Have a basement set up that I cannot get to work using an HDMI 1 in 2 out splitter.
1 TV is in a rec room and the other TV is in a gym. Client just wants cable to be able to play in both rooms.
Both TV's have HDMI baluns feeding signal to them.
When I try to use a 1 in 2 out HDMI splitter, then go into the baluns, only 1 TV works (a 50 inch old Panasonic plasma), the gym TV ( Old Panasonic 32 inch LCD) does not get a picture. If I connect each balun directly to the cable box I get a picture, so it should not be a wire issue.
Cable box is older HD model, not 4K.
I have already wasted some time trouble shooting this.
Figure getting an AVR with dual HDMI outputs might solve the issue. Would also allow an Apple TV to get connected so they could watch Netflix and other services.

Any recommendations for the most basic AVR with dual HDMI outs?

Thanks

Likely your issue is being caused by edid. 32" LCD is likely a 720P set, plasma may be a 1080P set.

Vanco makes a 1 in, 2 out splitter with scaling capabilities that would likely solve the problem. Model EVSP12SC.

Two advantages; lower cost than new AVR, plus new AVR's are difficult to get...

One of my customers has a Hitachi TV from the tiny slice of time during the development of HD products where some TVs could display 480i, 480p, and 720p, but no 1080 at all.

This was an issue when the DVD Player died and we replaced it with a BD Player.

The default output of the BD Player was 1080P so nothing showed on the TV. The catch-22 was that without seeing the display, the BD could not be switched to 720P. I had seen this problem coming so I dragged out my trusty $115 Best Buy 15" TV that could display everything (though not pixel per pixel). I set up the BD to 720P and all was well.

Thanks, been awhile since I had to look at the settings on a cable box, I will do that first and see if it corrects the issue.

I had one like that recently, and somehow the cable box reverted from 1080i to 1080P, and the picture went blank. The only thing that saved me was that the voice assist was switched on on the cable box, so I could fumble my way through the menus while the lady told me what each menu selection was.

Why not just get an AppleTV or Roku and stream from your local TV providers' app?