Kinivo HDMI switches (350BN, 550BN, 301BN, 501BN) provide a feature called Automatic Switching, or “auto switching” for short.  This lets the HDMI switch sense input signals automatically and switch from one active input source to the next in whatever order they are plugged in.  Auto switching bypasses input ports without a signal. When you turn on a new device, the switch automatically selects that input.

This handy feature will not work with every HDMI input device, unfortunately, because some cable TV boxes, streaming devices, game consoles, and similar devices don't ever really turn off their HDMI signal, even when they appear to be turned off or asleep. These devices transmit a blank HDMI signal or black screen to the TV through our switch, even when asleep or turned off.

These devices do not trigger the auto switching feature in our switch. There is no way for the switch to differentiate between a blank HDMI signal or black screen and an active video signal with visible content.

What to do if Auto Switching doesn't work with your devices

You can manually select the input device you want using the remote control (included) or SWITCH button on the front of the switch box. You can directly select whatever input port you want using the remote control or manually toggle from one input device to the next by pressing the SWITCH button on the box.

Devices that support auto switching

Here is a list of popular streaming devices, game consoles and other video input devices that do and do not support auto switching. We’re unable to list every brand and model of input devices, because there are so many different devices on the market.

* Some Blu-ray and DVD players have a quick start option that prevents the device from fully powering off. To make the player work with auto switching on your Kinivo switch, turn this feature off in the device settings.