Component switch box question (1 Viewer)

[Chris_Matthews]

Anyone have any experience with the JVC JXS111 HD Compatible Component Video Switcher? It's at Amazon and is cheap enough.

Also, is signal degradation inevitable? Would I be better off just manually switching the cable when going from the tv box to my dvd player?

 

[Bob McElfresh]

It should be fine.

No, you should not see any signal degradation. And it is better to have a switch box as the cables/plugs were not ment to be switched frequently.

 

[WallyB]

If you're not locked into that particular model, you may want to check out the Pelican System Selector Pro. It's marketed at the videogame market, but it has some pretty good features. I just bought one of these at GameStop for $79 but have not hooked it up yet. EBGames and newegg.com sell it for the same price. It offers 8 inputs for composite, S-Video and component video. Also 3 of the 8 inputs support optical audio and ethernet. Here it is at newegg. It is not remote controllable, but I figure if I'm switching between satellite, DVD and games I'll have to get up anyway to grab a controller or put in a disc.

Good luck.

 

[Dennis_W]

I've been going back and forth on this System Selector Pro you mentioned. First I hear it's good, then I hear that the bandwidth isn't high enough to support anything over 480p....

Any solid info on this thing? I'd be connecting an XBox capable of 720p and 1080i output (usually only 480p) and probably a Comcast cable box which is outputting 1080i and 480p (upconverts standard 480i cable channels) for the sake of being ale to use optical audio.

I'm really a visual quality freak (constantly buying new video cards for my PC - running Half-Life 2 at 1280x1024 ) so I need something that won't mess with my picture quality.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Mad Catz also makes a system selector that claims to have the bandwidth for HD.

IMHO this means between 90-120Mhz to handle 1080i: 4 times the max expected frequency.

 

[Dennis_W]

Yeah - claims (key word there). Who can trust these companies (just liek their controllers, claim to be high quality, but the sticks are pure crap and buttons are unresponsive).

Have any of these devices (Pelican $20 HD switcher, Mad Catz $20 HD switcher, Pelican $100 HD [with optical audio] System Selector Pro) qactually been tested to handle a true HD signal? I'd hate to pick one up and see that 720p signals from my XBox and 1080i signals from my cable box look like crap....

 

[WallyB]

I guess I'll be able to shed some light on this soon. I just got my Panasonic AE700 projector today. I'll try to set it up tonight and see if it can pass 720p or 1080i from my Zenith 318 or Xbox via HD AV Pack.

Here goes nothing.

 

[Joe Szott]

Just as an FYI, I just bought an Audio Autority 1154A component switcher box from Digital COnnection for $149. Hooked it up last night and it is a great little box, highly recommended. It has some cool features the others didn't have:

* 4 component input with 2 RCA sound and both digital coax / toslink inputs.

* 1 component output that sends out toslink AND digital coax regardless of whether which was input (it translates and spews out both! Really nice.)

* Autosensing and prioritizing of input signals, which actually works quite well.

* No signal degredation that I can tell at all from the box (mostly fedding it 480p so far though.)

Only played with it for 1 night, but it seems a really solid switcher. It took my game machines / DVD from using 3 TV inputs to using one, I love it.

 

[Dennis_W]

Wally, which switch are you using? The Pelican $20 HD switcher, Mad Catz $20 HD switcher, or the Pelican $100 System Selector Pro?

Make sure you try both 1080i and 720p from your Zenith 318 (assuming that that's a HD cable/satellite box). As for the XBox, be sure 720p and 1080i are enabled in the dash and that you try a 480p game (pretty much any game, if you own an XBox you should Halo 2 to test 480p with). As for 720p, I don't know what titles support it, but I know Tony Hawk Underground 2 does. As for 1080i, I think the only game that supports it is Dragon's Lair 3D.

Let me know how this turns out, I really want to play my PS2 and GCN games in 480p without dishing out a fortune...

 

[Orlando]

I use the Pelican Pro and the JVC 111 switch with a Sony XBR700 and Runco projector, being sourced by a Zenith 318 DVD, Cablevision 8300HD and a RCA DTC-100 and it all works fine. Get all the HD without a problem.

 

[Dennis_W]

Have you tried it with 1080i and 720p? I know a lot of people say it handles 480p great, but my real concern is the true HD signals, 720p and 1080i.

 

[Jason=R]

We did an in depth engineering review on the Pelican system selector pro. In brief, it is not up to full quality HD.

You can see the review on our site under "video info"
video-storm(dot)com. (I don't have 15 posts, so no links)

BTW we also sell a very good component switch, but nevertheless our review is accurate if not completely unbiased.

 

[Orlando]

I use both the Pelican and JVC for everything from 480i to 1080i with pretty good results. I don't doubt that it is not 100% up to snuff. But you get what you pay for. It's cheap and it works pretty good. Or spend more money and get great performance. Which I might finally invest in myself. But for the price I would recommend it.

 

[Dennis_W]

I think I'll go to Best Buy and get the System Selector Pro. I really want to play Gran Turismo 4 in 1080i. And the optical audio switch is nice. I figure it's my best bet, seeing how it'll cost me no cash, I have some gift cards I otherwise won't use....

 

[WallyB]

I've been using the Pelican System Selector Pro for about 2 weeks. Last weekend's football games OTA and the HD package from DirecTV look great. My display is a 112" image on the wall from a Panasonic AE700 720p native LCD projector.

I'm happy with it.

 

[Dennis_W]

Well, I went down to GameStop and got it for $79.99. Right before I left I asked what the return policy was. They said no returns once opened, even if image quality is degraded. Screw that - I returned it right then! Not risking my $80. I think eventually I'll save up and get a real good quality one so I'm prepared for when all the next-gen consoles capable of 1080i/720p for every game come out....