But what is certain is that the number of 4K source devices is gradually increasing. When typing this, there are two (
with
), a Roku 4 (Roku 4) that just arrived at my door and a second-generation Amazon Fire TV on the road. Of course, Ultra HD Blu-ray players are just around the corner.
Given that there are a large number of new AV receivers and preamplifiers that support 4K, it is very easy to switch these sources for viewing on one or two display devices. On the other hand, if you are looking for a way to send multiple sources protected by 4K/60, HDCP 2.2 to multiple displays around your home, office or commercial space, the options will be more limited, but still More and more.
Atlona provides new HDMI-to-HDMI and HDMI-to-HDBaseT matrix switchers that support 4K/60, which can always reach 16x16. The focus of this review is the 4x4 UHD HDMI to HDMI matrix switcher (AT-UHD-H2H-44M, $2,099.99), which allows you to display four different AV sources simultaneously on four different display devices. All four HDMI inputs and outputs on this product are HDMI 2.0 compliant with HDCP 2.2.
The device itself is a basic black box, measuring 2.17 x 17.31 x 10 inches and weighing 6.55 pounds. It is a rack unit high with rack ears for installation in equipment racks. The back panel has four HDMI inputs and four HDMI outputs, as well as a control input for IR/RS-232, a (currently inactive) USB port for firmware update, and a LAN port for IP control and access to the Web GUI .
You can perform all basic settings and use functions from the front panel with eight buttons as needed: power, input, function, cancel and four buttons for input, output and navigation functions. The two-line LCD screen displays the product name and description, which are used to select input/output combinations, access firmware/IP information, and perform various setting functions.
The infrared remote control provided is obviously a universal model that Atlona uses with many of its switchers. The small, non-backlit remote control has 16 input buttons and 16 output buttons. Obviously, with this particular switcher, you will only use the first four of each switcher to assign specific inputs to specific outputs. It also has power on/off, volume up/down and mute buttons, which are invalid for this particular switcher.
AT-UHD-H2H-44M uses a 10.2 Gbps HDMI chipset instead of an 18 Gbps chipset-this means you can transmit 4K signals at 60 frames per second, but the maximum bit rate can only reach 8 bits, the maximum sampling The ratio is 4:2:0. However, you can still transmit 4K signals at 24 frames per second, with up to 12-bit color and 4:4:4 sampling rate. For any current UHD source devices I use to test Atlona, this is not a problem, because 8-bit 4:2:0 is the current way to encode content. However, with the emergence and development of the Ultra HD Blu-ray format, it will become a bigger problem because the format supports higher bit and sampling rates. More importantly, AT-UHD-H2H-44M does not support HDMI 2.0a to deliver high dynamic range (HDR) content, so firmware upgrades are not possible. It can be seen from my research that all new 4K matrix switchers cannot pass HDR.
In terms of audio, Atlona can deliver all major audio formats, from two-channel PCM to Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD-MA and Dolby Atmos. It supports the passage of audio signals up to 24-bit/192 kHz.
In the test, I used three 4K UHD display devices: Samsung UN65HU8550 TV, Samsung UN65JS8500 TV and Sony VPL-VW350ES projector. I sometimes add an older 1080p Samsung LN-T4681F TV to the mix. My source of information is the aforementioned Nvidia Shield and Sony FMP-X10 4K player, Oppo BDP-103 4K upconverter Blu-ray player and 1080p Dish Network Hopper DVR. Both Nvidia and Sony devices support 4K/60 output, which is what I input to the monitor through Atlona. Both use HDCP 2.2 copy protection, and the Atlona switch has no problems with this.
Atlona equipment should be set up through a trained professional distributor. I am not one of those dealers, and because I use a mix of 4K and 1080p sources, the setup is more complicated than simply connecting all the devices and turning on the switch. By default, this Atlona switcher is set to output all content at the highest common native resolution that all connected sources can output. Since my Hopper DVR can reach up to 1080p, and my Oppo Blu-ray player was set to 1080p output when it was first connected, Atlona downgraded Nvidia and Sony 4K devices to 1080p to match them. I just tried to exclude Hopper and Oppo from the equation and restart all functions to see if I can get 4K signals from Nvidia and Sony, but I didn't.
The Atlona user manual provides you with two methods to solve this problem. The first is to manually "copy and load" the EDID information from a specific display and assign it to a specific source input. EDID stands for Extended Display Identification, which is used by two HDMI devices to identify each other, determine compatibility, and establish the most important handshake to obtain pictures. I tried to follow the instructions for this method, but still didn't get 4K from Nvidia.
