Simple s-video distribution

[Geoff Mills]

Hi all, I've seen some faceplates on the web which have a s-video and 2 phono connections and had the bright idea to use these instead of forever tripping over cables. Can I run 2 cables from 1 socket each going to a different nearby room without too much loss of video quality?

I only intend to use one cable at a time and would like to connect the 3 locations as a (triangular) ring, so that video can be sent in different directions at various times. Or would there need to be a switching device to prevent signal loss?

I currently use an s-video cable from PC to TV that is much longer than any of the proposed cable runs and the picture is fine, so I don't think distance is a big factor.

I've been reading threads on the automation and home theatre newsgroups but so many of them develop into scientific knowledge contests and I don't want to get that fussy.

[Tournifreak]

Yes, you can do it, with the following provisos:

1) It may not work with more than 2 bits of equipment connected at any one time. 2) Cable length is rather limited with S-video before you start losing colour. But if you've done a test already and you're happy with the results, then should be OK. 3) How's your soldering. S-video connectors are pretty difficult with just 1 cable connected. 2 would be pretty tricky I would say (and I do a *lot* of soldering)

Have fun.

Jon.

[Geoff Mills]

Thanks for the reassurances. Though 3 is a bit intimidating, I'll go ahead, even though most of my soldering so far has been on copper plumbing.

[Grunff]

This is simplified by using short flying leads, no more than a couple of inches, then soldering your 2 cables to those (and heatshrinking).

[Geoff Mills]

That's hopeful. How are the flying leads attached to the terminals? Is the heatshrinking part to do with wrapping the finished cable ends in plastic material for extra insulation and/or support?

[Grunff]

Solder - you just solder some wires to the pins.

Each of the flying wires will need to be soldered to your 2 wires, going to the other 2 sockets. Once you solder them, they'll look like a Y. This solder joint needs insulating, and mechanical support. Heatshrink achieves this.

[Geoff Mills]

That's a big help. I'm a lot better prepared now.

[Dave Liquorice]

I think you might end up fuzzying the signal as some of it will go A > B but some A > C > B, this may introduce ghosting. How bad this is depends on how different the two path lenghts are.

Why not fit two sockets at each apex and cross plug (or loop) as required? This ensures a single direct path for any connection.

[Geoff Mills]

Very good advice I guess but at the rate faceplates are going up on these walls, I'm going to have some barely used buckets of magnolia emulsion to sell on ebay. I think I might go for the s-video + audio through cat5 cable option instead. Pricey hardware though.