I've some bad news concerning the Sewell switch. I got around to diving into a PS VR game, finally, and the feed was ripe with sparklies (mostly red, but some white, as well).
Funny thing is, these anomalies only showed up on the PS VR headset during PS VR games. The feed to my HDTV was unaffected. And if I was viewing/playing standard video content (regular PS4 games or the dashboard), then there were no anomalies.
I removed the switch from the equation and direcltly connected the PS4 to the breakout box. Naturally, this resolved the issue.
I swapped out the HDMI cable from output 2 to the breakout box using two separate Amazon Basics cables, of the most recent style and the previous. I know these cables work within 2.0a specs (I confirmed this for a different project relating to the Pioneer SC-XX series receiver). Still encountered the sparklies.
I rebooted both devices and never powered on the HDTV. I was trying to rule out some type of handshake issue (was worth a shot). The sparklies were still there.
I directly connected my PS VR to the breakout box, rather than using the extender cable. Not only was I uncomfortably close to my television, the sparklies were still scattering about.
I also tried mucking with the video output settings. I turned off HDR and flipped between RGB Limited and Automatic. Still no resolution.
Sewell does have a customer support line. I think it's worth the ~15-30 minutes to talk to someone who knows the product a whole lot better than I do. I'll call them later today and provide an update.
It just blows my mind how this is only occurring inside the VR headset while only playing VR games. I would think that the sparklies would be apparent for both the PS VR headset and the simultaneous feed on the HDTV. So, one having it and not the other just seems bewildering. I am sure there's logic behind it, but I just can't see where.
More importantly, with the switch being dumb, what can possibly be happening to the signal? The grand total of cable between the PS4, the switch, and my breakout box totals 6 feet. That's well within normal operating length (by a long shot). Unless I just so happened to get a faulty switch.
Odd...