Review - Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switch (no sparkles @ 1080p 60Hz & 50ft HDMI cable)

I know some of you folks have been eagerly awaiting the 5x1 HDMI switch from Monoprice. I had a chance to test a pre-production version and it has performed very nicely. My review follows. I hope you find it useful.

Review of Monoprice 5x1 Enhanced HDMI switch with Equalizer
http://www.monoprice.com/products/su...d=10110&style=

Executive Summary
=================
This is an excellent HDMI switcher which provides tremendous value and excellent performance.
The 5x1 switcher passed testing at 720p/hdcp, 1080i/hdcp, 1080p/60/hdcp using 50ft 24AWG HDMI
cables without using any additional repeaters. In addition the 5x1 switch worked well as a
mixed HDMI/DVI switcher and had no problems with audio over HDMI.

Switching times were quite good, in the range of 1-2 seconds for non-HDCP devices and 3-5 seconds
for HDCP devices. HDCP switch times include time to renegotiate encryption and varies between
different devices.

Dimensions(WxDxH): 7.1"x3"x1"
Power Usage: 2 Watts (full load, 5 ports active) (@ $0.21/kilowatt-hr $0.31/month)
Remote Control: discrete input select 1-5, input up/down (uses 2xAAA batteries)

WARNING: Please do not take the results of this review as a guarantee the switch will work with all
equipment and cables equally. Testing represents best effort to perform a range of tests on a diverse
set of equipment and cable lengths but is not broad enough to be considered exhaustive. During testing
it was found that some TMDS transmitters are more sensitive than others. In addition if different cables
from those tested are used, results can vary. It was also discovered some HDMI->DVI adapters can pass
1080p successfully while others can not. The same would apply to other types of adapters.


Full Review
===========

Initial impressions
-------------------
Unit was very compact for a 5x1 switcher. The width is just enough to comfortably fit 6 (5x1)
HDMI ports and about 1" high (includes rubber feet) Included AC adapter was the smallest "wall wart"
ever seen by this reviewer. Build quality was excellent overall. Unit felt very solid. Given
this was pre-production model, there were some slight cosmetic issues but these should be cleaned
up by production time.

Remote control was of good quality and included real vs membrane buttons. Functions include
discrete input 1-5 select and input up/down. Infrared functionality was easily integrated into
universal programming remote either through learning or device upgrades. For JP1 capable remotes,
I've provided a device upgrade file here (for other remotes, decoded IR/protocol provided in appendix):

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dl...e&file_id=2762

Switch has an "autoscan" feature which automatically selects an active input. In practice this
works nice when you are only using 2 devices. For 5 devices it may be simpler to have this feature
disabled (which is not currently an option)


Functional testing summary
--------------------------
Testing was done on this unit at 1080p/60 (148.5MHz) both with and without HDCP. Extensive testing
was also done at 720p/1080i with/without HDCP with a variety of equipment. Test display was the
Sharp LC-45GX6U 1920x1080 display. 1080p testing was done by connecting 5x1 switch directly to the
Sharp display panel DVI port. 720p/1080i testing was done through the HDMI port of the Sharp AVC
(external video processor)

Source devices tested include:
Panasonic S77 upconverting DVD player HDMI (720p/hdcp)
Samsung HD841 upconverting DVD player DVI (1080i/hdcp)
PNY Verto 6600GT PC grapics card DVI (1080i)
MyHD MDP-130 PC HDTV tuner card DVI (1080i)
Radio Shack Accurian ATSC HDTV tuner HDMI (1080i)
Motorola DCT-5100 HD cable set top box DVI (1080i)

PNY Verto 6600GT PC grapics card DVI (1080p/60)
Sharp AVC TU-GD10U-T DVI (1080p/60/hdcp)

Display device:
Sharp LC-45GX6U HDMI (720p/1080i)
Sharp LC-45GX6U DVI (1080p/60/hdcp 1080p/60)

Cables tested
[all Monoprice cables, in the interest of reducing the test matrix some tests were skipped as indicated]
[Monoprice HDMI->DVI adapters were used where appropriate]
28AWG HDMI Cables - 3ft, 6ft, 10ft, 15ft
24AWG HDMI Cables - 3ft, 6ft, 10ft, 15ft, 25ft, 33ft, 50ft
22AWG HDMI Cables - 50ft

Sparkles were not present for any of the test configurations.