Therefore, I moved to the second option, which is much simpler. The switcher stores 14 EDIDs in its memory, and you can assign any of these presets to a specific input. In my case, I assigned the EDID number 14 (3840x2160 resolution and 7.1 multi-channel audio) to the input of Sony and Nvidia players, and this quickly worked. Since then, I have been able to switch the resolution of Oppo from 1080p to 4K via 4K 4K sources, 1080p 1080p sources, and then return without problems.
What I should mention is that I performed the above steps through Atlona's front panel buttons. Although this button works, it is certainly not the fastest or most intuitive solution. If you move to the web interface only during the initial setup and not during the initial setup, I suspect the above process will be faster.
To access AT-UHD-H2H-44M's Web GUI, all you have to do is to make sure the product is connected to the router via Ethernet, enter the web browser, and enter the IP address assigned to Atlona. (You can get this information directly from the front panel screen of the switcher). The Web GUI has a simple and clear layout, which is easy to understand and manipulate. Through it, you can check the status of the device, update the firmware (although the firmware must be downloaded from the company site to the computer, and then load the file through the Web GUI), adjust the network and control settings, and more. You can name all connected signal sources and displays, check which signal source is routed to which display at any time, configure and store different input/output combinations in the switcher’s memory presets, and perform all the EDID adjustments mentioned above .
From a performance point of view, the AT-UHD-H2H-44M has proven to be rock solid in sending a clean and stable signal from the signal source to the display. I basically spent a few days playing various combinations of 4K/60, 4K/24, 1080p, and 1080i signals through the connected monitor, sending different sources to different monitors randomly. I didn't see the image being lost, freezing or flickering, and the switcher changed the input very quickly. When I turn on or turn off the power of any device in the chain, it does not affect the signal to the other displays. I can pass 3D smoothly (provided that the EDID that supports 3D is assigned to the input of the Oppo player), and even successfully add my Actiontec MyWirelessTV wireless HDMI extender to the chain to send 1080i/1080p signals to 1080p remote TV in the room. Atlona successfully passed DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and two-channel PCM signals.
• This matrix switcher allows you to watch four different 4K/60 signal sources on four different display devices at the same time.
• The signal reliability is excellent, and the switching speed between signal sources is very fast.
• Provide IR, RS-232 and IP control options.
• The web interface is easy to access and use.
• You can add Atlona's UHD-EX series extender to extend the cable length, which supports HDMI over HDBaseT.
• AT-UHD-H2H-44M only provides 4K/60 support, supports up to 8-bit 4:2:0 sampling, and cannot transmit (or transmit through firmware upgrades) HDR signals.
• If you mix 4K and 1080p sources, the initial setup process may be a bit confusing, and Atlona's documentation is more for trained installers than for general consumers. Of course, this product should be sold and set up by trained installers, so it makes sense.
• This switcher does not provide optical, coaxial or analog audio connections for use with non-HDMI audio devices.
Other 4K-friendly 4x4 matrix switchers include
(Approximately US$1,200), it adds support for analog/digital audio, but requires the addition of a KD-HDFIX22 HDMI extender (US$350) to incorporate HDCP 2.2 signal sources. Geffen provides 4K/60 capabilities
The 4x4 matrix switcher ($899) supported by HDCP 2.2 is missing, or you can check out the new EXT-UHD-88 ($3,999), which is an 8x8 matrix switcher with 4K/60 capabilities of HDCP 2.2. The company has not yet released a 4x4 version of the newer model with HDCP 2.2. coming soon
A 4x4 matrix switcher supporting HDCP 2.2 ($1,998). It is the only chip on the list that will use the 18-Gbps chipset to support 4K/60 at 4:4:4.
Control companies like Crestron and Control4 also provide 4K-friendly matrix switchers, but their products are usually designed for large systems, starting with 6x6 or 8x8 configurations, so the price is higher. Control4 offers 6x6 LU642 for $6,000, and Crestron offers 8x8 DM-MD8X8 for $4,300.
Atlona AT-UHD-H2H-44M 4x4 HDMI matrix switcher provides fast, rock-solid 4K/60 video switching, and supports the latest HDCP 2.2 compatible 4K source and a beautiful web interface. This matrix switcher can meet your current 4K signal source needs, and the performance is very good, but as Ultra HD content develops to its maximum potential, its 10.2 Gbps chipset may not be able to meet your needs.
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