Kramer VS-211X

The VS-211X is a two-in, one-out HDMI switcher that decides for itself. Feed it a Blu-ray player and a set-top box, or a room PC and a laptop plate, and it watches for an active video signal and switches to it on its own, following either a priority order or a last-connected rule that you set with the rear DIP switches. Press a front-panel button and manual selection overrides the automatic behavior. It passes 4K at 60Hz (4:4:4) with HDR10, along with up to 32 channels of uncompressed digital audio, so a surround feed survives the switch intact.

Kramer's I-EDIDPro EDID handling keeps sources and displays talking to each other through the switch, which is the difference between a laptop that wakes up on the right resolution and one that does not. The HDMI audio passing to the output is also de-embedded and converted to analog on a 3.5mm jack, so a pair of powered desktop speakers can run alongside the display's own. A 3-pin terminal block accepts remote contact-closure buttons for a wall plate or lectern. The unit is a fanless aluminum DigiTOOLS box powered from an external 5V supply; it sits on a table, and three of them fit side by side in a 1U rack space with the matching rack adapter.