I'm looking to run my HDMI's into one unit them out to my New TV.

Is it best to buy a new A/V Recevier and run the HDMI's into it and then out to the TV?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=2777&seq=1&format=2&style=

Then to the TV or is it the Same Thing?

Whats the besy way to do this? Looknig to do maybe 3 or 4 HDMI total

I bought an Octava HDMI switcher with remote, just so I would not have to decide which AV receiver to upgrade to. Seems like the modern AV receiver has become so complicated that it's a difficult purchase decision. So I kept my older Denon receiver, and bought the separate HDMI switcher.

Just be sure to get a switcher that includes switching optical digital audio also. The Octava does, the link you referenced does not. My system works fine - using a Universal MX-700 remote with the HDMI switcher commands included in various macros.

I haven't used one, but the Octava switches are auto-sensing, which I think is a plus.

ie, when a component is turned on, the Octava automaticaly switches to it (though you still have the option to thereafter manually switch/choose any device).

This should make the overal experience much smoother. No more explaining to Mom, the wife, and the kids, how to switch. (Hopefully.)

Do you think the video will be better going with a unit like

http://www.octavainc.com/HDMI%20switch%204port_toslink.htm

Over useing the A/V Recevier?

Will you be able to tell.

Digital is digital. It either works, or it doesn't. The picture quality isn't affected by the quality of the cable, etc, until you reach a point that the signal is no longer viable, and you get pixelization, or no picture. You don't get snow/noise/ghosting/etc issues like you would with an analog connection (S-video, component, composite)

Do you think the video will be better going with a unit like

http://www.octavainc.com/HDMI%20switch%204port_toslink.htm

Over useing the A/V Recevier?

Will you be able to tell.

One advantage of using the switcher is that you can select video and audio completely independantly. I like to watch sports while I listen to music. Or is it the other way around? :-)

I am in the same situation.

Since I use my stereo as my audio component for all video sources, it makes sense to get an A/V receiver with HDMI switching as well as reasonable upscaling for non-HD sources to be output via the same HDMI cable. It also naturally switches to the appropriate audio, though is probably configurable (my 9 year old Marantz does this, though never used).

I am leaning towards the Onkyo Receivers

I haven't used one, but the Octava switches are auto-sensing, which I think is a plus.

ie, when a component is turned on, the Octava automaticaly switches to it (though you still have the option to thereafter manually switch/choose any device).

This should make the overal experience much smoother. No more explaining to Mom, the wife, and the kids, how to switch. (Hopefully.)
It's good and bad. Sometimes it becomes more annoying (but not impossible) to program your remote control macros with the autoselect behavior. Monoprice decided to remove the feature in the latest revision due in part to this issue.

One advantage of using the switcher is that you can select video and audio completely independantly. I like to watch sports while I listen to music. Or is it the other way around? :-)...on the switch. The Octava "4x1 HDMI Switch with Optical Toslink Routing" *does not* allow for independent selection of Audio and Video: they are always sync'd, and are keyed off the HDMI input. I just confirmed this with Octava, who said they'd add idependent switching to their To-Do list. Pity, since the changes to the cicuitry required to do this don't seem to difficult (said the non-engineer; correct me if I'm wrong), and might have been done initially.

I'm with you: sports commentators get a bit tiresome; nothing like one's own soundtrack to break the monotony now and then.

The other way to achieve idependent switching is to use standalone HDMI and digital audio switchers. If both devices come with remote controls, it should be possible to program various macros into a remote (like the Universal Remote URC300 :-) to cover any attached devices.

Time to go shopping!

The other way to achieve idependent switching is to use standalone HDMI and digital audio switchers. If both devices come with remote controls, it should be possible to program various macros into a remote (like the Universal Remote URC300 :-) to cover any attached devices.
Well usually your receiver works perfectly fine as a digital audio switcher so all you really need then is the HDMI switch.

I think if you go with this configuration you are best going with an activity-based remote like Harmony where you can push one button and it will turn on all the devices needed, select the proper inputs, set the volume, channel, and transport buttons appropriately, etc.

Well usually your receiver works perfectly fine as a digital audio switcher so all you really need then is the HDMI switch.

I think if you go with this configuration you are best going with an activity-based remote like Harmony where you can push one button and it will turn on all the devices needed, select the proper inputs, set the volume, channel, and transport buttons appropriately, etc.I should've specified that, as with the HDMI, one requires additional inputs. If not, it would be foolish to add a useless component.

A properly config'd macro can do all that the Harmony can do, at least in terms of switching to a different HDMI source (or manually switching the HDMI switcher), and selecting an audio input from a switcher or the receiver. It'd be a relatively simplistic one, as well.

I might be missing something but if you buy a new High Def video reader with a lossless audio track such as on BD for example, and it does not have discrete analog outputs (only HDMI such as PS3) you will not be able to enjoy the track as if the receiver would have Multi ch. LPCM input capability. Fallback to lower quality lossy core DTS/DD will be the best you can hear. I agree that bottom line first level AV receivers with HDMI switching only as discussed above is no better than a separate switcher but the next level receiver with integrated LPCM input is now much desirable and affordable than before. Third level mid-2007 AVReceiver with HDMI 1.3 and built-in TrueHD + DTS-MA lossless codecs are not really needed for now but a nice investment for the next years.

