As we slowly build our home entertainment center we eventually realize that the centerpiece of our system which is the high definition television can only be connected to one device. So we have to decide how to connect multiple devices which could be a gaming PC or a DVD player to the flat screen without doing it manually like unplugging the cable from one device and transferring it to the other. It is possible to do it this now automatically by using a device that sits between the TV and two or more sources. The device is called an HDMI switcher.
A switch box is not a new idea. In the early days of the PC, before networking was affordable, two computers were able to share a printer by using an A-B box. By rotating a dial to an A or B position, one PC has full use of the printer. The A-B box of old was a mechanical device that required manual operation.
The basic HDMI switch box has a similar function to the old A-B box. It has two ports for incoming connections and one port for output data. So as an example, our gaming PC and DVD player will be connected to the two input ports of the switch while the high definition TV is connected to the output port. The main difference with the switch now is that manual operation is not required.
The gadget is capable of auto-sensing which input port has incoming data. Auto-sensing makes for a seamless experience when using multiple devices that have to connect to the TV. There is no need to rotate a switch to select what input port is active because auto-sensing makes it happen.
Aside from auto-sensing, another important feature of the switch is being able choose what port has priority. What port priority does is it prevents contention when more than one device is sending data at the same time. The port that has priority gets full access to the output port when contention occurs. There is a manual override for this setting and it can be set using the remote control.
Most of the components that form part of a home entertainment center are already HDMI compliant. Because it is common to have more than two such appliances in our homes, there has to be a way of allowing these gadgets to work together smoothly. This is the important role played by the HDMI switcher. It would be such a big hassle if devices like these did not exist because it would surely make multiple devices working together very difficult.
A switch box is not a new idea. In the early days of the PC, before networking was affordable, two computers were able to share a printer by using an A-B box. By rotating a dial to an A or B position, one PC has full use of the printer. The A-B box of old was a mechanical device that required manual operation.
The basic HDMI switch box has a similar function to the old A-B box. It has two ports for incoming connections and one port for output data. So as an example, our gaming PC and DVD player will be connected to the two input ports of the switch while the high definition TV is connected to the output port. The main difference with the switch now is that manual operation is not required.
The gadget is capable of auto-sensing which input port has incoming data. Auto-sensing makes for a seamless experience when using multiple devices that have to connect to the TV. There is no need to rotate a switch to select what input port is active because auto-sensing makes it happen.
Aside from auto-sensing, another important feature of the switch is being able choose what port has priority. What port priority does is it prevents contention when more than one device is sending data at the same time. The port that has priority gets full access to the output port when contention occurs. There is a manual override for this setting and it can be set using the remote control.
Most of the components that form part of a home entertainment center are already HDMI compliant. Because it is common to have more than two such appliances in our homes, there has to be a way of allowing these gadgets to work together smoothly. This is the important role played by the HDMI switcher. It would be such a big hassle if devices like these did not exist because it would surely make multiple devices working together very difficult.
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