Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[grumpy old man]

Does any one have experience of HDMI splitters.

I have recently purchased a tv sound bar and I am having problems with lip sync.  This appears to be a common problem with sound bars.  I have adjusted the audio time delay on sound bar but with only partial success.  One of the options was to adjust lip sync on satellite box.  Unfortunately our ageing sky box doesn't have this function, also it is not an HD box.  As a result I am considering purchased a freesat box.

This requires a HDMI connection to the TV and the three on TV are all being used.

I would welcome any comments on hdmi splitters, do they work, can you connect anything.   Can fire stick and sound bar or fire stick and satellite box connect to splitter?

Thank you

gom

Thank you

gom

[d2d4j]

Hi

Could I ask if your tv and sound bar have an optical port

Most have for a number of years and if so, would be a better option over hdmi

Re splitters - I think most only mirror for additional screen

Many thanks

John

[roseway]

I use a Betron HDMI splitter, and it works fine This is the one I've got: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Betron-HDMI-Switch-Switcher-Connectors-Black/dp/B00KCPY5Y0 . It auto-switches if only one input is live, or you can manually switch between two or three live inputs.

[grumpy old man]

Thank you for your replies.

d2d4j.  Yes there is an optical connection, with flimsy cable supplied.  I have tried this again with some improvement.  The user manual for sound bar hardly makes reference to optical cable, saying use if no HDMI.

Roseway.  Thank you for comment on splitter,  together with recommendation, which I will follow up.  Interesting that none of splitters come with the necessary cable to connect output to TV.

gom

[grumpy old man]

Roseway.  Have looked at specs for Bertron switch.  The description seems to suggest that only one device can operate at any one time.  Can you confirm if this is the case.  I would like to connect both sound bar and fire stick to splitter and use both at same time.

I note also that it only supports HDMI 1.4, whereas HDMI cables are 2.0 plus now.  Not sure if this will affect performance.

Thanks

gom

[Ronski]

Optical ports are old hat now and don't pass all forms of sound format, much better to use HDMI if you can, that said unless it's a really fancy sound bar you'll probably be fine with optical but I thought worth mentioning in case anyone else tries it an has issues.

Best place to ask/look would be on AVForums

Ultimately the best HDMI splitter is an AV receiver

[j0hn]

I note also that it only supports HDMI 1.4, whereas HDMI cables are 2.0 plus now.  Not sure if this will affect performance.

Thanks

gom

There is no such thing as an HDMI 2.0 cable or a 1.4a cable.
It's the HDMI port on the tv that has version numbers

Any High Speed HDMI cable that works on an older tv with 1.4 HDMI ports should still work perfectly with newer tv's with HDMI 2.0 ports.

HDMI cables should be labelled like;

Standard Speed
High Speed
High speed with Ethernet
Premium High Speed with Ethernet.

Most HDMI cables advertised as being version 1.4 are actually High Speed with Ethernet and should be enough to do 4k.

Newer "Premium High Speed" HDMI cables are only required for 4k@60Hz.

Many may find their old High Speed cables do 4k@60Hz fine.
The newer cables are simply certified to work.

The description seems to suggest that only one device can operate at any one time.  Can you confirm if this is the case.  I would like to connect both sound bar and fire stick to splitter and use both at same time.

Definitely only 1 device at a time.

If your Soundbar and TV both support HDMI (ARC) then you can connect the Firestick to the soundbar and then the soundbar to the tv.

A soundbar connected via HDMI without ARC (audio return channel) is a bit of a waste of an HDMI port and I would go for optical instead.

[grumpy old man]

Thank you for your responses.

The suggestion that I connect firestick to sound bar is most helpful but there is insufficient room for one hdmi cable and firestick side by side.  However reading sound bar manual it would appear that I can connect satellite box to sound bar to sound bar so I will try this.  If successful then splitter will not be required.

gom

[parkdale]

This is the cable I use in my system

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/blaupunkt-gold-plated-1m-hdmi-cable

I would not pay more than that for any cable

Unless you have a fancy 5.1 surround sound system, Optical connection will be fine.

[j0hn]

Thank you for your responses.

The suggestion that I connect firestick to sound bar is most helpful but there is insufficient room for one hdmi cable and firestick side by side.  However reading sound bar manual it would appear that I can connect satellite box to sound bar to sound bar so I will try this.  If successful then splitter will not be required.

gom

If you go down this route your TV will need an HDMI port labelled ARC.
They are usually labelled like;
HDMI 1
HDMI 2 (ARC)
HDMI3

You would need to use HDMI 2 for the connection to the soundbar.

Good luck.

[fat jez]

If I was short of HDMI ports, I’d connect the soundbar to the HDMI (ARC) port and then connect my other HDMI devices to a switcher (not splitter). Ideally you want one that will support 4K and HDR, so one that does HDMI2.0b. HDMI adds a delay every time you go through a device, which is fine when both sound and video pass through the same devices together.

When I used to put my Sky HD through an amp via optical, I had to set a delay of (I think) 40ms to keep audio in sync (I was going SkY to amp to TV, so the video had one extra HDMI hop).

The problem you have is you need to take away delay, because your order will be Sky to TV to Soundbar, where your audio is taking one extra HDMI hop). But most devices won’t allow you to subtract delay from audio (effectively because you’re adding delay to video). So optical from TV to soundbar might help.

[grumpy old man]

Thank you for your advice.

I have the new satellite box and have connected successfully via sound bar.  As the connection is now satellite box to sound bar to TV I am hoping that lip sync problem will be solved.   

I was already using the HDMI port labelled ARC.

One odd thing with new box, the sound on BBC 1 is much lower than all the other channels, don't know why.

gom

[grumpy old man]

Update.

Solved sound issue.  A sound setting needed changing.

gom

[grumpy old man]

Wasn't sure if I should start a new thread but have a further question.

Having connected satellite box through sound bar I can no longer listen to the TV on my headphones.  These are plugged into TV (no headphone socket on sound bar).

If I switch to freeview, with signal from aerial, headphones work.  Is this loss of sound because s box is connected to sound bar rather than direct to TV (haven't tried this yet).  The coaxial for aerial is connected through DVD player so like s box not connected directly connected to TV.

gom

[fat jez]

Can you put the Sky box through the tv with the sound bar connected to the ARC HDMI port?