MOD Replacing the Televator TV in my 2017 Newmar Ventana

[Neal]

It appears this TV is not happy with the 8000 feet of HDMI cable much less old cable running from the over driver's seat AV box to the Televator. The TV is flickering and showing snow at times when using Apple TV via HDMI. Everything else such as coax is outstanding, it's not the TV, it's just not jiving with the HDMI cable used in my coach and probably the excessive length Newmar used. My AV setup is a bit complex going through a 1 in 4 out 4K splitter. I changed the HDMI cables as I bought new 8K 48 Gbps cables just to put the latest in and still no luck.

In the end, the solution works out better and that's to put an Apple TV direct connected to the Televator TV. This gives me full 4K Dolby Vision. I was bummed that I wouldn't be able to use my home theater setup but I was wrong as the TV has audio out routed to the home theater and that works great. So I can watch my Apple TV apps such as YouTube TV, HBO, etc. in 4K and get the audio through the TV, home theater, or AirPods. Now keep in mind many of the apps I use on Apple TV "hardware" are available as apps in the TV itself and I have yet to explore those. The Apple TV hardware may not even be necessary but it's what I know for now.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0933D3SN6/?tag=rvf01-20

So after hours beating my head against a cabinet for this saga it worked out even better in the end.

By the way, I didn't realize you could connect HDMI devices wirelessly, that was another option such as a device such as this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09FPHWNHY/?tag=rvf01-20

 

[Neal]

The HDMI cable situation is going to drive me crazy over time. While I don't need it, I also don't know how DISH is affected. Regardless, I know the path from the over driver's seat AV box to the televator via the basement, under kitchen sink, and up so I'm going to run 4 x 50FT 48 Gbps HDMI cables and 1 x 50FT CAT 6 ethernet cable as I'd like to get my access point on the patio side of the coach. It's not a hard thing to do, just go from AV box down the left A-pillar into the gen bay, then into the basement and up from under the sink path. 2 will go to the televator, 2 will go to the exterior TV.

 

[Neal]

Follow-up: Having completed the front TV replacement (post coming next) it opened up settings in the Apple TV hardware I couldn't see before. Allowing me to change to 1080p HDR or Dolby Vision from 4K seems to resolve the issue. The long HDMI cable not rated for 4K or better is likely the issue. The pressure to replace is now less as I have it working properly again. If I want to push 4K content from the AV box then I'll need a newer cable. Otherwise I'll use the Apple TV hardware direct connected to this (televator) TV for 4K Dolby Vision. Lots of options...

 

[B & J T]

Okay Neal, gotta ask. Why all the cords? You’re buying the latest smart TVs which means they’re wireless. You can download the apps you need, the Apple device is redundant. Whenever I mention cords my sons look at each other and laugh. Wireless is the way.

 

[Neal]

Okay Neal, gotta ask. Why all the cords? You’re buying the latest smart TVs which means they’re wireless. You can download the apps you need, the Apple device is redundant. Whenever I mention cords my sons look at each other and laugh. Wireless is the way.

This is a really really really good question.

1. I want to be able to watch the front and televator TV simultaneously, sometimes I'll have both on when watching Football and sitting at the dinette working on the computer
2. I want to keep the functionality of the coach as originally designed or the next owner is going to be majorly confused
3. I have a nice home theater setup which they stopped installing in 2018 and later. I have a marantz 4K AV receiver, polk in ceiling speakers, polk center channel speaker, a nice subwoofer, i.e. a nice 5.1 surround system. The content has to route through the receiver to use the 5.1 surround system and output via HDMI out to all TV's
4. I am not well versed in using the apps on the new TV's and need to get familiar with their capabilities. I typically use an attached Apple TV. This is something I have to shift my use pattern with and learn what these app rich TV's have to offer.

Now that I've determined the limits of the HDMI cables and know what setting that works I may not run new HDMI cables but we'll see. I seem to enjoy painful mods I have been wanting to get an ethernet cable from the AV box to the patio side basement area and that's not hard, so if I'm doing that may as well piggy back some newer HDMI cables as well. We'll see.

But again, great question, good point, it's just that my coach has a 5.1 surround sound system in it I guess. And yeah, like I said in my cord cut thread, I really don't watch much TV! Mainly YouTube and NFL.

 

[Buly]

I went the other way. Unplugged 3 out of the 4 TV’s. Using only the televator in the living room.

 

[Neal]

I went the other way. Unplugged 3 out of the 4 TV’s. Using only the televator in the living room.

Your future owners will appreciate you.

 

[Boat Bum]

If cables can be neatly concealed, I'd take wired over wireless every time.

 

[Neal]

The more I looked at the wireless options it seemed more for computer to monitor use and not really a replacement for home theater use. I too will be sticking to cables. It seems Newmar is moving to CAT 6 / ethernet for HDMI connectivity, I'm not sure what's involved in that.

 

[Scotttkd2]

The more I looked at the wireless options it seemed more for computer to monitor use and not really a replacement for home theater use. I too will be sticking to cables. It seems Newmar is moving to CAT 6 / ethernet for HDMI connectivity, I'm not sure what's involved in that.

Cat6 to HDMI adapters are very common and used in high end video applications, especially where distance is an issu. One end is an injector, the other a receiver. Injector needs power and will come with a small AC adapter. Amazon has them and dozens of mfg's available to choose from. Definitely not a new technology and nothing to be concerned with performance wise. Probably easier running multiple Cat5/6 lines then HDMI anyways in the cramped conditions in a coach.