I only have one HDMI input on my Sony tube TV. I want to hook up my computer and my DVD player. Why can't i buy a simple Y-cable, it seems all I see are these fancy and expensive switchers. There should be no electrical problem if I'm just trying to watch one at a time, right? Why no y-cables?

I would consider using Component cables on one device, but my Oppo 981 won't output HD over component TTBOMK. Would using component cables out of my computer result in a great loss of PQ?

monoprice.com has several HDMI "splitters"

yes, and they all say this

(*) This is splitter cable. You can only connect one input device (i.e. DVD player,cable box or satellite receiver) to two output device(i.e. TV or projector).You can't connect two input device (i.e. DVD player,cable box or satellite receiver) to one output device(i.e. TV or projector)

I could get their 8 inch port saver and just manually plugand unplug the cables every time, but that would be a total PITA

I only have one HDMI input on my Sony tube TV. I want to hook up my computer and my DVD player. Why can't i buy a simple Y-cable, it seems all I see are these fancy and expensive switchers. There should be no electrical problem if I'm just trying to watch one at a time, right? Why no y-cables?

You can't do it with an HDMI cable any more that you can with any other cable: component, composite, or RF. The two sources would be fighting each other. They must be isolated. Thus you need a switch with isolation between the two sources.

You can do it with audio cables, that is, use Y-cables. You just have to make sure only one source is playing at one time, or else of course it doesn't work. i assumed it would work with video cables as well, if, for example, I left my DVD player off when I was trying to use the computer.

this is all I could find.

http://www.firefold.com/Products/2X1-HDMI-Switch---AutoSense__HDMI-2SWITCH.aspx
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http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=4088&seq=1&format=2
^^
The HDMI Switcher allows access to multiple HDMI devices, such as DVD players and Satellite set-top boxes to one HDMI display


I mean no offense or anything but these weren't that hard to find.

just typed 2x1 HDMI splitter in google and in monoprice

I mean no offense or anything but these weren't that hard to find.

just typed 2x1 HDMI splitter in google and in monopriceI agree. I already directed them the the monoprice.com site! :rolleyes:
http://www.firefold.com/images/2x1hdmiswitcher.jpg

Be careful. HDMI switches and HDMI splitters are two different devices. A switch (what the OP wants) switches between multiple input devices and directs output to one display. A HDMI splitter can direct one (of x) inputs and "split" the output to multiple displays at the same time. Usually splitters are switches also.

larry

Be careful. HDMI switches and HDMI splitters are two different devices. A switch (what the OP wants) switches between multiple input devices and directs output to one display. A HDMI splitter can direct one (of x) inputs and "split" the output to multiple displays at the same time. Usually splitters are switches also.

larry

if you look at what was posted you'd see that we gave him what he asked for.:)

**edit**

I see what you mean though cause I typed 2x1 hdmi splitter in my search.

to quote myself
Why can't i buy a simple Y-cable, it seems all I see are these fancy and expensive switchers.

My question wasn't so much 'how can I hook my system up' (I already stated that I knew about switchers). My question was more 'why do I have to buy an expensive switcher to hook my system up, and why can't I just use a simple Y-cable.'

What is it about HDMI that won't let me simply branch the cable off? It would be the same thing as unplugging it from one source and plugging it into the other source, provided I turned one source off and turned the other one on. I don't understand the technical reason why I should have to buy a switcher.

to quote myself
What is it about HDMI that won't let me simply branch the cable off? It would be the same thing as unplugging it from one source and plugging it into the other source, provided I turned one source off and turned the other one on. I don't understand the technical reason why I should have to buy a switcher.
It's not the same as unplugging one source and plugging in another.

This is not unique to HDMI, it's common to all high frequency connections (where the transmission distance is more than a quarter of the highest frequency wavelength). The problem is that high frequency circuits such as video, RF and HDMI require that the source and load impedances be matched to the cable impedances for proper signal fidelity. If you connect two sources to the same cable, the impedances are now mismatched and serious signal reflections and degradation will likely occur. The usual way to avoid this is thus to have isolation between the two sources by a switch (either mechanical or electronic).

The problem doesn't occur for audio at the length of typical home connections because of the long wavelength of audio frequencies (9.3 miles at 20,000Hz). But if you were to send the audio several miles, than you could have the same problem.

thank you for answering my question.

if you look at what was posted you'd see that we gave him what he asked for.:)

**edit**

I see what you mean though cause I typed 2x1 hdmi splitter in my search.
Yes, I just wanted to make sure that the OP and anybody else who read the thread knew the difference to prevent undue confusion down the road. "Splitter" was being used too much even though the pic and what the OP described was a switch.

larry

What is it about HDMI that won't let me simply branch the cable off?

High frequency and impedance issues are concerns when splitting digital connections but the main reason with HDMI is that it is a smart connection, yah I know that seems like a misnomer with all the problems inherent to it, but what I mean is the transmitting end communicates with the receiving end to determine how to configure the connection and establish HDCP authorization. This even occurs if the receiving device is turned off because the transmitter supplies 5 vdc over the cable to power just the HDMI chip in the receiving device. It is my understanding, that if you try to connect two receivers at the same time the transmitter will be unable to resolve EDID/HDCP data with two devices talking back to it at once.

There is more to the issue than just bandwidth of the signal. HDMI is an active bidirectional communication protocol. That is, the receiver talks to the transmitter and tells it what signals it can receive (ie. video only, video and audio, audio only, what protocol is to be used for each. etc). The transmitter then sets itself up to send the proper signals to that specific receiver. Any splitter would place two receivers on the same signalling wires. This effectively shorts out the signalling lines and can damage the equipment. Even if no damage occurs, the transmitter will likely receive two conflicting sets of information from the receivers. This will prevent the transmitter from setting up the video transmission.