ATEN International, leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of advanced connectivity solutions, enriches its wide range of video products with the introduction of its new VS481 4-Port HDMI Switch. This economical solution for home theaters allows users to share their HDMI display device with up to four HDMI input sources such as HD DVD players, satellite systems, digital camcorders or video game consoles.

HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), the newest digital interface for digital audio and video data, has captured the home theater market. HDMI combines audio and video signals in one cable and provides content protection. Due to these advantages, the number of input sources with HDMI connections is constantly growing. However, most of the display devices, such as HDTV-compatible plasma screens, only provide one HDMI input connector. Users would have to alternately unplug and plug in the different devices. ATEN's VS481 solves this problem by connecting up to four different HDMI devices to one HDMI display device.

The VS481 allows users to conveniently switch between the connected digital devices by selecting the desired input source via the IR remote control unit or the front panel pushbuttons. As a user-friendly design, one of the four HDMI input ports is located on the front panel, which is ideally designed for users to easily access devices, such as digital camcorders, without always having to move around the HDMI switch for connection. In addition, the HDMI switch provides LEDs to indicate the video source channels. Thanks to the Plug-and-Play function, the setup of VS481 is very fast and easy - no software installation is required. Furthermore, it supports excellent video resolutions, i.e. HDTV resolutions of 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p, and computer resolutions of VGA, SVGA, SXGA (1280x1024) and UXGA (1600x1200).

"HDMI is slowly but surely replacing many of the traditional analog interfaces and even the newer digital interfaces in consumer electronic devices. ATEN sees the growing demand for solutions that not only connect all HDMI devices now available for home theaters - from the HD DVD player to video game console, but also provide the best quality for the transmission of the highly sensitive HDMI signals", says Kevin Chen, President of ATEN International. "With the launch of VS481, ATEN not only further advanced our video product line, but also meets the market demands for digital video solutions."

VS481 has successfully passed the inspection that is performed by HDMI ATC (Authorized Testing Center), and has received certification for HDMI ver. 1.2. HDMI ATC is a laboratory dedicated to HDMI compliance testings, according to the specification that is defined in the HDMI Adopter's Agreement. The compliance testing shows whether a product is to bear the HDMI logo, and promotes greater interoperability between HDMI devices from different manufacturers. In addition to the HDMI ver. 1.2 certification, VS481 is also fully HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) compliant.

About the KVM Switch

KVM (Keyboard, Video and Mouse) switches are control units that allow access to multiple computers from a single console. Before the development of KVM switches, the only way to control multiple computers from a single console was through a complex and costly network. Now, with the KVM switch, people can easily access multiple computers or platforms in a convenient, space saving and cost effective manner.

About ATEN


ATEN INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD. is specialized in connectivity solutions in the information technology since its establishment in the year of 1979 and is today considered as the undoubted most important manufacturer of KVM Switches worldwide. This prominent position was reached by continuously high investments in research and development, which settle also in numerous patents and become apparent, for example, by the sophisticated ASIC, which are developed in the ATEN labs and manufactured by ATEN. More than 20 percent of ATEN's employees worldwide work in an R&D laboratory. They ensure for the fact that annually more than 50 new products come on the world markets. The product range today covers hundreds of connectivity products from the small USB hub up to the powerful KVM switches of the Master View family for managing more than 500 computers. Among the customers of ATEN rank the large, worldwide acting companies likewise as midrange and small businesses as well as ambitious private users. For further information, please visit www.aten.com.