Managing 12+ HDMI Devices for Use on a Single TV

Mind if you list the 12? I feel like I've got way too many devices, and I think I'm about half that.

For me, it's:
-PS4
-XBOX1
-360
-Cable
-PC
-Media box

And the PC connection simply doesn't get used anymore since I've been running things through wi-fi.

Even if you added a switch and a dedicated bluray player, I'm struggling to figure out four more sources you'd need. Heck, I even have a 360 still connecteded, which only gets used for a single game (Rock Band).

12 devices? I have 6 and I feel like that is way too many.

For me, personally, I did away with having everything plugged in at once. I'm not saying that's a solution for you - but at some point, for me, it all just felt like clutter.

A few years back I took all my video game systems (and there are lots - maybe 15 or so) and neatly packed each in their own air-tight box with cables and kept them well labeled in a closet. My cable, Switch, Xbox, and Playstation continue to stay plugged in at all times - and then I have an OSSC hooked up and ready for whenever I feel the desire to pull out an old system, and an extra HDMI cable out for anything newer.

I usually have my "most-used" devices always plugged in (including an Xbox One X), my next "most-used" as the pass-through device on my Xbox One X, and then I unplug and plug as-needed for my other devices, vying for the last HDMI port.

I don't know how you have 12 devices connected at once. Would you mind listing out what all you're trying to connect?

Like others have said... 12 devices? Do you have multiple sets of the same consoles or what not?

peteykirch said:

12 devices? I have 6 and I feel like that is way too many.

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3 and I feel the same.

Make sure everything has CEC and just set those up to control the TV and audio. Sony TVs are nice because their menu can accommodate lots of HDMI inputs if they have CEC (they just show up with their device names instead of their port number).

kubev said:

Xbox One X

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Welp, you're boned. No CEC on that.

Time to buy a Harmony.

kubev said:

• Chromecast Ultra
• Fire TV Cube
• Framemeister
• NES Classic Edition
• PlayStation 3
• PlayStation TV
• SNES Classic Edition
• Steam Link
• Super NT
• Switch
• Wii U
• Xbox One X

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You need a server room.

You might be able to consolidate your lesser used stuff onto something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-8-Port-Switch-Support-GHSW8181/dp/B005S0YNNM

Modernish AV receiver with 5-6 ports, and then an 8 port HDMI switcher added to the mix.

Buy a good av reciever with 6 ports

Chromecast
Switch
Steam Link
Cable Box

Honestly, I think its wiser to just unplug stuff you don't use, and then plug it in for the time you want to use it. Like your SNES and NES classic. No real need to have those plugged in all the time.

Use HDMI switches in conjunction with your receiver. Group things together in categories and make sure you lay things out to take advantage of auto detection switching. If you set everything up right, you can have a clean elegant system that works seamlessly.

Add in a Logitech Harmony Hub and a Amazon Echo or Google Home device for voice commands to switch to what you want.

12 lol

We have other issues here OP

Get a Harmony and a compatible HDMI switcher, and you'll never look back. It takes a while to get setup the first time, but it is totally worth it. It makes managing your mass of devices a doddle.

Is money no issue? Cause if not, just get some CEC dongles and let it take care of the device switching for you. Word of warning, though -- at 12 devices, you're going to be spending a lot of money on these dongles.

HDMI switches? Like what else are you expecting?

Do you have 3 grand?
https://www.walmart.com/ip/4K-WolfP...BaseT-HDCP-2-2-with-1-Year-Warranty/782638665

How do you have time for all of that OP? It seems like the easiest solution is just to pack away the stuff you infrequently use.

Wow, that's a lot. I can't imagine managing that many.

I have four, and have managed five on one TV at most, and that was a pain. I never invested in a switch.

To people freaking out about 12 devices on one TV, my SD CRT has 27 devices connected to it right now:

Septimus Prime said:

Welp, you're boned. No CEC on that.

