• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Looking for a good HDMI 2-n-1 Splitter...

Liquid Cool

Liquid Cool

Joined
Mar 2, 2011
Messages
1,226 (0.26/day)
Location
Omaha, NE
System Specs
System Name Graphics Card Free...
Processor Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX Wifi
Cooling Cryorig M9a w/ BeQuiet! PureWings 2 ~ 92mm
Memory Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3200 ~ 16GB(2x8GB)
Storage Samsung EVO 870 SSD - 1TB
Display(s) AOC 24G2
Case Cardboard...
Power Supply eVGA SuperNova 550w G3
Mouse Logitech t400 Zone Touch Mouse
Keyboard IBM Model "M" Keyboard
Software Manjaro ~ KDE Plasma
Benchmark Scores She's a Runner!
I've got a Sony 40" LCD TV...for an older model(2007), it has the best damn screen I've ever seen and I don't want to replace it. Crystal clear, excellent blacks and whites etc...but it only has one HDMI input.

Does anyone know of a good splitter brand to purchase. I'm looking for one that has either some type of A/B switch or a remote. Well...at least one that will allow me to not have to power off one device just to switch to the other device.

I'll be hooking up a laptop and an Amazon Fire TV stick to my 40" that I have on a wheeled cart.



If you have a good one that you're currently using AND like it...please speak up.

Best Regards,

Liquid Cool
 
Last edited:
Bill_Bright

Bill_Bright

Joined
Jul 25, 2006
Messages
12,147 (1.87/day)
Location
Nebraska, USA
System Specs
System Name Brightworks Systems BWS-6 E-IV
Processor Intel Core i5-6600 @ 3.9GHz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 Rev 1.0
Cooling Quality case, 2 x Fractal Design 140mm fans, stock CPU HSF
Memory 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 3000 Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s) EVGA GEForce GTX 1050Ti 4Gb GDDR5
Storage Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD, Samsung 860 Evo 500GB SSD
Display(s) Samsung S24E650BW LED x 2
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Power Supply EVGA Supernova 550W G2 Gold
Mouse Logitech M190
Keyboard Microsoft Wireless Comfort 5050
Software W10 Pro 64-bit
I don't have any personal experience with any, but I have heard countless horror stories about HDMI "splitters". So I would look for an HDMI "switch" instead. That said, they don't always work perfectly either - although often it is because the TV does not accept the new signal. The Monoprice HDMI Switches are the ones I hear most as being good.
 
FordGT90Concept

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,259 (4.63/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Specs
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
The problem with HDMI is HDCP which prohibits splitting in the normal sense. The micro packets have to be decoded, then re-encoded with HDCP before sending them out.


I don't have this but I'm a sucker for StarTech hardware so this is what I'd go with:
http://www.startech.com/AV/Splitter...o-Splitter-with-Audio-USB-Powered~ST122HDMILE

It explicitly mentions HDCP so I expect zero problems with it. You should be able to get it from another retailer (like Amazon) for cheaper.

Here's StarTech HDMI Switches. Of those, I'd go with either of these:
Cheap (Auto + Button)
High Quality (Auto + Button + IR)

I don't have any of the aforementioned products but I have been using a StarTech KVM for the last 8 years. The build quality on the "high quality" one above looks to match my KVM.
 
Last edited:
Liquid Cool

Liquid Cool

Joined
Mar 2, 2011
Messages
1,226 (0.26/day)
Location
Omaha, NE
System Specs
System Name Graphics Card Free...
Processor Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX Wifi
Cooling Cryorig M9a w/ BeQuiet! PureWings 2 ~ 92mm
Memory Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3200 ~ 16GB(2x8GB)
Storage Samsung EVO 870 SSD - 1TB
Display(s) AOC 24G2
Case Cardboard...
Power Supply eVGA SuperNova 550w G3
Mouse Logitech t400 Zone Touch Mouse
Keyboard IBM Model "M" Keyboard
Software Manjaro ~ KDE Plasma
Benchmark Scores She's a Runner!
Bill...

Thanks for the response and your comments echo quite a few of the 'customer' reviews I have been reading. Since I'm no expert when it comes to televisions(or audio for that matter), I thought it might be a good idea to ask what others we're using. From what I gathered a lot of these splitters are definitely hit and miss.

FordGT90Concept...

I'm a sucker for startech as well...if no one else chimes in here I'll pick up one and see how it goes. They're 'just a smidgeon' over half that price on Newegg/Amazon. Doesn't seem like a bad price if the quality is there.

No matter what adapter I choose....I will make sure to update the thread after purchase/installation.

Thanks for the reply's guys...

Liquid Cool
 
FordGT90Concept

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,259 (4.63/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Specs
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
My KVM is DVI + VGA. HDMI's video stream is identical to DVIs. The only addition is the audio stream which is unencrypted 7.1 PCM if memory serves. In your shoes, I would buy the VS221HD4K from Amazon/Newegg without hesitation.

Only question is, really, which will be primary and which will be secondary. Secondary is used when primary is off. Laptop primary probably.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Liquid Cool

Liquid Cool

Joined
Mar 2, 2011
Messages
1,226 (0.26/day)
Location
Omaha, NE
System Specs
System Name Graphics Card Free...
Processor Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX Wifi
Cooling Cryorig M9a w/ BeQuiet! PureWings 2 ~ 92mm
Memory Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3200 ~ 16GB(2x8GB)
Storage Samsung EVO 870 SSD - 1TB
Display(s) AOC 24G2
Case Cardboard...
Power Supply eVGA SuperNova 550w G3
Mouse Logitech t400 Zone Touch Mouse
Keyboard IBM Model "M" Keyboard
Software Manjaro ~ KDE Plasma
Benchmark Scores She's a Runner!
Laptop primary...Fire TV stick secondary.

I've got to run and do a little cooking...:). I'll read up on that VS221HD4K when I get back.

Best,

Liquid Cool
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top