An HDMI video switch (a.k.a. HDMI video switcher, HDMI switch box) gets HDMI signals from several HDMI devices and sends the data from one of these to your HDTV. That way, it serves as an agent to receive several HDMI signals for your own HDTV, despite that your HDTV has just 1 or 2 HDMI port(s).
You may connect many HD devices to your favorite HDTV, including the:
* BluRay player, HDDVD player, DVD player with HDMI output;
* Playstation 3, Xbox360, Wii with HDMI output;
* HTPC, or computers with HDMI ports;
* HDTV box, satellite dish network, HDTV recorder;
* HD camera, or HD cam recorder;
* Any other electronics that are able to outputting HDMI signals.
For the comfort of connecting many HDMI gadgets, how much money should you really spend on an HDMI switch?
The Proper Price for An HDMI Video Switch
You’ll find famously-branded HDMI switches at roughly $250 in a neighboring BestBuy retail store, or perhaps $150 if you check around a little. Your favorite instinct certainly instantly tells you this doesn’t sound right: HDMI switching is such a basic functionality, why does it need to cost that much? In addition, with plenty 42-46 ” HDTVs listed close to $600-700 right now, $150 - $250 basically seems to be a rediculous amount, we may as well add a couple of hundred dollars to actually buy a brand-new HDTV.
How About Just $20?
That’s right, you’ll only really need to put in $20 on a 3-port HDMI video switch, which will have the task done literally flawlessly just like those $250 ones: they’re going to have similar offerings that include support for 1080P FullHD, DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD, Linear PCM (LPCM), automated and manual HDMI switching, HDMI v1.3b and HDCP pass-through.
Number of Ports Matter. More ports need more parts and cost a little bit more. A 2×1 HDMI switch, with 2 HDMI inputs and 1 output, possibly will cost around $10-15; and a 5×1 HDMI video switch could cost you for maybe $30-40, but not $400.
Do They Literally Perform The Same?
Part of you inside maybe keeps telling you that those pricy ones must have much better audio/video quality, simply because they charge a lot more, right?
But, in the digital environment, it’s either 1 or 0: signals either get transmitted and transmitted in its 100% full quality, or it’ll get lost with nothing transmitted at all —- nothing at all is in the middle.
The HDMI video switch doesn’t convert the signal at all, HDMI signal are passed over from the input port to the output port untouched, and this assures that everything in the HDMI source will be sent to your HDTV as if the HDMI source connects to your HDTV directly.
That’s exactly the reason why a $20 HDMI video switch will have its HDMI switching job done just as well as $250 ones.