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Seeking Advice: Cable Runs for LG OLED C7P 65 inch 4k TV (1 Viewer)

mike cady

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Mike Cady
Hello
I really need some help as I am getting all sorts of contradictory recommendations around how to wire my system. I have an electrician coming this weekend to complete all of the wiring and electrical work for my project before the Mason starts next week. At a point where I really need to get my arms around this as I learned a lot of new information today to my surprise.

Project Overview:
We have a very large 30 by 30 living room with 20 foot high ceilings. At a Macro level our project entails a mason installing stone around our fireplace and all the way up to the ceiling. In short he will be installing a new limestone hearth and fabricated stone around our fireplace which will net out to 6 feet wide and 20 feet high stone wall. Before the Mason begins his work we have our electrician coming in to prepare for the addition of an OLED 4K TV and Atmos Soundbar above the mantle. This is where we are looking for some guidance.

Situation:
We purchased CNET's TV of the year (LG 65 inch OLED 4k HDR Smart TV C7 Series).
Our Spectrum Cable Box And Blue Ray Player will need to be connected to the TV. However, these 2 devices will be 50 feet away in our media cabinet. Also coming to find out that our Blue Ray will not work with the LG OLED and that we need to buy a 4K Blue Ray for compatibility purposes.
In addition, we will have an Atmosphere Sound Bar sitting on the mantle right below the TV that we need to connect along with an Apple TV which will sit on our mantle as well.

Problem:
We thought we were making the right decision to future proof our investment with the OLED but are quickly coming to find out that we need to re-invest in cabling at a premium and additional hardware that is compatible with the OLED. None of this was shared with us during the sales process. Regardless, I am over it and we are trying to solve for a specific problem as follows: The Spectrum Cable Box AND Blue Ray Player are 50 feet of cable away from the OLED TV. In other words, we need to solve for the best way (highest quality and most cost efficient) to connect the TV to these 2 units that will be in our media center roughly 50 feet away.

Implication:
We are considering several approaches to solve for this in the most meaningful way as 3 approaches have been presented to us, all of which carry a large cost and frankly, I have yet to hear a plan that I am comfortable with. This is what we are hearing. Please review and let us know if anyone has any suggestions.

Option #1:
Solution for Cable Box and 4K Blue Ray - Run a single 50 foot Premium HDMI cable from the TV to the Cable Box ($400 - $500) and Run a second 50 foot Premium HDMI cable from the TV to the 4K Blue Ray (Another $400-$500).
Solution for the 4K Apple TV and the Atmos Sound Bar that will be under the TV on the mantle - Run a single 3 foot Premium HDMI from the TV behind the wall to the Soundbar and Run a single 3 foot Premium HDMI behind the wall to the 4K Apple TV.

Option #2:
Solution for Cable Box and 4K Blue Ray - Run a single 50 foot Cat6 from the TV to the media center with an HDMI Balun on both ends. The media center Balun would have 2 HDMI slots for the cable box and the Blue Ray to tie into and the TV side end would have a Balun with an HDMI port that connects HDMI to the TV.
Solution for the 4K Apple TV and the Atmos Sound Bar that will be under the TV on the mantle - Run a single 3 foot Premium HDMI from the TV behind the wall to the Soundbar and Run a single 3 foot Premium HDMI behind the wall to the 4K Apple TV.

Option #3:
Solution for the Cable box and 4K Blue Ray - Connect the Blue Ray to the Spectrum Cable Box via HDMI and the Run a singe HDMI cable from the Spectrum cable box 50 feet to an HDMI switch that gets installed by the TV. This switch has a single HDMI that feeds into the OLED. The Sound Bar and 4K Apple TV that are on the mantle tie into the switch as well. In short, the Switch is the central point where all devices meet with a single HDMI feeding up into the TV.

As I look at this, I am starting to feel like I paid a premium for a viewing experience that is way ahead of its time. From what I understand the only thing we will actually truly be able to leverage this awesome TV's picture quality for is some streaming scenarios (Netflix, etc.) and when watching 4K blue ray. Anything we watch via the cable box will be converted as best as possible but will not get to true OLED 4K quality due to the fact that TV stations are not delivering 4K content today. Further more I am starting to understand that I cannot make any mistakes as it relates to the HDMI line runs as degradation can occur at 50 feet. A lot going on here and really need some assistance from some Pros.

Open to ideas. Thanks in advance for any guidance and support you might be able to offer.

Regards,
Mike
 

JohnRice

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Who had the brilliant idea of putting the sources 50ft from the TV? All this expense and effort, and your only audio option is a soundbar. Sorry I’m not of more help, but option 4 is needed, and someone deserves their payment to be canceled.
 

mike cady

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Who had the brilliant idea of putting the sources 50ft from the TV? All this expense and effort, and your only audio option is a soundbar. Sorry I’m not of more help, but option 4 is needed, and someone deserves their payment to be canceled.

I hear you! This is a situation we inherited when we bought our house. We are changing the location of our tv in the room and the challenge is that there is a fixed built in cabinet to rack our gear and we dont want an ENT stand left or right of our fireplace. Need to figure out a solution. Option 4 is not an option :) thanks for your quick reply - I was expecting a few responses like your but there has got to be a good solution.
 

Scott Merryfield

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Cable runs of 50ft and 4K HDMI cables are not two things that go well together. You will probably need some sort of active fiber optic cable, but need something that is 18Gbps certified to ensure it can handle 4K + HDR. You will probably also want some additional space in your cable conduit for future cables, as the HDMI 2.1 specification which is not yet ratified requires new cables which can support 48Gbps bandwidth.

