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Splitternoia and the Gefen EXT-HDMI-142

May 8th, 2008 by g.vandagriff

Aside from the late-night Tokyo drift race scene, few things are both as exciting and intimidating as the kill-or-be-killed world of HDMI splitters. Neophytes to the dangerous discipline of digital displays are often completely paralyzed with fear when confronted with the inescapable choice between passive HDMI splitters and active HDMI splitters. In fact, the confusion surrounding this subject, often referred to as “splitternoia” has been cited by credible sources* as one of the leading causes of bruised technical egos, gang violence and [possibly] cancer. The only known cure to this debilitating condition is a bitter dose of technical education, one that will answer the legendary question of “what is the difference between active HDMI Splitters and passive HDMI splitters?”To answer this question we consulted technical mastermind and minor celebrity Mark Wainwright and cross-referenced his words with obscure passages from the Apocrypha. Now we will share our findings with the rest of the world.First, a thought to keep in mind: Passive HDMI splitters are incredibly cheap compared to active splitters. Anyone with a shred of training in economics will be able to draw some fairly obvious conclusions from this fact alone, but I digress.Passive HDMI splitters are just that: splitters. They literally split the HDMI signal into two halves and send each half to a different display. The result is an abominable image on two separate displays. Think of passive HDMI splitters as being the poor man’s way to accomplish absolutely nothing worthwhile.Active HDMI splitters, like Gefen’s EXT-HDMI-142, are similar to cloning machines. Like a piece of historically dislocated sci fi technology, these miracles of modern imaging hardware will take an existing HDMI signal, create a clone signal, then send the original signal and the cloned signal to separate displays. Result? You’ve got two quality HDMI signals showing on two quality displays.An analogy will help solidify your understanding: Passive HDMI splitters are like attorneys; they take a perfectly good thing (an HDMI signal) and turn it into incomprehensible garbage (two worthless half-signals). Active HDMI splitters are like vikings in that they are totally awesome in every possible way.So now you know the truth. Go forth and cure the plague of splitternoia by preaching the truth to everyone you know.*My cousin Bernard

Posted in HDMI, Video

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