I am going to self-mount my projector next year, and I am thinking about the logistics. It has a HDMI proprietary breakout cable that takes it from HDMI + USB M1 into both VGA and USB, which means I will need extensions for both of those cables. If I purchase a thirty to thirty-five foot extension cable, will there be any signal loss?
I know they say to use an active extension for USB, but the signal transmitted over that usb cable is so minimal that I am going to try it without one. It’s certainly not mission critical.
Any experience here? Let me know in the comments…
Update: Fixed my errors.
Hank Thiele says:
Yes – you will have signal loss. Consider purchasing a VGA to Cat5 converter and a USB to cat 5 converter and running CAT5 cable the long lengths.
19th April 2007 at 10:36 am
Michael says:
First off, I do not believe you have a HDMI on the back I would guess that this is an Infocus projector the uses the proprietary M1 connector that looks similar to a HDMI. I belive this because HDMI does not have usb integrated and vga is analog HDMI is digital which is not easy to convert in a cable.
Second, you should not need to buy a usb extension unless you plan on using the remote as a wireless mouse.
The signal loss on the vga will be negligible. There are some factors to consider such as, what resolution and frequency will you be running the projector at? If you are running the projector at 1024×768 @ 60hz or 75hz you should be fine up to about 100ft if you have a good video card. When I worked at a a/v rental store we often made 100+ ft runs inside coliseum’s with out any trouble. The total noise introduced into you signal will most likely be far less the what would be introduced from using functions on your projector such as digital keystone or zoom.
Finally, I would suggest buying a fairly cheep under $15 50 ft vga extension from http://www.monoprice.com
Good luck it is worth the work to mount them.
19th April 2007 at 12:42 pm
Cathy N says:
I got word today that my Infocus that is mounted and whining is getting ready to go bad becasue the machine is not mean for industrial use, but rather 1 presentations. Mine had been staying on all day. : C
I’m not happy thinking I’ll have to fork out a good hunk of next year’s budget to buy a new one.
19th April 2007 at 4:32 pm
Aaron Smith says:
While there will be SOME signal loss, I’m not sure it will be that noticeable. That would depend on the quality of the projector and the media being played.
And since the USB uses a digital signal, the loss will be less of a problem. (Think about the difference between analog and digital phones.)
19th April 2007 at 11:03 am