How far can HDMI run and anyway to split the signal 3 times?

[aphex]

Helping get my friends new gas station set up and were mapping out what we need to get.

Going to have two 26" and one 37" LCD's on 24/7 throughout the store. We have a single entry for Verizon FIOS and are planning to use a single HD box for all three tv's.

1. How far can an HDMI run go reliably?
2. Any recommended HDMI splitters?
3. Which tv's do you recommend? (720p is fine, just need a single HDMI)

Budget is $2500. We would prefer to stick to name brands like Sony/Samsung/Panasonic (just no Toshiba).

Looking at the Samsung 37" LN37A450 ($850) and the Samsung 26" LN26A330 ($550) right now. That would put us at $1950 before cables, splitters, mounts and tax.

 

[Jugernot]

$112 for the 4 was HDMI splitter

You can do upto 50 feet with a quality cable with little loss of signal. Over that you are going to start seeing sparkles, etc. but I'd think you could easily do 100ft for a gas station because quality of picture isn't as much of an issue.

$34 for a 50ft HDMI cable

I'd guess you could get away with spending less than $300

Jugs

 

[Shawn]

Must be a pretty fancy gas station to have 3 HDTVs!

 

[Chunkee]

Originally posted by: Shawn
Must be a pretty fancy gas station to have 3 HDTVs!

Instead of Funyons they sell Croissants... with honey butter.

jC

 

[sdifox]

I wonder how they handle hdcp with a splitter situation.

 

[aphex]

Obviously picture quality could be an issue, but if we decide just to run SD to each tv, would a Coax run to each TV work? Simple 4 way 1000mhz Splitter.

If we do HDMI, were looking at a 25 foot ($22), 75 Foot ($77) and a 100 Foot ($91) HDMI Cable as well as a $112 HDMI Splitter, $302 total.

RG6 would be $13 per 100 foot, and $4 for the 25, splitter is $5, Total would be $35

 

[Quasmo]

I work for a digital singae company. We use VGA over cat5, but that's kind of expensive and better for very long runs (300 feet). Look at magenta and geffen for that kind of solution.

 

[Jugernot]

Originally posted by: aphex
Obviously picture quality could be an issue, but if we decide just to run SD to each tv, would a Coax run to each TV work? Simple 4 way 1000mhz Splitter.

If we do HDMI, were looking at a 25 foot ($22), 75 Foot ($77) and a 100 Foot ($91) HDMI Cable as well as a $112 HDMI Splitter, $302 total.

RG6 would be $13 per 100 foot, and $4 for the 25, splitter is $5, Total would be $35

Get an amplifier and you should be fine for SD.

 

[SlickSnake]

These cables have a built in amplifier for long HDMI runs.

UltraRun? 1.3 High-Definition Multimedia Interface Video Cable

And the older cheaper version:

UltraRun High-Definition Multimedia Interface Video Cable

The older cable version of this is a lot less and would work great for your use. However, if the built in amp ever fails, you have to send back the entire cable on the older one for warranty service, rather than just the end. Just Google or some other search for the cheapest prices for one. Your 75 and 100 foot runs might benefit from an amplified HDMI cable.