HDMI complications

Feb 22, 2023 min read

HDMI works well enough, when you don’t add too many devices into the chain. In my previous post about my capture setup, the documentation shows that the USB capture goes to the TV.

When I created that diagram, I did not have the HDMI repeater. The next day, I received the repeater, but I couldn’t get it to work. I ordered another repeater that could be externally powered and I was able to get the sound and video to the TV, but only after I swapped the output of port 1 and 2 of the HDMI splitter. The display connected to port 1 reports the EDID to the device, letting it know what resolution and color space it supports.

The Nintendo Switch would not output audio to the TV unless the capture was in port 1. That would not have been a problem, but when I switched back to my PC, it kept flickering the signal through the USB capture and TV.

I swapped it all around, so the HDMI audio extractor went into the USB capture, then the spitter went to the TV via port 1 and the monitor via port 2. The color space was fine for the TV, but the monitor was not having it. It made the monitor display all pink.

Then I remembered I could use my portable monitor instead of the DVI one, so I swapped those. No issues with the color space. I was pretty happy until I remembered that any HDMI signal that goes through the USB capture’s pass through port will be cutoff if the device looses power.

I ended up ordering a new HDMI splitter. It has outputs up to 4 ports, handles 4k 60fps signals and can downscale the signal to 1080p for devices that can’t handle 4k, like my USB capture device.

I should receive it tomorrow. Once I have it and the setup is complete, I will update my setup information. I pray it will not have issues with reporting what the devices are capable of; I just want proper audio and video going to the 3 displays.

Looking forward to doing some more streaming and possibly some recorded gameplay videos to put on youtube. Thanks for reading and I thank my God for what he has given me. God bless.