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How to Wire a Venue for 3D TV
Most everyone has been teased with quality 3D by means of “Avatar.” Some have seen killer demonstrations of 3D on flat panels or DPI’s TITAN 1080p 3D, but how do you prepare your clients for the future of 3D?
More importantly, how do you pre-wire current and future projects to ensure installations are fully 3D capable?
As always, the best way to prepare for the future is to learn from the past and research the present.
Learn from HDMI 1.1
The first cables and devices left us all with enough headaches to keep Advil in business for another 50 years. We found digital, unlike analog, very unforgiving.
You either have an excellent picture, or you have nothing.
And “nothing” means no easy means of troubleshooting.
Additionally, we’ve learned that the best time to pull cable is before drywall is up and the job is finished. Attempting to snake long HDMI or DVI cables through existing conduit or through finished walls and ceilings is a thankless and difficult task.
Finally, let’s remember that there is always a company that will build a black box that accepts one format and converts to another.
Now, let’s look at what we know from the present. First, HDMI 1.2, 1.3 and DVI are all compatible. The current 120Hz 1080p 3D graphics cards found in servers output either 2X DVI, 2X HDMI 1.2, or a single dual link DVI cable.
In all of these cases you can find discrete left and right eye information, a data line, and a clock. Current Stereoscopic players used on media servers actually play two files (left eye file and right eye file) simultaneously. In this case, each file is a full 1080p 60Hz.
So, to plan for the maximum bandwidth scenario we need enough bandwidth to carry 2x 1080p 60Hz content from the source rack to the projector. In addition, current IR emitters must link to both the projector and the source. Since this is only a square wave, a single BNC cable will suffice.
Pulling it Together
Considering the above, the signal will undoubtedly be digital. The digital packet will be something less than 2x the current HDMI 1.3 standard. HDMI 1.3 cables are finally reliable enough that we all have our favorite trusted brands.
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Article Topics
News · Displays · Projectors and Screens · Wire and Cable · HDMI · Structured Wiring · 3d · Wire And Cable · Commercial · Installation · 3d Tv · Digital Projection ·10 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
was this article supposed to suggest how to wire for a 3D display?
It sounds like the answer is conduit, not cable, at least for now.
Not much proofreading going on here.
The answer is always conduit, but that would make for a very boring story. At some point, you’ll want to know what kind of cabling to use.
Hey Julie - fiber is mentioned on page 2.
Jhart - the article is intended for general source and display connectivity. The title is a bit misleading, in that it explicitly refers to tv.
The spec of HDMI version 1.3 has the same bandwidth capacity of version 1.4 = 10.2Gbps.
The difference on 3D is the 1.4 3D protocols for sender/receiver chips and equipment design, which the cable does not interfere with, which is the subject of this article.
It is also possible to have sw upgrades over 1.3 equipment to add those protocols on the connected equipment if it was designed with that capacity.
But again the cable should be transparent to that, as long it is of good quality.
A 2D 1080i60 signal requires 2.2 Gbps for transport over HDMI, double that requirement for 2D p60, double that for 3D1080p60.
Based on spec and cable quality a single high speed good quality HDMI cable should be sufficient for 3D 1080p60 (120Hz).
However not even that would be required for 3D sources such as 3DBlu-ray, which will be 2x1080p24 (film), or 2x1080i60 (video), which both require under 5Gbps, and for which even the bandwidth of HDMI versions 1.0/1/2 of 4.95 Gbps should be sufficient, again, with good quality cable.
If there will be a need to double that up at the source to 2x1080p48 or 2x1080p60 (for no particular benefits other than video processing location) then the bandwidth of at least version 1.3 would be required, but 1.3 should be sufficient if the cable is of good quality.
I always double up connections for in-wall installations, but not based in the bandwidth requirements of this case, unless one plans to run 2 projectors from dual sources feeding each eye, which could always be a possibility of future growth and the client must be consulted.
Thanks for the insights @Rodolpho
All Hail King Smurf !!!
“Based on spec and cable quality a single high speed good quality HDMI cable should be sufficient for 3D 1080p60 (120Hz).”
Unfortunately, that is not the case - at least or especially not over any kind of distance. Even Category 2 ATC certification doesn’t assure this in theory, and in practice testing verifies many quality cables break down at 120hz frame rates. Here’s the evidence:
http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/long-hdmi-cable-bench-tests/hdmi-cable-testing-results
Hmm while I full agree with the conduit comments, if you want to pull “cable”, wouldn’t it make more sense to do 4 Cat5e cables? At the rate things are going 1.3 is easily done with 2, hence 4 should double that…..right? Plus it beats the hell out putting expensive useless cables in the wall.
Again conduit is still the correct answer.
cm,
My original comment was made to indicate that a single good quality high speed wire that is compliant with the HDMI “specification” should be capable to handle 3D even at 1080p60, and it should not be misinterpreted as a blanket statement that any HDMI cable at any length would be capable to handle that bandwidth, if it is actually needed considering the following.
I am not sure what exactly your point was, but I agree that long HDMI cables were always susceptible to signal loss (for which higher quality becomes necessary), that applies to 3D as well, and cable length was the subject of this article. Interestingly, the tests of the link you provided demonstrated that most of the cables actually passed the 10.2 Gbps test at lengths up to 15 feet, and Monoprice and Monster even passed the tests at 30 feet (having lengths up to 75 feet: http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=3831 ).
Regarding higher speeds, on the press presentation Monster Cable did at CES 2010 a new selection of HDMI cables was shown claiming support up to 21 Gbps, surpassing the highest bandwidth requirements of 3D at high frame rates and 4K:
http://www.monstercable.com/press/viewpress.asp?Article=218
In summary, a consumer/installer should always be cautious and not trust any HDMI feature/speed claim of a product (cables and otherwise), and should test cables on site displaying the most demanding signals the installed video system can reproduce over the needed wire length and out of the wall to make sure the cable satisfies the maximum requirements of the particular application before installation.
Best Regards,
Rodolfo La Maestra
What about fiber?