The BEST PS2 HDMI Adapter Has a BIG Flaw - Kaico PlayStation 2 to HDMI Adapter For HDTV (Review)

[@DigitalCynics]

Thanks for watching! Let us know in the comments below what your favorite PS2 games are!

[@deagt3388]

Can I play Gran Turismo 4 in 1080i via that cable, trying to do that last 17 years. Almost succeed via component cable, but not completely due to limitations of cable itself, output is around 1800x1000. Please give me an honest answer. ;)

[@sparda877]

Hey digital I got a HDMI converter for my PS2 slim and when I'm playing medal of honor Frontline my game lags really bad any advice?

[@lordeilluminati]

5:42 It is because PS1 games run on 240p and no HDMI device accepts 240p. It would only work if the adapter upscale this resolution to at least 480p that is the minimum acceptable resolution.

[@juvidisciple]

If it still doesn’t work, that means your TV is too old. I tried everything and my last resort was getting a new TV for those that are frustrated and can’t get this to work. I just saved your life.

[@ceejaycuevas6652]

I saw this same comment on a diffrent, nice lol.

[@juvidisciple]

@@ceejaycuevas6652 trying to help the bros

[@thomasfallows3917]

So they now sell an adaptor that works on both PS2 and PS1, it also allows you to play PS1 games on PS2. It flashes a couple of times on loading screens and when you go to the PS1 logo upon booting a PS1 disk but apart from that perfect.

[@Phil1Up_Collects]

You must have had an old model cuz on Amazon when I'm looking at listings I see it says that it works for both They must have re-released the product with the PS1 issues fixed.

[@jazzimel]

"One of my favorite games, Jak and Daxter" Me: Huzzah! A man of quality! 🧐

[@CrawlingPanther]

Their updated Amazon listing now says it supports PS1 games as well. I am going to eventually get a RetroTink for all of my consoles, but I'm going to check this out and see if it's still worth getting in 2024.

[@lockedine]

Cool I don't use PS2 for PS1 so all good. Thanks for the review.

[@DBZAOTA482]

Imo Levelhike's PlayStation to HDMI adapter is the best budget option. It looks just like the devs intended the games to look like and it works with PS1 games as well.

[@RealSuperNintendan]

I was thinking about getting this over the Pound cable… but I’m not 100% sure which one I want.

[@MrJoseph310]

I have issues with pound after 2 years of owning it where the screen slowly turns to green a little bit dimmed

[@rubo111]

Thanks for the video and thanks for the tip about the usb power cable. I was scratching my head as to why the green light didn't turn on, on a new unit. Manual does not mention it at all and the diagrams omit the power cable! I though the USB was for software updates originally.

[@Mega_Xenomorph]

So you used the Kaico but how did you capture the footage? Did you run the hdmi into a monitor and screen record? Or did you use a particular capture card along side it?

[@Herobrinetv57]

This question will never be answered 😔

[@SensaiKaizen]

Huh? It’s the same thing u would do with any console that uses a hdmi

[@BedfordMarcus]

I bought this exact same adapter two years back, and I must say yours definitely looks much better than mine! :) For some reason on my Kaico adapter, the image looks very dark, has a slight green tint to it and the colours look very muted... Also with this being a passthrough and my display being terrible at deintelacing, motion looks abysmal! :/ Composite doesn't look great, nor does a generic RGB/Component upscaler, so I really don't know what else to try without having for fork out $$$ for an OSSC or RetroTink 5X Pro?!

[@Superbad22]

Could always buy a crt tv

[@BlueAmys]

I got this but i am having issues with it on RGB the screen is purplely and on the other one i get sound but no pitcher please help

[@roco9504]

Okay, but for those who can connect with component, how it it compared to good component cables? 🤔

[@KrisVic91]

I bought a mid range ps2 to hdmi convertor. It was s**t. The picture was too sharp and saturated. The screen goes blue everytime you go to a loading screen. Was giving me a headache. Stuck in my regular comoposite cables into my tv and it looked better and ran smoother. I would try this product out you are reviewing but it is out of stock Everywhere! There is a similar looking product by a company called bitfunx. Honestly just thinking of getting an old crt tv, saving myself the headache. Have to play the games in 4:3 anyway.

