You’ve seen the setups at Buffalo Wild Wings or those high-end sports betting lounges. A wall of glass and glowing pixels, perfectly synced, showing four different games or one massive, cinematic image. It looks sleek. It looks expensive. Honestly, though? Trying to figure out how to connect 4 tvs together can feel like a total nightmare if you just start plugging random HDMI cables into the back of your cable box. You’ll probably end up with a blurry mess or, worse, a "No Signal" floating box that mocks your Saturday afternoon plans.
The reality is that "connecting" them can mean two very different things. Do you want the same image on all four? Or are you trying to build a 2x2 video wall where one image is stretched across the whole group? Maybe you're a day trader who needs four distinct desktops. Each of these requires a totally different gear set.
The splitters, the switchers, and the expensive stuff
Most people start by looking for a "splitter." It sounds right. You want to split the signal, right? But a basic $15 passive HDMI splitter from a gas station or a sketchy online listing isn't going to cut it for four screens. If you want to show the exact same thing on every screen—think a sports bar vibe where everyone sees the same touchdown—you need a 1x4 HDMI Powered Distribution Amplifier.
Why powered? Because HDMI signals degrade. Fast. If you try to push a 4K signal through unpowered splitters to four different panels, you’re going to get "handshake" issues. This is where the HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) ruins your life. The source device—like your Roku or PS5—needs to "talk" to the TV to make sure you aren't a pirate. When you add four TVs, that conversation gets crowded. A powered distribution amp handles that handshake for you, so the PS5 thinks it’s only talking to one friend instead of a committee.
Video walls are a different beast
Now, if you want that "one big picture" look, a splitter is useless. You need a Video Wall Controller. This is a dedicated box where you plug in one HDMI input, and it has four HDMI outputs. The magic happens inside the processor. It takes the 1080p or 4K image, chops it into four quadrants, and sends the top-left corner to TV #1, the top-right to TV #2, and so on.
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Prices for these vary wildly. You can find "budget" ones for around $150, but the professional stuff used by companies like Kramer or Blackmagic Design can run into the thousands. The cheap ones often struggle with "bezel compensation."
Think about it. Your TVs have frames. If you don't account for that half-inch of plastic between the screens, a person walking across the "big" screen will look like they’re being teleported or sliced in half. Higher-end controllers let you "hide" pixels behind the bezels so the movement looks fluid and continuous. It makes a massive difference. You've gotta measure those bezels down to the millimeter if you want it to look professional.
PC power and the GPU shortcut
If you are doing this in a home office or a gaming den, forget the external boxes. The easiest way to learn how to connect 4 tvs together is to use a PC with a beefy Graphics Processing Unit (GPU).
NVIDIA and AMD have made this pretty simple. If you have a card like an RTX 4080 or even an older workstation card like a Quadro, you usually have four outputs right on the back. Usually, it's a mix of HDMI and DisplayPort. You might need some DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapters, but once they're plugged in, Windows handles the rest.
- NVIDIA Surround: This is a setting in the NVIDIA Control Panel. It tricks your computer into thinking those four TVs are actually one giant monitor.
- AMD Eyefinity: This is the Team Red version. It’s legendary for its flexibility in mixing and matching different screen resolutions, though for a 4-TV setup, you really should use identical models.
Seriously, buy the same model of TV. Even if you find a "great deal" on four different 50-inch screens, the colors will never match. One will look slightly yellow, another will be too blue, and the brightness levels will drive you insane. Stick to the same SKU. Your eyes will thank you.
Cables: The silent killer of 4-TV setups
We need to talk about cables. I know, it’s boring. But when you are daisy-chaining or splitting signals to four different units, the quality of your HDMI cables becomes the primary point of failure.
For 4K at 60Hz, you need "Premium High Speed" cables (HDMI 2.0). If you're trying to do 4K at 120Hz for gaming across four screens—which, honestly, is a massive lift for any hardware—you need HDMI 2.1 "Ultra High Speed" cables.
If any of those TVs are more than 15 feet away from your source, standard copper cables might start dropping frames. This is where you look into Active Optical HDMI cables. They use light to carry the data, so they don't get the same interference or signal drop-off over long distances. They’re pricier, but they save you from the "black screen of death" that happens right in the middle of a game.
The Matrix: Not just a movie
Sometimes you don't want the same thing on all screens, and you don't want one big image. Sometimes you want TV 1 and 2 to show the game, TV 3 to show the news, and TV 4 to show your security cameras. But then, you want to be able to swap them instantly.
For this, you need an HDMI Matrix Switcher.
A 4x4 Matrix is the gold standard here. It has four inputs and four outputs. You can route any input to any output. You could have your Xbox on all four screens, or four different cable boxes on four different screens, or any combination in between.
Most people get confused between a "Switch" (multiple in, one out) and a "Splitter" (one in, multiple out). A "Matrix" is both at the same time. It’s the brain of a high-end sports bar. If you’re building a serious "man cave" or a command center, this is the only way to go. Just be prepared to manage a small mountain of remote controls, or invest in a universal control system like Harmony or a custom iPad interface.
Latency and the "Echo" Problem
Here is something nobody tells you until you’ve already spent $2,000. If you connect four TVs together using different methods—say, two through a splitter and two through a smart TV app—the audio is going to be a disaster.
Digital processing takes time. One TV might process the image 50 milliseconds slower than the one next to it. If you have the sound turned up on all of them, it sounds like an echo chamber. It’s unlistenable.
The fix? Run all your audio through a single, central receiver or soundbar. Don't use the TV speakers. Disable them. Every single one of them. By taking the audio out of the source before it gets split or processed by the TVs, you ensure the sound hits your ears at exactly the same time the action happens on the glass.
Mounting and Heat: The physical reality
Four TVs generate a lot of heat. If you’re mounting them in a tight 2x2 grid, the two TVs on top are going to suck up all the heat rising from the bottom two. Make sure there’s at least a tiny bit of breathing room, or ensure the room has decent airflow.
Also, mounting. Do not use four individual "tilting" mounts and expect them to line up. It won't happen. You’ll spend six hours with a level and still have a crooked gap. Use a dedicated video wall mount. These have "micro-adjustments." You can turn a small screw to move the TV a fraction of an inch up, down, left, or right without taking it off the wall. It’s the difference between a setup that looks like a DIY project and one that looks like a professional install.
Actionable Steps for Your 4-TV Project
- Define the goal: Are you mirroring (Splitter), creating a "Big Screen" (Video Wall Controller), or building a workstation (PC/GPU)?
- Buy identical hardware: Use four identical TVs. Same brand, same model, same year. This ensures the color profiles and bezel sizes match perfectly.
- Check your power: Four TVs and a controller can pull a lot of juice. Don't run them all off one cheap power strip. Use a high-quality surge protector or a power conditioner.
- Map your cables: Label both ends of every HDMI cable. When you have four "Outs" and four "Ins," you will lose track of which cable goes to the bottom-right TV. Label them "BR," "BL," "TR," "TL."
- Centralize your audio: Run a single optical or HDMI eARC line from your source or your matrix to a dedicated sound system to avoid echo issues.
- Test the Handshake: Turn everything on in a specific order. Usually, it's TVs first, then the controller/splitter, then the source. This helps the HDCP "handshake" complete without errors.