HDfury Vertex 2 — 4x2 HDMI Matrix, Splitter, Switcher, Scaler & Audio Extractor

Every HDMI problem, solved by one box

A modern signal chain breaks in a dozen small ways. A projector that refuses HDCP 2.2. An AV receiver that sounds superb but strangles 4K. A TV whose own apps carry Atmos your amplifier will never hear. A player that will not send Dolby Vision because the display has never heard of it. In almost every case, the fix on offer is to replace the most expensive box in the rack.

The HDfury Vertex 2 is the alternative. It is an HDMI matrix, an HDMI splitter, an HDMI switcher, a video scaler and an audio extractor in a single 4×2 box — with an HDCP converter, an EDID manager and a live HDR metadata editor running alongside them. It sits in the middle of your chain and makes every device on both sides believe it got exactly what it asked for.

At a glance

• 4 in, 2 out — plus a third, dedicated HDMI audio output.
• 18Gbps, 600MHz on every port — 4K60 4:4:4 8-bit, 4K60 4:2:2 12-bit, 4K120 4:2:0, 8K30 4:2:0.
• Five roles at the same time — matrix, splitter, switcher, video scaler, audio extractor.
• HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, Dolby Vision and LLDV — on every input and both video outputs.
• HDCP Doctor — 15 engines, HDCP 2.2 to 1.4 and back, on all channels at once.
• 100 EDID tables — per input, five modes and 13 forceable flags.
• eARC and ARC extraction — up to Atmos HBR over TrueHD, to any AV receiver.
• Under 1ms added latency — and a 3.12″ OLED that shows exactly what is on the wire.
• Controlled from anything — browser, mobile app, IR, RS232, IP/Telnet, CEC.

Five devices in one box

Four 18Gbps inputs, two 18Gbps video outputs and a third, dedicated HDMI audio output. Every role below is live at the same time — you do not switch the unit into a mode and give something else up.

• HDMI matrix. Two different sources to the two outputs simultaneously, both at the full 18Gbps. The projector gets the disc player while the TV gets the console, independently routed by button, remote, RS232, IP or browser.
• HDMI splitter. One source to both video outputs at once, plus the audio output — and because each output keeps its own scaling, chroma and HDCP rules, a 4K projector and a 1080p second screen can be fed from the same player without either one complaining.
• HDMI switcher. Four sources, selected per output. Manual selection from the side buttons, IR, RS232, IP or the web server, or automatic switching on pixel-clock activity — which is what makes it work with an Apple TV 4K, Xbox or Shield, devices that keep +5V alive in standby and defeat ordinary auto-switching. Input priority mode jumps to a new source the moment it wakes up.
• Video scaler. TX0 upscales to 4K, TX1 downscales to 1080p, each with its own rules: resolution, chroma subsampling, colour space and colour depth at 8, 10, 12 or 16 bit. Automatic mode matches whatever the connected display can actually take; custom mode lets you fix it by hand.
• Audio extractor. De-embed the HDMI sound from any input to optical S/PDIF and analogue L/R, and pull eARC or ARC back out of the TV — up to Atmos HBR over TrueHD — to feed any AV receiver through the dedicated HDMI audio output. Formats pass through untouched, so set the EDID to advertise the audio you actually want extracted.

Full 600MHz bandwidth on every port — 4K60 4:4:4 8-bit, 4K60 4:2:2 12-bit, 4K120 4:2:0 or 8K30 4:2:0 — with under a millisecond of added latency. Vertex² is always in matrix and scaler mode, so nothing is ever passed along untouched by accident: whatever your display, projector or receiver is genuinely capable of, that is what arrives at it.

What owners actually use it for

These are the real jobs a Vertex² does every day, collected from HDfury owners, AV forums, calibrators and installers.

