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Just Add Power HDMI over IP - techncial discussion


Nded

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I made a new video. The link 2 posts up isnt as good as this one

The video shows fast switching for two Direct TV sources with the same resolution. When the sources are one 720p and second 1080p' date=' how fast is the Just Add Power Scaler? Is there a longer delay?[/quote']

In the infamous Sohoshop Cedia video we demonstrated switching between sources that are at different resolutions (

). Specifically we went through the following changes:

1 Started with a 1080p24 Playstation

2 Switched to an Xbox game at 720p

3 Switched to a Vudu BX100 at 1080p24

4 Switched to a Vudu XL at 1080p24

5 Switched to a Sony camcorder at 1080i

6 Switched back to the Playstation 1080p

As you can see in the video, sources at different resolutions have no impact on the HDMI over IP switching speed.

Edited by Nded
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I made a new video. The link 2 posts up isnt as good as this one

The video shows fast switching for two Direct TV sources with the same resolution. When the sources are one 720p and second 1080p' date=' how fast is the Just Add Power Scaler? Is there a longer delay?[/quote']

In the infamous Sohoshop Cedia video we demonstrated switching between sources that are at different resolutions (

). Specifically we went through the following changes:

1 Started with a 1080p24 Playstation

2 Switched to an Xbox game at 720p

3 Switched to a Vudu BX100 at 1080p24

4 Switched to a Vudu XL at 1080p24

5 Switched to a Sony camcorder at 1080i

6 Switched back to the Playstation 1080p

As you can see in the video, sources at different resolutions have no impact on the HDMI over IP switching speed.

Thank you for the specifics.

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Several models in the Cysco Catalyst 2960 series allow for some ports to support Power over Ethernet. If the "Just Add Power" HDMI over IP recievers were connected to these "powered" ports' date=' would a separate power adapter for the reciever be necessary?[/quote']

The JAP boxes do not support power over Ethernet in this version, you need a power brick for each box.

Nded, can we add IEEE 802.3af compliant POE to our wish list for the next gen of recievers?

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Pardon my ignorance:

If you use, for example, a Cysco 2960 switch for a distributed video system using JAP technology, does that Cysco switch need to be only used for the JAP distributed video? Or can some of the unused ports be used for IP security cameras, IP phones, etc.? Anything to consider here?

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Pardon my ignorance:

If you use, for example, a Cysco 2960 switch for a distributed video system using JAP technology, does that Cysco switch need to be only used for the JAP distributed video? Or can some of the unused ports be used for IP security cameras, IP phones, etc.? Anything to consider here?

its one of things that its not much more for a good switch to use on your normal network so to be safe you should keep the network switch just doing video and use a separate one for communications etc

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Several models in the Cysco Catalyst 2960 series allow for some ports to support Power over Ethernet. If the "Just Add Power" HDMI over IP recievers were connected to these "powered" ports' date=' would a separate power adapter for the reciever be necessary?[/quote']

The JAP boxes do not support power over Ethernet in this version, you need a power brick for each box.

Nded, can we add IEEE 802.3af compliant POE to our wish list for the next gen of recievers?

Absolutely consider it on our official wish list.

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Pardon my ignorance:

If you use' date=' for example, a Cysco 2960 switch for a distributed video system using JAP technology, does that Cysco switch need to be only used for the JAP distributed video? Or can some of the unused ports be used for IP security cameras, IP phones, etc.? Anything to consider here?[/quote']

its one of things that its not much more for a good switch to use on your normal network so to be safe you should keep the network switch just doing video and use a separate one for communications etc

Kevin is very conservative with his recommendation to isolate the HDMI over IP solution from the rest of the home LAN, and I to appreciate the wisdom of his advise. I'm a little more aggressive on the matter. As has been pointed out before, the 5x9 implementation was only using 4% of the Cisco 2960's bandwidth. I would think that most home users could easily put their other applications on the same Managed Ethernet switch as HDMI over IP, just take care to put that traffic on its own VLAN where it won't impact, or be impacted by HDMI over IP multicasting. On the other hand, a dirt cheap basic switch could be used to handle the home networking and prevent any possible conflicts.

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Ed:

Is there a way to replicate the transmitter functionality with a PC? I know that something like VLC will send video/audio out on an IGMP multicast stream. I would assume that the main issue would be getting an exact codec match to your hardware receiver/transmitters?

The scenario I am thinking is a media jukebox type device where we are bypassing the conversion to HDMI altogether and just streaming the video to the devices directly over IP.

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Ed:

Is there a way to replicate the transmitter functionality with a PC? I know that something like VLC will send video/audio out on an IGMP multicast stream. I would assume that the main issue would be getting an exact codec match to your hardware receiver/transmitters?

The scenario I am thinking is a media jukebox type device where we are bypassing the conversion to HDMI altogether and just streaming the video to the devices directly over IP.

I'm afraid that is not something we can accomodate without compromising the HDMI Adopter agreement. However, it is relatively easy to get an HDMI/DVI output from a PC and then use that compatible signal to attach to a transmitter.

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  • 2 weeks later...

With the JAP technology, you can switch between hdmi sources and send them to the TV over IP. But let's say you have a "control room" with a rack, and various TVs throughout the house. To get the control4 graphic user interface to a distant TV, you need to run component video from the control4 controller to the TV. That means running a separate component video over cat5 using baluns. I suppose a better way would be to use a component video to HDMI converter such as those made by startech or gefen, and then input that signal into the cisco switch as a source with a JAP transmitter. So the signal would go like this:

c4 controller + startech component video to hdmi converter + JAP transmitter + cisco switch + JAP receiver + TV.