[@ScarletAmethyst]

Seeing as newer HD and 4K TVs, especially since most of them tend to be smart TVs, often don't include Component ports anymore, the adapter could be very useful if one doesn't want to deal with using a Component to HDMI converter. The Wii has a similar problem since that console also doesn't support HDMI and I feel composite isn't ideal for an HDTV although it works fine for a CRT TV. I suspect the reason why PS1 games don't work is due to the lack of 240p/288p support through HDMI. Most HDTVs tend to have problems support 240p through Component so I wouldn't be surprised if someone on Amazon gave a PS2 component cable a 1 star because they tried to play a PlayStation game. PS3 doesn't have this problem although some games may have glitches with the PS1 disc games such as the music in Tomba/Tombi 2 and Spyro 2 not working correctly.

[@DigitalCynics]

A lot of purists swear by the CRT experience for retro gaming, and I TOTALLY understand where they're coming from. But I just don't have enough space or desire to put on the extra $ or work to have/maintain a setup like that. I'd much rather just try to modernize everything haha And yes you're right, the PlayStation doesn't accept a component signal so that's why the adapter doesn't work for it. Thanks for watching!

[@dapperfan44]

If you mod the PS2 to play off a hard drive or USB, you can use some other mods to get the PS1 games working through HDMI. However this won't work for actual discs.

[@RaptorZX3]

So this adapter actually keep the right aspect ratio in games when used in Component (YPbPr) mode?

[@Farix1997]

hey i hope you can answer this question i cant find a definitive answer anywhere. what is the output resolution on this adapter? I currently have another ps2 to HDMI converter but my new monitor doesn't like the resolution so I'm looking for a better upscaler.

[@samw2670]

How to fix loud static noise on tv?

[@javiersoriano671]

It’s unavailable on Amazon :( I wanted to get this

[@satanchild6276]

Hi I have a silver slim ps2 that the picture if perfect scale on my roku hdtv. I also have a original fat ps2 console, when I hook it to my roku hdtv the scale picture is badley stretched. It looks like half of the picture is missing on each side of the screen. Would this hdmi adapter help me? I have 2 others adapters that one works on my fat ps2 and the image is stretched. The other adapter does not work on the fat ps2. I paid about 6 bucks for each one. I looking a better hdmi adapter. My hdtv is 43 inches.

[@yeismeload]

How does this work with running 50hz PAL games on a modern 60-120hz smart TV? I have a region-free PS2 and playing NTSC is no problem, but any PAL games without 60hz options in-game are impossible to crop and are cut off at the bottom. I tried all the settings within the PS2 and disabling/enabling autofit on my TV, but even when both are set to 4:3 the issue remains. Also, when I try to use custom settings I can't reposition the screen as it's greyed out. I'm currently using one of those cheap-o hdmi converters so hoping this addresses the problem of refresh rates.

[@xDakem]

How does it work with interlaced?

[@FrankStein1]

its july 2022 when i found this . question . have you seen the bitfunx ?? did you try it?? what is your opinion ?? ive heard there is some green problems... some kind of mist covering everything. btw what is best for Nintendo 64 to hdmi??

[@iggyeegii9004]

I just watched burnout gamplay for the first time in my life. Holy sh*t that destruction and graphics looks wayyyy too ahead of it’s time.

[@deagt3388]

Can I play Gran Turismo 4 in 1080i via that cable, trying to do that last 17 years. Almost succeed via component cable, but not completely due to limitations of cable itself, output is around 1800x1000. Please give me an honest answer. ;)

[@DigitalCynics]

1080i works just fine for me :)

[@deagt3388]

@@DigitalCynics Finally! Buying this one, watch on Amazon and someone reviewed that is the only adapter that really works and can play in 1080i. My quest is over after 17 years, you helped me a lot. Searching this last week or so on different YT channels and nobody couldn't offer me a reasonably cheap solution. Thanks man! ;)

[@RealSuperNintendan]

@@deagt3388 update us on how it went playing GT4.. cuz I wanna do the same as you. Have you encountered any hiccups while using this device?

