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HDMI switch question

1K views 14 replies 4 participants last post by  larryccf 
#1 · (Edited)
bear in mind, i'm video electronics illiterate.

I bought a component selector switch for selecting what i'll be dubbing from, and fairly cheap, but works great
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...L._SL1500_.jpg


basically bought it to avoid having to disconnect/connect cables going to the pan EH-59 when i want to record something. Only issue i've got, the roku 2 XS, everytime i want to record something off netflix, i have to disconnect the hdmi cable from it so it will have a signal going out the RCA composite connection.

I've considered just buying a roku streaming stick and leaving it dedicated to the TV and using the 2 XS dedicated to dubbing, but i'm interested in doing this as economically as possible.

The HDMI switches available on amazon, will they kill the hdmi signal if i use one of those and when i want to record from the roku 2 XS, simply selecting another device? ie will it make the roku think the hdmi is not conneted, or does the very fact that the roku senses a hdmi cable connected, does that prempt any signal going out thru the RCA connection?

tks in advance
 
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#2 · (Edited)
I never did what you're describing,but i do know this about the way my R-2XS works.
I have the HDMI cable connected from my R-2XS to an AVR,when the AVR is Off the Roku will not sense the hookup so the composite A/V output stays active and i can record/watch.
When i turn the AVR On the connection is sensed by the Roku (no matter which input is selected on the AVR) and shuts the composite video output Off.
So what you're wanting to know is probably possible as long as the input the Roku is on,is rendered inactive when you switch inputs.
If it stays active then No,it probably won't work.
 
#3 ·
my roku is connected to the tv and that component is kind of critical to recording but that does tell me
that the roku just sensing a hdmi cable installed doesn't kill the signal going to the RCA output

tks
 
#5 · (Edited)
my roku is connected to the tv and that component is kind of critical to recording but that does tell me
that the roku just sensing a hdmi cable installed doesn't kill the signal going to the RCA output.
tks
Your Roku doesn't sense anything if the HDMI cable isn't connected to an active input.
If the input is active then the Roku will sense the active input (even if that particular input isn't selected) and disable the composite video output but the audio remains active.
That's why i said your plan will only work IF the input the Roku is on,is inactivated (dead) when you select a diff.input.
If the input remains active when a diff.input is selected,then the Roku will sense it and shut down the composite output.
 
#7 ·
tks for the suggestions but i think i'll go with a hdmi switch - from what greaser said initially, it should work and save me plugging/unplugging the hdmi cable.

What drove this was that i've already gone thru 200 dvd blanks, and probably unplugged/plugged that cable 50-75 times, and it occurred to me it wasn't designed for that kind of wear/tear plus just the act of unplugging it to record, and being reminded i'd forgotten to reconnect it with the wife's "honey, the tv isn't playing the roku again". finished.
 
#8 ·
What drove this was that i've already gone thru 200 dvd blanks, and probably unplugged/plugged that cable 50-75 times, and it occurred to me it wasn't designed for that kind of wear/tear . . .
That would be an understatement. The HDMI port/plug is probably the single most cheaply made and chinzy connector I have seen -- even worse than eSATA. I've seen some ports where the cable would fall out of the socket with only the slightest provocation and was best taped in place. For a critical cable like that with such a loose fitting, you would think they could have put a locking clip on it.

Needless to say, HDMI is NOT designed to be repeatedly plugged and unplugged like a USB plug/socket is. If you keep doing so, you run the risk of eventually damaging it.
 
#11 ·
thanks - that's what i've been doing and found that some do automatically select the "active" component - with my limited electronic literacy (and that might even be an embellisment) i think i've figured out that i need to make sure there's a second component connected to the switch, that i can turn on and "occupy" the switch's attention, which brings me to the conclusion that the added cables behind the components (it's already looking like a mix between rolling balls of sagebrush (ala the old westerns) and mildly cooked sphagetti, plus the hassle of having to turn on something which causes my TV to automatically go to the latest device that turned on as it's new input -

all that, in the long run, looks like it will be more costly, in terms of energy etc than just getting a roku streaming stick dedicated to netflix streaming, with the bonus that that eliminates one hdmi cable from the pile of sphagetti.
 
#13 ·
hadn't thought about that option, nice to know about - and it would at least eliminate the exposure of breaking the roku's hdmi port and it would be the cheapest

tks Kelson
 
#14 · (Edited)
Check out the port savers on MP's website.A port saver can be connected in diff.ways.Either connect it directly to the tv or the Roku,whichever way is comfortable to you,or connect in-line somewhere between the two,always leaving one end of an HDMI cable connected to the Roku and a second HDMI cable always connected to the tv,with the port saver in the middle.But then you'll need two HDMI cables instead of only one cable.Connecting either way will save both the Roku and tv's ports,leaving the port saver to take any damage that may occur.But you'll still have to disconnect one of the cables when you want to use the Roku composite video output.
 
#15 ·
tks all - just ordered a port saver from monoprice on amazon - at $4.08 shipped, it's a no brainer as a cheap enough "sacrificial" element
 
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