HDMI Switching

[bdo21]

I am working on a home cinema room. Below the screen, going back to a Lumagen Pro in the rack, I have an HDMI cable (as well as power and aerial/satellite cables). My original intention had been for a console to go in this location below the screen.

I don’t know why but why I forgot to specify Ethernet ports here so my electrician is going to try to run two Ethernet cables to here.

The issue is I have now realised that my children play 2-3 consoles (Xbox, Switch and even the old Wii). I thought I could have an HDMI switch located next to the consoles and C4 could control this (as well as the Lumagen) to select the correct source.

But my EA5 which will provide the OSD for this room is in the rack so I can’t use an IR bud to control the HDMI switcher. Is there an IP controlled HDMI switcher, preferably with WiFi or even better a built-in Ethernet hub, which has drivers for Control4?

I found expensive HDMI matrixes but these are overkill for what I need.

Or are there better ideas? I could ask the electrician to run 4 Ethernet cables if necessary.

Thank you

[tekki70]

see whats cheaper running a few extra cats or do an ip controlled avr just for video swithing

[OceanDad]

Global Cache IP2IR ?

https://www.globalcache.com/products/itach/ip2irspecs/

[Amr]

16 hours ago, bdo21 said:

I am working on a home cinema room. Below the screen, going back to a Lumagen Pro in the rack, I have an HDMI cable (as well as power and aerial/satellite cables). My original intention had been for a console to go in this location below the screen.

I don’t know why but why I forgot to specify Ethernet ports here so my electrician is going to try to run two Ethernet cables to here.

The issue is I have now realised that my children play 2-3 consoles (Xbox, Switch and even the old Wii). I thought I could have an HDMI switch located next to the consoles and C4 could control this (as well as the Lumagen) to select the correct source.

But my EA5 which will provide the OSD for this room is in the rack so I can’t use an IR bud to control the HDMI switcher. Is there an IP controlled HDMI switcher, preferably with WiFi or even better a built-in Ethernet hub, which has drivers for Control4?

I found expensive HDMI matrixes but these are overkill for what I need.

Or are there better ideas? I could ask the electrician to run 4 Ethernet cables if necessary.

Thank you

2nd in favor of GC devices, WiFi or Zigbee, they just work, try eBay as well, and here is a couple of switches I use in my home project and my summer house, both had an IR drivers built with C4 and they work just fine:

Zettaguard 4 Port 4 x 1 HDMI Switch with PIP (Picture in Picture)and IR Wireless Remote Control, HDMI Switcher Hub Port Switches for PS4 Xbox Apple TV Fire Stick Blu-Ray Player (ZW410) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BV1XBIY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_YQ0JA0X9SA898YYP03FN?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
 

HDMI Matrix 4x2, 4K HDMI Matrix Switch 4 in 2 Out Switcher Splitter Box with EDID Extractor and IR Remote Control, Support Ultra 4K HDR,4Kx2K@60Hz, 3D, 1080P，HDMI 2.0b, HDCP 2.2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CDMQ852/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_JCD16NMY9314XWXN9PD5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[RAV]

Extra cat for IR, heck if you're not using the coax, you can push IR down that even.
Or a ZIO
Even an RF based IR repeater from Amazon might get you by depending on distance, as it's just a simple input command.

How good is the HDMI cable?
New game systems push a higher GB signal, adding an average to poor HDMI switcher could be enough to tilt the wrong way and have video signal issues.

[Cyknight]

On 10/31/2021 at 1:36 AM, bdo21 said:

I could ask the electrician to run 4 Ethernet cables if necessary.

If he's running 2 anyway, ask him to drop an extra one.

14 hours ago, RAV said:

New game systems push a higher GB signal, adding an average to poor HDMI switcher could be enough to tilt the wrong way and have video signal issues

Good advise this - you may not need anything super expensive at all - but don't get the cheapest thing you can find....

[bdo21]

Thanks everyone. I got four Ethernet cables installed so can use one for controlling an HDMI switch. I have a fibre HDMI cable from this location back to the Lumagen video processor

So I think my options are:

1) IR controlled HDMI switch, using a CAT6 cable core to run the IR bud back to the plant room. If this doesn’t work, the Global Cache IR over Ethernet devices look fine

2) RS232 controlled HDMI switch, using a RS232/Ethernet adapter. I found ZuumMedia but couldn’t actually find anywhere to buy their switch

3) IP controlled HDMI switch

Any recommendations on a 4K HDMI switch with at four inputs and a Control4 driver? The Zettaguard switches mentioned above are not available in the UK

Thank you

[BubbaDuck]

HDFury Vertex2 Not the cheapest, 4 in/2 out with extra audio only out (lossless) to send to an AVR, it has <1ms latency, plays nice with all the latest HDR tech, HDMI 2.1 (seemingly a must for the PS5 crowd), has a free C4 driver, and can be controlled via IP (Ethernet), IR, or RS232. More EDID control than you could ever need. The web interface allows you to also control the unit via automation too as it uses simple calls like http://someIP/someoption?someparam=1. Highly recommended as I have essentially your identical setup.

[Hizzle]

You can get the Zuum HDMI IP driver and switch or Monoprice Blackbird switch.  They're both the same HDMI switch and can be controlled by the Zuum C4 IP driver.  Great switches for the price but it'll be an 8x8 matrix for ~$800.