So I recently cut some costs by eliminating a couple of Comcast DVR boxes from our account that we only occasionally used. We retained one on our living room TV that gets the most use.
Of course, just a few days after doing this we wanted to watch something on cable in the bedroom (where we'd had a cable box previously) and could not now. This got me thinking, how can I distribute, on the cheap, the cable box in the living room to the TV in the bedroom (and hit the office along the way)?
I have a rambler style house, with my office being one room over from my living room (sharing a common wall) and the master bedroom on the other side of the office (again, sharing a wall). I'd previously poked some non-descript holes in both of those walls to run cabling from the office to both the bedroom TV and the living room TV to support using a single HTPC (home theater PC for those not in the know) at both locations, while placing the computer itself in the middle ground of the office (so I can use cheap wireless keyboard/touchpad combos to operate it without having to transmit more than 25ft from either location).
I recalled from previous forum readings that the Motorola DVR boxes (the older style anyways) permitted the use of both the HDMI and the component video (the red, green, and blue cables) simultaneously (something most devices do not permit). A quick check show that my (slightly) updated box, a DCX-3400M, supports the use of both as well! As luck would have it, my living room already uses the component connections, leaving the HDMI free on the cable box. Excellent, this would allow me to run at least one more TV off the box. To challenge myself, I demanded a total of three TV's.
So I grabbed an HDMI splitter from Amazon, you can find it here, and some extra long HDMI cables (which are surprisingly inexpensive now). I bought those at Amazon as well (Prime free shipping FTW!), but would highly recommend Monoprice should you be in the market. I put together a couple of big Monoprice orders a year. They are the cheapest supplier for cabling (structured, device to device), connectors, and even accessories (my in-ceiling speakers for distributed sound come from there).
Anyway, before I get too sidetracked, the little splitter and cables were delivered. After digging in behind the TVs and pushing cables through the walls, I was ready to test it.
I can indeed confirm that the DCX-3400M (and probably all similarly designed boxes) support simultaneous output. I'm even told the low-res outputs (the passthrough coax or the composite video) are also powered at the same time, so if you've got a low-res set on your patio or in the kitchen, you might want to string a wire up. Then you can watch the same thing in multiple rooms, and without the sound delay you'd get from two DVRs (or one DVR and one live using an antenna).
Now, the biggest downside here is that you can watch the same thing on multiple sets. This means you HAVE TO watch the same thing. There's no, I'll watch my show here and you go to the room and watch yours. So either really agree with your significant other about what to watch or have a backup plan (i.e. another input, DVD player, Roku, Amazon TV, etc.). Second, controlling the DCX-3400 requires a line of sight, something you pretty much can't do from several rooms away. So, to change channels you have to go back out to the living room. Not convenient, to say the least.
Since I generally get along with my wife, and always have multiple source options in case I'm not at the moment, I only had to tackle the second problem, the issue of control.
To control the cable box from another room. I picked up a Next Generation Remote Transmitter. This little electronic box works with your existing remote to make it work over radio frequency (RF). Since RF signals will go through walls without problems, this little wonder can make my cable box remote control the box from two rooms away!
How the RF transmitter works, I don't know, and I was skeptical as all heck it would work. The sales pitch is that you can turn any old IR remote into RF by just replacing the battery. How is that possible? Supposedly the little battery replacement catches the stray signals generated by the remote when you press a button, translates that to RF, and sends it to the flying saucer-like base station which rebroadcasts the original IR signal. Sounds implausible I know, but it works! And really, really well.
I already am heavily reliant on RF remotes in my theater, living room, and master bedroom. I like the Harmony remotes from Logitech. I use an older 890 in both the bedroom and theater and a newer (and unfortunately out of production) 900 in the living room. Since these Harmony remotes do all the functions of the original remotes, those originals are stuffed into a drawer. I located my Comcast DVR remote to use with the Next Generation RF device.
After replacing the battery, I set the saucer up near the living room TV. I stuffed it behind the entertainment center and threaded the included remote IR emitter "eye" into the entertainment center near the cable box. It works flawlessly. I can watch and control the cable box from a room (or two) away!
So this takes care of the office. I don't mind having a couple of remotes to juggle in my office, since I'm the only one that uses it and needs to understand the logic (or lack thereof) the way the TV is wired. The bedroom however, which has a Harmony 890, will be controlling the cable box in the living room by using a second RF receiver base station. The 890 came with one, and supports at least two, but I'm using the included one to operate the TV and inputs in the bedroom. Once you go RF, you'll never go back. You don't realize how annoying it is to try and find the right angle for a remote's command to be received, or worse yet, when people, dogs, or other things obstruct your remote's path. So as soon as I get that second base station for the 890, we'll be able to watch and control a single cable box from 3 rooms!
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