HDMI balun

[ruinexplorer]

Since I rarely use HDMI, what kind of experience have any of you had with using baluns? Looking specifically pro-sumer grade at this point (as it will be going in a home, not for presentation). I already know several manufacturers that I trust for various other means of video distribution, but I am willing to try someone new.

Anyhow, I have only used fiber for digital signals before, so any specific options to look for when making a decision would be helpful as well. I know what to look for when using an analog signal, both in the balun itself as well as the Ethernet cable.

 

[Call911]

I've has great experiences with the Kramer Pico Tools, they work great, plug and play. There's an led indicator that lights green when working, orange when 1 side has an error, and red when both sides have an error. Simple to use, ran it over 100 feet of cat6. Clear image, no issues at all. About $300 for each set through Full Compass.

 

[Edrick]

I use snapav

I've got a single coax HDMI balun it'll do 1080p

 

[museav]

I tend to stick with manufacturers like Extron, Magenta Research and Hall Research, perhaps Kramer Electronics and sometimes Gefen.

Most HDMI over UTP products use shielded CAT 5e/6/7 cable. Some of the manufacturers want you to use their cable, it may not really be that special but they may only support the performance stated for the baluns/interfaces if you use their recommended cable.

You probably want to verify HDCP compliance and EDID pass-through. I just encountered someone who used a lower cost product and instead of the EDID information passing through to the attached device and back, the 'balun' provided the EDID information, something they promoted as a feature as the source would always see a device and thus provide an output even if the display was not on or attached, but for which they then provided no information about the related EDID information, you'd apparently have to get a unit and read the EDID information to know what it supported and had programmed as the default. The 'balun' apparently could be reprogrammed to copy the EDID of the attached display device but that required having a computer with a serial port and purchasing a separate programming device.

I'd also look at what version of HDMI and what resolution you want to support as that may affect both the device and the cable. Some products support HDMI v1.4, but many are v1.3 and some are limited to v1.2. That may not be critical in many applications but may be if you want to support specific capabilities such as deep color or auto lip sync (v1.3 and v1.4) or 3D (v1.4).

 

[ruinexplorer]

Thanks. I figured that I would probably be looking for Kramer/Gefen type gear at this point. I'm glad to know of some of the "features" to be looking for/to avoid.