hdmi switch

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mvsfan
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hdmi switch

Post by mvsfan »

does anyone have one of those cheap 1080 HDMI switches from monoprice? do they work good?
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DirkSwizzler
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by DirkSwizzler »

HDMI is voodoo. What works for one person's setup may work terribly for another.
konkers
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by konkers »

mvsfan wrote:does anyone have one of those cheap 1080 HDMI switches from monoprice? do they work good?
I have an expensive on off Monoprice (https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=24180) and it gets confused by the NESRGB/OSSC and often needs power cycling :(
thebigcheese
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by thebigcheese »

I have one from Monoprice and another from Smartooo or something like that. Neither likes the OSSC, but otherwise they both have worked pretty much flawlessly provided I use good HDMI cables. At least for 4k content. They auto switch, which is really handy.
mvsfan
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by mvsfan »

thats what i wanted to hear thanks. I wont be using the ossc with it so it should be fine.

Im planning to use nes/snes classic with it.
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airco
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by airco »

On a related note, is there an HDMI switch that plays nice with the OSSC? I'm assuming automatic switches are out of the question, but do manual switches mitigate the HDMI voodoo?
KonradKlaus
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by KonradKlaus »

I have used this one Kinivo 501BN for years and it works with the OSSC.
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DirkSwizzler
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by DirkSwizzler »

airco wrote:On a related note, is there an HDMI switch that plays nice with the OSSC? I'm assuming automatic switches are out of the question, but do manual switches mitigate the HDMI voodoo?
I've had reasonable success using https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VWB823B to switch between a framemeister and ossc. But there are some subtleties that I'm not fully recalling at the moment. I think it mostly works if the thing I'm using is the only thing that's on. It's definitely not bulletproof.
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ChuChu Flamingo
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by ChuChu Flamingo »

I am surprised there isn't a recommended one. All I need one for is to switch between a Xbox 360,Wii U,PS3, and Switch.

Luckily I have three HDMI ports.
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ASDR
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by ASDR »

I got a 'Ligawo 3090064 HDMI Switch'. It's an inexpensive 5:1 automatic switcher with a remote, bought it on Amazon. I used it with an OSSC, 360, PS3, PS4, Wii U, MacBook, Raspberry Pi, etc. The switch is running 24/7, never had any issues with it. No compatibility problems, no dropouts, no A/V glitches, never needed to be restarted / have stuff re-plugged, never failed to autoswitch to a device that's turning on or accidentally switched back to a previous device.
nmalinoski
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by nmalinoski »

ASDR wrote:I got a 'Ligawo 3090064 HDMI Switch'. It's an inexpensive 5:1 automatic switcher with a remote, bought it on Amazon. I used it with an OSSC, 360, PS3, PS4, Wii U, MacBook, Raspberry Pi, etc. The switch is running 24/7, never had any issues with it. No compatibility problems, no dropouts, no A/V glitches, never needed to be restarted / have stuff re-plugged, never failed to autoswitch to a device that's turning on or accidentally switched back to a previous device.
What's the automatic switching behavior like? If it's already showing an active input, will it switch to a different input that becomes active, or will it stay on the current active input?
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DirkSwizzler
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by DirkSwizzler »

ASDR wrote:I got a 'Ligawo 3090064 HDMI Switch'. It's an inexpensive 5:1 automatic switcher with a remote, bought it on Amazon. I used it with an OSSC, 360, PS3, PS4, Wii U, MacBook, Raspberry Pi, etc. The switch is running 24/7, never had any issues with it. No compatibility problems, no dropouts, no A/V glitches, never needed to be restarted / have stuff re-plugged, never failed to autoswitch to a device that's turning on or accidentally switched back to a previous device.
Have you tried it with all the line multiplication modes? I've found that a genesis or sega saturn tended to give me the most problems with HDMI devices as I went through different multiplications.
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ASDR
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by ASDR »

nmalinoski wrote: What's the automatic switching behavior like? If it's already showing an active input, will it switch to a different input that becomes active, or will it stay on the current active input?
Always auto switches to a new source. For instance, my RetroPie is always on so when I select the switch I get that, when I turn a console it goes over to that and back to the RetroPie when I turn the console off. I was concerned with false switches, like going back to another devices while the current one has a mode change, but never had that happen.
DirkSwizzler wrote: Have you tried it with all the line multiplication modes? I've found that a genesis or sega saturn tended to give me the most problems with HDMI devices as I went through different multiplications.
I quickly settled on 240pX4, 480pX2 and 480i passthrough for my setup and those worked with my JP Saturn Model 2 and MD Mk2 (PAL -> NTSC modded). I honestly don't remember what other settings I tried when I had the OSSC running through the switch. In any case, I guess most people have 3-5 HDMI ports on their TVs, probably makes sense to just connect the OSSC directly and put the unproblematic devices like PS3, 360, Wii U etc. behind a switch instead.

