TruLink 3-Play Component Video / Digital Audio Selector Review
Written by John Thompson on January 2, 2012 · Filed under Review, Tech
With so many high definition gadgets and devices surrounding our TVs nowadays, it’s no surprise that people are starting to run out of ports at the back of their units.
If you’re in that situation with your component video and digital audio devices, then this TruLink splitter may provide you with some relief. It consists of three inputs leading to one output, allowing you to choose between the three inputs each time you want to use a peripheral with your TV.
In the box of this TruLink splitter, you will find the unit itself alongside an instruction booklet, the power cable to connect it to the mains and a small remote with just four buttons: one for the power and another three to select the input that you want to switch to.
As well as containing two audio input ports and three component video ports, the unit will also accept incoming and outgoing optical audio cables, which are capable of channeling surround sound audio to and from a compatible amplifier.
The ports are identical on each of the inputs and output section of the unit, and you will also find a DC power input (12V) on the back of the device. The casing is very simplistic and contains minimal lighting so that it will fit in well with your existing media equipment with it’s black exterior. On the front of the device, you will find a power button to the far right, and the IR receiver for the remote on the far left, with a button for each input in the centre which allows you to determine which peripheral you can see being outputted to the TV.
Although I didn’t have three component inputs to test the unit with, I did manage to test it with two. A common problem with units that take multiple inputs and then select them for outputting is that you end up with quite a bit of distortion on the output, no matter how good the quality of the original input device.
Fortunately, there wasn’t a lot of distortion with TruLink’s review unit that we got sent, and video quality was surprisingly good. When using the unit for a prolonged period of time, however, I did notice one or two slight quality issues, but only on close inspection. For most users, there won’t be any difference in the quality with and without the unit unless they really looked for it. Audio came from the optical (TOSLINK) output completely undistorted, and sounded good through my Sony DAV-DZ260 amplifier which was linked to a surround sound system.
The TruLink 3-Play Component Video / Digital Audio splitter is available on the market from around £50, and it’s worth the investment if you have a number of devices which you can’t connect to your television all at once. The only downside is the remote, which doesn’t have a lot of range, but you can always resort to clicking buttons on the box itself if this tends to frustrate you. Have you used this piece of kit in the past? Let us know what you think in the comments!
