Introduction
There is nothing more annoying than buying a brand new HDTV only to find out you'll need to sell your car to buy all the necessary hook-ups. Even after you tap the twins' college fund to buy a handful of HDMI cables and bring out the Playstation 3, hi-def cable box and upconvert DVD player, you'll probably find yourself fresh out of HDMI inputs on your TV. Short of hiring someone to switch cables at your beck and call, the only solution is an HDMI source selector, which represents yet another added cost.
There is always a fear that splitting a hi-def signal will cut back on picture quality, so you may want to just grab the most-expensive and most-advanced device you can find. However, I ran the gamut of HDMI splitters to see what exactly the difference is between a basic $85 product and a $3,000 monster.
Impact Acoustics - The Basic $85 Model
Believe it or not, there are cost-effective options when it comes to HDMI switchers, and one of them is the two-port HDMI Selector Switch from Impact Acoustics. This basic device has everything that a minimalist needs - two HDMI inputs, one output and a power cable. It even comes with a remote control for those intimidated by the button on the front panel.
There are two main things this box has in its favor. In addition to the favorable cost, it's extremely small. It's even slimmer than any composite video switcher I've ever seen. This could easily fit into anyone's entertainment center without the need to change the feng shui of the entire room.
The front of Impact Acoustic's two-port HDMI Selector Switch
In terms of picture quality, I really have no complaints. From my couch, which is about 10 feet away from a 48" 1080p HDTV, I saw no difference between a single HDMI source and the same source when it was split via the Impact Acoustics box. To really test it out, I stood three inches away from the screen and did a back-and-forth check. From that close, the image was a slight bit fuzzier when split, but it was so minimal it didn't even blur anything like closed captions or menu screens to the point of illegibility.
The back of the device is very plain and simple.
Of course, there is a problem because it only supports two HDMI signals. It's most definitely not a long term solution for anyone who owns an HDTV with less than three built-in HDMI ports. Visually, it's also not an attention grabber. What we're talking about here is the bare bones solution to HDMI splitting. Considering how much some other alternatives cost, it's a great product, but it's simply not worth the time of die-hard video enthusiasts.
