Matt H Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Ignore the tittle, I've used the wrong word! I've run out of HDMI inputs in the back of my TV. Has anyone got any experiance of using a switcher / selector? Any recommendations? Ta Matt Example product: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quality-2-5Gbps-SKY-STB-Xbox360-Performance/dp/B0038K6MY2/ref=pd_sim_ce_3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Can you get these? I was after something similar a while back but had no joy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt H Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 Can you get these? I was after something similar a while back but had no joy. I've used the wrong word. Yes, you can get both a splitter and a selector / switcher. The selector is what I'm after, to switch between two inputs easily. The splitters range dramatically in price though - wouldn't like to say whether they were any good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Be interested to know what you find mate - will keep and eye on the thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilp9876 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 You can get them, I have two. you have to be careful though because one of them didnt work when I tried to use it with a 15m cable in my cinema room. I'll get you the make and model tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt H Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 You can get them, I have two. you have to be careful though because one of them didnt work when I tried to use it with a 15m cable in my cinema room. I'll get you the make and model tonight. Cheers Any noticable loss in quality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilp9876 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Cheers Any noticable loss in quality? No, Theyre fine. Just try and use them for inputs that you dont switch between very often, they come with a remote control but you will lose that and end up having to physically switch the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt H Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 No, Theyre fine. Just try and use them for inputs that you dont switch between very often, they come with a remote control but you will lose that and end up having to physically switch the input. I was plannig on using the switcher to switch between the XBOX and PS3, which will probably be quite frequent. The other HDMI input is taken up by the Sky HD box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilp9876 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Well, its only a case of pressing a button on the front of the switch unit so its not really a big deal. I think you can get expensive versions that will detect whether an input has become active or not and automatically select it, probably not worth the extra expense though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonytotheB Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 My mate uses one because he has a crap TV. Not sure of the make. Just Google the product and the word "review". I am sure some AV forum has real insights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 http://www.keene.co.uk/electronic/unbranded/hdmi-3-x-2-switcher-splitter-value-range/HDMI32S.html Keene is the place to look for AV stuff, including the weirder stuff you could ever consider (AV wise) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilp9876 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 The on I have is the basic model from here... http://www.hdcable.co.uk/hdmi/hdmi-distribution/hdmi-switch I also have the extender unit which works OK as well. Hope it helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaGSi Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Matt, I have a very similar 1 to the item you linked to. I have it the other way round though, I have 1 console linked to my tele and projector both via HDMI. No quality loss at all and works a treat. Saves getting behind the TV and projector connecting and disconnecting etc when I want to play it on 1 screen or the other Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I use one of these, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Duronic-Switch-input-output-Switcher/dp/B0020426AG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1294792963&sr=8-1 You'll need another cable so might as well go for the one you posted if you don't have a spare. It's 3 in 1 out and I use it via another 1 in 4 out box to another tv. Picture quality doesn't degrade but sometimes the sound won't automatically come through without pressing the output selector button again but no biggie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt H Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Thanks guys. Quality loss was my worry, but if other people are using them with no problem that's good enough for me. I think I'll go for one with an output cable built in as I won't need to buy a seperate HDMI cable then. Thanks all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbourner Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I got this one a while ago: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00204IE20/ref=oss_product Switches between my Virgin box and my Blu-Ray player, and it does detect the input although that gets annoying when I want to turn on the blu-ray HTS for audio as I have to manually switch back to Virgin throughput for video!! No loss of quality that I can see but I've only got 2m cables. //edit: here's one that's actually available! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt H Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 I got this one a while ago: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00204IE20/ref=oss_product Switches between my Virgin box and my Blu-Ray player, and it does detect the input although that gets annoying when I want to turn on the blu-ray HTS for audio as I have to manually switch back to Virgin throughput for video!! No loss of quality that I can see but I've only got 2m cables. //edit: here's one that's actually available! Cheers bud. On another note, if that was a female member saying the bit in bold, we could have had a field day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
probrox Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I got one from ebay but it didn't work. Ended up getting a 2 into 1 version from Asda. I think it was about £15 and changes between inputs automatically, but also has a button to change manually if required. No loss in quality at all that I noticed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt H Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 I got one from ebay but it didn't work. Ended up getting a 2 into 1 version from Asda. I think it was about £15 and changes between inputs automatically, but also has a button to change manually if required. No loss in quality at all that I noticed. I went into ASDA last night but they had sold out of the £15 version Just ordered one from Amazon for £15 so I'll see how that is when I get it. Ta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaGSi Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 //edit: here's one that's actually available! Like the remote idea, saves getting up and switching the box manually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt H Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Like the remote idea, saves getting up and switching the box manually. I've read into that a bit more and apparently it doesn't work if both inputs are on standby, so you would have to get up to switch the plugs on / off anyway? Can anyone confirm that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbourner Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I've read into that a bit more and apparently it doesn't work if both inputs are on standby, so you would have to get up to switch the plugs on / off anyway? Can anyone confirm that? Both on standby? I don't understand! For example: We have cable on, we want to listen through the Blu-ray player (which is a home theatre connected to cable with an optical audio cable), we turn on the blu-ray player and the switcher switches to that input as if we want to watch a film. Both inputs are now on at this point, so we press the remote for input 1 on the switcher (the cable box) and it switches to it so we have video through HDMI back on cable, and the blu-ray player is turned on playing the audio but with the video signal cut off. If both items are in standby you wouldn't want to switch it anyway would you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt H Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Both on standby? I don't understand! For example: We have cable on, we want to listen through the Blu-ray player (which is a home theatre connected to cable with an optical audio cable), we turn on the blu-ray player and the switcher switches to that input as if we want to watch a film. Both inputs are now on at this point, so we press the remote for input 1 on the switcher (the cable box) and it switches to it so we have video through HDMI back on cable, and the blu-ray player is turned on playing the audio but with the video signal cut off. If both items are in standby you wouldn't want to switch it anyway would you? Sorry, I think I'm mixing up what you've posted up with the remote control to the 'auto switch over' where there's no remote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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