Anyone who works with home electronics either enthusiast or pro knows the cord mess involved in setting up a stereo or home theatre and the pain it can be to figure out just what goes where. Usually sound and video have their own separate I/O on the rear panel of your receiver and that involves many different cables that can be confusing if you are new to hooking this stuff up. Now both audio and video can be connected through one digital interface called HDMI. HDMI is an input/output interface that supports both digital audio and video through one thin connector cable and eliminating all those multitudes of pesky cables in one simple solution.

If you go to purchase a new television chances are most likely that it will have at least 1 HDMI connection available on it, and if you are lucky it will have at least two. HDMI is really a great step forward in the evolution of sound connections and video connections. SVGA was the standard for getting a decent picture from your DVD player to your TV, but it was not a pure digital connection, nor did it include sound capability. HDMI offers the user a high-definition interface that supports 1080p the latest advancements in DVD technology, and the most clear. If you have never seen a good sci-fi or Disney cartoon in 1080p high-def, you need to go out to an electronics store and check out the picture, it really will say a thousand words as it is clarity that is clearly superior.

All the latest console systems are upgradeable or come standard with an HDMI connection as do all the new DVD players so if you want to hookup more than one device on a TV that only has one HDMI input, you have a dilemma. That is where the Accell Ultra AV HDMI switch may come in handy. The Ultra AV 2/Way HDMI switch allows two HDMI devices to be controlled by the remote operated hand controller and connected into one source monitor or TV. I started working with Hanns-G on a few of their products and when they sent me their latest 28" model it came with a single HDMI connection. This presented a unique opportunity to see both the monitor and the Ultra AV switch in action. I used the HDMI connection from my Diamond 2900XT and the HDMI connection from my HD DVD player to use the Ultra AV switch and it was easy to do.