Any reason NOT to buy?

[SjonRokz4u]

I have a show coming up and it looks like Im going about 200' of VGA. Is there any reason I shouldnt buy the MONOPRICE VGA splitter. Its the MSV 104 splitter 4 way amp. I only need a 2 way but figure its better to get the 4 way for the future........Thanks in advance........Shaun

[museav]

You mention 200' of VGA, which is a pretty long run, but is that 200' after the DA or is the DA in the middle of the run or what? Are both runs after the splitter approximately the same length or is one much longer than the other? What signal (resolution, scan rate, etc.) is being transmitted? What are you using for cable?

Just for comparison, the online price for a Kramer Electronics 1x4 VGA DA seems to be just a bit over $200, which is also a little over the dealer cost for the comparable offerings from FSR and Extron. Monoprice may offer some great prices but one really has to wonder how a $23 box can compare to those (although having no variable gain or EQ seems to be one factor). Then again, it is cheap enough to try and maybe keep a couple extra around as spares if it works.

[SjonRokz4u]

Thanks, good points
The split will be at 175' and both splits will be 25' each. I kind of figured there has to be a difference, but at $25 I guess its a safe test product. I just wanted to make sure there was no definate negatives on it. Just try it and see.........

[gabe]

I'm not sure on the price difference, but you may have more luck with some kind of VGA over ethernet and back device.

[museav]

I don't know what the source is but I would be concerned about the losses from the 175' run, without any EQ the DA will not be able to offset the greater high frequency losses such a long run likely entails and if it is a "unity gain" DA that simply compensates for the split losses it will also not address any overall signal loss. Basically, it may handle splitting to the multiple displays or projectors, but probably will do little to compensate for the 175' run, which could have significant losses with standard VGA cable.

A VGA over CAT5/5e/6 solution may be a better option although the cost will be higher. Just to clarify, this uses UTP or STP cabling but is not Ethernet, a significant distinction.

[SjonRokz4u]

Sorry, the source is a laptop powerpoint thing, but I gotcha, just buy the right thing in the first place...Thanks for the info, but I do have one follow up question. This laptop seems to go 100' without noticable loss thru vga. Given that, if there is some loss, or noticable loss at say 150', will the DA you named bump it up enough to go another 50' or so, or does the signal need to be full strength going into DA. Ive done this with RCA cable (not nearly as far) 50' to DA then another 50' or pair of 50's with good results.
Thanks!

[SHARYNF]

The point you raise is really at the heart of the matter. Determining the exact point where you can still have a good signal to amplify is going to be key, you run the risk of basically "just about garbage in with definitely garbage out"

Most of the time, again not always a lap top does not have the drive ability of a desktop card, so USALLY I would recommend getting a decent driver to feed the complete line so you have a good quality low noise signal to then split

Sharyn

[ruinexplorer]

I agree with Sharyn. I have found that you usually will start to notice signal loss over 50' with a laptop. It's best to boost your signal early on.

[museav]

Remember than a basic amp or DA is simply amplifying what it gets, not compensating for specific losses or canceling noise. In fact some DAs only offset the losses of the split, they don't actually amplify anything but rather just make each output the same level as the input, a unity gain.

Losses in cable also vary with frequency. More advanced line amps and DAs will have adjustable EQ to try to compensate for this nonlinearity but I did not see any such adjustment on the one linked so the relative loss at high frequency would then be based on the total run.