[freshone]

Hello, is anyone here knowledgeable about having multiple active TVs?

My son wants to have three TVs in his basement. He has purchased the TVs but he doesn't realize that there is way more to it than that.

I've been trying to think of all the ins and outs of doing this. Basically, i guess it's akin to a sports Bar or Restaurant but on a way smaller scale.

He is going to need to switch the audio to enable the TV he wants to hear, correct?

Then needs to consolidate three separate remotes?

Then there's HDMI switching issues since there is three different sources (HDMI, ROKU, etc)?

I've been researching around for a week but I gotta admit it's very confusing.

I want him to also be surround sound ready as well. So we'll need to run speaker wires back to wherever the "brains" of this set up is.

I used to use a Logitech Harmony remote back in the day to consolidate multiple remotes but that is no longer available. There are others but I'm not sure as which is optimal.

I guess you get the idea. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all...

 

[harsh]

My son wants to have three TVs in his basement. He has purchased the TVs but he doesn't realize that there is way more to it than that.

It could go either way depending on where he's getting is programming from (i.e. if set-top boxes likely to be involved).

I've been trying to think of all the ins and outs of doing this. Basically, i guess it's akin to a sports Bar or Restaurant but on a way smaller scale.

This isn't all that unusual around championship time (i.e. March Madness). It is perhaps critically important to pin down most of the parameters lest you saddle yourself with considering the entire gamut of possibilities.

He is going to need to switch the audio to enable the TV he wants to hear, correct?

Yes! This is likely to be the biggest issue in putting this system together. Such is not to say that it is particularly difficult.

Then needs to consolidate three separate remotes?

That depends on whether the TVs are going to be independently changing channels during the viewing session.

Then there's HDMI switching issues since there is three different sources (HDMI, ROKU, etc)?

There are going to have to be provisions made outside of HDMI for handling audio.

I used to use a Logitech Harmony remote back in the day to consolidate multiple remotes but that is no longer available. There are others but I'm not sure as which is optimal.

Unless the TVs are hopping around frequently between sources, the audio system remote may suffice. I'm guessing that most sessions won't involve more than three channels altogether.

I'd recommend using anything other than HDMI to make your audio connections and this would depend entirely on what outputs your source devices feature. An optical audio (TOSLINK) switch may be the best choice if all the source devices support only optical audio out (most affordable AVRs are limited to one or two optical inputs and one or two coaxial inputs).

The current "hot item" in universal remotes is probably the Sofa Baton but I suspect that it probably isn't necessary here unless the TVs are changing sources frequently (and even then, it would be a mode switching frenzy complicated further if the sources use the same remote control codes).

Before you go down the hardware rabbit hole, I high recommend that you spend time thinking about what the sources are and how they might be used as that will drive most of the other issues (remotes, connections, switching).

 

[wfs455]

I went to a wedding at a beach house in Orange County. There were three big TV's wall-mounted in the room with a fourth TV on the floor. Apparently, they were used for watching several sports events at the same time. No one turned them on while we were there, but I did see multiple remotes in the room. I was surprised but didn't ask any questions.

 

[P Smith]

I was surprised but didn't ask any questions.

And ... we are still puzzled having no answers what you didn't get after asking

 

[prozone1]

I use 4 direct tv receivers in my theater room. I've upgraded the tv's alot since I built this room in1997.
But for sound i use a 1997 Yamaha DSP A-1, which was the top of the line amp at the time and still sounds fantastic.
It will only do 7.1, but set up right sounds amazing. Each receiver is hdmi to the tv's and optical to the amp.
The old style amp has direct imput for audio source. No video switching, I just pick a different audio source from remote to listen to what game I want.

 

[harsh]

I use 4 direct tv receivers in my theater room.

This is a real-life implementation of what I was talking about in post #2.

 

[shadough]

This is me on NFL Sunday's!. The Main TV has my Dish receiver w/ PIP open, an the TV itself also has PIP w/ my Firestick connected. The other "peripheral" tv's (not really TV's per-say, but 'monitors') are using Android TV box's (4) an 1 Google Chromecast. Then the lil TV down low is actually my phone being Cast to it. In case your counting, thats 9 different NFL games at once.