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Sending a single video signal to two output sources at the same time

post #1 of 8
8/13/09 at 2:57pm
Thread Starter 
hello everyone!

i spent some time searching but most threads i found were dead ends with either dead links or unanswered questions.  hopefully we can update/change that!  :)

anyway i have a situation where i need two separate TV's to be able to play video from the same source (no audio - that is controlled separately).  I want to be able to play video on one tv, the other, or both at the same time.

they will never need to play two different sources.  just one.

it is for a kids rec center and i'm an amateur, but trying to help them out.  the ladies who take care of the kids have two rooms for them sharing the same input (DVD player), so that is basically the situation.  all the equipment (short of the switcher) has been donated, so we already have all we need.... except the answer to getting the same source to play on two tv's, if needed.

any help would be greatly appreciated.  thank you.
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post #2 of 8
8/13/09 at 3:03pm
It is as simple as using a Y adapter on the composite video output of the DVD player and sending the signal to both TV's.  As long as both TV's are close to the DVD player, everything should work out fine.

Now, if the kids start to complain that they are only getting a picture in 480i, then we will have to look at other options.

-Robert
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post #3 of 8
8/13/09 at 3:07pm
It depends on what outputs are on the DVD player, and what inputs are available on the TV sets, and if video quality is a huge consideration.  I would guess in this situation video quality is not all that important.  The simplest would just to use one output (say the composite output) to one TV with another output (S-video) to the other.  Or you can use component video/HDMI if the TV & DVD player are new enough.

If the TVs are really old, and only have coax RF cable inputs, you can just go to Radio Shack, pick up an RF modulator + RF splitter, which would probably cost in the neighborhood of $35.
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post #4 of 8
8/13/09 at 3:15pm

Quote:
It is as simple as using a Y adapter on the composite video output of the DVD player and sending the signal to both TV's.  As long as both TV's are close to the DVD player, everything should work out fine.
I would *not* use a Y-adapter for video.  Use separate outputs.  Or modulate then split. Or use a distribution amp.  Splitting composite with a simple Y adapter does not work at all well.  For audio Y-adapter is OK.
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post #5 of 8
8/13/09 at 3:18pm
Thread Starter 
ack, sorry that is my fault.

the video sources will be a DVD player and some sort of portable media thing one of the mothers brought in.  The DVD player has regular composite outputs & HDMI.  actually, the media player thing has the same thing.  by regular composite i mean the red/white/yellow RCA plugs.  the tv's are newer LCDs donated two other families, and have all normal video inputs (including composite, component video, HDMI, etc).  i doubt the kids would need HD, but i would prefer something that could play the video in its native resolution (be it high-def or not).  If we could keep the resolution the same (?), that would be most excellent.  is this possible?
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post #6 of 8
8/13/09 at 3:36pm
Keep it simple. For each player I would run HDMI to one TV, component video (green/red/blue) to the other if available.  Otherwise composite.  DVD is 480i native anyway, component is a bit better than composite but it's not a tremendously huge downgrade like it would be for something like Blu-ray.  TVs will do their own de-interlacing/scaling.

Set the HDMI out to 480p/480i if necessary, sometimes component out is disabled if upscaling is turned on.  If the equipment is lame and won't do simultaneous HDMI + component out, that may be a problem, seek out an alternative donation or buy an HDMI splitter from monoprice.com

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post #7 of 8
8/13/09 at 3:48pm
Thread Starter 
thanks for the help!

HDMI would be nice, but is not required... in fact i think it might be a good idea to stick with composite RCA cables (am i defining the red/white/yellow correctly?) due to us having some older equipment in case we'd like to use it.

appreciate the insight on video scaling  & quality of formats.  that was very helpful, and has made me learn that perhaps we should set our sights lower and go with something for composite RCA splitting.  (plus HDMI cables are ridiculous expensive, don't know if we could get any parents to go out and buy that for this application).  now regular RCA cables?  We have tons of those 

so say we set our requirements low and go with just a splitter for that yellow RCA cable, what products are out there?  I did do a search for HDMI splitter and did indeed see some options out there.  I didn't have the same luck searching for composite splitters.  do they not make such a product, am i searching incorrectly, or....?

thanks stephen
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post #8 of 8
8/13/09 at 4:20pm
HDMI cables are only ridiculously expensive if you try to buy them in local stores, who often carry only brands with insane markups.  If you buy online from monoprice, you can get 15 ft cable for < $6, 6 ft cable < $4, plus a few bucks for shipping.  Amazon has cheap ones also.

Red/white/yellow are generically called "audio/video cables", AV cables, technically only the yellow one is "composite video".

I would use just use the 2 output method (HDMI + component AV, or HDMI + composite AV), no need to get complicated, with just those 2 sources, or even if you added a third.    I'd only go for some complicated composite-only distribution amp/switcher solution if you get up to something like a half-dozen components and the TVs start running out of inputs.

For composite splitting, search for "video distribution amplifier".  But it's not really needed for this situation with only 2 TVs (if you had 3, 4 TVs you'd need one).  For the components you have, they already have multiple video outputs.  Even if you add an old VCR into the mix, you could use AV for one TV, use the threaded coax RF output for the other.
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