PRODUCT REVIEW: APRIL 1, 2007
A Tale Of Two Switches
Not enough HDMI inputs on your new HDTV? Check out these new HDMI switches from Radiient and Key Digital.
It seems that, no matter how many HDMI inputs come with a new HDTV, that you’re always one short. DVD players, set-top receivers, DVRs, and the new Blu-ray and HD DVD players are all equipped with HDMI connections, which in most cases are the only way to get the highest signal bandwidth and, if available, 1080p video to your display or projector.
It used to be a big deal when one HDMI jack was included. Many manufacturers now tout two HDMI ports, while a few have gone to three. I don’t know of any that offer four, but I had two products in for testing recently that do.
Radiient Technologies, a new player in the world of interfaces, has introduced the Select-4 4x1 HDMI switch ($299), while a more familiar face, Key Digital Systems, is now shipping their KD-HDMI4x1 ($825). While there is quite a difference in price between the two, the Radiient unit is much simpler in operation. The question to be answered is if the Key Digital Unit justifies its higher price tag.
To test them both, I hooked up a Motorola DCT6200 digital cable box (DVI-D output), LG’s LST-3410A ATSC/NTSC/QAM digital receiver with DVR (also DVI-D output), Toshiba’s HD-A2 HD DVD player (HDMI output) and OPPO’s DV-981HD upconverting DVD player (HDMI). The switched signals were fed to my Mitsubishi HC5000 1080p LCD projector through its DVI and HDMI inputs.
Figure 1. Front view of Radiient Technologies’ Select-4 4x1 HDMI switcher.
OUT OF THE BOX — SELECT-4
The Select-4 is quite small and unobtrusive. It is powered by an external transformer (6VDC to rear the panel power jack) and has four HDMI inputs, one HDMI output, and an RS232 port for remote control. According to the specifications, it will switch all standard DTV formats (480i/p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p), plus computer resolutions from VGA (640x480) to UXGA (1600x1200).
Note that the Select-4 switches HDMI signal only. There are no secondary breakout connections for digital or analog audio, so if you happen to have an older HDTV or projector with DVI-D inputs, you’ll need to switch following audio a different way from your DVD player or set-top receiver.
The front panel has a master power on/off button and four bi-state LEDs, plus a manual selector switch. When an active HDMI source is detected, the Select-4 will automatically switch to it. If more than one source is active, the Select-4 stop at the first one sequence, starting with input #1 and moving to #4, then back to #1.
You can also operate the unit with a super-slim IR remote control, directly accessing any input or simply scanning for active signals. The selected input LED glows orange while all other inputs remain blue.
PERFORMANCE — SELECT-4
The Select-4 works as advertised. It took no time at all to hook up each signal source, power up, and switch signals to the HC5000. Because of the handshake that must occur before each successful HDMI/HDMI interface, you won’t see anything on the screen for three to five seconds, which is quite annoying if you’re used to older analog video switches.
I had no problems with either set-top box at any output resolution (720p, 1080i), nor the HD-A2 running 1080i/30 output (its highest setting). I did, however, have a problem with the OPPO 981HD – although I could see a picture with the player set to any output resolution, those images always had a magenta cast, as if I was viewing an RGB signal through a YPbPr component video interface.
To get a better fix on this problem, I substituted OPPO’s older DV-970H scaling DVD player, which doesn’t offer 1080p output — only 480i/p, 720p, and 1080i. This time around, the signal passed through perfectly and locked up every time, no matter what output resolution I selected. (More on this problem in a minute.)
Figure 2a-b. Front and rear views of Key Digital’s KD-HDMI4X1.
OUT OF THE BOX — KD-HDMI4X1
Key Digital’s KD-HDMI4X1 is an unusual product in that it has connectors on both sides, and is really intended more for a hideaway installation, even though it comes with an IR remote. It’s not much larger than the Select-4 but has a lower profile and the ends have angled “ears” on them for mounting to a wall or rear of an equipment rack. The KD-HDMI4X1 also uses an external power supply (5VDC). For remote control, Key Digital has provided both an RS232 connector and a 1/8” mini-jack for serial IR control.
The front of the switcher has four labeled HDM input connectors. Each connector also has a companion analog stereo interface (2xRCA jacks), which is handy for early HDMI signal sources that did not send digital audio through the connector — only video. ((I have an older ATSC set-top box from Humax that works this way.)
The rear of the switcher has a single HDMI output jack and another pair of RCA jacks for analog stereo audio. But that’s not all! Key Digital has also included a 4x1 digital audio switcher, using Toslink connectors. There are four of them on the same side as the output HDMI jack, along with the output Toslink jack.
In my home setup, I don’t need to send digital audio to my projector, so having that four-port Toslink switch is a plus — it means I’ve got one less thing to switch on my AV receiver, which is also user-friendly for other members of the household who aren’t as technology-savvy.
This switcher also scans for active signals when powered up. The stepping is sequential, but you can choose any active input you wish with the supplied remote control. There aren’t any colored LEDs to tell you which output you’ve selected on the front of the housing. They’re on the top instead, along with a button for manual input selection. You’d need to mount the KD-HDMI4X1 on its side with the top facing you to know if it is operating correctly.
PERFORMANCE — KDS-HDMI4X1
Key Digital’s product also works exactly as specified. It starts scanning the moment you turn it on and locks up HDMI inputs quickly. It took from 3-5 seconds for me to see a picture each time I switched, depending on the source.
Once again, the output resolution had no effect on switching speed or completing the HDMI “handshake.” Unlike the Radiient unit, Key Digital didn’t specify compatibility with computer standard resolutions, although the specifications claim to support all clock rates to 165 MHz as well as 50, 60, and 72 Hz frame rates.
The companion Toslink switcher is a real help in my home theater, and means I don’t have to switch the AV receiver at all when flipping between DVDs, HD DVDs, or HD programs. The analog I/O works well — no glitches — but again, you’ll have to deal with the delay between HDMI video sources.
Once again, the OPPO 981HD had problems running through a switcher, giving me the same magenta-colored video. (The 970HD had no such trouble.) Email correspondence with Jason Liao at OPPO led me to download a software upgrade for the 981HD and load up the player, but to no avail. Even with the upgrade, video images still had a magenta color cast at all resolutions.
CONCLUSIONS
Both of these products work very well and provide a great deal more switching flexibility with HDMI interfaces. You can also run additional DVI-equipped players into either switcher, provided those DVI connections carry the HDCP layer. For home theater projectors — many of which have only one HDMI input — these switchers are a godsend.
The question is; how much are you willing to pay for an HDMI switcher? Key Digital’s KD-HDMI4X1 price seems a bit on the steep side, considering it only adds analog and digital audio-follow switching to what the Select-4 can do. The latter unit was originally priced at $399 when it came out in 2006 and is more reasonably tagged. (I would guess Radiient could easily add digital audio switching for another $100.)
