Is there currently any plan to release a 2x2 or 2x1 version of the HDMI 2.1 KVMs? Buying into the 4x1 or 4x2 feels like I’m paying quite a premium for ports I wont use. 2x1 or 2x2 seems the most likely use case for the vast majority of people (either a gaming pc/console, work laptop/gaming pc, laptop/console being the most common KVM uses I see people running) and the stackable nature of the KVMs makes a lot more sense on 2x1 and 2x2 options as you can buy into them over time without such a steep cost to entry as you setup expands if needed.
Most serious competitors I’ve looked at (not unbranded Amazon crap) have options for 2x1/2x2 at better prices such as Tesmart. While I know Tesmart is Chinese and their older style flat KVM’s have mixed feedback the new box style 8k Tesmart KVMs seem to have a lot better feedback then the older style and it’s feature set is comparable to the Level1 they’ve seemed to have figured it out. So I’m finding it really hard to pay the extra $200 for the level1 with more ports than I need and Tesmart also has their trade in program for future upgrades which is enticing. Honestly even though they are Chinese I hope they do well as their pricing could really shake up KVM pricing in the market pushing pricing down through competition. Then there is also Ugreen which if they keep exploring the KVM space and just add more features could totally flip the script on KVM pricing. But this is off topic.
Based on the DP1.4 Level1 2x2 KVM pricing at $450 and assuming a level1 HDMI 2.1 2x2 version would be comparable in price it would be much more competitive to other 2x2 options out there and a lot easier to justify the slight premium for a Taiwan manufactured device only about a $150 dollar premium for level1 which I would pay happily for a Taiwan OEM and level1 support. I know the suggestion would be just buy the DP1.4 2x2 then but id really rather not invest in a DP1.4 KVM right now. I would be pushing close to it’s limits and from my experience every single cable, every single thing in between on a DP1.4 setup pushing the bandwidth limits needs to be just about perfect to get reliable and stable results as you’re already having to compress to get there. I’ve had better success with HDMI 2.1 being more stable when pushing up to the bandwidth limits, it seems the extra native bandwidth headroom is more forgiving. Secondly, my work supplied laptop only supports HDMI and doesnt have thunderbolt so I would need to pay an additional cost for a reliable active HDMI to DP converter like the one from Startech which is another $80 bucks and another outlet taken up in my power strip which is already almost full. The only other way for DP is through displaylink adapters which I’m sure are just horrible with KVMs. I wish I could wait for DP2.1 KVMs and then i would use a converter for the most future proof option but I need a solution right now so HDMI 2.1 it is unless DP2.1 KVMs are releasing in like January… I’m just having a realllly hard time justifying the huge cost spread of the HDMI 2.1 4x2 level1 option and the Tesmart HDMI 2.1 2x2 option. If level1 had an HDMI 2.1 2x2 option around the same $450 price point as the DP1.4 option it wouldn’t even be a hard choice.