Difference between HDMI splitter and HDMI switch

[Neyru]

I have an HDTV with only 1 HDMI port on it but i have a 360 Elite and a Home Theater system that both have HDMI outputs on them. I want to be able to have them both hooked up at the same time through the HDMI port. Also is there a way to hook up the 360 so that i have audio playing through my home theater speakers while having video going through the HDMI port at the same time. As the title asks, whats the difference between them and what would work better for my situation. Thanks

 

[Trepidati0n]

A splitter duplicates the input into two or more outputs.

A switch allows you to have multiple inputs but select one as the output. There are more complicated switches which can do multiple inputs and outputs, but in your case it is two or more inputs and one output.

In your case, you want the switch.

 

[Neyru]

awesome thanks, any idea how to have audio through home theater speakers and video through hdmi into the tv? is it even possible?

 

[Trepidati0n]

awesome thanks, any idea how to have audio through home theater speakers and video through hdmi into the tv? is it even possible?

Your question isn't quite clear and I prefer not to asume since I'm pretty sure your question is specific. Could you elaborate a bit more?

 

[w1retap]

awesome thanks, any idea how to have audio through home theater speakers and video through hdmi into the tv? is it even possible?

Get a receiver with HDMI passthrough like the Onkyo TX-SR605 or something similar.

 

[Neyru]

what i mean is that i have this home theater system which has only an HDMI output but no HDMI input. If it had an input i wouldn't have any problems but unfortunately it doesn't. If i plug in my 360 (through HDMI) into my tv, the sound comes through the tv's speakers. What i'm asking is if there is a way to hook up my 360 to my tv through HDMI while also somehow plugging it in to the home theater speakers for surround sound. I really don't want to have to buy another receiver, is there some other solution that isn't as costly. If u still don't understand my question ill think of another way of asking it lol

 

[Trepidati0n]

what i mean is that i have this home theater system which has only an HDMI output but no HDMI input. If it had an input i wouldn't have any problems but unfortunately it doesn't. If i plug in my 360 (through HDMI) into my tv, the sound comes through the tv's speakers. What i'm asking is if there is a way to hook up my 360 to my tv through HDMI while also somehow plugging it in to the home theater speakers for surround sound. I really don't want to have to buy another receiver, is there some other solution that isn't as costly. If u still don't understand my question ill think of another way of asking it lol

I understand now....however I don't own a 360 elite so i'm guessing here. Most systems also have an optical out (i'm going to assume the 360 does). I would hope there is an option in the 360 when using HDMI to use optical out instead of audio over HDMI. Then you could use your HTiB since it has an optical in. Hope this helps.

 

[WCES Ryan]

You should be able to use the optical out on your 360 for the audio into the receiver. However, you will not be able to take advantage of 7.1 audio over the optical connection (assuming the 360 even supports 7.1), only 5.1 at best. If you want 7.1, buy an HDMI receiver with 2 inputs so that it can handle all of the switching for you.

 

[Neyru]

o alright that makes sense now. thanks guys for all of your help

 

[Irishllama]

To add my two cents in here, some TV's have optical out when using HDMI, for the HDMI connection. This is how I have mine setup.


HDMI ----> TV----> Optical out ---> Reciever ----> "GG sound"