Atlona HDMI switchers
bano
Posts: 173
I'm integrating with this product in the near future. Please provide feedback on their products if you've installed, configured or programmed their HDMI switchers. Thanks in advance!
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We used Atlona products for years and found them reliable and sturdy. Tech support is generally quick and comprehensive. That said, we stopped using their HDMI switches 2 years ago when we had HDMI issues.
Specifically, we found that a number of TV's, including LG OLED units that comprise the majority of new installs, do not keep their HDMI handshake alive when turned off (probably due to that damned Green rating). And the Atlona switches we were using would presume that there was no device on the output, so it "helped" us by ignoring switching commands to feed said outputs. With no visible error. And once so ignored, it might or might not ever send anything to that output again even if the TV woke up and again was willing to handshake. To correct it, a reboot of the Atlona HDMI switch was required. Which could not be done from the front panel - a hard AC removal was required. Which was madness for rack mounted systems.
Atlona finally supplied us with their EDID emulator ($250 each) for each of the sites affected. And we stopped installing more of them, and tried other vendors. Which each, it turns out, has new and fascinating ways of treating HDMI handshakes poorly.
I talked at length with Atlona support and product folks about the two issues - ignoring commands and locking up outputs without notice on the front panel, and the inability to recover from the front panel. They saw my points and suggested that newer products would have this looked at... I don't know if they made any changes since. They were acquired by PANDUIT and it looks like decisions aren't entirely local anymore.
Just yesterday we installed another LG OLED at an Atlona site that required the emulator to stay working. We didn't install an emulator, and the TV appears (so far) to not exhibit the offline behavior that was 100% repeatable with the 3 year old OLED and 3 year old Atlona we struggled with before. So maybe LG is now keeping the handshake in new models? Time will tell.
I very much like Atlona, their prices, and their support (we're actually only 5 miles from their main offices). After struggling with alternatives, we are likely to try them again.
Thank you for your candid and detailed information. Appreciate it! My project is utilizing Samsung Tv's. I will contact them and see if there were/are any issues with integration. I need to make sure they are 100. My project is in Santa Fe, NM and I live in Phoenix so robust and reliable operation is a must. Thanks John. I hope you remember me. I was the "Pronto Guy."
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Call me if you want the detail for your quizzing them.