Old Consoles + Modern LCDs? Testing Cheap Composite to HDMI / VGA -Converters

[@ThePostApocalypticInventor]

Hey guys. Would have liked to cover even more in this video, but it was all I could possibly manage. After catching a bad cold last week, I had some bad chicken two days ago and I am hence also suffering from a bad salmonella infection now :( . I could hardly leave my bed this week so please don't be to hard on me right now. I wish all of you a nice weekend!

[@Bwoozyman]

that already enough for today, take care of u genius. get wel soon

[@Seegalgalguntijak]

Get well soon! / Gute Besserung!

[@kyoudaiken]

Oh shit... I had serious gastritis 2 months ago. This is something you don't with your worst enemy...

[@WaltonPete]

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor Sorry to hear you're ill again, so soon after your cold. I really appreciate that you still made the effort to make, edit and upload a video to KZbin! Hope you're back to good health soon.

[@ciatfeitay7951]

Hi sorry to hear you sick. Hope u get well soon. I emailed you on your paypal email for some questions. Hope to hear from you soon. Thank you.

[@kay486]

you should totally do a teardown of the first two almost identical boxes (black and white ones)

[@paranoiatable]

Yeah! That would be a sweet video!

[@Seegalgalguntijak]

If you have many of these converters, it would be funny and interesting to see how many can be connected in series and still produce a half way decent picture, even though it's ben converted multiple times (i.e. Composite->HDMI->VGA->Composite->HDMI or something like that), just for the fun of it! Like a totally ridiculous bunch of converters in a looong, hillarious chain.

[@LennyQUMFIF]

Lol that would be cool. And then put them Both on a CRT and LCD with a Splitter (and if we wanna be even more extreme, a splitter into a splitter into a splitter...)

[@nickhernandez2899]

I'm a little late but right now I use an rca to HDMI and then an HDMI to VGA to use that stuff on my crt monitor

[@martinweizenacker7129]

The garbled color is because these converter devices cannot handle the slightly off-standard video signal that the SNES and other consoles of that era put out: 288p (240p for NTSC) instead of 576i. Whereas the Raspberry Pi puts out plain standard 576i and therefore works as intended in color.

[@lullylew9083]

Excellent information and super helpful. I will always prefer CRT though. If they released a modern CRT today it would run circles around even the best LCDs

[@Martin-pb7ts]

This is true but (and I am not an expert) the old CRTs were WAY worse on the environment in terms of recyclability and manufacturing.

[@lullylew9083]

@@Martin-pb7ts Yeah it's true. My hope is that with our tech we could reduce that quite a bit but I don't comprehend how to make one of these things lol.

[@JohnSmith-qn3ob]

Have you tried using S-Video? S-Video keeps the color separate so you may not have color problems.

[@TIGUETA]

The best video about conversion signal to old consoles on KZbin! Thank You!

[@mikemontana7436]

Thank you for this video. Your review just saved me so much time and effort. Next time I'm in Germany I'd like to buy you a beer. If you're not available, I shall have two in your honor.

[@ChrisFredriksson]

Wish you all the best and get well soon! So, if I'm not mistaken, the Akale one seems to be the best one, am I correct? Do you have any other consoles to test this with? NES, N64 and so on? Certainly an interesting video, thanks for sharing your findings! =)

[@WaltonPete]

You mention using an HDMI to DVI converter cable, but that you were not certain that it would work. As the HDMI and DVI format signals are pretty much identical (except DVI doesn't support audio) there should be no issues using such a cable. In fact, it's likely that the construction of the cable uses direct plug to plug connections without the need for any other components.

[@mrptuk]

I connected computer (DVI) to monitor (HDMI) through HDMI 5m extension cord using cheap HDMI-DVI adapter. Works perfectly.

[@Manawyrm]

There is a slight difference in the signaling, HDMI generally uses so called CEA modes, and DVI mostly uses DMT modes. That shouldn't make too great of a difference, but can be a problem in the HDMI->DVI direction when converting.