[@guillaumeaudet1175]

Same, I have bought a cheap one and can’t put GT4 on 1080i or 480p, it always come back to normal resolution. Playing it on PC monitor

[@lordeilluminati]

honestly I dont recommend playing on 1080i for two reasons: the game switches between 1080i in gameplay and 480i in menus so it can be a bit annoying to see the video signal drop and return all the time. Capture devices dont deal with resolution switching well so if you intend to use this feature "to make the picture look prettier" when recording gameplay, you will have a bad time. Other thing is that this game achieves 1080i by reducing the color depth of the picture. The game will have a lot of checkerboarding on everything that shows gradient patterns especially on sky boxes. In my experience 480p looks way better because it doesnt crush the colors.

[@ArcZeroRed]

Can you do another video like this maybe with the PS1 PS2 retroscalar HDMI converter and maybe a level hike PS1 PS2 HDMI converter do a comparison that would be wonderful there's no comparison between these three brands

[@algerae1984]

I'm definitely getting this. I use my PS3 for PS1 games

[@unknowplanet6279]

I wonder if this will help Scarface on PS2 looks better? Thanks

[@stevebilkos3092]

Did you do it? I’m in the same boat lol

[@AyyoFishyy562]

Lmfao this is the main reason I’m getting this, I’m currently using a monitor with another 3rd party component to hdmi and it’s just giving regular fuzzy image. Hopefully this works

[@zrtknl]

I found that it worked but Madden NFL 2001 has motion blur. Can't get around it.

[@nandomcnandoson]

Does anyone experience a lag using the converter? I just purchased the converter through amazon to rebuild my DDR setup on a PS2 and I am unable to consistently play through what seems to be a lag. The DDR Mats (I have two different ones) work but they both just don't read on beat when trying to play. I'm not sure if I need to try a third mat or if the converter just isn't up to par for DDR.

[@lordeilluminati]

I dont know specifically about the adapter but every attempt of using the PS2 on a modern display will introduce a bit of lag because most games run on interlaced resolutions (the tv and console display the image as a sequence of lines) and modern displays expect progressive resolutions (the tv and console display the image feed as a sequence of photos). Every TV has a deinterlacer which "joins" the even and odd lines of an image which in the best of cases it has to wait for 2 lines to be drawn so that a full frame can be displayed. The only playable DDR games on modern displays is SuperNOVA 2 and newer games which have lag compensation settings. Trying to play SuperNOVA or DDRMAX2 for example is an exercise of frustration. Other thing is to deactivate all and any enhancements of the TV (especially motion smoothing) to reduce the most amount of lag. The easiest method is to enable Game Mode, but some enhancements can still be enabled so I recommend to activate this mode and search on settings if there are more of these enhancements enabled and deactivate them as well. On mine for example, the sound volume stabilizer was enabled even with the game mode enabled, in theory is a good feature but it can delay the audio delivery and sometimes the television can mess up on the function and make certain sounds inaudible.

[@nandomcnandoson]

@@lordeilluminati Thank you so much!!

[@brokenstyx]

DDR PS2 player here. My RGB Scart cable has an audio splitter - I send the audio out through this to some speakers, and then I can dance in time to the music, and the arrows are a bit behind but that doesn't matter for timing. If you can't split the audio out to a speaker etc, you'll need a lagless converter like the Retrotink 5X. I'm saving up for one of these myself.

[@bashthefash420]

I'm about to buy one of these but there are 2 available a black one and a more expensive silver one, do you know what the difference is apart from price? Thanks

[@OliNorwell]

the silver one supports PS1 games - so they fixed the flaw the guy was talking about

[@nougatz6206]

I was having a issue with the kaico adapter as I was playing dragon ball budokai 3 and every time I did a ultimate move the image would cut out/lose signal for a moment and it's very annoying but the rest of the gameplay was fine I went online for help and some said it was because of the bright light effects and such I went back to the original cables and the image isn't as sharp but it doesn't cut out at all

[@eduardoblanco7316]

It is progressive scan compatible?

[@PaperBanjo64]

Yes it is

[@taskentlutsow2110]

Where to get your desktop background?

[@ePlaySpot]

What Camera used to rec this video?

[@DigitalCynics]

Canon M50

[@ePlaySpot]

@@DigitalCynics look amazing

[@KrisVic91]

The levelhike does ps1 and ps2. And I wouldn't say the Gaico is the best.

