General Category > General Discussion
Retro Consoles on HDTV?
Moviefan2k4:
I recently bought a 40" LCD HDTV, and I'd love to get as much from my older consoles as possible. I have an NES, SNES, Genesis, and N64, but they all use AV "composite" technology. My TV only has one port for that, but I've read about converters that can scale up for HDMI. Does anyone know of a reliable American source for such a device?
Ideally, I'd love to get the same quality from the hardware that emulators provide, but I'm not looking to do any internal mods. Suggestions?
JDavis:
The problem with upscalers is getting one that won't add a delay to the signal (because gaming is very timing-sensitive), so you'll be paying a fair amount of money for one. This website is dedicated to the subject, and they primarily recommend the XRGB-Mini, AKA the Framemeister, which will set you back about $500+.
Outside of that, or modding, about the best I can recommend is to get S-Video cables for the SNES and N64, assuming your TV has a port for it.
And then there's also the Retron 5, but who knows if that'll live up to its promises.
Nacho3:
I have one of the less expensive AV/S-Video to HDMI upscalers and I haven't noticed any lag but the picture quality isn't that much better. The title screens look better and it doesn't look stretched taking up my whole screen but I would say its on par with S-Video. The only reason I use it is because my 42" LED does not have S-Video hookups but I'm thinking of switching my N64, SNES, Saturn and Dreamcast to my 32" LCD that does have S-Video to see if it looks any better.
Arseen:
I bought RGB -> HDMI scaler, but haven't tried it yet.
That should give better image than S-VHS -> HDMI.
Moviefan2k4:
--- Quote from: JDavis on April 07, 2013, 02:51:54 AM ---The problem with upscalers is getting one that won't add a delay to the signal (because gaming is very timing-sensitive), so you'll be paying a fair amount of money for one. This website is dedicated to the subject, and they primarily recommend the XRGB-Mini, AKA the Framemeister, which will set you back about $500+.
--- End quote ---
I saw a video on YouTube about that, but its only got one AV port...and $500 is twice what I paid for my TV off CraigsList.
--- Quote ---Outside of that, or modding, about the best I can recommend is to get S-Video cables for the SNES and N64, assuming your TV has a port for it.
--- End quote ---
The NES was made prior to S-Video tech, and my TV doesn't have the right port anyway.
--- Quote from: Arseen on April 07, 2013, 08:40:18 AM ---I bought RGB -> HDMI scaler, but haven't tried it yet.
That should give better image than S-VHS -> HDMI.
--- End quote ---
I've heard of RGB cables, but all the older systems (at least in the U.S.) were made for standard AV. Wouldn't that require yet another converter as well?