Best HDMI splitting system for TVs in Nightclubs and bars
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You have probably noticed that many nightclubs have TVs around the place. They mostly play sports or music videos. In this article we discuss the best types of TVs and a way to have them linked together so they automatically play the same thing.
For bars TVs can attract people as fans of sports teams go to pubs to watch games.
I know that I sometimes like watching music videos at nightclubs especially if I don't know a particular song and its name comes up on screen.
TVs can also be used to display the name of the that's at your venue, or perhaps you have cameras on stage and the TVs allow people that are not in the mosh pit a better view.
What are the best types of TVs for nightclubs and bars?
In our opinion anything big with at least one HDMI input, but two is probably best. HDMI should allow you to connect to a satellite/cable provider.
Do you want to link up multiple TVs so they play the same thing?
Most modern TVs and any devices that outputs video have HDMI outputs. Splitting your HDMI signal means you no longer have to change each TV to the same channel.
This saves time for your staff. They also won't have to point remotes at several different places when they can be serving customers.
How do I have multiple TVs play the same thing?
You can get a HDMI splitter; this is a box that allows you to plug in a satellite/cable source and have the picture distributed to every TV that is also connected to the box. The HDMI source can be other devices for example you might have a computer that plays music videos.
You can buy a HDMI splitter at Amazon. When you click the link you can choose whether you need 2, 4 or 8 outputs.
It is standard for these boxes to support very high video resolutions such as 1080P and 4K.
Handling audio
HDMI cables transfer both video and audio however it may be better to keep the TVs muted and have the sound going through a speaker system.
This is different from the old RCA connections where you would need 3 cables for every device.
Turning TVs off
To save power you may want to turn TVs off. Unfortunately you would still have to use the remotes for this but you can just leave it on the HDMI viewer so that when you turn it on it automatically plays what the other TVs in your venue are playing.
HDMI splitter vs HDMI switcher
A HDMI splitter allows you to plug in a video source and have it distributed to multiple TVs. With a HDMI switcher you can plug in multiple devices and have only one of them output to another device/TV.
You can combine the two concepts and connect different devices to a HDMI switcher and connect that switcher to a HDMI splitter that has several TVs running off of it. If you want several TVs synced to a single source and need to change the source regularly than this is a good strategy.
If you need two games playing at the same time might want to two splitters and have four TVs connected to one splitter and four connected to another.
If you want to have the ability to quickly change between sources you may want to get a HDMI switcher. An example use case for this is you have sports on cable but sometimes want to play something on Netflix or a Blu-Ray. However with Smart TVs you can just do everything in one place and have your splitters connected to them.
If you do need HDMI switchers you may want get this 5 port HDMI switcher at Amazon
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection
When purchasing splitters/switchers we consider it helpful if they are compatible with HDMI standards otherwise they may not work for your local cable/satellite companies and other devices.
Is HDMI splitting legal?
Yes as you're not giving away copies of content. You are just letting people view content at your venue.
Keep in mind your satellite/cable provider may require you to purchase a commercial license to show their content in your venue.
What is wrong with getting multiple subscriptions to cable/satellite companies?
There probably would be higher monthly fees with this. Also you will not be able to change all TVs at once.
Multiple subscriptions may still be useful if your venue needs to play two channels simultaneously but our advice is to get as fewer subscriptions as you need. With HDMI splitters you can distribute each channel on a subscription to multiple TVs.
Do I have to get satellite/cable subscriptions?
No, your HDMI splitters/switches can connect to most devices that play video including TVs, Blu-ray players or even some computers.
Thanks for reading
You can buy a HDMI splitter at Amazon. When you click the link you can choose whether you need 2, 4 or 8 outputs.