# how long can VGA cable be run?



## drf

One of my clients has asked me to install a projector and screen when I upgrade and tune their P.A setup. I can find out about projection distance, angle and keystone correction however i am a bit unsure of the maximum distance I can run a vga cable before we start to loose image quality. The projector will get its signal from a HP laptop. Currently we need to run the cables 25 metres.

Thanks,

dr f


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## bobgpsr

I've heard that about 10 metres is the longest you should try to run VGA without using booster amps.

Bob


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## basementjack

I've run 50 feet with no problem at all, as in no even a hint of a signal problem. It really surprised me.

My advice would be to use a single run of cable with the only connections being at the laptop and at the projector.

Ensure the cable you use is constructed of 3 co-ax cables internally - straight unshielded wire will not cut it.

PIMFG.com sells a 100 foot Male-male cable with one RF choke $34, (75 foot is $27)http://www.pimfg.com/product_list.asp?searchtype=page&searchstring=68
These are the cables I've used with good luck. 

Be sure to put the RF choke on the end near the laptop - as the choke's purpose is to reduce RF noise, which is more likely to enter at the laptop than it is at the projector.

Hope this helps.


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## brucek

> Be sure to put the RF choke on the end near the laptop - as the choke's purpose is to reduce RF noise, which is more likely to enter at the laptop than it is at the projector.


Huh, I would have thought that it would be best to install a choke closest to the equipment you want protected from the interference, since at that location any RF produced at the transmitting end combined with any interference picked up along the cable would be choked.

I would think that you could run ~100 feet with a high quality HD-15 cable.

brucek


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## Guest

VGA-Analogue is not going to have as long a range as DVI. Using high quality cables I would say that 10 meters would be the maximum for [email protected] There are VGA-Analogue repeater solutions as well that can also permit 10's and 100's of meters of signal--at lower resolution let say [email protected]
Try good cable, and if that doesn't work you will have to install repeater.


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## Rodny Alvarez

I have a 24 ft cable from my Dell comp to my pj and have no problems! http://lindy.com/


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## drf

Thanks guys, I found a local supplier of cable and will try the longest run they sell (15metres I think) then add 5 metres at atime until the signal degrades too much to use. It looks like lindy has an australian arm, and supply boosters so I know I can get one if necessary. At least I can go to my client with some knowledge on this, were as before I would have to say I didn't know.


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## Danny

I personally wouldn't run the cable more than 10metres without the booster, even if it works with the HP notebook you must consider what would happen if they hooked up another notebook that had a weaker signal. Just a thought.


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## drf

Thats a good point, I don't know what the chances of that are, but i will certainly keep that in mind when sorting out the final plan of installation.


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## phaseshift

While I can not give a definite answer, I can say that I have run into _big_ problems with this when we tried (ignorantly) to lengthen a VGA cable by adding on another F-M cable. Tried an amplifier and it was not much of an improvement, but wouldn't you know, a new cable the right length fixed it in an instant. 

The run is about 60 feet and we added about 5 feet to that in order to move the PJ. The actual PJ is a Benq something or other. It is a mid level 720 resolution and even though it has HDMI, it is a conference room PJ and mostly sees use with spreadsheets, eDrawings and junk like that. 

We certainly learned our lesson on the VGA cable deal. Painful, but a well learned lesson for sure. Based on my experience, I would certainly not recomend extending the cable if it is already there and you just need a little more; it sure messed us up.


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## wbassett

I am running a 50' VGA to component cable for my projector setup with no problems at all.


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## JRace

I have a 7' peice of Cat 5 with a Cat 5 connector on one end and a VGA plug (HD15) on the other. THis is plugged into a wall mounted cat5 outlet. THen there is another 40' of cat 5 in the wall terminated at a celing mounted cat 5 outlet. Then there is a 1' cat 5 cable with a Cat 5 connector on one end and a VGA plug (HD15) on the other.

I get some slight ghosting on text, but you cannot notice it with movies through the Acer Laptop.


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## Guest

Personally I have made 100 foot run with a good solid vga extension cables.

I use it to split a signal from 1 pc to 2 monitors. I have never had an issue or used an amplifier. 

I would not use 2 or more cables to do the job. You will have more issue diagnosing if you do have issues.


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## MatrixDweller

A 25m cable would be pretty expensive ($75+) as it needs to be extra thick. If you buy quality it will work. A normal cable thickness would not.


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## drf

MatrixDweller said:


> A 25m cable would be pretty expensive ($75+) as it needs to be extra thick. If you buy quality it will work. A normal cable thickness would not.


We are currently running 45M of standard cable. It has interference every now and then, but not regular ao we are having trouble identifying what the exact cause is.


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## MatrixDweller

Check out this link on making your won CAT5e VGA cable.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23850&highlight=cat5

You could use shielded CAT5e or CAT6 for a better result. Making your own cable would be 10 times cheaper and would probably yield a better end result. Shielded CAT5e is only about 25 cents a foot and CAT6 Plenum rated being about 45 cents a foot. If you're an installer then learning how to make your own cables out of CAT5 will make you more profitable since you can reduce your costs. 

Many installers use it for audio as well. They did where I work and the systems sound ok. It might not pass muster for an audiophile unless you start getting funky (like this or this), but for most meeting/board rooms it does the trick.


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## thewire

I wonder if VGA pass-through means it has a booster.


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## credmax

I bought from a 40m VGA cable from Singapore and it works perfectly well without distortion


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## lcaillo

The correct answer, of course, is it depends. It depends on the cable, the resolution, the source device, and the display. In most cases with decent cables, most systems will be OK up to about 50 feet, but there are lots of variables.

I would recommend using vendors that we know are reliable and makes of cable that have some history of working without problems.


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## credmax

lcaillo said:


> The correct answer, of course, is it depends. It depends on the cable, the resolution, the source device, and the display. In most cases with decent cables, most systems will be OK up to about 50 feet, but there are lots of variables.
> 
> I would recommend using vendors that we know are reliable and makes of cable that have some history of working without problems.



Yup. There are to many types of VGA available in the market. Some are 3+4, 3+6 etc... The one which i bough was 3+6. Hence able to connect 40m without any booster or any distortion.


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