<s>
A	O
KVM	O
(	O
Keyboard	O
Video	O
Mouse	O
)	O
Splitter	O
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
Reverse	O
KVM	B-Device
switch	I-Device
,	O
is	O
a	O
hardware	O
device	O
that	O
allows	O
users	O
to	O
control	O
a	O
single	O
computer	O
from	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
sets	O
of	O
keyboards	O
,	O
video	O
monitors	O
,	O
and	O
mice	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
a	O
KVM	B-Protocol
splitter	I-Protocol
,	O
users	O
access	O
the	O
connected	O
computer	O
consecutively	O
rather	O
than	O
simultaneously	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
differs	O
from	O
a	O
KVM	B-Device
Switch	I-Device
which	O
allows	O
multiple	O
computers	O
to	O
be	O
controlled	O
,	O
usually	O
,	O
by	O
a	O
single	O
keyboard	O
,	O
monitor	O
and	O
mouse	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
two	O
main	O
functional	O
designs	O
of	O
KVM	B-Protocol
splitters	I-Protocol
:	O
</s>
<s>
Emulation	B-Application
In	O
an	O
emulation	B-Application
based	O
design	O
,	O
the	O
KVM	B-Protocol
splitter	I-Protocol
feeds	O
the	O
emulated	B-Application
controls	O
from	O
the	O
active	O
keyboard	O
and	O
mouse	O
to	O
the	O
connected	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
PS/2	B-Protocol
KVM	B-Protocol
splitter	I-Protocol
must	O
be	O
emulation	B-Application
based	O
,	O
because	O
PS/2	B-Protocol
computers	O
only	O
have	O
two	O
PS/2	B-Protocol
connectors	I-Protocol
–	O
one	O
designated	O
for	O
a	O
keyboard	O
and	O
one	O
for	O
a	O
mouse	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
,	O
a	O
USB	B-Protocol
computer	O
tends	O
to	O
have	O
multiple	O
USB	B-Protocol
ports	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
not	O
designated	O
for	O
a	O
specific	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
can	O
be	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
USB	B-Protocol
ports	O
on	O
a	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
USB	B-Protocol
KVM	B-Protocol
splitters	I-Protocol
can	O
also	O
be	O
emulation	B-Application
based	O
,	O
but	O
they	O
tend	O
to	O
be	O
built	O
using	O
a	O
hub-based	O
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hub	O
Based	O
When	O
a	O
KVM	B-Protocol
splitter	I-Protocol
is	O
hub	O
based	O
,	O
it	O
functions	O
similar	O
to	O
having	O
multiple	O
keyboards	O
and	O
mice	O
connected	O
to	O
a	O
single	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
of	O
sending	O
one	O
emulated	B-Application
signal	O
to	O
the	O
computer	O
based	O
on	O
an	O
active	O
keyboard	O
and	O
mouse	O
,	O
the	O
hub-based	O
splitter	O
continuously	O
feeds	O
the	O
active	O
controls	O
and	O
emulation	B-Application
is	O
not	O
needed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Common	O
input	O
and	O
output	O
video	O
signals	O
for	O
KVM	B-Protocol
splitters	I-Protocol
include	O
HDMI	B-Protocol
,	O
DVI	B-Application
,	O
and	O
VGA	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Keyboard	O
and	O
mouse	O
input	O
and	O
output	O
signals	O
are	O
PS/2	B-Protocol
or	O
USB	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
KVM	B-Protocol
splitters	I-Protocol
also	O
offer	O
additional	O
USB	B-Protocol
input	O
ports	O
to	O
connect	O
peripheral	O
devices	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
external	O
hard	O
disk	O
drives	O
and	O
printers	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
shared	O
across	O
all	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
one	O
computer	O
is	O
feeding	O
video	O
for	O
multiple	O
monitors	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
a	O
few	O
ways	O
KVM	B-Protocol
splitters	I-Protocol
can	O
handle	O
the	O
potentially	O
different	O
DDC	O
and	O
EDID	B-General_Concept
transmissions	O
from	O
the	O
monitors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pass-through	O
:	O
the	O
KVM	B-Protocol
splitter	I-Protocol
transfers	O
the	O
EDID	B-General_Concept
data	O
directly	O
from	O
a	O
display	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
primary	O
port	O
to	O
a	O
source	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
if	O
different	O
monitors	O
are	O
used	O
,	O
the	O
EDID	B-General_Concept
from	O
the	O
primary	O
monitor	O
may	O
not	O
be	O
compatible	O
with	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Built-in	O
:	O
the	O
KVM	B-Protocol
splitter	I-Protocol
fakes	O
the	O
EDID	B-General_Concept
data	O
using	O
an	O
EEPROM	B-General_Concept
with	O
a	O
generic	O
EDID	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
provides	O
less	O
compatibility	O
as	O
there	O
is	O
no	O
communication	O
between	O
the	O
monitors	O
and	O
the	O
computer	O
,	O
and	O
monitors	O
that	O
do	O
not	O
support	O
the	O
generic	O
EDID	B-General_Concept
may	O
not	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EDID	B-General_Concept
learning	O
:	O
the	O
KVM	B-Protocol
splitter	I-Protocol
reads	O
EDID	B-General_Concept
from	O
all	O
connected	O
monitors	O
and	O
creates	O
a	O
new	O
EDID	B-General_Concept
table	O
with	O
the	O
common	O
resolutions	O
amongst	O
the	O
displays	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
KVM	B-Protocol
Splitter	I-Protocol
can	O
be	O
used	O
by	O
multiple	O
users	O
to	O
control	O
a	O
single	O
computer	O
from	O
multiple	O
locations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
a	O
few	O
activation	O
modes	O
KVM	B-Protocol
splitters	I-Protocol
operate	O
in	O
,	O
which	O
limits	O
simultaneous	O
user	O
activity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
method	O
of	O
switching	O
from	O
one	O
user	O
to	O
another	O
depends	O
on	O
the	O
KVM	B-Protocol
splitter	I-Protocol
and	O
supported	O
modes	O
of	O
operation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
KVM	B-Protocol
Splitters	I-Protocol
can	O
be	O
combined	O
with	O
KVM	B-Device
switches	I-Device
and	O
KVM	B-Device
extenders	I-Device
(	O
which	O
provide	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
relocate	O
keyboard	O
,	O
monitor	O
,	O
and	O
mouse	O
to	O
a	O
far	O
distance	O
from	O
the	O
computer	O
)	O
to	O
set	O
up	O
more	O
complex	O
configurations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
common	O
industrial	O
application	O
is	O
to	O
allow	O
access	O
to	O
a	O
computer	O
located	O
in	O
a	O
cleanroom	B-Application
from	O
outside	O
,	O
to	O
restrict	O
the	O
level	O
of	O
contamination	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
providing	O
access	O
to	O
multiple	O
users	O
through	O
a	O
KVM	B-Protocol
splitter	I-Protocol
,	O
pollutants	O
can	O
be	O
minimized	O
by	O
reducing	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
the	O
users	O
to	O
enter	O
the	O
cleanroom	B-Application
.	O
</s>