I'm looking to run my HDMI's into one unit them out to my New TV.

Is it best to buy a new A/V Recevier and run the HDMI's into it and then out to the TV?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=2777&seq=1&format=2&style=

Then to the TV or is it the Same Thing?

Whats the besy way to do this? Looknig to do maybe 3 or 4 HDMI total
You bring up here the important and too little discussed topic of signal path. All of us inevitably have to deal with connecting components and thus routing signals one way or the other but most don’t put enough design thought into this part of putting together a system. So it’s a great question.

You begin by stating that your desire is to route all video source signals through a single component, used as a switcher, and then have a single video connection sent on the your display. While this may on the surface seem nice and clean, it raises some serious issues for picture quality. Therefore, it can’t be so simply answered without stepping back and looking at your system overall and your goals for PQ.

First understand that each source component presents different video signal characteristics to a display and that in systems where PQ is important a display is thus calibrated separately for each source. These sets of calibration adjustments are stored in separate video adjustment memory locations or slots in that display. Some displays allow only one set of adjustments per input connection while others allow more. If your display is the former and you want great picture quality for all your sources, then you will need to connect each source separately to your display. If it is the latter, you will have a choice. If you decide to run a single connection to your display, you will need to be able to select and apply the display’s picture adjustment settings for the selected source component. This may or may not be able to be done via a remote’s macros depending on whether the display provides discrete codes for this function. So this can run from rather simple to a real freeken pain to impossible.

The next thing you want to consider is where in the signal path you want/expect video processing to be performed. As HD evolves, this is no longer a simple question. For instance, many source devices provide for some processing such as scaling, de-interlacing, noise reduction, color space conversion, color decoding, signal transcoding etc. But video processors and now some AV receivers can so some or all of these as well. Of course, your display can also perform these functions. So the art of system configuration, which includes signal path design, is to select, connect, and configure your components together as a system so that processing is performed where you direct for the best overall performance. Since many components can do the same processing, you need to specify through component setup just where you want the processing performed.

Then there is the audio side to consider and coordinate. HDMI has actually messed this up somewhat, at least for the present, by combining the signals in one connection.

If you can lay out in more detail your individual components and their connection and processing capabilities, a better answer to your basic question can be given.

Over the next couple of years as AV receivers evolve into full fledged video procerssors, via chips such as the Slicon Optics Reon and Realta, and HDMI 1.3 becomes broadly available, then it may make perfect sense to have all sources conveniently and simply connected to the receiver and to treat the display as a pure monitor. All calibration and processing both video and audio w/sync would be done in the receiver and passed on a single connection to the display.

Hopes this gives a little more perspective to the question and discussion.

Cheers, :)

Gary

I bought the 3x1 switch a few months ago.

Sounds great on paper.

One caveat … make sure that any HDMI out device hook-up to it does not have it HDMI port on all the time. My Samsung DVD/VHS recorder does. It will not switch automatically as stated by Octava.

They don't tell you that up-front. They explained that to me after they got my money.

Read the website for the warranty carefully … 30 days. It's a pretty pricey unit for 30 days.

When did I notice the 30 day warranty? When mine started to hang-up and only pass audio (no video). Have to un-plug and re-plug the cable to the TV.

Their response to my 4 emails. No response!

The real sad part is that the optimal solution would be to have the optical audio out of the TV pass through any audio from the HDMI signal. This way, you could hook the optical out from the TV into your receiver, and when you select a video source on the TV, your receiver would automatically receive the right audio, too. it would also improve on the audio-sync, because video processing is more time-intensive. this should be feasible: many TVs now have 3 HDMIs, some even have 4 HDMI inputs. the TV would be your input device switcher. alas, it seems that this is not feasible, because these modern TVs will not pass through the optical from the HDMI back into their optical out. rumor has it that this is hollywood's HDMI restrictions. grrr.... (I cannot understand for the world of me why this rule makes it harder for me to steal their audio; after all, I can pass the TOSlink audio directly to my computer, and thereby get the bitstream.)

now to worry, I might say, let's do a second-best and use the TV as the amplifier. if it can have SRS surround sound, why can't my TV use output some real signal to real-live rear speakers? this way, I could pass up on a receiver. (I know, it won't be as good as a high-end receiver.) your TV is the switcher and amplifier. I switch to a source, and I get the audio. wrong again---some TVs have subwoofer output, but none seem to have the ability to talk to rear speakers. grrr. not samsung or pioneer as far as I have seen, at least.

so, you have to buy something that switches HDMI first, which you pass into one HDMI input of the TV. the other TV HDMI inputs are no longer as useful. worse, because HDMI has interesting copyright restrictions built-in (HDCP), you pray that your switching device in the middle does not interfere with the rights negotiation of your devices.

of all the copyright issues, this HDCP issue bugs me most. if someone really has the capabilities to intercept the video signal (!), it's gotta be someone in the business of professional theft. in this case, there is nothing that prevents this person from building a box around a high-end large display device, using a high-end camera to record it, and then process it into a watchable HD movie. it doesn't really stop the professional pirates. it only aggravates everyone else.

/iaw