What would you expect this to do?

The description seems to do a better job than the title, which are often just stuffed with related keywords as search engine fodder.

Apropos of descriptions, if you want to use 4k Blu Ray as an input and output then it needs to have HDPC 2.2 support. But AFAICS this can only be done if it is a switch with several inputs and one output, a splitter can't comply, for obvious reasons due to copying being prevented. Just thought I would add that, having bought a switch without HDPC 2.2 and found it wouldn't switch a 4k BluRay signal.

I don't doubt there are ways round this encryption, but probably not on Ebay or Amazon.

Quite. I tend to deliberately not buy anything where they've attempted to deceive for the search engines.

In the case of this item the description looked like HTML in a text editor.

Also why do they insist on calling something which is clearly a distribution amplifier a splitter?

Some of the cheaper (ten pound) splitters 'accidentally' strip HDCP, so the source thinks it's chatting to an HDCP device, which just happens to output unencrypted streams.

This is very handy when some devices (eg Macs) output HDCP protected content for no good reason (eg when running Powerpoint).

Cheaper is better, in this case.

Theo

How does that work with HDCP 2.2 which as far as I can tell from descriptions demands an encrypted handshake?

Because it doesn't amplify?

Also, for ebay, look out if the seller is also selling clothing, cosmetics or toys.

You probably don't want to risk plugging your expensive electronics into a shoddily assembled knockoff that someone has offloaded into a Chinese bulk shifters warehouse ...

Then why does it need a power supply?

because it's an "active" device and HDMI only provides a pitiful +5V supply (55mA)

Perhaps better called a repeater than an amplifier, but any digital circuitry effectively regenerates the digital signal at the desired logic level. So calling it an amplifier isn't wrong.

To me, a splitter by nature reduces the signal. Think splitting a log. Or anything else. Splitting means reducing anything into a number of smaller parts.

A basic DA reproduces the input signal with any number of same level outputs.

A repeater - to me - is a device which receives a signal and re-transmits it - usually after restoring it to the best health possible.

That?s only true of analog splitters, not digital splitters.

Like with so many words, that isnt the only meaning of that word.

But a digital splitter isnt a distribution amplifier.

The splitter has 1-in / 4-out HDMI ports, with an internal connection between the chips which could be for example parallel RGB (8 wires each of R/G/B, pixel clock, hsync, vsync, analogue audio). The HDMI to RGB chip chats HDCP to its HDMI source. It's supposed to be mounted in a TV where it would need to do HDCP handshaking with the source. Then we take the unencrypted RGB and feed it to 4 RGB to HDMI chips, which each generate their own unencrypted HDMI.

These boxes are too cheap to have one chip per output, but often they're two chips - one HDMI receiver, one 4-port transmitter. If the internal link is HDCP clean, you can use them as strippers.

Theo

If that's what they do it is obviously a flagrant breach of the industry agreement *not* to make the unencrypted output freely available to ordinary customers, and totally defeats the copy protection. So it must be a breach of contract and in the US it would probably be a crime to use such a device. I've no idea if we've passed similar laws. I was not fortunate enough to find one that did this.