I have to agree with John -- placing the display that far away from your source components is going to be problematic. Also, placing the display above your mantel creates a poor viewing angle. Our next door neighbors did the same thing with their flat screen display, and we watched the Super Bowl there a few years ago. My neck hurt after the game from watching at that angle. Since then, we've had them at our house for the Super Bowl each year.
 

Mike Frezon

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Also, placing the display above your mantel creates a poor viewing angle. Our next door neighbors did the same thing with their flat screen display, and we watched the Super Bowl there a few years ago. My neck hurt after the game from watching at that angle. Since then, we've had them at our house for the Super Bowl each year.

Maybe Mike doesn't want to host the Super Bowl party at his house any more...

:D
 

mike cady

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Maybe Mike doesn't want to host the Super Bowl party at his house any more...

:D
Great insight gents! Best take away is that 18gbps is going to 48 which means even if I plan for 18 today I am still SOL for tomorrow and I am still not future proofing. I thought I was future proofing with the OLED 4K investment. I may take a step back and return it and just hang my 1080P 65 inch and use my existing cables and call it a day until the OLED 4K world becomes more mainstream with standards at lower price points. Thoughts?
 

JohnRice

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There is no such thing as future proof. Seriously, think about that term. It's an oxymoron.

Dropping 4K would probably simplify things significantly. I believe it is possible to then run an active hdmi cable or break out to ethernet, which would cost significantly less than $400, between the sources and the TV. I've never used that stuff, but I know it's out there and available and others here have used it. The layout of the system is still miles from desirable, for the reasons Scott explained. I've been in so many houses with the TV over the mantle, and it is awful.

I'll probably leave my feedback to that. I'll just finish with what I know some others are thinking but might not say. I see a lot of people who approach this with preconceptions that are far too much of an obstacle. There's a tendency to insist on finding ways to deal with unnecessary obstacles rather than look for a different approach with fewer and more manageable obstacles. For instance, if the source equipment has to be at the back of the room, put it all at the back of the room. Not some in back and some in front, with the need to run double cables to connect it all. Also, what's not understood far too often is how important sound can be to movies. I'd always rather have a smaller monitor and great sound system than an oversized monitor and a soundbar. Just my $0.02.

My gut feeling is your ultimate solution will be to put all the electronics in the back, and stream whatever you watch wirelessly to the TV, instead of hard wiring between the two. I don't know what exists to do that right now, but hardware like the newest AppleTV are working toward making that possible with 4K. It's already completely possible with 1080.
 

mike cady

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Ok, so you are all very helpful. What I am planning on doing is keeping things simple. Our mantle is going to be lower than standard and our TV will still go above the mantle but will not create neck injuries for any one by any means. I am going to return the OLED I just purchased. We have a movie theatre in the works in the basement, so no need for crazy sound in our great room, so a good soundbar will suffice. Going to home run several HDMI cables to the back of the room to all of my gear (cable box, blue ray, Apple TV, etc). And Boom - I'm done wit little cost and a nice 1080P experience on a great TV. Will look downstream at eh whole 4K OLEd experience in the basement theatre room when the industry adopts more standards around HDMI for 4K and prices come down a bit. thanks everyone for your input and direction. Much appreciated!
 

Mike Frezon

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Our mantle is going to be lower than standard and our TV will still go above the mantle but will not create neck injuries for any one by any means.

Stock up on Wings and veggies & dip then...cuz you are gonna end up with that Super Bowl party at your house every year! :D
 

Scott Merryfield

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Stock up on Wings and veggies & dip then...cuz you are gonna end up with that Super Bowl party at your house every year! :D
Maybe not. The proper height for a display is at eye level when you are sitting down, which means about 2-3 feet off the floor. I doubt his mantel is that low, as he would then have the world's smallest fireplace. Installing it above the mantel will still create a poor viewing angle, and maybe a sore neck.
 

Mike2001

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An articulating mount solves the over the fireplace viewing angle problem. I had a Mantel Mount version originally and that worked really well for my 65" TV. Recently upgraded the TV to a 77"-er and found I had to upgrade the mount too, as the new TV weighed too much for the old one. The new mount came from Dynamicmounting.com and also works very well (with a 120lb TV).

Monoprice has 50' active high speed HDMI cables (capable of 18 GBps) for $54.99.

I tried the HDMI switching route about 18 months ago and couldn't find one capable of switching 18 GBps. Things might be different today.

I love my 4K OLED TVs. I wouldn't want to go back to 1080p.

Funny that you are putting in a big stone wall over your fireplace. We just ripped out a 9' wide brick mantle that went all the way up to our cathedral ceiling (14' tall). We put in a smaller marble mantle (with the big TV on the articulating mount above it) and are in the process of installing a bookcase wall around the fireplace and TV. Our components will go in one of the bookcases near the TV with the cables all buried behind the shelves or behind the wall.
 

xx Brian xx

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For that 50' 4K run I would use a HDBaseT Balun. I've used 60' active HDMI cables from Monoprice and they worked great for 1080 but they cannot do 4k HDR. Any HDMI over 24', whether it's active or not, is not going to send over 10 Gbps and 18 is needed for true 4K HDR. I recently installed an HDBaseT balun with a cat7 cable and am now getting full HDR 4K 4:4:4 out of a Sony UBP-X800 4K Bluray player.

Brian
 

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