[@thetruth5404]

If I may jump in, doesn't work. I have the mini AV to HDMI box. I have monitor that has DVI and VGA but not HDMI. I connected PS1(fat) to the box and then box to my monitor and it did not work. My guess is box works exclusively with HDMI.

[@elephystry]

If the SNES video cable is meant to support RGB, it’s likely that the composite video output has been nerfed in some way, and that you won’t have success with conversion to VGA in that way. Perhaps you could locate/create a SNES component cable and try converting that to VGA?

[@forestrf]

Thank you for this video, really. I wanted to know about this from quite some time

[@JJXB2004]

i have the first white square Composite to HDMI converter and have tested it in my setup with fine results on xbox and PS2 composite signals in both PAL and NTSC (British so PAL being my standard too). Setup for reference: Input Source > HDMI Splitter (HDCP Stripping) > X19W 1440x900@75hz monitor with HDMI to DVI cable. so plugging in said composite converter works absolutely fine on all the stuff i have tested with thus far. I do also have a component to HDMI converter as well that i use for component cables and the only time i run into issues with it is with nonstandard HDMI output from the converter into my monitor (Connecting my Game Capture HD60 standardises the output though so that passes through fine). oh and the fact that the monitor hates 60hz interlaced signals (tested with direct connection to my laptop via HDMI and Nvidia drivers/custom res and 75hz interlaced signals working fine). TL;DR: Results may vary depending on manufacturer of said generic box or something.

[@dan_loup]

Just to chip in, even if you have an modern lcd television that have composite input, getting a converter is a good idea because the internal upscaler of those tvs is generally awful for gaming because they add lot of delay to the input, because they try to "embeleze" the picture (more specifically deinterlace it), and this process requires a lot of the previous frames to reconstruct the picture etc..

[@TheGlitchyMario]

My new 4K 64" display still has composite and component input.

[@CheffBryan]

I have something like this set up, but the only complaint I have is that the converter box also needs power, bringing the number of sockets to above what one wall normally has. Might just have to mount the box onto the screen and run the power into the TV's power converter. EDIT: For the SNES, my solution was to use an S-Video cable meant for the device. Of course, this means sound has to be plugged into a separate audio setup entirely, but all colors worked very well.

[@GizmoTheGreen]

what if you used the s-video on the devices that support it? I'm pretty sure the SNES had an s-video cable

[@holysab7]

I have one of those VGA converters, and for anyone wondering, the s-video has a bunch of vertical rainbow bars sort of overlaid on the picture.. it's only noticable when certain colors are on the screen (light blue is one I remember being pretty bad). The composite is better, but, it's still composite so... It's a tradeoff. I've only tried it with a NTSC PS1 and PS2 though

[@lamtatyan]

Thank you very much for your video. Your thorough explanation and comparison are exactly what I need badly. Too bad that I have come across your video too late, as I have already wasted money and so much time hoping to connect my SNES to my HDTV by using the first converter (yes, exactly the same one) but unsuccess. My case is even worse, as the HDTV just display "No signal", not even any distorted images! Adding VGA to the whole connection is a great idea, and I thank you very much for proofing it works, though not completely.

[@caocao_art2play]

9:50 Solution : use old CRT no more than 14" cause signal of old consoles about for 240p - 420p or LCD TV with AV instead of monitor

[@panteleon1]

there are some analog tv boxes for monitors that have composite in for aux devices, theese devices are sold cheap now because there are no analog channels to display but they are great at displaying composite signals

[@juntao754]

Awesome tip, man! I am trying to get video from a PAL snes on a vga monitor and I am looking for a solution. Do you think this anolog TV box would get the job doem? Thanks!

[@rocketman221projects]

The HDMI to DVI cables will work fine. They will not provide any sound though. You just have to plug the audio cables into the monitor (probably using an RCA to 1/8" headphone adapter).

[@samueloliveira3781]

The 2nd converter showed good results, it can be considered for people who don't want to spend a lot of money to solve this problem.

