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Rating: 
Summary: VS4-MOD+ A Swiss Army Knife for remote Audio/Video switching
Review: OVERVIEW
If you have too many components to connect them all to your TV or receiver at once, consider the Terk VS4-MOD+. It has 4 sets of stereo AV inputs with both composite video and S-Video jacks. It has one stereo AV output with both composite video and S-Video jacks. It has one 75 Ohm F-type RF input and one 75 Ohm F-Type RF output. It will route signals in a surprising combination of ways. Signal quality was very good, with only slight darkening detectable when using the built in RF modulator. I detected no appreciable distortion, noise or artifacts in either video or audio outputs. USER OPERATION
When the unit is off, it is a pass-through for the RF input and output connectors. When turned on, it takes one of the four AV inputs and routes it to the AV output. The video input can be either composite or S-Video. If the input is S-Video, the signal is sent to both the composite and S-Video outputs. If the input signal is composite, the signal is sent only to the composite output. In addition, the output signal is modulated and sent to the RF output on either channel 3 or 4 depending on the rear switch position. Take note, that the modulator is monophonic. If a stereo signal is input via the AV jacks, it is downmixed to mono before modulation. One bit of good news is that movies encoded with macrovision, like South Pacific, can be switched through the RF modulator without the annoying color shifting. The VS4-MOD+ does not circumvent macrovision encoding, but it doesn't fall on its face like some modulators that are built into VCRs. When the VS4-MOD+ is turned on, the RF input signal is not selectable. You have to turn it off to pass through the RF signal. THE THREE BUTTONS
There are three buttons on the front: Power, Select, and Scan. The power switch is useful to switch between the RF input and one of the four AV inputs. The Select switch is useful to sequentially select one of the four AV inputs. Each time the select button is pressed, the AV input is changed in the following order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, ... The select button can also be used to stop the unit from scanning. The scan button's usefulness is something of a mystery. It starts the unit automatically switching between the 4 AV inputs with a fixed duration between switches. The duration is adjustable from fast to slow in 8 steps by pressing the Scan button multiple times. The only way to stop the from scanning, once it is started, is to press the select button. If the unit is turned off while scanning, it resumes scanning when powered back on! REMOTE CONTROL
One of the nicer features, is the VS4-MOD+ remote learning capability. It can learn three IR signals from an arbitrary remote that will operate the Power, Select, and Scan functions. I tried it successfully with remotes from Pioneer, Sony, and JVC. The learning sequence in the one-sheet manual incorrectly states what letters will appear on the unit's single character red LED display. The order in which "C" and "S" appear is reversed. In addition, for anyone having difficulty, once the letter "F" is seen on the display, press no other buttons on the remote before pressing the select button on VS4-MOD+. HMMM...
The unit remembers its selected input if power is turned off. If AC power to the wall-wart power supply is removed then re-applied, the unit remains off until turned back on. It still remembers its previously selected input after total power interruption. Alas, there is no way to directly select one of the four AV inputs. The bottom line is that even with a sophisticated remote control, there is no way to absolutely program a sequence or macro that will select a specific input. You will have to be able to see the red LED display digit to tell which of the four inputs is selected. The red display character is dim and about an inch behind the dark red panel. The lack of discrete input channel selection earns four stars for this otherwise excellent AV switcher. The mistake in the remote learning manual sheet and the fact that the unit must be turned off to pass the RF signal through are two more demerits, but they don't cause a further de-rating because they can be worked around. CONCLUSION
At under $30, the VS4-MOD+ is a bargain and it nearly earns that one star back. You get a remote controlled switcher, S-Video conversion, and RF modulation if needed. If you remove the rubber feet, it is 1.75" tall by 9.75" wide and about 5.5" deep. The wall-wart is very small at 9VDC and 200 mA. I recommend the Terk VS4-MOD+ because there's lots of bang for the buck in a small package.