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This is such a huge design flaw, honestly. Particularly for a redesign.

kubev said:

• Chromecast Ultra
• Fire TV Cube
• Framemeister
• NES Classic Edition
• PlayStation 3
• PlayStation TV
• SNES Classic Edition
• Steam Link
• Super NT
• Switch
• Wii U
• Xbox One X

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Put the ones you use least on a switcher tbh

kubev said:

The problem with a Harmony remote is that it wouldn't solve the problem of IR signal conflicts.

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What IR conflicts are you worried about? I'm glancing at your list and I don't see any issues that would cause you to be concerned about IR issues.

Just make sure you have Monster cables for each one. The gold plating makes it special!

Slayven said:

In my day this was the source switcher

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How'd you get my screwdriver?

Krejlooc said:

Is money no issue? Cause if not, just get some CEC dongles and let it take care of the device switching for you. Word of warning, though -- at 12 devices, you're going to be spending a lot of money on these dongles.

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I think a harmony hub might be a more economic and versatile way of having the TV turn on when a device turns on.

kubev said:

The unlisted HDMI switches sharing the same IR signals, as well as volume control (and maybe other common commands) changing settings on the Framemeister. The Fire TV Cube hits pretty much anything that's out in the open with its IR blast, as does the Kinect that's connected to my Xbox One X if I use my Xbox One Media Remote.

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You don't have to use IR for the HDMI switches. Volume control should all be handled through your receiver. I'm still not seeing where you're having a problem. I'm speaking from experience having set all this up for a 10+ HDMI device setup.

Darknight said:

What IR conflicts are you worried about? I'm glancing at your list and I don't see any issues that would cause you to be concerned about IR issues.

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Yep, I'm not seeing what the problem here is. I have several IR devices hooked up to my Harmony and I've never had this issue.

Also, even if you do have IR conflicts, they are a non-issue assuming they are plugged into different ports on your TV, which will only display one at a time.

And if you want to plug a HDMI switcher into another HDMI switcher, make your second switcher one that auto-switches to devices to avoid any conflicts like that.

Palette Swap said:

This is such a huge design flaw, honestly. Particularly for a redesign.

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It drives me up the wall. It would actually be fine if the X had Kinect, ironically, so you can use infra-blasting. But of course it doesn't have that either, so I had to buy a Harmony, which can't turn on my PS4, so I still need two remotes.

kubev said:

I hate using CEC, although I suppose that I'd consider using it if I had a TV that made good use of it. I have a Samsung KS8000, and it's a complete pain in the ass when it comes to managing inputs (especially on switchers, because the TV wants to set up the input for the new device every single time it switches).

The problem with a Harmony remote is that it wouldn't solve the problem of IR signal conflicts.

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Yeah, Samsung blows at CEC. It just works on Sony TVs though.

kubev said:

• Chromecast Ultra
• Fire TV Cube
• Framemeister
• NES Classic Edition
• PlayStation 3
• PlayStation TV
• SNES Classic Edition
• Steam Link
• Super NT
• Switch
• Wii U
• Xbox One X

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I'm not too different from your setup there.

My TV has 4 inputs, and I use one of those for a 5 input HDMI switch.
I ended up leaving an HDMI cable connected to the TV, but not connected to any device, that I can easily access to connect the lesser used machines. So in my case my NES mini, SNES mini, PS TV, Framemeister, N64, and Super NT stay unhooked most of the time, and I hook them up as needed. Three of those are pretty easy, as they use USB power, so I can just leave a single USB power supply ready for them.

For the Wii U and 360 I physically swap the HDMI cable between them. They're used infrequently enough that it's not much of a hassle. I'll probably put the 360 away soon anyway, as there's only a handful of my games that don't work on the X1 at this point.

Overall, I guess I don't have an easy solution for you. I just had to prioritize. Realistically there's no way you're using all those devices all the time, so you just have to work from there.

I would echo the suggestion to get a harmony remote though. One of those really helped simplify my life. I went from having like 6 remotes, to now just needed the Harmony one, and the PS3 one. The only thing that sucks is that the framemeister and my HDMI switch use the same signals.

My struggle is figuring out how to hide four video game consoles. I don't want my living room to look like gamer central, even though it totally is.

Septimus Prime said:

Yeah, Samsung blows at CEC. It just works on Sony TVs though.