1080p testing
-------------
In particular 1080p/60/hdcp (148.5MHz) was sent from Sharp AVC to Sharp display panel through the 5x1
switcher and 50ft 24AWG HDMI cable. This configuration was observed for 2+ hours with no sparkles while
viewing both black picture and using internal QAM tuner to view 1080i content converted to 1080p/hdcp by
Sharp AVC. Testing was repeated at 1080p/60 (no HDCP) using PNY Verto 6600GT viewing WMV-HD 1080p clips
for 15 minutes. No sparkles were observed.

Switch times were excellent in this configuration, often 1 second or less.

720p/1080i testing
------------------
Various devices were tested at 720p/1080i with and without HDCP. No sparkles were observed for any of
the configurations. See raw testing data for extended testing results.

Initial basic test scenario:
1) Panasonic S77 HDMI upconverting DVD player (uses HDMI/HDCP)
connected to input 1 of HDMI switcher using Panasonic suppied 6ft HDMI cable, configured for 720p
source content: The Incredibles
2) Samsung HD841 DVI upconverting DVD player (used DVI/HDCP)
connected to input 2 of HDMI switcher using Monoprice 28AWG 6ft DVI->HDMI cable, configured for 1080i
source content: Star Wars Ep3: Revenge of the Sith

HDMI out was connected to Sharp LC-45GX6U "AVC" (Sharp's external video processing box) using
Radio Shack Gold Series 6ft HDMI->HDMI cable.

No picture degradation at all through the switcher. No sparkles, no strange lines, etc.
Testing was purposely done with one source at 720p and the other at 1080i to force renegotiations.

Switch time was pretty fast for HDMI switcher with HDCP sources. 3-5 seconds (including
HDMI/HDCP renegotiation time between source and display)

Tested turning off the Sharp TV while input 1 was selected and also while input 2 was selected.
Upon turning the TV back on, everything negotiated properly and a picture showed up within 4-5 seconds.

Tested turning off Panasonic S77 while playing, then turning back on, works ok. HDMI/HDCP
renegotiates and picture shows in up 4-5 seconds.

Tested turning off Samsung HD841 while playing, then turning back on, works ok. DVI/HDCP
renegotiates and picture shows in up 4-5 seconds.

Basically there were no sparkles and switch worked as expected.


Extended testing data
---------------------
Test cables (FC=FerriteCore N=Netjacket):
a) 02029 HDMI->DVI F-M converter
b) 02404 DVI->HDMI M-M 28AWG FC 6ft

1) 02526 HDMI M-M 28AWG FC 3ft
2) 02412 HDMI M-M 28AWG FC 6ft
3) 02504 HDMI M-M 28AWG FC 10ft
4) 02529 HDMI M-M 28AWG FC 15ft

5) 02283 HDMI M-M 24AWG FC/N 3ft
6) 02219 HDMI M-M 24AWG FC/N 6ft
7) 02281 HDMI M-M 24AWG FC/N 10ft
8) 02282 HDMI M-M 24AWG FC/N 15ft

9) 02109 HDMI M-M 24AWG 25ft
10) 02742 HDMI M-M 24AWG 33ft (actual 35ft)
11) 02110 HDMI M-M 24AWG FC 50ft

12) 02678 HDMI M-M 22AWG 50ft

====

Scenario 1
Input1 - Sharp AVC 1080p/HDCP == DVI->HDMI 28AWG 6ft (b) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher
Input2 - PNY Verto 6600GT 1080p == DVI->HDMI 28AWG 6ft (b) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher

Output - Monoprice HDMI cable == HDMI->DVI 28AWG 6ft (b) == Sharp LC-45GX6U Panel

Scenario 2
Input1 - Panasonic S77 DVD HDMI/HDCP 720p == HDMI->HDMI cable 6ft (Panasonic bundled) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher
Input2 - Samsung HD841 DVD DVI/HDCP 1080i == DVI->HDMI cable 6ft (Monoprice 28AWG) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher
Input3 - PNY Verto 6600GT DVI 1080i == DVI->HDMI cable 6ft (Monoprice 28AWG) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher
Input4 - MyHD MDP-130 DVI 1080i == HDMI->HDMI cable 6ft (Monoprice 28AWG) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher
Input5a- RS Accurian HDTV tuner HDMI/HDCP 1080i == HDMI->HDMI cable 6ft (Radio Shack 28AWG) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher
Input5b- Motorola DCT-5100 DVI/HDCP 1080i == DVI->HDMI cable 6ft (Monoprice 28AWG) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher

