# Hiding flat screen wires?



## Cole82 (Nov 22, 2008)

Wow you guys are really taking off with this thread. LOL

I was looking at simple easy. I think I will just put a plant in front of the wires for now.

The only reason we have "cable" is it was cheaper to get both instead of just internet. I hadn't had cable in 8 years until last December. Just been using the internet hooked up to the tv for about 3 years before getting cable.

Cole


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## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

I am sure inner will be along to show us all how it's really done..lol!


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

I'll post pics later, but in general all my latest jobs use video distribution so there are no boxes below TVs.

Cut a hole in the wall and tuck the low voltage wires in there, then fish the wires up to the TV. Bundle the high voltage and bricks behind the boxes, if there isn't enough space install a gear box behind the goods.


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## chris klee (Feb 5, 2008)

I wish I was close enough, it would only take a couple hours to make everything all pretty. 

Call me if you have questions. 

Inner, I looked at remotes finally. Anything to say about iRule?
I looked at a bunch of URC one too. I have more to read about them, not crazy about making macros. Would like to plug it Into a computer.


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## ohiohomedoctor (Dec 26, 2010)

How does this video distribution work?


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## chris klee (Feb 5, 2008)

ohiohomedoctor said:


> How does this video distribution work?


There are different ways to do it. 
I have one cable box with a Hdmi matrix to run to multiple TVs. There are devices specifically for distribution though that probably work better


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## bdoles (Sep 11, 2007)

I would start out by first getting some outlets up and behind the TV. :thumbsup:

After that it's just cosmetic stuff to hide visible wires between the bottom of the TV and your other accessories. Whether it's hiding them within the wall cavity or some type of surface mounted contraption.


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## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

ohiohomedoctor said:


> How does this video distribution work?


Buddy of mine had a central closet in his basement. He had four DVR boxes, DVD player, amp, iPod dock etc. he could watch anything on any tv. That was 5 years ago....so I would imagine its getting simpler every day. Cat5 and some good quality baluns make tv placement easy.


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## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

chris klee said:


> There are different ways to do it.
> I have one cable box with a Hdmi matrix to run to multiple TVs. There are devices specifically for distribution though that probably work better


Hey Chris, you ever use this? 

http://www.amazon.com/J-Tech-Digita...id=1353283947&sr=1-14&keywords=View+hd+switch

Just installed one in our last project so that we only had one Hdmi up to the tv. Put some quick macros in the urc remote so that when you pressed and held the DVD or TV button on the remote It would switch to the correct input. Worked nice for a simple setup.


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## chris klee (Feb 5, 2008)

You can run just about anything on cat 5e anymore. Even hdmi can be converted to cat 5e and back at the tv. 

I predict tv moving away from cable and sat and moving toward Internet. You won't need cable boxes, just Internet connection. Then you buy the channels you want. I can stream Netflix right to my tv now, so why not all tv channels like that?


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## ohiohomedoctor (Dec 26, 2010)

overanalyze said:


> Buddy of mine had a central closet in his basement. He had four DVR boxes, DVD player, amp, iPod dock etc. he could watch anything on any tv. That was 5 years ago....so I would imagine its getting simpler every day. Cat5 and some good quality baluns make tv placement easy.


Alright, what are baluns?


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

chris klee said:


> I wish I was close enough, it would only take a couple hours to make everything all pretty.
> 
> Call me if you have questions.
> 
> ...


IRule is alright you still have to but a pile of gc hardware and it doesn't work well with multiple remotes. Also you can't beat a traditional remote for ease of use...hard keys are nice for channel surfing.

Problem is there are no good remotes available to end users. All the best are for dealers only. Open an account at ADI and buy a ProControl Zigbee and base station.


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## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

ohiohomedoctor said:


> Alright, what are baluns?


They transfer video and audio signals over cat5e cable long distances. Balun is short for balanced unbalanced.


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## ohiohomedoctor (Dec 26, 2010)

So cat5 can be run any distance and baluns deal with it after the fact. So baluns are a box you hook a large number of cat5 lines too?


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

overanalyze said:


> Buddy of mine had a central closet in his basement. He had four DVR boxes, DVD player, amp, iPod dock etc. he could watch anything on any tv. That was 5 years ago....so I would imagine its getting simpler every day. Cat5 and some good quality baluns make tv placement easy.


Funny enough things haven't gotten much simpler...they just changed. Adapting new hdmi devices to legacy component video distribution systems has become a challenge.


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## Cole82 (Nov 22, 2008)

You guys are way to into TV, must be a hobby for you guys.

When I get extra time I don't go for the tv maybe that's why I never got into the stuff you guys are talking about. This is the only TV I have lol

Cole


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## chris klee (Feb 5, 2008)

overanalyze said:


> Hey Chris, you ever use this?
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/J-Tech-Digital-Registered-Trademark-Multi-Functional/dp/B008VWGLXO/ref=sr_1_14?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1353283947&sr=1-14&keywords=View+hd+switch
> 
> Just installed one in our last project so that we only had one Hdmi up to the tv. Put some quick macros in the urc remote so that when you pressed and held the DVD or TV button on the remote It would switch to the correct input. Worked nice for a simple setup.


Not that one. Hard to see it on my iPad, it won't let me click the pics for bigger view. 
My theater tv only has one Hdmi, and my living room tv has one Hdmi, cat 5e, and a toslink cable
The bedrooms are next to get new tvs and wired to the rack. No surround sound though


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

ohiohomedoctor said:


> So cat5 can be run any distance and baluns deal with it after the fact. So baluns are a box you hook a large number of cat5 lines too?


No, they have distance limitations and can be remarkably problematic...an hdmi 'balun' is not a true balun...it's just a way to run hdmi over 2 runs of cat5e.

I rarely use them, I do hdmi over ip almost exclusively.


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## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

ohiohomedoctor said:


> So cat5 can be run any distance and baluns deal with it after the fact. So baluns are a box you hook a large number of cat5 lines too?


Sort of. Baluns work in pairs..one at each end of the run. Say you want to put your cable box in a cabinet 50' away. You can run digital audio and component hd over one cat5. A lot easier than a cable that large. They do have distance restrictions. Depending on brand and quality they usually can handle 100' to 300'. To run Hdmi, it takes two cat5.


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## chris klee (Feb 5, 2008)

Cole82 said:


> You guys are way to into TV, must be a hobby for you guys.
> 
> When I get extra time I don't go for the tv maybe that's why I never got into the stuff you guys are talking about.
> 
> Cole


I am a nerd about this stuff. The funny part is I spend more time on here then I do watching tv. :lol


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