[@88888shibu]

Thanks for testing these convertors and posting the results. Do you still have a link to the videos about the High Quality RGB Video Output you mentioned at 1:50?

[@theoblackadder8198]

Hello, may I ask what video editing program or app you use please? Your uploads are very well done and concise. Thank you Keith

[@DrCRAZYde]

Ich habe mir das letzte teil gekauft gehabt um mein C64 an den PC Monitor (VGA) anzuschießen. Das klappt prima. I Buy this last peace to put my commodore C64 on an VGA-computer monitor. works well.

[@gabest4]

How does the image quality compare to emulation on LCD? Is it closer to the good old CRT?

[@fossil98]

Try ebay before amazon. Lots of amazon products are marked up loads from their direct from china versions. If you can stand waiting a while that is.

[@aimanh8010]

Just to make sure: would the composite to VGA adapter have a similar colouring problem if I were to hook up a newer console, like a Wii or PS2? I already have the audio solution worked out, but I wanted to know before buying one whether I would have that problem.

[@mbirth]

4:11 … Did you try the switch? Maybe it's labelled wrong and it's not switching between 720p/1080p but PAL/NTSC?

[@famitory]

if your monitor has VGA, you would be better off looking for SCART to VGA. because SCART is almost entirely a PAL reigon standard, such a convreter will be better suited to work with the PAL colour standard. also, such a converter would only be translating the sync signals, since VGA and SCART both use RGB, so you would have a nice crisp picture. note that most of the colour issues will not happen for people in NTSC reigons, as colour is encoded slightly differently between the two standards.

[@QueenFanIII]

The only thing worth using are RGB Scart to HDMI adapters. Genesis and old SNES do it well, Master System goes well. But RGB not Composite.

[@polkusin]

How about old Amiga video connectors? I've been wondering how to use them with newer monitors. I have the old TV modulator still somewhere though :D

[@marquisor]

didn't you recognize any half framerate or deinterlace issues? especially with the ligawo thing? for me a no go. jerky framerates result.

[@GillesYT]

I'm working on a RGB (from SCART) to VGA converter, it should be rather easy and give good results without any lag.

[@magiblot1]

1:40 RGB and Component are not the same :(

[@nintensam64]

RGB is a form of component video. So yes RGB is component video. What you're thinking of is Ypbpr component video which you usually use with red, green and blue rca cables.

[@Clesarie]

They're close enough in picture quality for all intensive purposes and I think thats the point made.

[@user-um1pb2tb3t]

@@Clesarie Intensive purposes? I've never heard that, thanks!

[@zx8401ztv]

Sorry to hear your ill :-(, it sounds very nasty, i hope you get well soon, horrible being ill :-(. Its possible that the colour content isnt spot on frequency, old computers were often slightly off or the colour burst was rough, old tv sets were quite forgiving with slight colour sub carrier frequency or slight errors, but i dont think digital converters are too flexible. The uk sub carrier is 4.433619mhz pal system and i think the american ntsc colour is 3.579mhz, not sure about german standards. There used to be a trimmer capacitor connected to the crystal in the tv colour decoder to tweak it, i would be supprised if those converter boxes had similar.

[@ronaldschild157]

You're right about North American NTSC color burst frequency: It is 3.579 MHz. Often the color burst signal was simply called the "3.58 line" or "3.58 signal" when I worked in the broadcast television racket. You also raise an interesting point about color burst being rough in older computing devices (like a game console). It used to be one could find both 3.579 MHz and 3.58 MHz crystals readily enough for replacement parts. Maybe some early devices were stuffed with 3.58 MHz crystals for the NTSC market(?). The rounding up to 3.58 MHz was already inferred in common usage around TV types.

[@zx8401ztv]

The worst offenders were video recorders, the output was never too stable, but some tv's had a special channel for vcr's, i think it was for a more forgiving line sync, but it did seem to help for over all stability, but i never really went that far with tv mods.

