@PHAND I sure sell a lot of matrix switches to installers for there to be no demand for centralized video distribution…just because YOU aren’t selling it, doesn’t mean there isn’t still demand. — John Nemesh on Apr 22

This makes a lot of sense. Many integrators are already “subbing out” various parts of their work because they don’t want to grow too big in case of a downturn in business.  You’d be surprised at how many other skilled trades use... — jsayen on Apr 22

Agree with John.  Fiber is the way to go.  It’s also considerably cheaper than cat6a and is easier to terminate and manage in patch bays etc.  No question you should future proof but if it’s even a question just pull OM3 Multimode... — SKoolD on Apr 20

Thanks, nicholsjh and, yeah, I’m not sure I knew that ... but all the other national car companies share space, buses, etc., in many locales. We can still find many examples in the real world—independent hair dressers sharing space, for example. I... — Julie Jacobson on Apr 20

Good perspective, and great food for thought, Julie.  For the record, though, those car rental companies are all technically the same company, so this does water down the argument a bit.  Enterprise, Alamo, and National are all under the same... — nicholsjh on Apr 20

With the preferred method of delivery moving to streaming I’m seeing no advantage for HDMI 2.1 and its 48Gbps bandwidth. Your source these days is a little box with an app on it or an app built into a TV. Centralized video sources and distribution is... — PHAND on Apr 19

The PoE argument is the best one for using Cat6a…but if you are REALLY future-proofing, you should be running fiber along with your copper wire!  Cat6a or even Cat 7 is not going to handle the 48Gbps that HDMI 2.1 requires.  Fiber will. — John Nemesh on Apr 19