• Dolby Vision on an HDR10-only projector or TV. The single most popular reason people buy one. Vertex² presents a Dolby Vision EDID to your Apple TV 4K, Shield, Xbox, Oppo, Panasonic or Sony player, so the source outputs Low-Latency Dolby Vision with per-scene tone mapping, and hands your projector a signal it happily accepts. JVC, Sony and Epson owners routinely describe the result as a large step up from static HDR10 — dynamic tone mapping that rivals video processors costing several times as much.
• Ending HDCP black screens. Fifteen HDCP 1.4 and 2.2 engines convert 2.2 to 1.4 and 1.4 to 2.2, in both directions, on every channel at the same time. A 4K streaming box, console or UHD Blu-ray player works with older projectors, matrices and receivers instead of showing you a black rectangle.
• Keeping an older AV receiver and still getting full Atmos. Split the signal: 18Gbps 4K HDR goes straight to the display, while a separate self-generated 720p/1080p stream carries every audio format — Atmos, DTS:X, TrueHD — to a receiver that cannot handle 4K. No AVR upgrade needed.
• eARC and ARC from your TV's apps to any receiver. Watching Netflix or Disney+ in the TV's own apps? Vertex² extracts eARC, up to Atmos HBR over TrueHD, or ARC audio, and feeds it to any HDMI or optical input on your amplifier or soundbar — even receivers with no ARC support at all.
• Better HDR on any display, with your own metadata. Edit or replace MaxCLL, MaxFALL and mastering-display values on the fly, raise or lower HDR levels, translate HLG to HDR10, or strip the HDR flags entirely to force a clean SDR picture the player has already tone mapped.
• Projector and TV in the same room. A film on the projector while someone games on the OLED: two different 18Gbps signals at once from a 4×2 matrix, or one source mirrored to both screens with independent scaling for each.
• Automating JVC, Sony and Epson projectors. Vertex² fires RS232 or IP macros at your projector based on the signal that arrives — the right picture mode, lens memory or gamma for SDR, HDR10, HLG, 3D or 24p content, automatically, every time.
• Auto-switching sources that never sleep. Apple TV 4K, Xbox and Shield keep +5V alive in standby, so ordinary switches cannot auto-select them. Vertex² switches on actual pixel-clock activity instead — and manages +5V on the output so an Android TV stops waking itself at three in the morning.
• Forcing the right EDID at every source. Lock a source to 4K60 4:4:4, 4:2:2 12-bit, BT.2020, stereo or 5.1, with or without HDR and DV — per input, from 100 tables with 13 forceable flags. Handshake fights between picky sources, matrices and long cable runs simply stop.
• Feeding 4K HDR through 1080p equipment. Downscale a 4K feed for a legacy receiver, a Full HD projector in a second zone, a capture card, a video-over-IP extender or an ambient-light sync box, while the main display still receives the full 18Gbps.
• Upscaling 1080p sources to 4K. Give an older Blu-ray player, set-top box or console a clean 4K output with chroma and colour-depth conversion, so a 4K-only projector or matrix accepts it without complaint.
• Seeing exactly what is on the wire. Resolution, chroma, bit depth, colorimetry, HDCP version, EOTF, MaxCLL/MaxFALL and the true frame rate to three decimals — on the OLED, as an on-screen overlay, or in the browser. The reference tool for calibrators and anyone hunting an HDMI bug.
• Gaming at the lowest latency, in the right format. Under 1ms added. Force RGB or 4:4:4, keep HDR10 or strip it for a better SDR game mode, and route the console to the TV while the disc player keeps the projector.
• Custom on-screen text and logo masking. Put your own message on screen, or mask a burnt-in channel logo to protect an OLED panel or a projector lamp. A favourite in retail, showrooms and demo rooms.
• Rescuing long HDMI runs. Signal equalisation, hot-plug control and a built-in booster — 1080p up to 15m in and out, UHD up to 10m — cure the dropouts that ceiling-mounted projectors are famous for.

Dolby Vision on a projector that has never heard of Dolby Vision

LLDV — Low-Latency Dolby Vision — moves the tone mapping into the source device. Vertex² tells your player that a Dolby Vision display is connected, the player does the per-scene work itself, and Vertex² delivers the result to a projector as a signal it already understands. You get dynamic, scene-by-scene tone mapping on hardware that will never carry a Dolby Vision badge.

