Best way to connect comp to tv

[CPA]

I have a computer in my study that I do most of my work on and play games on. I have a 55" 3D tv that is in another non-adjacent room that I would like to plug the computer into to:

1) take advantage of the 3D component in games
2) start using amazon for movies and such.

My walls have custom faux painting on them which would be very difficult and expensive to repaint and I have very high ceiling (2 story home) that would make it very difficult to drop and run a line. Is my only option to run and HDMI line along the floor, lol? I have no carpeting between the rooms, it's all hardwood and tile.

 

[frowertr]

I just finished up doing basically what you are wanting to do. However, My rooms were adjacent so I just cut two holes in the drywall (back-to-back) and installed two low voltage wall plates from Monoprice. I then ran one 20' HDMI cable from my computer to my receiver in my living room. I also had to run an active USB cable from my computer alongside the HDMI cable so I could hook a mouse/keyboard up in the living room in order to control the computer when I'm on the couch. Everything looks professional this way and I use the furniture in the house to hide the wall plates and the cables coming out of them.

Are your computer and TV on the same story? If so, bottom or top? If they are on the top you could cut a hole and run cabling up through the wall behind the computer, into the attic, and then down the wall behind your TV/Entertainment center. Don't worry about repainting as you would use wall plates like mine to cover your work. This is the basic method I used when I ran Cat5 to every room of my house a couple years ago.

If they are both on the bottom story then that would be much trickier as you have no crawlspace to work with above AND you say the rooms are not adjacent so you cant cut back-to-back holes. Dunno how to make that one look professional without physically looking over what options exist...

 

[Anteaus]

At first I would recommend just running a cable on the floor and try that for a few months to see if it is worth the work your talking about. If it is, then I would recommend first pricing a HTPC build and see if that would better serve your purposes. If the HTPC isn't of interest and your committed, then think about running a cable. My .02. Sounds like a cool project though.

 

[piasabird]

I had a computer and a TV that I used a lot for streaming, so I just built a second computer just to use with the TV so I could watch or listen to TV and surf the web at the same time. I dont know how you are suppose to control the COMPUTER from the TV. If you had a TV with apps maybe you could surf the web with the TV connected just to the Internet. Might be you could also use A dvr if it could connect to a wireless router or something like that.

Well if your TV has Ethernet, you might try POWERLINE networking. Dont know if the speed will be fast enough for streaming or not. Some TV's you can also put in a USB Wireless device. I also wonder if someone makes a router that can use the Cable that goes to the TV or maybe DSL Phone lines.

You could just run cable along the baseboards from room to room. It would not be too noticeable. Another method is to run cable through the Heater Vents. That would be kind of convoluted also.

If you had siding outside you could go out the window frame and hang it from the siding and go back into the other room. Or if you had a crawl space you could go along that if it made sense. Unfortunately people dont want to drill holes most of the time. However, that is how the cable company does it.

 

[Childs]

There is wireless hdmi. I haven't tried it, but it seems to fit your situation. Maybe combine it with a RF keyboard/mouse.

 

[CPA]

There is wireless hdmi. I haven't tried it, but it seems to fit your situation. Maybe combine it with a RF keyboard/mouse.

hmmmm....interesting, will have to look into it.

As for the other questions/comments:

- 1st floor
- the rooms are split by the house entryway, so there isn't a contiguous baseboard run
- brick exterior
- I have run cat5 up the walls, but it was very difficult due to the top plates not have large enough wire holes. I won't be able to pull through an hdmi plug, that's for sure.

 

[NutBucket]

How about HDMI over Cat5?

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10110&cs_id=1011012&p_id=6532&seq=1&format=2

Unfortunately you'd need a pair of Cat5 cables.

Just make life simple and buy a HTPC!