Oh, and the switch supposedly does 4k60 and HDR, but I couldn't test that because I'm still rocking ancient TV tech.
thebigcheese
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by thebigcheese »

ASDR wrote:In any case, I guess most people have 3-5 HDMI ports on their TVs, probably makes sense to just connect the OSSC directly and put the unproblematic devices like PS3, 360, Wii U etc. behind a switch instead.
That is what I have done. I have a rather complicated setup where retro/analog systems go to the OSSC which goes into HDMI 1 on my TV; most modern systems (PS4, Xbox One, 360, and Steam Link) into a 5-input, 4k HDMI switch that goes into HDMI 2 on the TV; and Switch and Wii U into a 3-input HDMI switch that goes into the TV input on my receiver which then goes into HDMI 3 on my TV (which is also the ARC input, hence how I get audio for everything else). The Switch and Wii U are only separate because they only output PCM audio, so I can't get surround via ARC, meaning they have to go directly into the receiver. It is complicated on paper but in practice means that I just pick an input on the TV (labeled as "Retro," "Modern," and "Switch/WiiU") and turn on a console and I'm good to go. A little annoying having two extra things that need power, but it's not like they use a lot of power, so whatever. I'm sure my entertainment center is a fire hazard at this point, though...
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ASDR
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by ASDR »

thebigcheese wrote:
ASDR wrote:In any case, I guess most people have 3-5 HDMI ports on their TVs, probably makes sense to just connect the OSSC directly and put the unproblematic devices like PS3, 360, Wii U etc. behind a switch instead.
That is what I have done. I have a rather complicated setup where retro/analog systems go to the OSSC which goes into HDMI 1 on my TV; most modern systems (PS4, Xbox One, 360, and Steam Link) into a 5-input, 4k HDMI switch that goes into HDMI 2 on the TV; and Switch and Wii U into a 3-input HDMI switch that goes into the TV input on my receiver which then goes into HDMI 3 on my TV (which is also the ARC input, hence how I get audio for everything else). The Switch and Wii U are only separate because they only output PCM audio, so I can't get surround via ARC, meaning they have to go directly into the receiver. It is complicated on paper but in practice means that I just pick an input on the TV (labeled as "Retro," "Modern," and "Switch/WiiU") and turn on a console and I'm good to go. A little annoying having two extra things that need power, but it's not like they use a lot of power, so whatever. I'm sure my entertainment center is a fire hazard at this point, though...
Yeah, it gets messy real quick, sounds actually very much like my setup ;-)

I don't have a good solution for surround with Wii U / Switch. I have all audio going over optical. All modern-ish consoles with optical out, PS3, PS4, 360, PS2, OG XBox go into an optical switch that goes to the receiver. All analog consoles go into the OSSC and then directly into the TV. TV has an optical out that also goes into the optical switch. Problem is, my TV is too old to receive DD 5.1/DTS over HDMI and then send that out over optical, so all I get from the latest Nintendo consoles is stereo. I was looking into HDMI audio extractors or maybe an HDMI switch with an optical out, but I figure my next TV can hopefully just send 5.1 out of the optical out. My receiver doesn't do HDMI etc., was never interested in upgrading as I have no use for Atmos or lossless audio and the entire routing video through the receiver thing just seems like a hassle.
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ChuChu Flamingo
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by ChuChu Flamingo »

Anyone have a good recommendation for a hdmi switch that has no lag and won't drop out. Something with 3-5 inputs.
nmalinoski
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by nmalinoski »

ChuChu Flamingo wrote:Anyone have a good recommendation for a hdmi switch that has no lag and won't drop out. Something with 3-5 inputs.
What do you mean by "won't drop out"? If you mean during resolution/video mode changes, I don't believe that's currently possible; your choices are either lag-free and dealing with the dropouts, or you trade lag for surviving video mode changes by using something like a presentation switcher.

Generally, HDMI devices pick one video mode and stick with it (Or, in the case of the PS3, booting a game may change the resolution, but the game stays in that resolution the entire time.); they don't have a need to survive constant mode switching, because it's not a thing outside of the OSSC and Framemeister, which only serve a miniscule, niche, practically-underground market (Us).

