Ben Heckendorn has a how-to on Engadget today about building your own Audio/Video Switch for your home media center. As you’re likely painfully aware, many of today’s TVs don’t have nearly enough A/V inputs for all of the devices we have (game systems, DVRs, DVD, VHS, etc.). A/V switches allow you to use one TV input to connect multiple devices that you can switch between. You won’t really save much money by DIY, and it involves soldering onto IC pins (although you could get 20-pin sockets and solder onto those and then plug in your Bus chips). Besides this being a fun project to work your newfound soldering chops, where this get truly useful is in customizing the Switch by adding component and S-video inputs/outputs (Ben’s switch only does composite, but you can add component and S-Video I/O too). Ben says in the Comments that you could also add infrared control and make it a remote control A/V Switch. *Now* we’re getting somewhere.
