SaLiVa Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Hi guys, I just got a PS3 through my mail today and I am really happy to find that it's a all-in-one - no additional hardware to make you wallet cry console (Talking about the Wireless card on XBox 360 and generally more expensive hardware). Now I play both consoles and my PC on one screen. The Samsung P2450H which has DVI (Connects to PC) and one HDMI port (Connects to either PS3 or XBox 360). Now it's just a little annoyance that I have to go to the back of the console everytime I want to change consoles. The question is, is there anyway I can connect one HDMI cable to my screen and one TOSLINK audio cable to connect to my Z5500 and connect this to a switch box which has TOSLINK connectors and HDMI connectors? I am only looking for a 2-switch solution, though 3-4 switch could be considered. I've done some research on this and I found the ones with the Optical Out like the Mad Catz Switch costs >?50. I'm looking for a solution other than separate optical switch box and HDMI switch boxes that is less than ?25 (Excluding the cables required). I know, this would be easily fixed if I had a TV with multiple HDMI ports and mutli-AV modes. But I'm a student and want to save money, so any assistance would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaLiVa Posted March 17, 2010 Author Share Posted March 17, 2010 Anyone? I've been looking at the separate HDMI/TOSLINK route, while not ideal, is probably the best way to go. Was looking at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neet%C2%AE-SWITCH-REMOTE-output-Switcher/dp/B001PL5QDY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1268835702&sr=8-1-spell for the HDMI switcher and one of those ?10 TOSLINK switchers. Any other recommendations or is that the only cheap route I can go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phemo Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 You can get 2 and 3 way auto HDMI switchboxes for cheap - I paid £12 for my 3 way one and it works fine. The last device to be powered up takes priority, but it has an override button just in case you need to switch to another input. It needs no external power either - just check eBay for "3 way hdmi". The one I have is a pretty small thing, just a little square. If you went this route you'd need to grab another HDMI cable to link the switchbox up to your display also but that's no big deal. As for the optical, you can get cheap manual switches such as this: Again you'll find these on eBay easily enough if you just search for "toslink switch" - should cost around £5. You'd also need to grab another TOSlink optical cable to go from the switcher to your speakers though. I use both of these myself and although it's probably not the most elegant solution, it costs very little, involves just one switch on the optical side thanks to the HDMI part being auto and works absolutely fine. For a total cost of £20 to £25 it's worth checking out. I know you wanted a single box but I'm not aware of any single box handling HDMI and optical stuff for sensible money... would be interested to see if anyone has any suggestions on that front myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaLiVa Posted March 17, 2010 Author Share Posted March 17, 2010 You can get 2 and 3 way auto HDMI switchboxes for cheap - I paid ?12 for my 3 way one and it works fine. The last device to be powered up takes priority, but it has an override button just in case you need to switch to another input. It needs no external power either - just check eBay for "3 way hdmi". The one I have is a pretty small thing, just a little square. If you went this route you'd need to grab another HDMI cable to link the switchbox up to your display also but that's no big deal. As for the optical, you can get cheap manual switches such as this: Again you'll find these on eBay easily enough if you just search for "toslink switch" - should cost around ?5. You'd also need to grab another TOSlink optical cable to go from the switcher to your speakers though. I use both of these myself and although it's probably not the most elegant solution, it costs very little, involves just one switch on the optical side thanks to the HDMI part being auto and works absolutely fine. For a total cost of ?20 to ?25 it's worth checking out. I know you wanted a single box but I'm not aware of any single box handling HDMI and optical stuff for sensible money... would be interested to see if anyone has any suggestions on that front myself. Yeah it looks like that's the most likely route. If it wasn't for the mechanical switch for the TOSLINK I could engineer my own switch to do the job for me in one box. Thanks for the reply though. The best I could find for an all in one solution is http://www.octavainc.com/HDMI%20switch%204port_toslink.htm which costs upwards ?125 and the Mad Catz switch http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/29/mad-catz-ps3-3-port-hdmi-system-selector-gets-reviewed/ for ?60-80 (If you can find one). Definitely not worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Lacey Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Cant you use a DVI-HDMI cable, I have before and it worked fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaLiVa Posted March 17, 2010 Author Share Posted March 17, 2010 Cant you use a DVI-HDMI cable, I have before and it worked fine. Eh? Mind explaining? The monitor already has a HDMI Connection, so getting that would be redundant and a waste of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slyph Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 I think he means to plug one of the systems in with the HDMI and the other with the HDMI>DVI connector and attach it to the DVI port on the monitor so you can just change modes on the monitor like a TV, and all you'd need then is the small TOSLINK switch. you won't lose any quality in video either I don't believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaLiVa Posted March 18, 2010 Author Share Posted March 18, 2010 I think he means to plug one of the systems in with the HDMI and the other with the HDMI>DVI connector and attach it to the DVI port on the monitor so you can just change modes on the monitor like a TV, and all you'd need then is the small TOSLINK switch. you won't lose any quality in video either I don't believe. Yeah but the original post had already stated that it was connected to the PC. That switching thing is already being done for when I need GameFAQ's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skulltrail Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 I think he means to plug one of the systems in with the HDMI and the other with the HDMI>DVI connector and attach it to the DVI port on the monitor so you can just change modes on the monitor like a TV, and all you'd need then is the small TOSLINK switch. you won't lose any quality in video either I don't believe. But you'll lose audio unless you hook up an audio cable (likely RCA plugs) from the console to the monitor. Since HDMI carries both audio and video through the same cable, converting the HDMI signal to DVI may bring problems when dealing with consoles because both the PS3 and Xbox 360 have an auto-detect feature to determine what video signals it is capable of transmitting on the specific monitor and cables. Furthermore, the HDMI cable will force the console to send both audio and video through the HDMI cable. How will you manage to redirect the audio to speakers if DVI cannot? As aforementioned by other Neowinians, I suggest getting an HDMI switchbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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