Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - Cable to Future Proof an Installation

I am in the process of finishing up a remodel that will include a media closet that will house my Cable receiver, DVD, TV tuner, etc. My TV Monitor will be located about 20 feet from the media closet.

None of the actual components have been selected yet so I do not know what the actual interconnect will be. I suspect this will be mostly high end componentry. My question is what type of cable and how many runs should I install between the monitor location and the media closet to ensure I can accommodate what ever system I may choose and what might come down the road in teh forseeable future.

Thanks,
David

install a decent size conduit or conduits between the two and you dont need to worry about the future you can pull whatever you need when the need arises .

more cost effective than pulling a bunch of extra stuff now .

This is not an easy question to answer without knowing a general idea of what sources you are going to use and how you are going to listen to them. Are you going to have a surround sound system? How many speakers / subwoofers are you planning to setup? Do you want to be able to watch TV, DVDs, etc. through the TV's speakers as well as through the surround sound system? Are you going to setup an antenna to get OTA HD signals? Do you want to be able to listen to those OTA channels through the surround sound system? What type of TV do you have or are you going to buy? Is it going to be a Front projector or some type of monitor? What surround sound receiver do you have? Are you going to use a video switcher or scaler?

Without knowing the answers to these questions, there's no way to know what cables you need to run between the closet and TV.

-Mike
"Remember, remember, the fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot."

Ironhead1230 asked me about what types of devices I intended to use, speakers etc. I have all that taken care of wired into the media closet,etc. My question is more specific as to what I need to use to connect between a video source (DVD or tuner) located in teh meda closet and the TV display - located about 20 feet away.

Someone suggested mounting a good sized conduit - then I could pull whatever, whenever - what is considered "good size" for his application?

Thanks,
David

conduit as large as practical .

pull the cables you need now then the largest conduit practical for future .

I would do at least 1" conduit . 1 1/2" to 2" if the construction allows it

Let me explain in a little more detail what I was talking about in my first post. First without knowing what kind of TV you are going to use there is no way to know what cables you need to run. HDMI is becoming the standard to transmit both video and audio but does your TV have HDMI inputs? If it does how many? If it doesn't have HDMI, does it have component video inputs? Are you planning to eventually upgrade the TV? Are you going to use any type of video switching device. If you are, you will only need to run one video cable from the closet to the TV. If you are not using an external video switcher, you will have to run video cables from each source (DVD, cable, DVR, etc.) to the TV. If you are going to use an antenna for OTA HDTV are you using an external tuner or the tuner in the TV. If you are using the TV tuner and want to be able to listen to it through a surround sound system you will have to run an audio cable (dual RCA, SPDIF or TOSLINK depending on your model TV) from the TV to the receiver. If you want to be able to listen to DVDs, cable, etc. through both the TV speakers and a surround system you have to run the audio to both the TV and the receiver from each source.

Again, without knowing what equipment you are using, we can't tell you what specific cables you will need to run between the closet and the TV.

-Mike
"And thus I clothe my naked villainy / With old odd ends stolen forth from holy writ/And seem a saint when most I play the devil."