That's a heck of a maze for a signal to go through. I'm excited about JAP HDMI over IP, but using it with the control GUI is kind of fitting a round peg in a square hole. At least until control4 gets their act together and comes out with a controller with an hdmi output. I don't think the unreleased media player accomplishes this, does it?

Has anyone tried this? Does it work reliably? Is it tough to program? Is there another way to get the c4 GUI to the TV that I'm not thinking of?

Edited by 3fingerbrown
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Just use a component to hdmi converter. The media player is just that' date=' a media player and nothing more.[/quote']

Has anyone tried this yet? Does this create any programming or operational issues? Any particular brand of component-hdmi converter that is recommended?

We've used them before, the Gefens I believe.

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=4457

No additional programming or operational issues seen.

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Okay, so there is a C4 driver for the JAP technology and the Cisco 2960 series switch.

Could this driver be modified to work with this Lynksis managed switch?

546522.jpg

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/546522-REG/Linksys_SRW2024P_24_Port_Managed_Gigabit_Switch.html#specifications

I want a managed switch with gigabit ethernet capability, for future proofing reasons and certain gigabit compatible things (besides JAP, which I understand is only 100baseT). A cisco 24 port 2960 series gigabit switch is very expensive, over twice the cost of the linksys. Will the Linksys perform up to par? Will getting a C4 driver for the Linksys be difficult? Any thoughts?

Edited by 3fingerbrown
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Okay, so there is a C4 driver for the JAP technology and the Cisco 2960 series switch.

Could this driver be modified to work with this Lynksis managed switch?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/images345x345/546522.jpg

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/546522-REG/Linksys_SRW2024P_24_Port_Managed_Gigabit_Switch.html#specifications

I want a managed switch with gigabit ethernet capability, for future proofing reasons and certain gigabit compatible things (besides JAP, which I understand is only 100baseT). A cisco 24 port 2960 series gigabit switch is very expensive, over twice the cost of the linksys. Will the Linksys perform up to par? Will getting a C4 driver for the Linksys be difficult? Any thoughts?

Right now I have an SRW224G4 on the bench on loan from Cisco and we are working on how to make it compatible with the 2960 drivers (right now it has some command set limitations we need to overcome). It uses the same command set and interface as that SRW2024P you are considering. I expect to have a good answer on this within a couple weeks, and I'll be sure to post the details here.

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Hi All

OK very interested in getting started with 'Just Add Power' though before heading out to client with it I want to ensure I have the best standards possible.

Therefore what is the best way of using this system when a 5.1 amp is in a seperate room to your projector or screen ? Amp is in the same location as all video sources.

Thanks

Andrew

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Hi All

OK very interested in getting started with 'Just Add Power' though before heading out to client with it I want to ensure I have the best standards possible.

Therefore what is the best way of using this system when a 5.1 amp is in a seperate room to your projector or screen ? Amp is in the same location as all video sources.

Thanks

Andrew

The way I see it, you have 2 options.

Option 1: Capture the audio at the sources and route it to the amplifier - this requires a secondary "smart" audio matrix that follows your HDMI over IP video matrix.

Option 2: Route the audio from the room back to the hidden amplifier. This can be accomplished with some screens that have a digital audio out, or with a device like an Altona HDMI audio extractdor.

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You have a lot of options, but this technology works best where the video sources (cable boxes, blu ray players, etc) and the managed ethernet switch are located in the same location, like a rack/shelves in a media closet, etc. Then if you have a home run cat5 to the room, you run HDMI over IP to the reciever in the room, which then directly connects to your speakers and TV.

With control 4, you could also put the reciever on the rack as well, to keep everything hidden, and have the JAP switch send HDMI over IP directly into the reciever on the rack, and then run speaker wire to the room, and using an HDMI balun run to the TV.

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Thanks for this also got your email.

Would it also be possible to buy an extra receiver that can plug straight into the 5.1. amp. So basically one receiver takes the video and the second the audio ?

That does not work reliably, as not all Receivers are able to return the HDCP handshake needed to activate the signal broadcast.

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Probably confused matters here. I meant buy an extra JAP receiver not a 5.1 receiver.

So my thought being satelite box --> JAP transmitter --> Cisco switch --> Two Jap receivers one for taking audio to the 5.1 receiver and the other for taking video to the screen

3fingerbrown -- So what would the quality be like by the time JAP processes the video then the 5.1 receiver and then the hdmi baluns ?

thanks

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Probably confused matters here. I meant buy an extra JAP receiver not a 5.1 receiver.

So my thought being satelite box --> JAP transmitter --> Cisco switch --> Two Jap receivers one for taking audio to the 5.1 receiver and the other for taking video to the screen

why not just send one cat5 signal from the switch to one JAP receiver, which then goes into the Home theater receiver, which then connects directly to the TV via HDMI and to the speakers? Why are you forced to use two JAP recievers?

3fingerbrown -- So what would the quality be like by the time JAP processes the video then the 5.1 receiver and then the hdmi baluns ?

Ed can comment on this, haven't implemented this yet in my house. Reports of JAP technology have been good, though it probably shouldn't be used for a high end home theater. In my home theater, I will likely have a separate blu ray player for the home theater reciever. Picture quality may not be an issue, but JAP won't do 7.1 sound anyway.

Edited by 3fingerbrown
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3fingerbrown -- why not just send one cat5 signal from the switch to one JAP receiver, which then goes into the Home theater receiver, which then connects directly to the TV via HDMI and to the speakers? Why are you forced to use two JAP recievers?

The Home theatre receiver could be installed in the rack and too far from its video end point. So HDMI may not be a solution

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