Apologies if this type of question isn’t fit for the community, I’ll delete if so.
I’m going to start working from home again soon, and my desk setup is going to get very messy. I’m hoping to find a device that will let me easily manage 3 monitors between my personal laptop, my PS5, and my work computer.
I’d ideally like to set up “scenes”, like a work scene where monitors 2 and 3 are using my work computer and monitor 1 is acting as extended display for my laptop off to the left, or a gaming scene where my work computer isn’t displaying anything and my PS5 uses monitor 3 while monitors 1 and 2 are extending my laptop’s display, etc.
Are there any devices that would allow one to easily manage this sort of setup? I’d really rather not have to rewire all my HDMI cables every time I want to switch from working to gaming.
There are KVM switches that allow something closer to that at least, but usually only for 2 hosts (pcs). It stands for “keyboard, video, mouse” and they originated in the server space, but recently became common in the home/office as well.
They main purpose is to switch use of the monitors and any attached input devices between PCs. But there are models that allow mixed/shared use as well. If you’re looking for one that supports 3 monitors and 3 hosts, with some splitting options, that might be harder to find or cost as rather pretty premium (hundreds).
My understanding of your question makes me believe that you might be looking for a matrix switcher.
Basically, you have a bunch of inputs (devices) and a bunch of outputs (screens) and it allows you to select what goes where, eiyher one by one manually, or you can sace/load presets.
I’ve installed many of these on ships so that the skipper can easily select where he wants radar, autopilot, chart plotter, echosounder and whatnot, based on what he’s doing .
The ones I installed were usually from Kramer, as they are pretty durable. I’m sure you can find cheaper ones.
I’ve been in this situation for a few years now (Working from home, wanting to share screens between devices).
KVMs and HDMI Switches are what to look for, as others have said. Scenes aren’t something you’re going to get cheaply, but you’ve still got options. For reference, I currently have three 27in 1440p monitors.
The first one I bought was a cheap 2 HMDI IN->2 HDMI OUT that worked pretty well. It’s straight 1-to-1 matching, you can’t mix and match what goes where without actually moving the cables, but it was great for having my main and right monitor be easily switched between my Desktop and Work computers. My left monitor is just for my desktop so I can multitask.
It died after a couple years and I upgraded my main monitor to my first 1440p which it couldn’t handle anyways. I wanted to use my main with Display Port so I got a 1 HDMI IN->2 HDMI OUT for just my right monitor. Center monitor has multiple inputs so I just use the screen’s buttons to switch.
My current monitor setup I literally setup this week. Each has multiple HDMI and DP inputs and it takes just a few seconds to switch each one with its built in switcher, and I honestly think this is the way to go.
After a few years of doing it, I say if you are able to, prioritize nice monitors with multiple inputs and use their built in systems for switching. A few more button presses, but that’s just a few seconds of time.
You might be looking for a KVM not sure how those handle consoles though.
If it’s only displays being shared and not keyboards / mice / etc., there’s HDMI switchers that operate on a many-to-many basis (where you can have multiple inputs, multiple outputs, and route them as you please). You press the button for the output, then press the button for the input you want to route there, and they all work independently. Those definitely work with consoles. This isn’t exactly what OP is looking for, as the ones I’ve used don’t let you save ‘scenes’ like they’re describing, but they do let you switch displays around easily. Some of them are sketchy with PCs; whether OP wants one that lets the PCs think all of the monitors are always plugged in, or one that makes them think the monitors have been disconnected is kind of up to personal preference but that’s a consideration.
This sounds very close to what I’d want. Do you have any recommendations, even for devices that don’t have the option for scenes or presets?
We were using one for game consoles and 2 TVs but it was a long time ago. The exact name of what you want is an ‘HDMI Matrix Switcher’ and what you’ll very quickly see when you search that up is that the prices range wildly and go up into the thousands - you don’t need something of that caliber (that’s professional AV equipment level), but you should expect to pay a few hundred for one that has enough outputs.
There are KVMs that support signal switching. Probably about $3k USD.
They are largely employed in the camming industry, which is what I assume you are subtly mentioning you’re going back to.
Not cheap. Have lots of problems, require an external remote to “switch scenes”, and they fail…like a lot.
I couldn’t suggest them unless you’re fine throwing that kind of money away.
OP could do it with two or three cheap KVMs if they could live with flipping three switches instead of one. Some cheap China KVMs have pedals for switching input and could probably be wired together with a microcontroller for a fraction of the cost but some soldering and programming to get it working.
Nah, you need the ones that do actual signal switching in DP or HDMI to let the display know what’s going on.
The people who make these know who their target audience is, and it’s not people “working from home”.
Well, OP is not the target audience but is the people working from home. Maybe OP is wealthy though.
