HDMI Switches

[thestrangebrew1]

Anyone have any first hand experience with an HDMI switch? I've got a tv with only 2 HDMI inputs and I need at least 1 more port to hook up an htpc that I'll be putting together.

I was looking at something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Ultra-High-Per...ds=hdmi+switch

But then noticed that other item descriptions specifically state supports 1080p and the price is a significant difference. I was under the impression that HDMI natively supports 1080p so any switch would do.

The other thing is that in some reviews, various switches seem to be able to automatically switch based on the source to whatever input, but some don't. Reviews are kinda wonky regarding this. Just looking for some input on which to get.

 

[Zap]

I don't have experience but if you're not sure, then don't buy from that Amazon link. It specifies that the vendor is shipping from Hong Kong. That would take a couple weeks to get to you, plus make returns difficult if it doesn't do what you want.

For peace of mind I would suggest Monoprice. They would be more expensive than purchasing from a Hong Kong vendor, but they are located in the USA (California, I believe) and they ship the same day if you order before a certain time. They also are known to back up their products, plus even their cheap switches are specified to support 1080p.

 

[brshoemak]

All of Zap's points are valid and I would probably go the Monoprice route for peace of mind.

As a side note, I do own that HDMI switch from Amazon and it works beautifully. It comes with a remote and IR receiver, but I never use the remote (or the physical buttong) as it DOES automatically switch between inputs when it receives a signal. We have a Blu-ray player and a Tivo Premiere - the Tivo is on by default but when I turn on the Blu-ray player it switches to that automatically and switches back to the Tivo when it's powered off.

 

[n0x1ous]

I have a monoprice HDMI switch that has been working perfectly for a couple years. No longer needed as i finally got a new AVR that took over that job, but it worked perfectly and was pretty cheap.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Ok cool thanks everyone. I did notice the one I linked was from HK, I just used it as an example. I'll take a look at the MP ones and prob. get one there.

 

[Dstoop]

I own the switch you linked, don't buy it. One port works fine, one port has sketchy audio cutout, and one port has sketchy video playback.

My advice, stay away from the cheapo knockoff brands and spend the extra money on a reliable brand name like Belkin/Monoprice. Also get used to that auto-sensing BS, you pretty much cant find a switch without it.

 

[olds]

I have a Monoprice 4 port. It's been working fine for years.

 

[wetech]

i used the monoprice switch with the autosensing. the auto-switching worked pretty well. Although i ran into handshake issues a lot when switching back to the PC. The PC would sense the switch to the other device as the monitor being unplugged and would switch to my secondary screen. Switching back would not sense the TV as being connected again. A royal pain. I think there's a fix you can do by covering a pin on the HDMI with electrical tape to disable the auto-sensing on the PC, so it thinks the TV is always connected.