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**Steve Guttag** · 09-25-2023, 06:23 AM

Extron is the most reliable, configurable and supported. Extron also has the best EDID management. Not surprisingly, it is the most expensive too. It is not sold by big box houses so you are not likely find it heavily discounted or even advertised. My most popular switcher is the DXP 42 HD 4K PLUS (4x2). I either go through the sound processor or add an Extron DA to get the 3rd output for a dedicated feed to the sound processor and projector. The bump up to a 4x4 is over 2.5X the price. I'd stay away from Gefen as they have burned me too many times. Black Magic normally does not support HDCP as they are a broadcast company so pay attention to specs. Also, always keep an eye on what sound formats A/V stuff supports. Most are only thinking 2-channel as that is their world. Kramer normally makes respectable stuff. I cannot speak to the other brands on your list.

If you want to experiment with one of the low-cost/Amazon type companies, I have a client that uses goFanco. The PRO-Matrix44-SC is a 4x4 at ¼ the price of the Extron. It doesn't have the EDID control of the Extron nor many of the other features but it does have scaling outputs. For the price, you might want to experiment. Search for it on Amazon.

One of the things you need to watch out for is the EDID and what you want the sources to "see" as the display (sink). You want to ensure that they are sending the picture and sound that your displays can handle and the lesser stuff will do this more poorly than the Extron stuff will. Since you want a preview monitor, remember, Blu-rays are 24p devices...most monitors do not support 24Hz. So, either you have them send out everything at 60Hz and live with jutter artifacts on motion or you'll need to find a suitable monitor/TV that supports 24Hz at some level and you'll need to your switching device to provide the EDID to the sources to output the right stuff.

The CP950 does not support DTS audio. Just Dolby (naturally) and LPCM. So, either your source will need to supply audio decoded or you'll need to deal with that in some manner. Again, EDID can be your friend (or enemy) as it will tell your sources what you display/audio devices support. Also, consider that you have some 2-channel and some 6 or 8 channel sources and how they will present. 2-channel normally sounds a bit off in cinemas as the Left and Right speakers are far apart.

If this is just for a single screen, then I think a conventional HDMI infrastructure probably makes the most sense. If, however, you are thinking of including multiple screens, you may want to consider going an AV over IT (AoIT) route using products like the Visionary Solutions "Packet AV." There are clear advantages in larger systems. AoIT uses conventional IT infrastructure (with high bandwidth switching) so it is just CAT cables to the end points. You put in exactly how many end points you need and nothing stops you from moving them about as needed. For instance, making a 4 x 3 matrix switcher is as simple as buying 4 encoders and 3 decoders with a suitable network switch (Netgear makes switches dedicated for this sort of thing that have needed specs and are easy to set up). So, if you wanted to have, say three theatres and the same 4 sources, you could by 4 encoders and 4 decoders (including the preview monitor) and place everything where you want it and hook it all up with CAT cable. You'd still need a control system but the technology for that is pretty primitive in that decoders just need to be "pointed" at the encoder's IP address. The cost of something like this is more than the Extron stuff, but it lets you branch it out and it scales exactly to your needs. And for things like laptops...rather than putting dedicated laptop ports in each theatre, like an HDBaseT solution (or Extron DTP or XTP), you could just have an encoder that you plug into a suitable CAT6 plate as the system doesn't care where that encoder is. Your permanent infrastructure is just the CAT cable and wall plates.

So, if just a single screen, I like the Extron stuff the best (by a pretty fair margin) but you may want to look at the goFanco switcher I listed as it may be just what you are looking for and does just what you want.

Good luck.

**Brian Mendelssohn** · 09-25-2023, 11:17 AM

Thanks for the advice as always Steve! The AV over IT seems interesting. I'm currently designing a 2 screen theater now so that could really come in handy. Curious on your vision for this. Do you imagine the main booth with all of the Alt content devices, and one of these decoders in the booth for the second screen to bring all of the alt content to there? My second screen is an addition that I'm doing with only 40 seats.. so I was contemplating putting all of the amps, processor, etc in the main booth, then run some Cat6A & 12ag speaker wire, then the only thing in that booth is the projector & server. Is this what you have in mind? I've only worked on a single screen, so two screens is mind blowing to me.

Also, you sold me on the DXP 42 HD 4K PLUS, but how does one purchase one?

**Marcel Birgelen** · 09-25-2023, 02:55 PM

My $0.02...

- I completely agree with Steve on Extron: Buy Extron if you want something reliable that's supported and works pretty much out of the box. It will not be cheap though.
- You can't really go wrong with Black Magic Design, other than that it might not integrate that well with your existing automation and will require some custom work.
- Same as for BMG mostly also goes for Aten. Stuff usually works, isn't overly expensive. Support for existing automation may be a bit flaky.
- HD Fury: It's all in the name... It's a fury... it will do everything of all of the above for half the price. It will downscale, upscale, do E-DID magic, rip the Dolby Digital stream out of your content and feed it to something else, but it's a hackers device. Only buy it when you're into tinkering. It's also not as straight forward to integrate this into your existing automation.
- Gefen: Have seen it in the field, have used it, never bought it. So, pretty neutral on that one.
- Kramer: Have heard of it...
- BZB Gear: Heard some good stuff... never really encounterd them anywhere other than on trade shows.

As for the AV-over-IP stuff: Keep in mind that many of the stuff isn't really compatible with each other, so it will be somewhat of a vendor-lock-in. Also, since most IP networks cannot match the speed needed for stuff like full 4K@60P, it will often use some form of compression. Also, those solutions usually incur a greater processing delay due to conversion, compression/decompression and buffering in both Layer 2 and Layer 3 IP stacks.
As for the AV-over-UTP stuff: Make sure your cables are up to spec and within the limits of the chosen solution.

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