[@noctsickversusTOBETOLD]

Is the best? What is THE BEST FOR PS2?

[@blade5291]

Might consider getting one and hook a mClassic to it to a 4ktv I own. ^^ I also still got my Wii2HDMI adapter and still works. Especially for GameCube games. :) Thanks for sharing! :D miss the PS2 days. :) subbed. :) Can you do mClassic and Kaico and see how it is together on PS2? God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, etc? :)

[@DigitalCynics]

It really was a golden era of gaming haha. I actually don't have an mclassic yet but I'm hoping to pick one up in the near future! I'll definitely test out the kaico with it when I eventually get one. Thanks for watching and subbing!

[@blade5291]

@@DigitalCynics I really do recommend you trying those games tho with SoTC and GoW and get Feed back. I would like to see how it looks in gameplay on a PS2. If you support ROMS. Try the .Hack games that are rare to find. .hack the original. Vol 1. For testing purposes. Would love to see that. :)

[@TheMrJoltz]

Owner of an mclassic and the Kaico adapter. The mclassic will not work for majority of the PS2’s games thanks to 480i. You’d need a deinterlacer

[@wingedhussar1453]

​@TheMrJoltz do u have to manually switch 480i to 480p or something or does it just work per gMe bases

[@RICANPAPY27]

Where the link to buy it

[@GenerationalGamer]

The reason this adapter will not display PS1 games is because of the resolutions used by the PS1. The adapter needs 480i as a minimum resolution.

[@TheOnlyPedroGameplays]

How is that achieved?

[@GenerationalGamer]

@@TheOnlyPedroGameplays This one won't work. You need the one that upscales to 720p. The quality is not as good, but it will work on both PS1 and PS2 games without issue.

[@TheOnlyPedroGameplays]

@@GenerationalGamer I can do 720, and the little tv in my room can only go up to that. Do you know an upscaler that can get up to those numbers? The way I’m seeing it, you’re talking about an adapter that goes from 480i to 720p

[@GenerationalGamer]

@@TheOnlyPedroGameplays I'm not going to be able to link here, but I've covered other options. Hyperkin is better for your situation, but I must warn you thta this device does have better video quality. It just does not scale anything.

[@GiSWiG]

I'd retitle the video or at least do an update. The "FLAW" is not with the adapter. The "FLAW" is that this adapter is a COMPONENT to HDMI adapter and cannot do 240i. PS1 games are 240i, iirc. There are adapters that will work with PS1 games on a PS2 but those are COMPOSITE adapters and both PS1 and PS2 will look like crap. If you really want to play your PS1 games through HDMI, get a PS3. I have the XBOX HDMI adapter from Kaico and everything is perfect but all OG XBOX games are 480i and up.

[@Himmelvakt]

Why is it so hard to get a definite answer. I don't need a PS2 to HDMI converter because my TV doesn't support the original cables, I want one because I'm under the assumption, I could be getting a better picture quality. Every video I watch, claims using a converter will improve the quality, even if you buy a cheap one the quality will still be better then just using the original cables, regardless they always point out the better quality as a selling point, or why even bother confusing the viewer by even reviewing the bad ones, and wasting even more of our time in the f'ing process, but every review I read on Amazon, from the most extensive converters, are claiming the apposite, and say not to buy a converter unless your TV doesn't support the original cables huh? Wtf are we doing here then? 😐

[@lordeilluminati]

"I could be getting a better picture quality. " the issue is on PS2 and its weird resolutions, it is difficult to achieve. On GameCube, Xbox or Dreamcast it is easy to do this because most games support 480p which is the bare minimum of a HDMI signal can accept and on the case of Dreamcast and Xbox, these consoles supported high quality standards out of the box (VGA on PS2 was only intended to be used on PS2 Linux for example, not on games). PS2 games most of the time run on 480i signal which have to pass through an deinterlacer to work on modern displays (it introduces lag, jaggies and an stretched look to the image) and to make matters worse, not all games run on the same resolution and even color depth. EA games tend to run on slightly lower resolution than 480i horizontally and stretch it to fill the screen, a thing that isnt an issue with CRT and Plasma displays but on LCD based panels and digital conversion is a big deal. Expecting any adapters, even on DC, GC and Xbox to improve the quality like an emulator it is unreasonable because none of them do, since the console allows high quality standards out of the box they just tend to not have signal degradation. (some HDMI mods even go beyond the original signal delivery and tap directly to the GPU of the console just to not have signal degradation like PS1digital. Currently there is no way to tap to the Graphics Synthesizer to avoid signal degradation)

