HDMI Splitter Test

[wbassett]

I just ordered some new cables, a 50' HDMI cable, 10' HDMI cable, and a 4x2 remote controlled HDMI switch for my new projector setup. Where? From MonoPrice of course!

On a whim I also bought this little gizmo, an HDMI splitter. It plugs into your devices and splits the signal to two separate display devices.

It is very heavy gage wire, but Monoprice doesn't state exactly what the gage actually is. It is very solid looking and not flimsy in look or feel.

HDMI cables seat very nicely in either of the outputs and the male end fits snuggly into the back of your video device.

I tested this with probably one of the quirkiest reported units I have read about when it comes to HDMI switches, that being the PS3.

My HDTV powered up and displayed the PS3 menu with no problems. I then queued up a movie from the hard drive, no problems, then tested a DVD and BD, all with no problems.

Next I did something not recommended, I pulled the HDMI cable and plugged it in the second output. (Yes I know this is not only not recommended, but potentially dangerous to the gear). The PS3 menu was still displayed, but started blinking, an obvious sync issue. Shutting the TV off and then turning it back on fixed the sync problem.

For $14 I thought this was well worth testing out. If it's already been tested on here, you have my apologies, but I can state this works very well and for someone that just has one device, like say a dual format HD DVD/BD player but needs to send the output to both an HDTV and a projector at the same time (of course they both don't have to be on at the same time), this is a very inexpensive and nice quality splitter. I only tested it with video and not audio yet, but that will be checked out too.

One thing to note is it isn't listed if it's 1.3a compliant, I'll have to call and ask them that.

Again, well worth the money if all you need is to split one device to two displays.

The only minor negative thing I can say is shipping was slow, it took a week and a half, and everything was in stock, so no waiting on that. When I ordered through RiteAV, their shipping was insane. I ordered on a Friday night and my cables showed up Tuesday at my door. Granted it was a smaller package, but their shipping is blazingly fast.

MonoPrice though also sells HDMI switches, and very good ones at that. Mine is a four input two output remote controlled unit and cost $89.65, not a bad price at all considering this is a 4x2 switch.

[Sonnie]

Interesting... thanks for the test and heads up.

[atledreier]

I have that 4:2 switch, and while great for convenience, I have a few issues with reporting to and from devices with it. No big problems and I have found workarounds, but it would be far less ideal if my projector hadn't had an active HDMI handshake even while in standby. My HTPC will not recognize my LCD tv correctly, so I have to have the HTPC handshake with the projector, then switch the tv to the HTPC display. Similarly, my Toshiba HD-E1 won't recognize my projector, so I have to have the TV on, and after the initial handshake switch the projector to the HD'DVD input. I can then switch the tv off. No big deal, but can be a WAF killer.

[wbassett]

Thanks for the insite Maverick. I hope I don't have the same issues because I plan on getting a Pronto TSU 7000 and having everything programmed and macro'd. So when I hit a button to watch something on the projector, it automatically turns the projector on, turns on the BD or HD VD player, the receiver, and also selects the switch ports.

I can see this being a potentual macro problem if it's quirky.

[atledreier]

Yeah, might be.. it's basically a matter of timing, though... Leave the TV on until the player has started and synced with it, then switch the projector to that input and switch the tv off... you might not have any issues, though. Like I said, my PC is fine with my projector, my HD-DVD is fine with my tv.. just bad luck I guess. HDMI in general can be a pain with all the comms going back and forth, and issues with reporting capabilities. Great when it works, but definetly a potential pitfall.

[mjg100]

Did you have two display devices hooked up at the same time? How long were the HDMI cables? I have that passive splitter. I wanted to use it after my AVR, sending the signal to both my TV and my projector. The cable to my projector is 50 feet long. If I left the splitter out the connection to my projector worked every time. With the splitter in place I would have to cycle my equipment off and on or unplug one of my displays. I switched to the Monoprice 4x2 matrix HDMI switch and it works every time for me.

[atledreier]

My projector cable is 30feet long. The cable for my HTPC is 50feet. I wouldn't think cable lenghts is an issue, once the devices are in sync they are flawless for the duration.

[mjg100]

I could get it to work going to both at the samr time, but I had to cycle my equipment off and on. The signal would always get to my TV which used the shorter cable. I think it might work if you added a HDMI booster to the long cable or get the Monoprice 4 x 2 matrix switch box.

[wbassett]

I'll try it with my projector and TV at the same time. I also have the Monoprice HDMI 4x2 switch, which is what I am actually using. For $14 though I couldn't pass up throwing the splitter in to test it out. It worked with two short runs from my HD DVD player and PS3 to both HDMI inputs on my SXRD, but I haven't tried it with the 50' run to the projector.

As far as Monoprice, their shipping is much slower than RiteAV, but they have top quality cables.

The 10' HDMI cable I bought is very thick gage, and the mesh wrapping around the insulation is a very nice high end look. The 50' HDMI cable is even thicker than my component cable I got from Python, and that was extremely heavy Gage and actually hard to do the 90 degree corners in the raceway.

All in all, the splitter works. As mentioned though a signal booster probably wouldn't hurt, and at $14 vs $89 for the 4x2 splitter box... if you only need to split the signal from one device, this is definitely worth a look.