HDMI switch box advice?

[Chris Kennedy]

My flatscreen has two HDMI inputs, and alas, I have three devices now needing the HDMI ports. I have had a look at HDMI switch boxes, and well, I am simply overwhelmed. It seems you can spend anywhere from $7 to $70 or more, and I cannot tell what makes the difference and what it is that I want.

Does anybody have any experience with these and can make a recommendation? I have a 720p flatscreen (27" or thereabouts) and I need to hook up the hi-def cable, a blu-ray and an XBox 360.

Thanks,

Chris

[Eric DeSilva]

Do you have a DVI input on your TV, by any chance? If you do, the cheap alternative is an HDMI->DVI converter.

I just haven't had good luck with HDMI switching, even in higher end receivers. There seems to be some kind of issue with handshaking the copy protection.

[Russ Filtz]

Do you have a newer home theater receiver? Some HDMI ones can be used as a switchbox I believe. (oops, scooped by Eric)

[Jim Becker]

Chris, I recently bought a relatively inexpensive HDMI switch from Amazon when I got my AppleTV. My HT receiver only has two HDMI inputs and that made three devices. (FiOS DVR, BluRay player and AppleTV) The unit I purchased is: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015YWKYY It's worked fine for the need. Note that you have to be careful with "always on" devices like AppleTV with these switchers and plug them into the less prioritized port so that auto-switching will let other devices take over when you turn them on.

[Wayne Hendrix]

Your TV should have Component video inputs, its three RCA type inputs that are red, green and blue. The Xbox 360 comes default with them on the cable. Use the Component video inputs and the stereo; red and white RCA inputs; to hook up the Xbox. You shouldnt see any noticable loss in either picture or sound quality.

[Eric DeSilva]

You shouldnt see any noticable loss in either picture or sound quality.

I think most people--myself included--would argue that an HDMI connection is going to give you superior picture quality than component video cables.

[Dan Hintz]

I think most people--myself included--would argue that an HDMI connection is going to give you superior picture quality than component video cables.
Nod... HD images, especially.

[Tim Morton]

I think most people--myself included--would argue that an HDMI connection is going to give you superior picture quality than component video cables.


most people would be wrong...it is almost impossible to notice a difference, and i would bet in a true blind test you would agree.

[Wayne Hendrix]

I think most people--myself included--would argue that an HDMI connection is going to give you superior picture quality than component video cables.
Not on the OP's 720p TV, I have seen Blu-ray players that wont even run anything below 1080p on HDMI.

[Jeff Caskie]

Monoprice dot com has a selection of hdmi switching components. They get decent reviews and the company is known for great value on quality parts (cables etc). Some also have remotes that can be sync'd with your harmony remote etc to automate it.

[Larry Heflin]

I've found newegg dot com to be a reliable source for this type of thing. You can find the products and accompanying customer reviews that can be informative. This is also the place I've gotten my hdmi cables, another area where there is a lot of hype.

Larry

[Chris Kennedy]

Thanks for the suggestions, especially at places to look.

I originally hooked the XBox through component cables, and both my wife and I thought the picture was better through the HDMI when I tried that. More importantly, the XBox did not naturally use the entire screen through the component cables (maybe I could have found somewhere in the settings for it to do so -- I never bothered to check).

(Of course, I may use this as excuse to donate the CRT television to a starving student, move the 2 HDMI TV to the bedroom, and buy a 1020p, slightly larger TV with at least 3 HDMI for everything else.)

Cheers,

Chris

[Greg Portland]

I agree with the Monoprice suggestion, get one that is HDMI certified (1.3 is fine unless you have a 3D TV & need 1.4). Jim has stated the most important piece of advice so far: most of these switches automatically switch to the active input. If you have "always-on" devices like TIVOs, computers, etc. then you MUST make sure that you get a selectable switch (push button or remote); Otherwise you'll be stuck on that one input all the time.


Not on the OP's 720p TV, I have seen Blu-ray players that wont even run anything below 1080p on HDMI.+1, especially since we're talking about a 27" display. I would recommend connecting the HD cable with component since those streams have the lowest resolution bandwidth & use the HDMI cable for the Bluray and Xbox. If you are watching live over-the-air (OTA) broadcasts using your cable box tuner + house antenna then you might want to connect the xbox with the component cables (OTA live broadcasts -can- be very high bandwidth, depending on your local station's settings).

[Jim Becker]

I think most people--myself included--would argue that an HDMI connection is going to give you superior picture quality than component video cables.

Component and HDMI are pretty much equivalent. Even for HD. (Now composite...that bites... ;)) HDMI is more convenient, however, as it's a single cable and supports digital audio. It's also nice for passthrough in a switching situation where separate video and audio might be a pain. But otherwise, Wayne is correct that using component video will provide the same great picture. But for me, I'd use the fiber audio connection (digital) instead of the stereo analog for audio since the digital audio will also provide a number of multi-channel/surround modes, too. In fact, our master bedroom system is setup that way because there is no HDMI available.

[Dan Hintz]

Component and HDMI are pretty much equivalent. Even for HD. (Now composite...that bites... ;))
Composite is component with a bit of the luma stepped on (which shows, unfortunately). It's analog... the signal may get there, but it is guaranteed to be degraded to some degree (small or not). HDMI is digital... it either gets there or it doesn't. If it gets there, the picture is as perfect as it's gonna get... if it doesn't, the signal may get reconstructed and/or may be below level of perception.

If it's my choice, I go with digital whenever possible. Analog being guaranteed to have losses makes me say "blah". They may be imperceptible, in which case no one knows and this is irrelevant. But why futz with it? Go digital unless you don't have a choice.

[Greg Portland]

But why futz with it? Because we can save the OP $50 & prevent him from having another box cluttering up the area around the TV. Additionally, he would only need his TV remote to switch inputs versus having to deal with the HDMI switch box remote. Sure, he can buy a universal remote for another $20+ to solve that problem too.

[Wayne Hendrix]

Because we can save the OP $50 & prevent him from having another box cluttering up the area around the TV. Additionally, he would only need his TV remote to switch inputs versus having to deal with the HDMI switch box remote. Sure, he can buy a universal remote for another $20+ to solve that problem too.

That was my thinking but if the picture is unacceptable then dont do it. Personally I would buy the best receiver that I could afford and run everything through that with a Logitech Harmony remote to control it all. Thats what I do.