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I've always felt that CEC was better with the fewer number of devices you have. The more you have, the more that can go wrong with CEC. So for most people it's fine because they have like one or two devices hooked up, but for complicated setups, you're just asking for a headache. Not that it can't work, but you have to have the stars aligned it feels like.

That's a lot, haha.

I just use a Hdmi switcher for the few fldecixes I have connected, and if I need to use a lesser used device I just swap one of the cables between them so I don't clutter things up with too many cables.

Then I have a Harmony remote to make switching and controlling everything easier.

kubev said:

• Chromecast Ultra
• Fire TV Cube
• Framemeister
• NES Classic Edition
• PlayStation 3
• PlayStation TV
• SNES Classic Edition
• Steam Link
• Super NT
• Switch
• Wii U
• Xbox One X

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We have most of those hooked up. Our receiver (Onkyo) has 6 inputs in the back and one on the front. What we do is keep the "permanent" / heavy use devices plugged in the back. Sporadic use devices like the NES / SNES and Chromecast get plugged in the front when used and tucked away to the side when not.

Menelaus said:

Modernish AV receiver with 5-6 ports, and then an 8 port HDMI switcher added to the mix.

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Pretty much. An auto port splitter is key particularly since a lot of those don't need 4k/HDR or anything fancy. You can even use more than one smaller splitter, say to put all Nintendo stuff on one.

kubev said:

I don't have to use IR for the HDMI switches, but I'd prefer to be able to hide the switches and expose only the IR receivers if at all possible. That said, I don't think switches are part of my ideal solution. I just use them because there aren't any better options. As for the volume control, it'd still potentially conflict with nearby devices, as they share the same IR signals for whatever reason. I don't currently use a receiver, as none of them have enough HDMI ports to make me want to use a receiver over a switch. And that still wouldn't stop the IR signal intended to adjust the volume on the receiver from affecting the Framemeister, unless I purposefully kept the Framemeister away or obscured (which I don't, because I try to minimize cable length by keeping everything close.

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Well first off, get a receiver. That will solve a lot of problems on its own. Second, add in a switch to make up for the rest of the ports. You can expose IR receivers if you want and hide the switches just fine. My switches are hidden and come with an optional wired IR receiver that's easy to bring forward but also hide at the same time. I don't think you need to do it but the option is there. Volume control should not be an issue. IR works on discrete commands and I find it highly unlikely that your Framemeister is going to take the same IR command as your receiver.

I'm familiar with every device in your setup except for the Framemeister. I know what it is; I just don't have experience messing around with one. So aside from that, I really don't see how you're having issues here. Again, I have a 10+ HDMI device setup that works flawlessly together between an AV receiver and two HDMI switches. On top of all that it's all beautifully cleanly cable managed.

kubev said:

Do IR signals for volume control on receivers typically match those of TVs and soundbars? The reason I ask is because - if they do - you're underestimating the potential issues with the Framemeister. I don't know exactly which IR signals overlap between common devices and Framemeisters (just that volume down is one of them), but what happens is that certain overlapping commands will access and navigate the Framemeister menu, as well as adjust various settings. Given how much of a pain it can be to get things looking just right on a Framemeister, it's kind of a bummer to switch to the Framemeister after using other devices and see that the settings are completely screwed up. (Framemeisters are very slow to display and apply settings, and it takes FOREVER to get things looking right.)

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No, they have different discrete IR commands. Think about it, a receiver would never work well if it constantly changed the volume on the TV too. Framemeister must be doing something weird if it's taking in IR commands it shouldn't.

Darknight said:

I've always felt that CEC was better with the fewer number of devices you have. The more you have, the more that can go wrong with CEC. So for most people it's fine because they have like one or two devices hooked up, but for complicated setups, you're just asking for a headache. Not that it can't work, but you have to have the stars aligned it feels like.

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Granted, I don't have 10+ devices hooked up, but I've found that with a Sony TV and "receiver" (soundbar) I can use 7-ish devices with CEC without a hitch.

This auto switch is working well for me.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CJC7VQ5

4K HDR 60fps no problem.