Ethernet Balun Test for Composite and S-Video Extenders

[NewSchoolBoxer]

tl;dr Cheap CCTV Ethernet Baluns work great as Composite Video Extenders for retro game consoles. Rated for crazy long 100 ft+ / 33 meter no issue. 5 port Ethernet switches also cheap. Maybe send over internet or VLAN.

Here is Composite Video Balun Setup on my LCD with Rock Band. Extended PlayStation AV Out with 30" / 75cm Ethernet. Worked on CRT with PS2 and SNES no issues. First pic is video with Ethernet, third is straight Composite as a control: https://imgur.com/a/b9LEMaL

Very convoluted S-Video Splitter Setup on PVM as proof of concept: https://imgur.com/a/TrUcvMJ and video proof of it working with Time Crisis II: https://youtu.be/fmanlagY-W8

I thought I could split S-Video into Luma and Chroma and feed into separate Balun channels then recombine with splitter in reverse at end. Does technically work but video is very iffy and requires moving cables around until it appears. I interpret this to mean CCTV 4 Channel Balun is fixed on 60 Hz vsync and not 15 kHz hsync. More expensive S-Video Balun pair would work I'm sure. FYI splitter's white was luma and red was chroma.

Below is extended discussion. Not for most people. Basically, Ethernet is great as an extension of Composite or S-Video OR AUDIO if you have the right Baluns. No console video out to Balun cables exist so best case is extending Composite or S-Video cable a long distance with no further loss of quality. Need cheap RCA/BNC adapters as well since Baluns are male out. YPbPr/Component and VGA Baluns cost too much to be economical. Hey but cheap $15-20 Ethernet switches.

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Your average CCTV camera that Big Brother spies on us with is Composite Video. I looked into what modern technology they use and came across Ethernet and Fiber Optic Baluns. Fiber Optic is much more expensive so I went the Ethernet route as a proof of concept. Video cable is 75 ohm, whereas Ethernet cable is 100-120 ohm, so you have to use a Balun on each end to impedance match and convert the analog to ~digital and back again. Passive is good enough, active more for excessive 300 ft / 100 meter distances.

You probably have Ethernet Cables just sitting around like I do. Cost then is on Baluns and RCA/BNC adapters since Baluns are BNC male connectors. Screw terminal Baluns are cheap as hell - $2 or less each - but I didn't want to destroy my cables or buy new ones. I therefore bought 2x $9.59 "OdiySurveil(TM) 4 Channel Video (BNC) to UTP (RJ45) Video Balun". Yes, you need them in pairs, unless perhaps your Smart TV can accept the signal. Video Baluns are not designed for audio. Warning: only Channel 1 and 2 (from right) worked. I'll return for refund. I see Home Depot sells a more expensive 4 Channel Balun. Maybe I'll try.

Elephant in the room issue is I connect end of Composite cable to the Balun, meaning optimal signal is no better than what I had to begin with. Need custom video out cable to go straight to Balun to improve video quality by the nearly losses transmission. Ethernet is rated for crazy long distances. HDMI Extenders use Ethernet for this reason. Plus Ethernet cable is cheap.

$10.48 LINESO Audio Balun Pair worked GREAT but I imagine most people care more about video. Female-female adapters needed for existing cables. Skipping audio discussion.

Repeating from above: S-Video, Component and VGA Baluns exist, yet the video quality chain becomes much more expensive with each step. I think S-Video is the cutoff for economics but you do gain on cheap as hell Ethernet switches.

[kitty666cats]

I’ve always had an aversion to CAT5E for cabling with no good reason beyond aesthetic purposes. Also all my cable runs are very short...

I could see it being a valid option for me if I were to end up with a big ol’ house & big ol’ bank account someday... but let’s be frank, I’m 32 and my financial situation has still never really exceeded “barely scraping by” lmao.

I have some BRILLIANT ideas, many regarding our hobby, but being strictly an “idea man” and not having the full knowledge or funds to implement anything is quite the proverbial brick-wall

[NewSchoolBoxer]

I like the look of Ethernet cables and making use of cords sitting in a closet. What would bother me is a switch setup with the cords being different colors. Would super nice if the powers that be could have settled on an official color for CAT5 / 5e / 6. Instead I have one each in blue, white, grey, black and yellow. Two have "5e" printed on the cable and I looked up the grey XBox 360 is CAT5. As far as it goes without paying for 1 Gigabit internet to test.

I think the pro move is buying the screw terminal Baluns in bulk and modifying one from each pair from BNC to Nintendo or Sony Multi Out. I assume the common 2 channel ones can be adapted to S-Video. But then buying in bulk suggests a business model and the average person isn't paying more than generic $10-15 for Composite or S-Video.

I can spend some money on an idea I feel is very important. Yet here I am still holding out on an oscilloscope. Got some local universities to ask in January.

[Guspaz]

Since most longer RCA/s-video cables use coax, why bother with baluns? As far as I understand it, a balun setup might be as good as coax under ideal circumstances, but it can also be worse, will never be better, and it's a whole lot more convoluted than just using coax to begin with.

I'm also not sure why you're talking about ethernet switches and the internet. Baluns aren't converting analog signals to digital ethernet frames, they're just converting an unbalanced signal into a balanced signal and the reverse at the other end to cancel out noise introduced into the cable. It's all still analog, you're just repurposing the wires in the ethernet cable, there's no ethernet involved.

[NewSchoolBoxer]

Thank you for the insight and criticism. I needed it. Rationale for baluns is a) using the 3 ethernet cables I had sitting around b) ethernet's twisted pair of the signal and its inverse resist noise and interference better than coax. There is the tradeoff insertion loss to connect to a balun that I anticipate is much easier to overcome for low quality Composite and S-Video versus YPbPr and RGB. Also nice to use 1 Ethernet cable to carry 4 channels, making it cheaper than other cable types for the same distance, more so if using screw terminals.

But yeah, I can see how you say the setup is convoluted. I was more interested that it could work without noticeable quality loss. Thinking to prove ethernet noise resistance, NES has female Composite and Audio Out jacks so can connect baluns directly. Then can record video and audio footage comparing against coax.

I appreciate the correction on ethernet switches and internet. The differential signal is more accurately described as analog than the "~digital" I used and would not work plugged into an ethernet switch. Need to connect instead to a ~$50 4-channel CCTV DVR. These look cool. Have 1 Video Out + VGA and HDMI Out for monitor, as well as a digital ethernet port that then can connect to a router or switch.

That's a lot of work and costs much more than a Composite+S-Video switch but you get 4 different output formats, on top of RCA Audio In and Out. 1080p support is amusing.

If I can show baluns to be better than coax for low quality signals then maybe they can find a place in retro gaming versus as alternative cheap extenders.