Comment by davidczech
2 months ago
A side note: I am very sad that HDMI-CEC apparently can only support like 3 "console-like" devices. I have an Apple TV, Nintendo Switch 2, Sound Bar (eARC) and PS5 hooked up, but only 3 can really interact with CEC.
It took me a long time to diagnose why it seemingly wouldn't work with my Nintendo Switch 2.
I ended up disabling it on my PS5 because I never use the darn thing, but it kind of stinks since most TV's have 4 HDMI inputs.
Yes, the three playback limit is so annoying. Just... why?! CEC is so stupid. Way overengineered yet completely undercooked. I'm imagining some day soon TVs/receivers will start proxying the CEC bus instead of sharing it globally.
Yes I actually run into the same issue and put it down as a footnote on the post
https://johnlian.net/posts/hdmi-cec/#fn:3
Where I talk about the craziness that happens when more than 3 playback devices are on in my system:
> ...if the one playback device (e.g. PS5) was on, changing input to another playback device (e.g. Xbox) was impossible, I'd get a quick black screen and the input snaps back to PS5. This is wild, but fortunately I only use one console at a time so it’s not a big deal.
I remember when I wad losing my mind diagnosing this, I ended up asking ChatGPT for help with deciphering the HDMI-CEC frames when this was happening. It told me about the 3 device limit being the culprit with the line "You’re not crazy, HDMI-CEC is."
AppleTV, Hisense 75" U7, Hisense sound bar, and Xbox Series X, tapping the Xbox logo on controller switches from Apple TV input to console input. Great!
But long press on Xbox logo button to e.g. accept a party invite -- switches to Apple TV. Not great.
The consoles are indeed awkward, but so are soundbars. And really, it seems like the TVs are the worst.
All can be solved with the boxes from HD Fury like VRRoom.
This is my exact setup. Maybe I don't have many issues because I literally only have the NS2/PS5Pro turn on the TV/change input. I still use the AppleTV remote to adjust volume no matter the input.