Dear streamers: How many times have you connected your console to an HDMI splitter, just to have your console auto-detect that your 1080p setup is actually 720p? While some consoles can be forced into “unsupported” modes, consoles like the Nintendo Switch can’t go past the detected resolution. Up until now, this was thought to be an EDID issue and the solution was to purchase a passive adapter that was about the same price as the splitter itself! While the adapter worked great, it turns out EDID was never the issue at all. It was voltage.
Apparently, some devices that are DVI-based (not native HDMI) such as certain monitors and capture cards like the Datapath Vision E1/E2 have an issue with reverse current. Essentially, the +5VDC they provide on HDMI pin 18 appears to be powering up the splitter before it’s main power supply had a chance to fully boot the chips. This causes the splitter to improperly detect it as a generic “DVI” device and it tells the source device it’s the default DVI resolution of 720p.
Luckily Voultar found an easy fix and provided us with pictures! Simply sever the 5v line on the output you’re using with the capture card and add a SMD Schottky Diode. Find this spot here, circled in yellow (click on all pics for full-sized):
Then, sever the connection to pin 18 exactly as you see here:
Make sure it’s properly severed, or this won’t work at all:
Then, add a SMD Schottky Diode to bridge the cut, with the stripe on the diode facing away from the HDMI connector, towards the middle of the circuit board:
That’s it! Now your troublesome device will no longer send voltage when it’s not supposed to and your splitter won’t interfere with automatic resolution detection!
Also, if you’d rather not mod your splitter, you can accomplish the same thing with a cheap HDMI passthrough dongle!:
Of course, if you’d rather not mod anything at all, you could just use the adapter below. Still seems like an awesome fix to me though!
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