The maximum and minimum luminance values live inside the EDID and the DV data block, so the picture can be tuned to your exact screen and lamp. We publish a full step-by-step LLDV guide with tested settings, plus a table of projectors and TVs that owners have confirmed: Dolby Vision / LLDV setup guide with projector and TV list.

The HDCP Doctor

Fifteen HDCP 1.4 and 2.2 encryption and decryption engines convert in every direction, on all channels at once, including combined dual HDCP 1.4 and 2.2 operation with CST1 support. Any source can be made to work with any display. In practice this is what turns a rack full of incompatible generations into one chain that simply plays.

The audio extractor: a world first in eARC

Vertex² was the first device of its kind to pull eARC audio back out of a television. Connect an eARC TV to the TX0 output and up to Dolby Atmos HBR over TrueHD is extracted from the TV's own apps and forwarded to any input on any AV receiver, through the dedicated HDMI audio output. ARC TVs are handled too, up to Atmos over DD+, routable to the HDMI audio output and the optical output at the same time.

As a plain audio de-embedder it does the same job for every input: HDMI sound out to optical S/PDIF and analogue L/R while the video carries on to the display. Every format passes — PCM to 192kHz, DSD, DST, DTS, DTS-HD, DTS-MA, DTS:X, Dolby TrueHD, DD+, HBR and Atmos — with the analogue and optical outputs live at the same time.

One honest note, because it saves people an evening: Vertex² does not transcode audio. What arrives is what leaves. If you need stereo on the analogue output, present an EDID that makes the source send stereo in the first place — which is exactly what the EDID manager is for.

Control it from anything, see everything

No drivers and no software to install. Type the Vertex² address into any browser — Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS or Android — and the whole device is in front of you: every setting, firmware updates, configuration export, EDID upload and macros. Alongside the web server there is IR, IP and Telnet, RS232, CEC, the four buttons on the unit itself, and the HDfury app for iOS and Android. Ready-made Pronto codes are in iRule and Logitech Harmony, and installers drive it from Control4 and Crestron-style systems.

The 3.12″ blue OLED shows the active input, IP address, firmware version, the sink EDID name and the exact signal leaving each output, with arrows marking upscaled, downscaled or passthrough.

Connections

• Inputs. 4× HDMI at 18Gbps, each accepting HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, Dolby Vision and LLDV · IR sensor and IR RX · 12V DC.
• Outputs. HDMI TX0 at 18Gbps with ARC, eARC, CEC and upscaling · HDMI TX1 at 18Gbps with downscaling · dedicated HDMI audio output at 720p/1080p in any format · optical S/PDIF and analogue L/R on a combo jack.
• Control. RJ45 LAN for the web server and IP · RS232 · IR · CEC · four push buttons.

Technical specifications

Not sure what 4:2:2, EDID or eARC means? Every term is explained in plain language, together with how to use it on this device, in our HDfury Vertex 2 glossary.

Manual, firmware and support

We maintain a complete support site for this product, in fifteen languages, free of charge and without registration:

• The online manual — the entire user manual, one page per topic, searchable, from the first connection to every screen in the web server.
• Downloads — every firmware release with its release notes, the manual as a PDF, the HDfury EDID collection, Control4 and Savant drivers, and the mobile apps.
• The Dolby Vision / LLDV guide — step by step, with tested settings and a list of projectors and TVs that owners have confirmed.
• The glossary — every HDMI term in plain language, with what it means on a Vertex².
• Frequently asked questions — the questions people ask before buying, answered plainly.

Firmware is updated in-system from the web server itself: no dedicated computer, no drivers, no special software. www.hdfuryvertex2.com

In the box

Vertex² unit, IR receiver cable, 12V power supply, RS232 cable and optical cable.

The rest of the range

The HDfury Diva sits in the same 18Gbps class with its own mix of features, so it is worth comparing if you are weighing the two. If your sources have already moved on to 8K or 4K120, the HDfury VRROOM is the HDMI 2.1 model. Not sure which fits your chain? Write to us — we would rather point you at the right box than sell you the wrong one.