[@Dalsir1]

With a DELL 2007FP I have no problems whatsoever to connect just about anything old. Never did lol. But since I have a bunch of DVD players/ ancient game consoles and some CRT`s it would be interesting to compare them. Too bad I don`t have a decent camera.

[@wolfeater3851]

After some research I came to the same conclusion about having to use HDMI to VGA converter. I'd love to use my old CRT monitor for my Sega, nice to know those VGA converters wont work. Is there no way to convert the RGB to VGA? To my understanding the composite squashes all the signal together and that's why it could be displaying in black and white.

[@pulpodesigner]

Thanks a lot for your video pal! You save me from buy one of those cheap converters, I guess I'll have to save for a better alternative

[@cokeman8768]

I have a box like the black one in the beginning. It works fine with every old system except the Sega Genesis. It even works with the nes. Do you know what it could be?

[@Neffers_UK]

Get well soon PAI

[@closed365days]

try a different cable for your input if you have one there was a huge break at the head

[@xenoshawntan]

I know this is an old video but I happen to come across this video as I am a retro gamer myself. Could it be the cheap white convertor does not convert PAL60 (PAL 60Hz) signal from your SNES?

[@kyoudaiken]

It looks like the first converter is configured for NTSC or just can use NTSC. Or wrong PAL format.

[@SageX85]

Thats not it, the signal of the snes gets detected as Y (lumma) the green cable(with noise) in component cables instead of cbvs. It needs no deinterlacing but the color signal is obviously wrong

[@kyoudaiken]

ZedHqX4 I doubt it that the actual progressive G-Output was interpreted as composite signal. Or did I get you wrong?

[@TheConservativeCanadian]

hi, your videos are great! new to the channel as of yesterday but fascinated with this type of stuff. my favorite is the car mods like the power converter and Bluetooth sterio mods. do you have any suggestions for books I could read as a beginner? I am 36yrs old an have a fast learner. sont want to waste time filtering through garbage books. life is short! thanks.

[@neilritchiecaguioa8593]

So it's not perfect,I've been planning on that method because I have a old monitor VGA input,I want to use my old game console to it,PS1,PS2,GameCube,Generic NES with built in games.And cable TV from a Cable converter.Maybe the problem on your SNES is PAL,The your using NTSC composite to VGA converter?

[@Seegalgalguntijak]

Composite, VGA and DVI-A are all analog signals, so the conversion should theoretically be much easier to do than with a digital input like HDMI or DVI-D. But here's a question: Is there any way to see whether a DVI connector supports digital or analog or both signals? Other than trying it out, I mean.

[@saxon215]

Seegal Galguntijak typicaly that's identifiable from the pin setup. there is also DVI-I which comes from a source which can support both

[@Seegalgalguntijak]

Spark Gap OK, but to my understanding, DVI connectors on devices like screens or output devices are female, so you can't really see which pins are missing. Or does that mean it supports both?

[@saxon215]

Usually but not necessarily always the other inputs give you a hint. If it has HDMI and DVI it's probably DVI-D. What I would do if possible is bring up the stats on that make and model on the googler

[@Intellivision78]

The RF works just as fine on modern Tv:s as on the old ones! Så no worries there. ;)

[@NikhchansGaming]

Thanks. Finally I can use Super Retro Trio with HDTV.

[@nikrbawker]

I got one that looks like your white one. It shows up blue when the console is off. Theres no 720p selector I believe it's automatically 1080 haven't tried it on a non 1080 screen. But it works perfectly no color issues like on yours.

[@johnbouttell5827]

Fascinating. Well done.

[@cebruthius]

I had a Medion TFT panel in 16:10 aspect that always scaled. None of these devices account for that. In the end I sold off my stupid Medion panel. I have second-hand HP LP2475w now.

[@erikdevice8021]

You said in the video that you'd put links in the description leading to videos about component video but forgot to do so.

[@SirMillz]

The linked product AKALE is no longer available by Amazon. Can you recommend another product for 240 to 1080?

