The ATEN guys are a KVM crew at heart, but these days that kind of expertise makes for a lucrative new market for switching sources in the living room. Here they have a simple little HDMI switcher, the VS481. 3 in at the back, 1 in at the front, and 1 out. You can hit the buttons or use the remote to do your switching, and you get some nice little lights so you know what’s what.
More info and a price after the jump… and the price is pretty sweet.
When I asked about support for current and future HDMI versions and whether such a switcher would have any issues, they weren’t 100% sure, but were quite sure it would be fine. The only issue would be whether there is some signal processing taking place, or whether it is a clean signal pass. Hoping for the latter, of course, and one of the ATEN reps indicated they would have a firmware port on the unit if such upgrades would be needed in future ” and there isn’t such a port on the VS481.
Quite a few A/V switches in their range, including some DVI options too. Can’t say I’d seen these guys and their gear before, and it is pretty utilitarian, but they say the VS481 retails for around $169. You’d pay more than that for the four HDMI cables to plug into it!
The distributor, Anyware, is confident you’ll find these switches in Harvey Normans and in local computer shops real soon. Hassle them for who stocks in your local area if you’re in a hurry.
Official site [ ATEN ]
Local distributor [ Anyware ]