that fails then I'll look into fibre.

Thanks
 
I think it would be a really good idea to go onto AV forums, AVS forums & any other random audiophile forum, and upload a “post from a newbie” asking if ‘cables actually make a difference or are just snake oil’?

Please use that wording.

See you in a decade.

Better still, AV forums and Russ Andrews fibre optic hdmi or cat6?
 
Better still, AV forums and Russ Andrews fibre optic hdmi or cat6?
:D If you’re going to open the Russ Andrews Pandora’s box, then please please please go with my personal favourite flame topic - “mains cables - is it worth spending £1000 on an upgrade and will I hear a difference?”
 
:D If you’re going to open the Russ Andrews Pandora’s box, then please please please go with my personal favourite flame topic - “mains cables - is it worth spending £1000 on an upgrade and will I hear a difference?”
I popped one of these into the kettle in the outhouse when we had some workmen around. https://www.russandrews.com/the-superkord500-sdii-uk-mains-w350-evo-rhodium/

They were amazed by the better quality of water boiling and the wider more expansive water space it allowed.
 
Back