The only device I'm aware of that will survive mode changes seamlessly is the UltraHDMI, which has a built-in scaler. Feels lag-free to me, and there are zero dropouts when games switch between 240p and 480i modes when it's not in its Direct Mode; but it's only for the N64. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any solutions for other consoles from that era (PS1, PS2, SNES, etc.).
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DirkSwizzler
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by DirkSwizzler »

The best I've found at compatibility with the OSSC are the ViewHD series of switches. They don't seem to introduce any incompatibilities over any existing setup I've used. Some switches I've used will occasionally drop mid-game (not during a resolution change). But the ViewHD has *never* done that to me. Note that other devices in your setup may still cause signal drops. But my setup has been stable at any OSSC mode with any of the common consoles people use for quite a while now using the ViewHD switch.

But as nmalinoski said. Switching resolutions will always drop out for a short period of time.

Right now I use this 4 port 18gbps ViewHD model with the OSSC plugged into input 1, and a more generic Awakelion 5 port 18Gbps switch on input 2 for more standard hdmi devices. If the OSSC is powered on, the viewhd switch has the OSSC selected. If the OSSC is off, the viewhd switch forwards the awakelion signal which does a great job autoswitching as newer consoles power on.
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ChuChu Flamingo
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by ChuChu Flamingo »

What I mean is when an input is locked on it won't switch to another when powered. Not when 480i to 240p etc.

Also lets say I want to duplicate the hdmi with a splitter for two+ outputs.

Is it better to get a switch and then plug that into splitter? Or is it best to get a 4 inputs 2 outputs splitter etc.
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DirkSwizzler
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by DirkSwizzler »

I've been having much more trouble with splitters than switching. I still can't find one that works all the time even to a single sink.

If you find one that doesn't introduce weird behavior to a single sink I'd love to hear about it.
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ChuChu Flamingo
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by ChuChu Flamingo »

Which one would you recommend as a first one to buy? Say I have a PS3 on and then I turn on a xbox 360 or another system, will it switch (I don't want it to, I want it to stay locked)

Basically I would be connecting a PS3,360,Wii U, Switch, maybe a OSSC (when I get one) to it.

Finding a splitter seems hard. HDCP issues etc. Only one I found recommended is one teamspooky uses (a fighting game streamer) but he was using a pro version. Below is the regular version and pro. Not sure on the difference.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13705
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15258

One caveat I've noticed from reading threads and even warnings on monoprice is that the quality of your HDMI cables can have a big impact on performance. Especially splitters ones that are powered by HDMI. They usually recommend 22-24 AWG. Even if your cable works fine plugged in directly lol.

So yeah voodoo
thebigcheese
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by thebigcheese »

ChuChu Flamingo wrote:Which one would you recommend as a first one to buy? Say I have a PS3 on and then I turn on a xbox 360 or another system, will it switch (I don't want it to, I want it to stay locked)
Any switch that has automatic switching is always going to switch when something new is turned on. That's just the way auto switching works. If you don't want it to do that, you'll want to find one that is fully automatic.
ChuChu Flamingo wrote: One caveat I've noticed from reading threads and even warnings on monoprice is that the quality of your HDMI cables can have a big impact on performance. Especially splitters ones that are powered by HDMI. They usually recommend 22-24 AWG. Even if your cable works fine plugged in directly lol.

So yeah voodoo
This is true of any switcher, but it really depends on what you are connecting to it. For example, I had a bunch of issues with my PS4 Pro (outputting at 4k) when using an older HDMI cable. Swapped it for a different one and the problems went away. Then I moved it to a different switcher and had issues again until I bothered to actually connect the power supply. Power over HDMI is not enough power for 4k, it would seem. This is, by the way, with two different brands of switcher.

My Life in Gaming did a great video on why HDMI cable quality can matter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dym6XD3-8qw&t=0s. This primarily applies to resolutions above 1080p, though, but since the OSSC is cable of that, it could matter in that situation. For your situation, you are not likely to run into many problems regardless of the cable used.
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ChuChu Flamingo
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Re: hdmi switch

Post by ChuChu Flamingo »

thebigcheese wrote:Any switch that has automatic switching is always going to switch when something new is turned on. That's just the way auto switching works. If you don't want it to do that, you'll want to find one that is fully automatic.
You mean fully manual right? I don't mind it switching automatically, I just only want it to switch if I power on a console. I've read a few cases where even standby consoles mess up the auto detection due to how they power cycle.

and yeah the HDMI episode of MLG reiterates a lot of good points I experienced before. Just because a cable is digital you need to make sure it meets the proper specs. I've had cables produce digital white pixels before due to a bad cable.
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