Honeywell intros HDMI over CAT5 in-wall baluns
by Steven Kim 
posted Dec 16th 2007 at 6:27PM
We've griped about HDMI before, but it's not a standard that's going to go away anytime soon and it does make for a convenient, all-in-one A/V connection. But non-captive plugs aside, cable lengths beyond about 50-feet are a dicey proposition without resorting to extra hardware. Enter Honeywell's new HDMI-to-CAT5 baluns, which enable you to distribute your HDMI whole-house stye in a package that's more decor-friendly than other solutions. The single gang wall plate style devices allow you to pipe 1080p signals up to 125-feet over CAT5 cable, and 200-feet if you've pulled CAT6 through the walls. The baluns have Honeywell's CURxE "self-healing" technology, so corrupted EDID or HDCP data is restored at the receiving end and troubleshooting of other signal issues is available. If you're building a new home or pulling new wires through old walls, look for these in mid-December (hey, that's now -- start looking!). 
Filed under: Cables, Other hardware
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GhostDoggy @ Dec 16th 2007 7:05PM
Considering that I can walk into Frys Electronics and pick up a pair of Multimode-Ethernet Optical-Electric transceivers for about $150 and transmit Gigabit Enthernet over two kilometers I wonder how hard this really needs to be, or expensive.
Why we've not managed to move fiber optical into a consumer arena is nuts.
ray s @ Dec 16th 2007 8:12PM
The reason we haven't moved to fiber in the residential area is for three reasons: 1) fiber is hard to work with, splicing, connecting, sanding, etc... whatever is done with it. It's not for everyone; 2) fiber is expensive compared to CAT5 or even CAT6 (bought 1000' of CAT6 for $140 at Home Depot); 3) CAT6 can do gigabit speed, shielded CAT6 is likely to be able to support 10gigabit speeds.
Yes, you can transmit gigabit speeds over 2 miles with fiber, but the normal household doesn't need 2 miles worth of a run. So between that and the previously mentioned points, copper stills wins.
GhostDoggy @ Dec 17th 2007 5:42AM
"Yes, you can transmit gigabit speeds over 2 miles with fiber, but the normal household doesn't need 2 miles worth of a run. So between that and the previously mentioned points, copper stills wins."
The bulk of the cost of using fiber optic cable in the ground is digging up the right of way and not the material costs. Even telco-grade optics is relative. And since this would be a consumer application the quality to achieve transport over 20-30 meters (instead of 2000 meters) should further the inexpensiveness.
Now add consumer bulk in manufacturing and the expected costs should fall sharply. BTW, I never meant to suggest using raw fiber optical cable for the DIY fabricator, and apparently this Honeywell product assumes the same dang thing since its using connectors and not punchdowns. :)
Xyzzy @ Dec 16th 2007 9:08PM
Why are there two RJ45 plugs in this thing? Why not juts use punchdown in there...?
I'd like a solution that lets me do HDMI over cat5, but doesn't require an entire box -- mix and match in one box like I do with the other stuff. Still, it's a step in the right direction.
SimbaDogg @ Dec 17th 2007 12:39AM
i know some installers that will go nuts over this.
Kevin Murphy @ Dec 17th 2007 3:57AM
As I read this thing, you need a point-to-point connection with two cat5e or better cables to send HDMI 125 feet. Since the HDMI bandwidth is up in the sky (4.85Gbps for HDMI 1.2, double that for 1.3), it's not clear whether the signalling is strictly "ethernet". If one limited the bandwidth to 2Gbps, it could be 1000Base-T or 1000Base-T2. They don't claim compatibility with HDMI 1.3
Colin H @ Jan 1st 2008 5:49AM
Does the CAT5 idea transfer the sound quality at a good enough level, considering how much we all spend on high quality speaker cable ?
SamE @ Feb 6th 2008 9:54PM
And you probably spend $100 or more on composite cables too. The cable myth is a crock. Has been and always will be. Lamp cord works just as good.