Question Problems with HDMI 2.1 cables and splitters for 4k @144Hz

[Nachmanowicz]

SO I bought a Samsung QN90C 43" to use as a monitor but my gpu, a RTX 4080 has only one HDMI port. I thought this would be an easy fix. Oh how wrong I was.
Since its connected to both my TV in the living room and my TV/Monitor in my room they have to share the one HDMI port. I've bought a DP to HDMI adapter with the latest chip and it can't handle 4k 144hz.
Since I cant use both my TVs at once since theyre in different rooms, a splitter would do just fine. So I bought an 8k splitter. And it was working fine. But today, I turned on my PC and was in bed stalling, so my QN90C turn off due to inactivity. I turn it back on and the image was flashing and flickering like crazy. I fiddled with the cables and it turned out ok, but I couldnt get to 4K 144Hz, not even 120Hz!

I've reconnected all the cables and nothing. I'm using two HDMI 2.1 50cm cables to minimize any signal loss. I don't know what happened.

Man I've spent so long trying to resolve this problem and I thought it was behind me....

 

[infopcbottleneck]

That sounds super frustrating! HDMI splitters can be tricky, especially with high resolutions and refresh rates like 4K at 144Hz. The flickering issue after your TV is turned off might be related to the splitter losing sync or struggling with the signal. You can turn off everything (PC, TVs, splitter), then restart. Ensure it supports 4K 144Hz with HDMI 2.1. Connect the QN90C directly to see if you get 4K 144Hz. Check for updates for your GPU and TV. It might be more reliable than a splitter for high refresh rates.

 

[Nachmanowicz]

That sounds super frustrating! HDMI splitters can be tricky, especially with high resolutions and refresh rates like 4K at 144Hz. The flickering issue after your TV is turned off might be related to the splitter losing sync or struggling with the signal. You can turn off everything (PC, TVs, splitter), then restart. Ensure it supports 4K 144Hz with HDMI 2.1. Connect the QN90C directly to see if you get 4K 144Hz. Check for updates for your GPU and TV. It might be more reliable than a splitter for high refresh rates.

Thanks for the response, really appreciate it. The worst part is I live in Brazil and everything here is uber expensive so I hate to order stuff from China and wait a long time for anything to arrive.

So I began testing each cable by itself. And it looks like one of the cables has just gone bad. Since the cables by themselves are so short I had to push a speaker out of the way and scooch the computer closer to the TV lol, but I tried each 50cm HDMI 2.1 cable individually, and one of them is giving me the exact behavior I was getting with the splitter! Right now I have the other one hooked on and I'm getting 144Hz, HDR and VRR on!!!

(at least it looks like its not the splitter)

 

[infopcbottleneck]

Thanks for the response, really appreciate it. The worst part is I live in Brazil and everything here is uber expensive so I hate to order stuff from China and wait a long time for anything to arrive.

So I began testing each cable by itself. And it looks like one of the cables has just gone bad. Since the cables by themselves are so short I had to push a speaker out of the way and scooch the computer closer to the TV lol, but I tried each 50cm HDMI 2.1 cable individually, and one of them is giving me the exact behavior I was getting with the splitter! Right now I have the other one hooked on and I'm getting 144Hz, HDR and VRR on!!!

(at least it looks like its not the splitter)

Glad you found the issue! It’s frustrating when a simple cable causes all that trouble, especially when ordering new ones takes forever. At least you’ve got 144Hz, HDR, and VRR working again. Hopefully, a new cable will fix it for good!