This is the first entry of this type. I am unsure how often I will publish something like this, however; I confess I am a technical person outside of my employment. Recently, I purchased a new TV. It was time. Based on the reviews I poured over, I chose  the TCL 55” series six Roku smart TV. I have not been disappointed so far. None of the issues I read about and dreaded have been present with my new TV. For that I am glad. This is not a review of the TV there are plenty of reviews of the unit around if you are so inclined. This entry is a description of what I did after having it for a few days and realizing it could be the entertainment center of my apartment.

The unit has three HDMI ports and for my purposes; it wasn’t enough to be the entertainment center I dreamed of.  If I wanted it to be the hub for entertainment I needed at least four HDMI ports for the following devices: My PC, PlayStation 4, SteamLink, and Chromecast. I won’t go into the detail of what each device does, however, I will say this. Some devices, while similar, are for different functions.

Initially, I had the PlayStation 4, SteamLink, and Chromecast connected. Everything worked as intended. The SteamLink was casting games and by extension, my computer to the TV. However, I noticed for games needing quicker response time, there was a significant visual delay between button presses and movement. This is when I had the idea to use the TV as a big monitor for my computer, which happens to be about five meters away from the TV. The only problem was that I wanted to have all of my entertainment devices connected at once. After some thought, I found my solutions. Using technologies that compliment each other.

First, I needed to split the signal coming from my computer into two signals that could go different places. One to my current monitor and, one to the TV. To accomplish this, I needed an HDMI Splitter. It takes a single signal and splits it into as many signals as the device is designed for. In my case, I only needed two. So, I purchased a 1to2 Splitter, pictured below.

The next step was to use an HDMI Switch to at least two input signals, sending them through a single HDMI cord, switching between the sources as needed. I connected the SteamLink and my PC to the switch because they function similarly. With this setup, I no longer had to worry about having too few HDMI ports on my TV. I could simply switch between the sources as needed using the switch, pictured below.

I am pleased to announce the setup works as intended. My TV is now the entertainment center I wanted. I can play games regardless of the input intensity, watch TV, use Netflix and other streaming services. There may be a lot of wires behind the TV but, it looks organized from the front.

TLDR: I wired purchased devices letting me utilize my  new TV as the entertainment hub for my apartment.

Till Next We Meet.