[@delatronics3257]

I have a Roland S-50 sampling keyboard with Digital RGB output and monochrome composite black and white output; Can I at least view the B&W composite signal on a VGA display?

[@krustacean699]

When are you going to upload the video of the remote controlled car you built?

[@crush070]

Like! for the Illusion of Gaia!!

[@dl8cy]

Wie immer ein super Video von Dir!

[@l3p3]

Ich verwandelte mich instant in einen Hulk, als ich das Video erspäht habe. >:D

[@johnathandoe6916]

Sir I sure could use your help. How can I record off my computer onto vhs I dont own a video game system and their has to be a affordable way. Its kinda important

[@DMX-PAT]

Do those gloves you wear do something?

[@32353235e]

Video is available in digital form as a ttl signal inside

[@Ross_K_Foad]

I have the Mini HDMI ADV as seen in this video (white) for use with my N64. It plugs in and finds SOMETHING on the HDMI channel as the screen goes blue, but still says no signal. :( Would anyone have a clue how to get it to find the signal. :(

[@AnfalasHerdsman]

i had the ame problem, tried it with my old xbox 360, bue screen, then i connected the mini hdmi av to my smartphone charger and i got a signal, but it looked bad, blurry, the image kept moving and the colors were wrong. How did it go for you since then?

[@kacpreusz9911]

I wonder if it is possible to add composite input into a VGA monitor?

[@baconnology9564]

do you think a raspberry pi zero could be capable of taking in a composite signal and outputting over hdmi or would it be to many samples per second and if it was a mater of not enough processing can you gang them up in parallel

[@Tobi_DarkKnight]

Du hast Terranigma 😍

[@theflinx]

What ever happened to the home built tube tester?

[@Rymdkakor]

Xrgb-mini Framemeister is the only way to go man

[@RathwulvenBushcraft]

Hi there Maybe you can help me out - I recently tried connecting my SNES to an Acer X1273 projector (2 VGA, 1 Composite, 1 S-Video) The composit only features a black and white picture - I would like to fix this. Could I just use a regular Composite -> VGA-adapter? What would you suggest? Thanks in advance

[@johneygd]

I definitely want to try that hdmi to vga adaptor sothat i can try it out on my frame meister,because i don't want to spend another $300 for a pc capture device to do that no. But the only thing am worry about is input lag because of reconverting the signal,but since it's all digital,it should be not a problem since my vga monitor is analogue, Am really curiouse about this.

[@Ozmosis992000]

I'm hoping to use a computer monitor to play the original Xbox console. Any advice on what type of adapter to get ?

[@bellawell7295]

It depends on the ports of your device

[@Seegalgalguntijak]

But there are even modern 48" flat panel televisions which come with an old SCART connector.

[@pansenmeister1938]

haben sie auch einen deutschen Kanal ?

[@talclipse]

Which snes is that? It looks like a super famicom yet says super Nintendo.

[@RAndrewNeal]

All the LCD TVs in my house have composite inputs as well as VGA and HDMI. Do newer ones not?

[@RAndrewNeal]

Well, all of them might not have VGA.

[@davesharp5197]

you haven't mentioned, HDCP which can also cause issues.

[@J2k8312]

Do you happen to know if this method will work on hdtv's that do not natively support the 240p signal?

[@DannyCD]

Yes

[@ritikkoshta8967]

I have unic uc 46+ projector which have only hdmi, vga port. I want to use my video game in projector so what should I need to play.... hdmi to RCA converter or hdmi to RCA cable?? I'm totally confused.

[@f4dy]

Are you the same guy from GreatScott

[@ManOfAttitudeLP1998]

Was wäre die beste Methode mit einer Ps2 und Xbox Classic Progressive Scan am LCD oder CRT Monitor auszugeben

[@MoNeYTeZ]

Hey I have a dell monitor & im using a hdmi to vga converter with a power source to try and play on my PS4. When I start it up after going into the settings of my PlayStation & turning on the PS4 the monitor responds but doesn't show the picture. The monitor flashes but doesn't come on. Can you please help

[@nodbrawler8014]

Why am i getting this Video reccomendet after i bought the composite to VGA Adapter that doesn't Work for my snes😢

[@RDXJEETENDAR]

Hi! I have a Acer LCD Monitor (AL1702W) which has a vga input only. I want to connect chromecast 2 to it. Can you please help me if I can use converter Neon 1080P Hdmi To Vga Video Converter?