Rating:
Summary: VS4-MOD+ A Swiss Army Knife for remote Audio/Video switching
Review: OVERVIEW
If you have too many components to connect them all to your TV or receiver at once, consider the Terk VS4-MOD+. It has 4 sets of stereo AV inputs with both composite video and S-Video jacks. It has one stereo AV output with both composite video and S-Video jacks. It has one 75 Ohm F-type RF input and one 75 Ohm F-Type RF output. It will route signals in a surprising combination of ways. Signal quality was very good, with only slight darkening detectable when using the built in RF modulator. I detected no appreciable distortion, noise or artifacts in either video or audio outputs. USER OPERATION
When the unit is off, it is a pass-through for the RF input and output connectors. When turned on, it takes one of the four AV inputs and routes it to the AV output. The video input can be either composite or S-Video. If the input is S-Video, the signal is sent to both the composite and S-Video outputs. If the input signal is composite, the signal is sent only to the composite output. In addition, the output signal is modulated and sent to the RF output on either channel 3 or 4 depending on the rear switch position. Take note, that the modulator is monophonic. If a stereo signal is input via the AV jacks, it is downmixed to mono before modulation. One bit of good news is that movies encoded with macrovision, like South Pacific, can be switched through the RF modulator without the annoying color shifting. The VS4-MOD+ does not circumvent macrovision encoding, but it doesn't fall on its face like some modulators that are built into VCRs. When the VS4-MOD+ is turned on, the RF input signal is not selectable. You have to turn it off to pass through the RF signal. THE THREE BUTTONS
There are three buttons on the front: Power, Select, and Scan. The power switch is useful to switch between the RF input and one of the four AV inputs. The Select switch is useful to sequentially select one of the four AV inputs. Each time the select button is pressed, the AV input is changed in the following order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, ... The select button can also be used to stop the unit from scanning. The scan button's usefulness is something of a mystery. It starts the unit automatically switching between the 4 AV inputs with a fixed duration between switches. The duration is adjustable from fast to slow in 8 steps by pressing the Scan button multiple times. The only way to stop the from scanning, once it is started, is to press the select button. If the unit is turned off while scanning, it resumes scanning when powered back on! REMOTE CONTROL
One of the nicer features, is the VS4-MOD+ remote learning capability. It can learn three IR signals from an arbitrary remote that will operate the Power, Select, and Scan functions. I tried it successfully with remotes from Pioneer, Sony, and JVC. The learning sequence in the one-sheet manual incorrectly states what letters will appear on the unit's single character red LED display. The order in which "C" and "S" appear is reversed. In addition, for anyone having difficulty, once the letter "F" is seen on the display, press no other buttons on the remote before pressing the select button on VS4-MOD+. HMMM...
The unit remembers its selected input if power is turned off. If AC power to the wall-wart power supply is removed then re-applied, the unit remains off until turned back on. It still remembers its previously selected input after total power interruption. Alas, there is no way to directly select one of the four AV inputs. The bottom line is that even with a sophisticated remote control, there is no way to absolutely program a sequence or macro that will select a specific input. You will have to be able to see the red LED display digit to tell which of the four inputs is selected. The red display character is dim and about an inch behind the dark red panel. The lack of discrete input channel selection earns four stars for this otherwise excellent AV switcher. The mistake in the remote learning manual sheet and the fact that the unit must be turned off to pass the RF signal through are two more demerits, but they don't cause a further de-rating because they can be worked around. CONCLUSION
At under $30, the VS4-MOD+ is a bargain and it nearly earns that one star back. You get a remote controlled switcher, S-Video conversion, and RF modulation if needed. If you remove the rubber feet, it is 1.75" tall by 9.75" wide and about 5.5" deep. The wall-wart is very small at 9VDC and 200 mA. I recommend the Terk VS4-MOD+ because there's lots of bang for the buck in a small package.
Rating:
Summary: Works like it should
Review: This works like you'd expect. Pop 4 things on it (in my case, my PS2, GCN/N64/SNES cable, and a couple of my Namco plug and plays) and plug it into your TV. Previously, I had to switch the cables to switch my games. Now I just hit a button! Just make sure you have a Radio Shack handy, though. It doesn't come with cables to hook to switch up to your TV (male-male cables.)
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