Output - Monoprice HDMI cable == Sharp LC-45GX6U AVC HDMI Input

====

Scenario *1*
Input1 - Sharp AVC 1080p/HDCP == DVI->HDMI 28AWG 6ft (b) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher
Input2 - PNY Verto 6600GT 1080p == DVI->HDMI 28AWG 6ft (b) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher

Output - Monoprice HDMI cable == HDMI->DVI 28AWG 6ft (b) == Sharp LC-45GX6U Panel

Input1 selected
1) 3ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
2) 6ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
3) 10ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
4) 15ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

5) 3ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
6) 6ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
7) 10ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
8) 15ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

9) 25ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
10) 35ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
11) 50ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

12) 50ft 22AWG no sparkle, passed visual picture inspection

Input2 selected
1) 3ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
2) 6ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
3) 10ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
4) 15ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

5) 3ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
6) 6ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
7) 10ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
8) 15ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

9) 25ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
10) 35ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
11) 50ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

12) 50ft 22AWG no sparkle, passed visual picture inspection

====

Scenario *2*
Input1 - Panasonic S77 DVD HDMI/HDCP 720p == HDMI->HDMI cable 6ft (Panasonic bundled) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher
Input2 - Samsung HD841 DVD DVI/HDCP 1080i == DVI->HDMI cable 6ft (Monoprice 28AWG) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher
Input3 - PNY Verto 6600GT DVI 1080i == DVI->HDMI cable 6ft (Monoprice 28AWG) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher
Input4 - MyHD MDP-130 DVI 1080i == HDMI->HDMI cable 6ft (Monoprice 28AWG) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher
Input5a- RS Accurian HDTV tuner HDMI/HDCP 1080i == HDMI->HDMI cable 6ft (Radio Shack 28AWG) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher
Input5b- Motorola DCT-5100 DVI/HDCP 1080i == DVI->HDMI cable 6ft (Monoprice 28AWG) == Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher

Output - Monoprice HDMI cable == Sharp LC-45GX6U AVC HDMI Input


Input1 Selected
4) 15ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

8) 15ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

9) 25ft 24AWG (see Caveat #1)
10) 35ft 24AWG (see Caveat #1)
11) 50ft 24AWG (see Caveat #1)

12) 50ft 22AWG (see Caveat #1)


Input2 Selected
4) 15ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

8) 15ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

9) 25ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
10) 35ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
11) 50ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

12) 50ft 22AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection


Input3 Selected
4) 15ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

8) 15ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

9) 25ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
10) 35ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection (see Caveat #2)
11) 50ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection (see Caveat #2)

12) 50ft 22AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection (see Caveat #2)


Input4 Selected
4) 15ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection (see Caveat #3)

8) 15ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection (see Caveat #3)

9) 25ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection (see Caveat #3)
10) 35ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection (see Caveat #3)
11) 50ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection (see Caveat #3)

12) 50ft 22AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection (see Caveat #3)


Input5a Selected
4) 15ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

8) 15ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

9) 25ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
10) 35ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
11) 50ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

12) 50ft 22AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection


Input5b Selected
4) 15ft 28AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

8) 15ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

9) 25ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
10) 35ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection
11) 50ft 24AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection

12) 50ft 22AWG no sparkle, passed visual inspection



Caveats:
--------
1) when testing Panasonic S77 DVD player, I found that the player performs a form of cable length
detection during the startup procedure. When used with 5x1 switch and HDMI output cable lengths
25ft and longer, the DVD player displays a "U 70-2" error. According to the manual this error
is for HDMI cable too long. I tested a 50ft 24AWG cable directly from Panasonic S77 DVD player
to Sharp AVC HDMI port and this error did not occur. It appears using the 5x1 switch introduces
enough delay that the S77 DVD player thinks the cable is too long. This should not be an issue
if you intend to use output cable lengths up to 15ft, which did not exhibit this behavior. This
behavior could also be related to the Sharp AVC HDMI port, so you may not see this issue at all
if you use a different display.

