Hooking up Desktop to TV Help

[g.phish]

I was thinking about setting up a connection between my primary desktop and a tv in my living room, and had some questions about the operation of certain cables. My graphics card does not have HDMI unfortunately, so I was planning on running a VGA and standard auxiliary audio.

VGA: I was planning on building a solid core CAT5 based cable of about 50 ft.
-How bad of a lag will there be? Will movies/video games effectively be able to be streamed?

Audio: Same length, although this will be purchased rather than built.
-How bad will the lag be?

USB: Optimally, I'd also like to send a powered USB extender down for use of a mouse/keyboard/gamepad
-Will I be able to purchase a USB extender of 50ft? Will it be powered (neccesary)?
-Are the USB/CAT5 converter style extenders a viable option? Are they powered?

 

[-RockMan-]

Cat5 doesn't sound like a bad idea, my only problem with this is internet speed and somebody accidently tripping over the wires and breaking something in a bad way.
What type of internet connection do you have and what speed, so we can get a view of what can and cannot be done ?
If you want to why not use a wireless network for your movie,games and hdd archives ?

 

[g.phish]

I was actually going to do a direct connection, not over the internet. I was thinking of building the VGA cable by soldering headers onto a solid core CAT5.

Part of the reason for the length is that the cables are running down a floor, so I was thinking of running it along the corner between the wall and ceiling over to the TV. This would eliminate the threat of tripping for the most part.

I had been using an xbox 360 to stream video from my computer before, but it's incredibly touchy with bitrates and file types. The other option I had used was connecting my laptop via hdmi, but it can't run games, and the video output isn't spectacular.


I really just want to know the feasibility of this project or whether another way would produce a better result, apart from buying new hardware or moving the computer

 

[-RockMan-]

I hear you loud and clear on your plan, I know you don't want to spend another buck.
What if we did a vga to hdmi conversion ?
It's not that hard to do at all and pretty much painless.
The only that would aggravate me is type of cabling that you need and the quality it would produce for you.

Thats the best option for you and it would save you from making custom vga cable to do what you need it to.

Also I would take staple gun and put the wires up top of the ceiling or close enough to where you can reach, grab and unhook something just in case something goes wrong with your connection.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PC-VGA-Vide...ps=63&clkid=2322943566282543869#ht_2372wt_952