Gefen TV Switcher Wrangles 4 HDMI Inputs

Having too many HDMI sources for a single TV ceases to be a problem with Gefen's latest offering, which went on sale Friday.

When you have four HDMI cables headed to one TV, you know you’ve got a complex home theater install on your hands, and probably a headache in the works as well. A new switchbox from Gefen is designed to alleviate the problem of running multiple cables to the TV by automatically switching between four HDMI inputs and forwarding signals through to a single output.

Automatic switching restores the last video choice at the time over power down when the unit powers back up, while manual switching is accomplished with a small handheld remote. The unit also temporarily switches to new sources whenever signals from them are detected, as a way to verify that they work. Besides switching signals, the box also amplifies them, and passes on HDCP encoding.

Gefen announced the TV Switcher at CES, but the device has only Friday became available through the company Web site for $199.