Today, we all have many devices that connect to the monitor or TV through HDMI , but many times there comes a point where we run out of available ports. In these cases, should you get an HDMI splitter , or rather an HDMI switch ? We tell you how the two differ, and under what circumstances you should use one or the other.
They are very frequent, and especially in PC monitors, those that only have a video input. If you wanted to connect both the PC and a console to the same monitor, you would have to disconnect one cable and connect the other each time you wanted to change, so these options that we are going to talk about next would be a perfect solution for you.
What is an HDMI splitter and when should you use it?
The word “splitter” comes from the English “split”, which means division. In other words, a splitter is used to divide (or double) the signal from a single source to multiple displays . This is useful, for example, if we have a PC and we want to see the image both on our monitor and on a television so that other people can act as spectators. The same would be for example if we have an Apple TV and we want the image to be seen on two televisions at the same time.
For this reason, an HDMI splitter will always have a single input or “Input” that will be the video (and audio) source, and several outputs or “Output”, which will be where we can connect the screens where we want the image to be seen. Thus, we have splitters from 1 × 2 (one input and two outputs) to 1 × 16 (one input and sixteen outputs), passing of course through 1 × 4, 1 × 8, etc.
The HDMI splitters do not have any manipulation, that is, they will always emit the signal that enters them through the Input in all the Outputs, without exception. It must be said that there are passive splitters, which do not need additional power, but the normal thing is that these have their quality limited so the normal thing is that they are active and that we need to connect them to a power outlet.
What is an HDMI switch and when is it used
An HDMI switch is just the opposite in the physical sense of a splitter: it has several inputs and a single output . To give you an idea, almost all televisions have an internal HDMI switch, so they have several HDMI ports to which we can connect different devices but all of them will be seen on the screen of the TV itself.
This works, for example, if your PC monitor has only one HDMI input but you want to connect both the PC and a game console to it. A switch would serve you to connect both devices to the same monitor and, just by pressing a button, switch between one and the other signal sources. For this reason and unlike splitters, HDMI switches have physical switches or buttons (there are even models with remote control) that are the ones that will allow us to switch between one source and another .
In this case, the vast majority of HDMI switches are passive, that is, they do not need additional power . This is so because they do not have to multiply the image in several outputs as splitters do, but simply limit themselves to sending one or another input signal always through the same output, and for this the HDMI itself already provides all the energy that needs to.
Special case: HDMI splitter + switch
There are some devices that are capable of both splitter and HDMI switch. They are generally more scarce because users either have one need or have another and rarely both at the same time, and in turn they are much more expensive due to the internal complexity they have. In any case, these devices have multiple inputs and multiple outputs and have a physical button to switch from one source to another.
In this case, the splitter + switches behave as follows: we will select the input source, and whatever we have selected, it will replicate it to all the outputs. What can this be used for? Well, with a combination of the above. Imagine that, as we put before the example, we want the image seen on the PC to be replicated on a TV so that our friends can see it. Well, this device would allow us, at the same time, to do the same with the console by connecting it to the same monitor and the same TV, and allowing us to switch from one source to another with just one button .
When is each of them used?
To sum it all up, let’s see in which cases you should choose one or the other of these products:
- HDMI Splitter: as its name indicates (split), this device is used to take a single input signal and reproduce it in different outputs. It is used to, for example, broadcast the image of a game console or PC on different televisions at the same time.
- HDMI Switch: this is the opposite case, it has a single output and several inputs, so it can be used to connect, for example, different PCs to the same monitor, or a console and a PC with the same monitor or TV.
- HDMI Splitter + Switch: this is a special case that does the same as the previous two, so it is ideal for those who require greater versatility, such as those who want to be able to broadcast from a console or from the PC to several monitors simultaneously without having to go around connecting and disconnecting wiring.
