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I am considering purchasing a Raspberry Pi solely for the purpose of sending video to my basement. I have a device with composite video out in the living room and I'd like the same content to be viewable in the basement.

I believe that Rasbmc/XBMC can handle video streams, but I'm not sure how to send the video to it from a live video source. The house is wired with Ethernet all around and I have enough ports available. Can I use two Raspberry Pis or some other device to send video?

Any ideas?

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You don't need a Raspberry Pi device (or in this case, 2 devices), with all the inherent software issues you would face, plus power-packs, just to send composite video downstairs.

Search online for Composite Video Baluns. These are passive transformers that can be used to send audio and video up to 300 feet over standard CAT5 wiring. You can even get them in wall mounted forms, for a switchplate installation in both rooms and wiring through the wall.

You can also get active baluns that include amplification and signal conditioning, if you needed to reach the farthest edges of your house, but the likely shorter distance from your living room to your basement only needs passive baluns.

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    Yip - the video baluns are more stable than anything you would try on the Pi. - The only way to do it on the Pi is to encode the source with h264 and decode it on the other side. Since it is driver by hardware it would be the best option. But not the cheapest. +1
    – Piotr Kula
    Nov 14, 2012 at 8:58
  • Problem is, I don't have a direct connection between the endpoints. There is a switch at the source and a switch at the destination, then a router in between. My understanding is that baluns only work if the endpoints are directly connected by a single cable. Is that correct?
    – Alfero Chingono
    Nov 15, 2012 at 23:20
  • The balun suggestion requires a dedicated cable - you cannot share the Ethernet wiring. If a cable route already exists and space permitting, it would be simpler to draw an additional cable.
    – Pekka
    May 26, 2013 at 19:08
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Whilst the Pi is good at outputting video, it is virtually incapable of 'recieving' video - and it has no built in WiFi anyway.

What you need is a stand-alone video transmitter / reciever pair = see, for example, here http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Wireless-A-V-Transmitters-Receivers/ci/2505/N/4041617491

Such things are also used extensivly by the CCTV industry, however you will have to hunt for 'domestic' / 'consumer' version - anything that's 'commercial' CCTV is 'premium' (i.e. rif-off) priced

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