Getting a video signal into a second room

May 3, 2004 9:06 AM

Getting a video signal into a second room [more inside]

I've got cable coming into my living room; the wall with the cable hookup is shared with a bedroom, and I'd like to get a video signal into that bedroom.

Here's what I'm thinking of doing: punching a hole in the bedroom wall directly behind the cable-out; replacing the current cable jack with a two-port wall plate, and running a short length of cable between the living room and bedroom to create a pass-through. I'd put a splitter on the cable that runs into the TV and feed that into the pass-through. This way I could run the DVD player's output to the second TV.

I'd like any general comments on whether this is a good or bad scheme, or whether there are better ones; if there are any particular products to seek out or avoid. Thanks in advance.

posted by adamrice to technology (4 comments total)

You probably realize this, but if your cable uses a converter, you're going to have to go into the living room to switch channels.

If this is the case, just split in the wall. You won't get premium channels or the DVD output, but you'll get basic cable that you can control from the bedroom set.

(cable's dirty secret-- you don't need a converter to get the basic channels on most systems, and most companies are too busy to turn off basic cable at the tap outside your house. If a previous resident has had cable, you've probably got an active connection.)
posted by Mayor Curley at 9:28 AM on May 3, 2004

(unless your system is digital, in which case you can't get something for nothing.)
posted by Mayor Curley at 9:29 AM on May 3, 2004

Mayor Curley--
Forgot to mention that a part of this plan would be to use one of those IR-to-RF remote-control relays. I've got ye olde analogue cable, but just to control the DVD player, I'd probably want that.

It occurred to me to put the splitter in the wall, but the overhead for doing it the way I'm thinking doesn't seem very great.
posted by adamrice at 10:48 AM on May 3, 2004

If you're going to send a video signal any sort of distance, you'll want to feed it through a video amp (available at any Radio Shack or similar store). Preferably, you'd split the signal that's coming out of the video amp.
posted by herc at 9:59 PM on May 3, 2004