2) when testing PNY Verto 6600GT PC graphics card and Sharp AVC HDMI port, there were no sparkles
or issues at any resolution. However for cable lengths 35ft-50ft the observed behavior was the
BIOS boot screen would display with no issues, but once the nVidia Windows drivers loaded, the
screen turned blank. Using a remote desktop, I determined this was occuring because the Windows
drivers failed to detect a digital display because the EDID information was not being returned
quick enough. It is not an issue with the DVI/HDMI video signal because I was able to trick the
graphics card by using a 25ft cable to boot into Windows desktop, then switch to 50ft cable. In
this scenario displaying WMV-HD 1080p videos had no sparkles and windows desktop had no artifacts
with the 50ft cable. Further, I was able to insert a Gefen DVI Detective to return EDID information
to the 6600GT card much quicker. With the DVI Detective in place, the 6600GT had no problems
booting into Windows desktop, even with 50ft 24AWG HDMI cable. Interestingly this issue might
also depend on the display. When testing 6600GT through 5x1 switch and 50ft cable direct to
Sharp display panel DVI (as opposed to going through AVC), the same issue did not occur.

3) this particular switcher has a feature that detects whether a signal is active by testing for
some signals on the HDMI input. The MyHD MDP-130 PC HDTV tuner passes this signal only if connected
to a DVI graphics card using the loopback cable. If the MDP-130 DVI port is used without the loopback
cable connected to the graphics card, the signal will not be present on the DVI cable and the switch
will think there is no active signal and thus will not allow the port to be selected. The workaround
is to use the DVI loopback cable. Ideally the feature of detecting signal could be disabled and that
might be a consideration for a future release.

4) when switching from a device which has negotiated YCbCr to nVidia 6600GT, colorspace might
not be reset properly to RGB. This is *not* an issue with the 5x1 switch, rather the hotplug
negotiation between nVidia 6600GT and the Sharp display. Workaround is to switch to different
video resolution and switch back to original. Alternate workarounds include switching to an RGB
device that is properly negotiating like Samsung HD841 prior to switching to PNY Verto 6600GT,
or going in the config menu to force Sharp display to use RGB, or to configure all devices on
the switch to use RGB. Potentially the workaround could be as simple as switching to unused
HDMI port before switching to nVidia 6600GT display, assuming the active signal detection can
be disabled.


Appendix
========

IR protocol decode
------------------
Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switch
Protocol: NECx1
Main Device #: 8
Sub Device #: 8

EFC
058 Input 1
119 Input 2
249 Input 3
250 Input 4
244 Input 5
052 Input Up
056 Input Down

I tested the 4x1 briefly but not as extensively as the 5x1. On the 4x1 port 1&2 worked well for all my equipment. Port 3/4 only worked for some of my equipment. The equipment that didn't work well on port 3/4 had sparkles even at 1080i. The same equipment had no such issues with the 5x1.

I can't tell you 100% you will have no problems with 5x1 because I think that would be irresponsible of me not having tested your equipment, but based on my testing most likely there will be no issues with sparkles and I'm saying that having done testing on a reasonably diverse set of equipment. Read the caveats in my review to see what I encountered and my workarounds.

I haven't had a chance to review the Octava switch, but I have spoken to someone that is using one. From what I can gather both switches perform very similarly almost to the point that I thought they were the same switch, but after examining the power input and the placement of the LEDs it is possible they aren't the same switch. Also the remote control on the Octava is different.

I think the Clear Eye performs a similar function to the Equalizer function in the monoprice switch. I understand their claims, I just don't have equipment to verify how clean the eye diagram is but I can tell you with monoprice I had no issues with sparkles on any of my tests which says alot, given I tested lots of different equipment and I tested 1080p @ 60Hz with 50ft HDMI cables.

I can't comment directly on the Octava, but based on conversations it appears to perform well (and it seems to have the same caveats as the monoprice). Also based on conversation, Octava appears to have excellent customer service also (I would say both Monoprice and Octava go beyond what I've experienced with almost every other company I've dealt with), but my understanding of Octava is based on second hand knowledge (though I have no reason to doubt it)

For me I would choose Monoprice based on price and my past positive experience with Monoprice and their cables, but I don't think you'll go wrong with either one (again I can't comment directly on something I haven't personally tested, but that is my gut feel).

I believe the early shipment is spoken for so the ETA reflects the next shipment.

In stock with the ETA qualification just means they are taking pre-orders. They aren't taking pre-orders on the 2-port yet.

I don't know. In my best guess, it is dependent also on the HDMI/DVI port of the display so you might have no issues at all or the same issue.