Projector Connector - Best budget cable without losing quality? (HDMI, ethernet, fiber, active HDMI?) (1 Viewer)

[Grymlot]

I am finishing my basement, and part of that is a home theater room with a projector & screen. I should state up front that I'm in the budget category here. I'm planning to spend around 5,000 on projector, screen, speakers, and receiver. Before the drywall goes up, my question is about the projector connection. The recommendation I got was to go with a Balun, aka HDMI extender over ethernet, as it would probably be cheaper than buying a high quality 25 ft HDMI cable. Then I watched this video: 4 Methods for Running Long HDMIs and found out about a few more options.

My question is, what are the quality trade-offs here between a traditional HDMI cable, an HDMI ethernet extender, HDMI over fiber optic, and Active HDMI? I am planning to get a "4k" projector, which I understand is really closer to 2k with some sort of upscaling. Will all of these options maintain the resolution/quality?

Notes:
-The distance from my projector to receiver is about 20 ft, through the ceiling/walls.
-I haven't decided on a projector, but the screen I'm aiming for would be 120" 16x9 and I'm ok spending 1500-2000 on a projector.
-It's a dark room.
-I have decided at this point that running a conduit in my space is not easy, so not worth it.
-I don't want to run extra cables as backups. I'm putting in an ethernet connection to the projector for sure, and would be ok with 1 other cable for video.

 

[DaveF]

HDMI, whether passive or active over fiber, can support full “8k” HDMI.

HDMI over Ethernet maxes out around at 4K @ 60 Hz. Reports are also that it can be fussier and less stable for syncing than HDMI cable.

Also, currently, active HDMI is same or cheaper than Ethernet.

I’ve got Ethernet and am considering upgrading to active fiber optic hdmi cable.

If I were starting from scratch, I’d know now to do that and not do Ethernet.