|  HDMI
switchers have become a much needed accessory with the number of HDMI sources
currently available. Set-top boxes, HD-DVD, Blu-ray and even some of the newer
DVD players all include HDMI interfaces. If you happen to have a limited number
of HDMI inputs on your display, you will soon find the need for an external HDMI
switcher. Unfortunately, few of these switchers offer the ability to control the
digital audio separately using toslink or coaxial interfaces. If your display
takes advantage of the digital audio sent through the HDMI interface then there
is no need for a separate cable. However, projector owners like us need to switch
digital sources separately in our system. Lucky for us, a company called Octava
offers a new 4 x 1 HDMI Switch with Optical Toslink Routing designed to
solve the issue of video (HDMI) switching along with the corresponding digital
audio. In addition to video switchers, Octava also carries a full line of distribution
amplifiers, extenders and cables to support the needs of today's A/V systems.
The Octava HDMI switch is designed to support HDMI version 1.3 along with a full
6.75 Gbps of data bandwidth. In addition, full 1080p with Deep Color is
supported along with 480i/p, 720i/p and 1080i/p. The Smart SCAN™ algorithm
is designed to intelligently select the correct input based on the active input
signal. The unit is small measuring only 11.5" (W) x 3.5" (D) x 1.5"
(H). Front
Panel
The front panel has four blue LEDs that indicator the active input
channel. The Smart SCAN™ feature will automatically search for the active
input. If the user presses the forward button and holds it for 5-seconds, the
unit will switch into manual mode. Once this mode is enabled, pressing the forward
button will then switch to the next input channel.  Rear
Panel
The rear of the HDMI switcher is loaded with connectors for the
four HDMI inputs and the single HDMI output. Four optical and four coaxial digital
inputs are available with both optical and coaxial digital outputs. Many different
A/V products have either one of both types of digital audio outputs, sometimes
making it difficult to adapt to users' systems. The Octava HDMI switcher allows
for either type (optical or coaxial) of digital input or output giving the system
maximum flexibility. Input power comes from the external AC wall adapter which
provides an
output of 9V/500mA.
Our
system needed to route the audio and video sources from a Samsung SIR-T165 set-top
box, Dish Network ViP622 HD receiver, Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player, and an OPPO
Digital OPDV971H DVD player. All four components also had their corresponding
digital interfaces going through the switcher. The video output from the switcher
went through a long 20-meter Vizionware Hi-Wirez HDMI cable, eventually making
it to our Mitsubishi HC5000 projector. Digital audio was sent to our Parasound
AVC-2500u processor for multi-channel decoding.  IR
Remote
Our review unit came with an IR remote that supports many of Octava's
products. The power button toggles the power on the switcher. Buttons 1 through
4 are used to select the corresponding input channel. The Channel + and
Channel - buttons are used to increment or decrement the input channel.
The LED button toggles the front panel indicator lights as to not distract
the viewers in dark settings.
While
this remote is completely functional for the user, I prefer an all-in-one controller
for our A/V system. We soon programmed all of the IR commands into our RTI T4
controller. Since there is no option for RS232 control on this unit, we installed
an IR repeater mounted directly on the chassis. With this configuration we could
control our entire system with a single button push. The Octava HDMI switcher
performed flawlessly with our components. Conclusion
You don't have to spend a lot of money ($274) to get the convenience of switching
between your HDMI video sources. This is especially true with the Octava
4 x 1 HDMI Switch with Optical Toslink Routing. In fact, the added
benefit of switching digital audio along with the video input makes this unit
a real bargain. As mentioned earlier, our digital sources came four digital sources,
three of which provided high definition content. The unit performed very well
in our home theater setup and we found it easy to integrate with our existing
RTI remote controller. For those without a universal remote, Octava provides a
no frills IR remote for manual operation or you can let the SmartScan do it for
you. Best of all, Octava offers a Total Satisfaction Guarantee allowing
customers to return the item within 30 days of receipt for a refund (cost of item
minus shipping and handling). How could you go wrong with a guarantee like that. -
Kevin Nakano | 
