The GANA HDMI Switcher only supports video up to Full HD (1080p), and doesn’t come with a remote control – but it compensates with an excellent price point. TechJunkie is curated by our content-area subject matter experts to provide a well-rounded, unbiased perspective There are a few exceptions – for example, products that can function as both a Splitter AND a Switcher (so all their ports can serve as either Input or Output), and products that let you Switch different devices and then Split them to multiple screens. HDMI is a digital signal and won't degrade in the same way as older analog signals, even with the addition of a switcher. If you are experiencing a notable loss in signal quality, it may be due to a faulty one from your switcher or a damaged cable.

As you would expect, there are many cheap low-quality HDMI splitters out right now. There’s no need to worry, though. In our guide, we bring you top-notch products that are reliable and work well. Yes, some HDMI splitters outperform others depending on how you plan to use them. Active HDMI splitters are best suited for sending signals at a long distance. Whereas a passive HDMI splitter is better suited for short distances. This means you will need additional cables for each device you intend to output the source to. Although passive and active HDMI splitters work slightly differently, this basic principle is the same.I decided to include this Fosmon HD8062 in this review because of its price for its value. It has 5 additional HDMI ports and an infrared remote to switch between them. It works like a charm.

One of the most annoying things about TVs is the limited number of ports to connect things like streaming boxes and game consoles. An HDMI switcher gets around this, adding more ports by letting several devices share the same cable into your TV. If you need an HDMI switcher but want to avoid getting bogged down in details, our experts suggest you buy the Kinivo 550BN HDMI switcher. It has the right price and amount of inputs and it just works. If you have a 4K Ultra HD TV and 4K source components, the switcher must also be 4K compatible. If you need to pass HDR-encoded or 3D video signals, your HDMI switcher must have those capabilities. An HDMI switch allows you to swap between inputs transmitted to a single screen, whereas an HDMI splitter takes a single signal and sends it to multiple screens.and HDR) are becoming more and more popular, so TVs and streaming devices with 4K support are becoming very common. HDCP is there to protect video feeds from illegal copying, and you need to make sure the HDMI switcher you’re buying supports this standard. Otherwise, most devices you connect to it won’t broadcast anything to your TV. The runner-up on our list is this Avedio Links HDMI Splitter, which supports a 4K resolution, so you get a crisp, artifact-free display. It has three input ports and one output cable. The body is also made using aluminum alloy, making it resistant to corrosion and overheating. The high build quality impressed customers a lot. It delivers 4K and 2K content at 30Hz and 1080p content at 120Hz. It also supports most audio formats, and is equipped with built-in vents to prevent it from overheating. It won’t give you 4K at 120Hz, which can be beneficial for next-generation consoles like the PS5, though.

The HDMI splitter from Zettaguard can handle a maximum resolution of 4K at 30Hz and is compatible with Dolby Audio. It accepts video signals from laptops, gaming consoles, and Blu-ray players, making it a versatile device for media enthusiasts. This switcher excels at advanced PiP (again, only in HD and specifically the 1080p/1080i formats) and supports a whole bunch of advanced audio formats, so if you've got a home cinema setup, you're good to go, with support for PCM2, 5.1, and 7.1 surround sound, Dolby 5.1, and DTS 5.1. This is another niche product, but like above, we're glad it's available.The advantage of using HDMI ARC or eARC over an HDMI splitter is that it allows you to take advantage of Consumer Electronic Control or CEC. This allows you to use one of your device’s remotes to control all of your devices. It also synchronizes your devices so that they all have one master volume. Active HDMI Splitters An HDMI splitter takes the HDMI signal from one source and splits it into two identical sources. HDMI splitters can either be passive, simply splitting the signal, or active, adding some additional power to the split signals to compensate for the loss of cutting a signal in half. An HDMI splitter is a fairly simple piece of technology that allows you to transmit audio-visual data from one HDMI source – regardless of the size of cable like mini and micro (our tutorial on the differences) – to two HDMI receivers. This can be useful in situations where you have a television and a sound system you want to feed an external source to, but your devices don’t have HDMI ARC or eARC. It can also be useful if you want to display the content from one source on multiple TVs. However, with multiple screens comes the problem of using your media devices – such as streaming devices, gaming consoles, DVD players, etc. – with those multiple tellies. Without buying multiple devices, that is… Using an active HDMI splitter for longer cable runs should help eliminate this problem. However, if the problem persists, you may want to upgrade your HDMI cable to one that is better shielded, or another type like directional cables which we’ve talked about before. A shielded cable has an extra layer of material (usually a metal alloy or carbon allotrope) that deflects radio waves.

It doesn’t require an external power supply and works well with power from the HDMI devices, and it even comes with a gold-plated HDMI cable. Connecting a gaming console to your TV is one of the main reasons people buy an HDMI Switch. However, while there should be no issues with the original PS4, the older XBOX, and most other gaming consoles – the PS4 PRO, PS5 and XBOX Series X do raise some concerns. If you want a simple split for two HDMI output signals as dual screen, Takya HDMI Splitter will just work perfectly. I really like how it lights up when an HDMI device is plugged into this splitter.A good HDMI splitter should be able to split a signal from one source and transmit it to multiple displays. Unlike HDMI Switchers, which are often powered by the HDMI devices connected to them, most HDMI Splitters need an external power source. For the first spot on our list, we have this OREI HDMI Splitter which comes in two design variations. It also comes in three bundle options that you can opt for as per your preference. It supports HDMI 2.0, allowing you to get a maximum resolution of 4K. Additionally, its enclosure is made of metal, making it highly reliable, so you won’t have to worry about damaging it. An HDMI splitter is pretty intuitive in its design. Almost universally, it will take a single incoming HDMI signal and output it to multiple HDMI outputs all at the same time.