Echo Rack Shelf

Talk with fellow members about Ceton's Media Center Extender.
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STC

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#21

Post by STC » Wed Jan 09, 2013 9:19 pm

And then, here's the kicker, sorry, but the Echos are tiny, surely there isn't an issue using them locally to each TV?
Having a distribution system is a tad overkill?
-Maybe just a nice plaything, but an expensive one none-the-less...



*Velcro'd to the back perhaps?! :P
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#22

Post by mcewinter » Wed Jan 09, 2013 9:44 pm

^I don't disagree but it may be a case where the home already has it in place. I imagine that most/all whole music installs still include IR systems. There's a level of customer that doesn't want to see anything and have it just work.

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#23

Post by tad » Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:02 pm

STC wrote:And then, here's the kicker, sorry, but the Echos are tiny, surely there isn't an issue using them locally to each TV?
Having a distribution system is a tad overkill?
-Maybe just a nice plaything, but an expensive one none-the-less...



*Velcro'd to the back perhaps?! :P
overkill? maybe.

expensive? no doubt. The HDMI matrix switch I just picked up was not cheap.

awesome? absolutely.

easy to use? incredibly - everything will be soon be integrated into a custom control system that will completely eliminate switching between inputs manually on the TVs, remembering which device can do Pandora, which can do Netflix, etc...

We LOVE being able to sync up several displays on the same floor of our home. For example, watching the same TV show in the kitchen and living room at the same time. Or, listening to the same music throughout the first floor (and being able to see the lovely music interface that media center provides on each TV). It's especially great for parties. You can't do this without having the sources centralized.

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#24

Post by STC » Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:13 pm

Interesting.

How does the switch handle HDCP for sync'd shows viewed at same time?
Do you have any other required hardware at the screen end such as a twisted pair to HDMI converter or IR receiver module etc?
Is your solution completely free of extra hardware TV side other then the TV and HDMI cable?
Would you mind linking to the matrix, I'd be interested to read up on it.
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#25

Post by tad » Thu Jan 10, 2013 5:47 pm

STC wrote:Interesting.

How does the switch handle HDCP for sync'd shows viewed at same time?
Do you have any other required hardware at the screen end such as a twisted pair to HDMI converter or IR receiver module etc?
Is your solution completely free of extra hardware TV side other then the TV and HDMI cable?
Would you mind linking to the matrix, I'd be interested to read up on it.
This is the matrix I am currently using, but there are quite a few available. Quality varies greatly. http://www.gefen.com/gefentoolbox/gtbpr ... d_id=10306
I have an IR receiver module at each TV (xantech) and on some tvs (where I didn't run HDMI), I have a cat5 to hdmi receiver. There is no other hardware at the TV side.

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#26

Post by Embiggens » Thu Jan 10, 2013 9:13 pm

holy ****

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#27

Post by STC » Fri Jan 11, 2013 11:51 am

Indeed :)
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#28

Post by STC » Fri Jan 11, 2013 2:16 pm

I'm still interested in the protected content to multiple TVs aspect. Does the matrix perform this spoofing?
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#29

Post by tad » Fri Jan 11, 2013 3:22 pm

STC wrote:I'm still interested in the protected content to multiple TVs aspect. Does the matrix perform this spoofing?
HDCP handshaking isn't an issue as long as all the displays support HDCP. The matrix handles all of the EDIDs internally.

Note that there are several other (much cheaper) products that accomplish similar distribution. For example, I've used this monoprice splitter for years: http://www.monoprice.com/products/produ ... 1&format=2

There is also a monoprice 4x4 matrix here, which gets mostly good reviews: http://www.monoprice.com/products/produ ... 1&format=2

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#30

Post by STC » Fri Jan 11, 2013 3:27 pm

Ahh no, I didn't phrase that properly; My question is one of playing protected content to more than one TV at once.
That would be defeating [some aspects of] the protection. Does the matrix do this?
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#31

Post by tad » Fri Jan 11, 2013 5:14 pm

STC wrote:Ahh no, I didn't phrase that properly; My question is one of playing protected content to more than one TV at once.
That would be defeating [some aspects of] the protection. Does the matrix do this?
Yes, you can play protected content to multiple displays. However, I don't think this defeats any aspect of the protection.

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#32

Post by richard1980 » Fri Jan 11, 2013 5:30 pm


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#33

Post by STC » Fri Jan 11, 2013 6:00 pm

Thanks tad and Richard. I'm still stuck on older tech in my mind, when the protected path was point to single, not point to possible multiple...

Next question, then please tad; Do you experience any hiccups with handshaking multiple devices through the matrix? Glitches or otherwise?
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#34

Post by tad » Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:34 pm

STC wrote:Thanks tad and Richard. I'm still stuck on older tech in my mind, when the protected path was point to single, not point to possible multiple...

Next question, then please tad; Do you experience any hiccups with handshaking multiple devices through the matrix? Glitches or otherwise?
I just upgraded to this particular matrix, so I'll report back in a couple weeks after I've had some more experience with it.

One big complaint with the monoprice matrix was that viewing source A on display A and subsequently switching display B also to source A would cause source A to flash/hiccup. Supposedly the higher end switches (like the gefen) fix this problem. Gefen also has "FST" - some sort of proprietary fast switching technology that allows you to switch between sources more quickly. My initial testing has been very positive.

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#35

Post by rmalbers » Mon Jan 14, 2013 2:34 pm

The echo is so light you might be able to glue supporting brackets to the face plate, there are a lot of really good glues these days.

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#36

Post by erkotz » Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:06 pm

I've been meaning to make something to rack-mount some of the Echos I have in my testing rack. This shelf was news to me :-)
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#37

Post by erkotz » Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:06 pm

I've been meaning to make something to rack-mount some of the Echos I have in my testing rack. This shelf was news to me :-) I'm surprised it's 2U though, the Echo is less than 1U tall.
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#38

Post by Crash2009 » Mon Nov 11, 2013 1:37 pm

tad wrote:I just upgraded to this particular matrix, so I'll report back in a couple weeks after I've had some more experience with it.
Hey Guys,

I have been thinking about jumping in to this HDMI matrix thing. Got a 3D projector last week. I am all ready tired of manually connecting/disconnecting. I thought it might be cool to tie all my displays to all my sources. I only have 3 displays and 4 sources. Would be nice to send any source to any or all displays. Are your suggestions from January still relevant? I like the price on the Monoprice http://www.monoprice.com/Product/?c_id= ... largeimage The Sewell Spider 4X4 is affordable as well. http://sewelldirect.com/Sewell-Spider-4 ... upport.asp Anybody got any other suggestions?

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#39

Post by werds » Mon Nov 11, 2013 5:35 pm

Hmmm interesting thread....

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#40

Post by Crash2009 » Mon Nov 11, 2013 6:06 pm

werds wrote:Hmmm interesting thread....
Yup, I probably should start a new thread over in Components. But, before I go, here are a few more HDMI Matrix Switcher's that I found over at Ebay. I want them all, I can only buy 1. http://www.ebay.com/bhp/hdmi-matrix-4x4

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