[@Yomamura29]

you are using PAL to NTSC converter then your video is on grascale

[@thetruth5404]

This thing is not pal to ntsc converter, its av to hdmi or av to vga converter. I think the problem is when you try to play pal games on ntsc system, the grayscale effect happens. It all has to be pal, the game, the system and tv or all ntsc.

[@chefkdowg]

what game is that?

[@voltare2amstereo]

hdmi and dvi are electrically identical minus the audio

[@kyoudaiken]

Didn't the SNES had an option to use other PAL standards?

[@bensthingsthoughts]

No, I don't think it has, and the funniest thing is that the video encoding circuit was in the cartridge :P And you could play a NTSC cartridge on a PAL tv simply by plugging them in a dual cartridge adaptor... Good old days, I still have the console and the adaptor, I should buy one of those composite to vga to play sometime

[@kyoudaiken]

Ben's things & thoughts There are still plenty TVs out there with composite input. Even modern ones. :)

[@Neffers_UK]

No, that's wrong. The adapter was a simple pass-through connector to allow US carts to fit PAL machines. Some bypassed the lockout chip so Japanese carts would play. If you put an NTSC cart in a PAL SNES with the adaptor it will still play at 25 FPS. We would import an SNES from the US to play games at 30 FPS.

[@bensthingsthoughts]

hmm okay.... thank you for the correction, I had been told what I wrote above, but I never did confirm by looking online... And you are very right !!

[@Neffers_UK]

Ben's things & thoughts maybe you or the yarn spinner were confused with the SupeFX chips? They were additional co-processors fixed alongside the ROM chip to allow things like 3D, the first being Star Wing / Star Fox.

[@landlockedviking]

Thanks

[@volodymyrsych6930]

Thanks a lot.

[@LuisRadaAlean]

Did anyone test the cheap AV2VGA with a PS1 or above? He shows that with the more expensive one the PS1 worked just fine, maybe the cheap one doesn't handle the SNES signal

[@polaris0386]

Do you think a composite to VGA converter would work with the PS2?

[@LuisRadaAlean]

@@polaris0386 it will work but with some lag! Yesterday I bought a HDMI to VGA cable adapter and plugged it through the PS2HDMI adapter to the PS2. It looks way better and there's no lag at all! I would say that it's the best option to connect a PS2 to a VGA monitor. The problem is that not every PS2 game can be displayed in the VGA monitor that way, just the ones that have progressive mode (480p).

[@polaris0386]

@@LuisRadaAlean I bought an adapter a few moments ago so hopefully it'll work. I can usually work around lag since I've grown pretty used to it. Just as long as all the colours are there : )

[@LuisRadaAlean]

@@polaris0386 I hope it'll work like a charm! Let me know how it went! Cheers

[@elyeli6250]

My tv has a HDMI, VGA, video and a dvi input, Some lucky guy I am... Guess who has to untangle the cables when I move?

[@brandoxantana]

thanks man

[@AllieRX]

You can get RGB for cheap. Just buy a generic SCART-to-HDMI converter.

[@uditkaushikgoswami4611]

if it connent rca to hdmi then hdmi to vga....will it work

[@HVinduction]

Does a VCR work with this adapter?

[@DannyCD]

Yes

[@carlosrivera7835]

thank so much !!!

[@mrnemo204]

what game are you playing?

[@PersimmonHollow]

terranigma

[@juandef4115]

may as well buy a high end old format Panasonic tv which is clear

[@ngwilkum]

Is your monitor running at 60hz, is the PAL format fucking with it?

[@joemuis23]

your monitor can run at 50hz as well most of the time