Wiring for TV's in a Commercial Space

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mkgrady

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Massachusetts
All of my experience wiring for tvs has been residential and I'm not sure what I need to do for this commercial space. It is a Physical Therapy clinic that is relocating, and of course it needs to be done yesterday as they were unable to extend their existing lease. The tvs will not be installed right away. They just want to get the messy work done, open for business and work on things like tvs later on. Two tvs will be installed soon after opening and they want 3-4 locations wired for future.

It's a nice job for me that includes converting their new 32 by 110 foot space from retail to a PT clinic that includes a large work out area with weights, treadmills, etc.. I'm stumped about how to wire for new and future Tvs. Obviously if it were residential each tv location would get a coax from the incoming service, a cable box would connect to coax and an hdmi would run to the tv. At least that's how I wire my residential jobs. Here, I have no idea if it is the same. Any help would be appreciated.
 
What's the source and how many?

Prob want to run HDMI cables or Cat6 HDMI baluns to wherever the source will be. Usually would just have an HDMI matrix connected to a cable/sat box.


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brantmacga said:
What's the source and how many?

Prob want to run HDMI cables or Cat6 HDMI baluns to wherever the source will be. Usually would just have an HDMI matrix connected to a cable/sat box.


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The source would be Verizon FIOS. I assume they would use one cable box if they could. Not sure if each tv needs its own cable box. They want to run two tvs now but up to five in future.

I thought hdmi cable was limited in how far it can run. 50 feet would be too short for some of the locations. I guess I really should start by asking if each tv needs its own cable box. If multiple cat6 runs can all go back to one box that would be good. Not sure how multiple runs can connect to one output.
 
The limit on the direct run of HDMI cable is why you may want (need) to run CAT 6 cable with either passive or active (amplified) HDMI converters on the ends. Active adapters extend the range farther.

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GoldDigger said:
The limit on the direct run of HDMI cable is why you may want (need) to run CAT 6 cable with either passive or active (amplified) HDMI converters on the ends. Active adapters extend the range farther.

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I guess my best bet would be to run power and cat6 to each tv location and figure out the rest later. Maybe I should run two cat6 from each tv location back to one central place where either one or multiple cable boxes would be located. The second cat6 could be used to change the channel? Is that possible with some kind of adapter?
 
mkgrady said:
I guess my best bet would be to run power and cat6 to each tv location and figure out the rest later. Maybe I should run two cat6 from each tv location back to one central place where either one or multiple cable boxes would be located. The second cat6 could be used to change the channel? Is that possible with some kind of adapter?
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You can run almost anything over CAT 6 with the right adapters/transducers. But the answer to what you need will depend on what options the matrix switch of the program source supports.
Some may already support RF remotes at different frequency and coding for different outputs. Or not.
Don't forget that a CAT 6 can be used to provide channels in both directions at the same time, depending on just how the transducer or adapter makes use of the four pairs of wires inside the cable.
 
I would run 1 RG-6 coax and 2 Cat6's at a minimum. The reason for that is if the cable company or satellite provider provides them service, the coax will be there for them to use. DirecTV, Dish Network and Comcast Xfinity all use coax and they have very small boxes now that can be mounted behind TV's. This same coax could be used for "free" DTV with an antenna. The Cat6 could be used for an Ethernet internet connection directly to the TV so they could use the apps on a smart TV.
 
mclarke said:
I would run 1 RG-6 coax and 2 Cat6's at a minimum. The reason for that is if the cable company or satellite provider provides them service, the coax will be there for them to use. DirecTV, Dish Network and Comcast Xfinity all use coax and they have very small boxes now that can be mounted behind TV's. This same coax could be used for "free" DTV with an antenna. The Cat6 could be used for an Ethernet internet connection directly to the TV so they could use the apps on a smart TV.
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This sounds like the best solution. Thanks to you and the other responders
 
Just a follow up: I was in an ICU room yesterday. The limited energy/communications jacks to the TV were 2x cat6 and 2x coax. Both coax were connected to the TV, and hanging loose from the TV were 1x cat6 patch cord, an HDMI cable, and a stereo RCA jack. Other wallplates in the room were mostly 2x cat 6, tho the monitors for cardio equipment were 21(?) pin connector, cat 6 (x2+), and the call stations with pullcords in the bathrooms and bed connections werent really examinable.

NFPA 99 covers hospitals/health care facilities, and I'm sure the latest TDMM covers recommended comm wiring. A PT clinic isnt an ICU, however I'd want an exact print before running any cable or conduit. From my perspective, a hospital or the like could be an extremely steep learning curve for those who have never done one.
 
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