Best HDMI Switchbox

[famasfilms]

Hi, looking for a good HDMI switchbox...preferably under £40-50 as a new DVD player and LCD TV have taken up all of my budget.

thanks

[mmayson]

Hi there,

Have a look on Ebay. You can buy a 2 port switcher for about £26 (manual). A 3 or 4 port awitcher with remote will cost you about £99 plus postage. I know you have a budget but I think you might regret not getting a remote controled switcher.

Mike

[famasfilms]

is there any difference in quality between a £30 switch and a more expensive one, other than the remote?

[mmayson]

Probably not, but you might need another port in a few months time, and you will kick yourself. I have looked at the manual ones and they look a bit cheap and nasty. I guess you get what you pay for.

[Joe Fernand]

Hello famasfilms

The very low cost units tend to be manual 'Selector' switches and whilst some folk have found them to be OK others have found them not to be so good; partly it will depend on how you 'use' your system.

The manual selector cant properly negotiate (or renegotiate) the HDMI handshaking with some Displays when you try to 'select' a new Source when the Display is already on and working with another Source.

Its a matter of trying it out to see what happens with your particular Display.

A properly designed switch can handle the HDCP negotiations and will allow you to toggle back and forth between a selection of Sources.

The best switches will also include circuitry that can help tidy up any sub standard signals your Source is outputting and can help out too if you need to use long Input or Output cables.

In terms of Build Quality, Compliance and Reliability price is not a good indictor - I've tried out lots of switches that would all sell for around 150.00 GBP and they are not all created equal.

Best regards

Joe

[famasfilms]

Damn thats disappointing to hear.

I bought a LCD with one HDMI whilst budgeting for a £30 switchbox..

Should have bought the more expensive model with DVI and HDMI connection, would have worked out cheaper in the end.

Are there any particular models of switchbox you would recommend Joe?

As for how I use the switch, it would be used for switching between a HDMI upscaling DVD player and my PC. As all the devices are in my bedroom next to my desk, manual switching is just a case of leaning forward slightly..

My main concern then is that picture/signal quality will not suffer as a result of passing through the switchbox.

[Joe Fernand]

Hello famasfilms

At the 'budget' end of the HDMI switch market the Octava switches are hard to beat - though you may want to seek out a few alternative designs to compare them with; see http://www.octavainc.com

In the long term I doubt the Manual selector box is going to be as reliable as the electronic switches - the quality of the switch gear used in these manual box's is not going to be of the highest quality; you wont see a gradual signal 'drop off' but are more likely to start to see sparkles if the switch does degrade.

As before some folk have found the manual switches work as required so if your working on a tight budget it may be worth giving it a go - as long as you retain the ability to return the unit if it doesn't work well in your set-up.

Best regards

Joe

[dan1979]

Originally Posted by famasfilms

As for how I use the switch, it would be used for switching between a HDMI upscaling DVD player and my PC.

HDMI isn't a good option for PC's most of the time, VGA will be better if you have it.

[famasfilms]

I have DVI out on my graphics card and a DVI-HDMI cable, are you saying it's better to go DVI-DVI?

Sounds more and more like I should cancel the order of the LG 32LC2D [1hdmi connection] and pay £40 more for the LX2R [1 dvi and 1 hdmi]..

[Joe Fernand]

Hello famasfilms

Generally HDMI Input sockets are 'restricted' to work with a pre set range of 'Video' signals - this may restrict what you can run your PC at via DVI.

You need to find out what signals the HDMI Input socket accepts and compare that with what the DVI (PC) Input on the other Displays accepts.

If you go DVI>HDMI and the HDMI Input doesn't work with PC resolutions signals then you may find the resolution it does work with are not ideal when viewing your PC.

Best regards

Joe

[famasfilms]

Thanks Joe, you've been very helpful.

The LG models get a lot of recommendations for PC use, so fingers crossed I'll be ok.