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An HDMI video switch (a.k.a. HDMI video switcher, HDMI switch box) takes HDMI data from a few different HDMI sources and sends the data from one of them to the HDTV. This way, it behaves as an agent to take many HDMI signal for your HDTV, despite the fact that the HDTV has merely a couple of HDMI port(s).

You can connect many HD devices to the HDTV, which can include the:

* BluRay player, HD-DVD player, DVD player with HDMI output;
* PS3, Xbox360, Wii with HDMI output;
* HTPC, or computers with HDMI ports;
* HDTV box, satellite dish network, HD PVR;
* HD camera, or HD cam recorder;
* All the other devices that are able to outputting HDMI data.

For the easiness of hooking up many HDMI gizmos, just how much should you really invest on an HDMI switch?

The Best Price for An HDMI Video Switch

You will probably find famously-branded HDMI switches at around $250 in a neighboring BestBuy store, or perhaps $150 if you look around a little. Your own pure intuition almost definitely quickly tells you this doesn’t make sense: HDMI switching is such a basic function, how come does it need to cost you that much? And don’t forget, with numerous 42-46 inch HDTVs priced somewhere around $600-700 now, $150 – $250 certainly appears to be too much, we might as well add a couple of hundred bucks to buy a different HDTV.

How About Just $20?

That’s right, you will only really have to invest $20 on a 3-port HDMI video switch, which will have the job done literally perfectly as those $250 ones: they’ll have precisely the same offerings like support for 1080P FullHD, DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD, Linear PCM (LPCM), automatic and manual HDMI switching, HDMI v1.3b and HDCP pass-through.

Number of Ports Matter. More ports will need more parts and cost just a little more. A 2×1 HDMI switch, with 2 HDMI inputs and 1 output, are likely to cost about $10-15; whereas a 5×1 HDMI video switch could set you back for perhaps $30-40, but not $400.

Do They Genuinely Function The Same?

Part of you inside probably keeps telling you that those expensive ones must have significantly better audio/video quality, as they cost a lot more, right?

But, in the digital environment, it’s either 1 or 0: signals either get transmitted and transmitted in its 100% full quality, or it will get lost with absolutely nothing transmitted at all —- there is nothing in the middle.

The HDMI video switch is not going to modify the data at all, HDMI signal are handed over from the input port to the output port untouched, this then makes sure that everything in the HDMI source is going to be sent to the HDTV like the HDMI source attaches to your own HDTV directly.

That is precisely the key reason why a $20 HDMI video switch will have its HDMI switching job done just as well as $250 ones.

Tags: bestbuy store, bluray player, hd camera, hd dvd player, hdmi switch, linear pcm, satellite dish network