[@GoldenGateNum9]

A known brand name for $35 over $500 for a Retrotink is a no brained!.. by the way Kaico make a PS1 PS2 compatible version to support lower resolutions like 240p.. hm all these so called smart t.v's don't seem very smart do they 😬 not only is my new Samsung t.v dumb, it's deaf also, bizarrely doesn't have a basic headphone jack built in.. anyways appreciate this, thanks 🌹

[@lockedine]

So what's the BIG flaw?

[@Trigger-xw9gq]

He stated it clearly in the video - that it won't play PS1 games.

[@TheDrunkenPL]

This adapter simply does not support 240p and it has problems understanding this signal.

[@Bluedahknight]

I got the kaico. It runs extremely hot after like 5 mins, screen has scan lines, screen shakes, textures and chart have jagger edge. Not very good. I'm getting a refund

[@jcw1569]

Why do all these reviews say modern TVs don't have old inputs, never seen a single TV without component and composte yet... Usually it needs a RCA to 1/8 inch adapter... But they have them...

[@adc_ax]

Where are you buying your TVs? :( 99% of new TVs in the US don't seem to have component inputs any longer - including mine Composite's there, but not component

[@jcw1569]

@@adc_ax are you sure there isn't a 1/8" (headphone) Jack that you plug a RCA adapter into with Green/Blue/Red plugs and shares audio with the composite input?

[@adc_ax]

@@jcw1569 there was no such adapter in the box + the manual doesn't mention such a use case, at the very least. FWIW it's a Hisense H9G (2020 model I think).

[@lordeilluminati]

because I saw many of them. LG TVs fortunately still have them but when I wanted to buy another Sony Bravia TV to replace mine it only had HDMI inputs.

[@MusouSteven]

I have component ports on my 4k tv but the picture is still awful.

[@captainthunderbolt7541]

I don't think you can play PS1 games via component cables.

[@thongquehanoi]

PS2 is Full Widescreen with full vertical HDMI

[@MightyistheRCGamer]

Why do you keep calling composite RGB composite is NOT RGB. RGB is an option that the PlayStation 2 gives you if you have RGB available which will only be available if you live in Europe all American TVs only use component. RGB is simply red green and blue how did you get composite which is yellow red and white confused red green and blue

[@SamuraiTacos1]

i am looking to update my ps2 setup on hdmi lol

[@SamuraiTacos1]

but sadly i want to play ps1 on my ps2 slim so if it doesn't work sadly i am sad face

[@krishjotsarai425]

@@SamuraiTacos1 try the bitfunx hdmi adapter it supports both ps1 and ps2 games

[@SamuraiTacos1]

@@krishjotsarai425 nice

[@bornGmE]

Ps1? To

[@limitlex6299]

PS1 doesn't work because PS1 games don't work with component signal (composite & RGB only)

[@christophsmaul5575]

that what you have the switch for dont you?

[@lostless00]

Actually component can do ps1 games. What it is is that most converters and modern digital TVs don’t understand the not quite normal 240p analog signal that ps1 games use over component. Either they treat it as 480i or just have no idea what to do with it. But old tube TVs that had component had no issue.

[@marcelfilz7989]

This is not accurate. RGB is not composite and component ist another thing. RGB is very similar to component in terms of picture quality. You should read about the signals, what they are, how they work and the differences between them before making such a video. RetroRGB is a great source for that.

[@DigitalCynics]

Perhaps I mispoke somewhere in the video idr as it's been a while since filming. I'm aware that RGB isn't composite. When referencing RGB, im referring to the output setting of the PS2 that gives either the options of Y Cb/Pb Cr/Pr or RGB. Thanks for watching, and the recommended reading. Cheers!

[@mandibiedermann2246]

@@DigitalCynics RGB is better then component, RGB in PS2 video output means for RGB scart that is for European TVs that have scart input, composite is the default video signal and work in both options Y Pb Pr and RGB

[@KrisVic91]

@@mandibiedermann2246 hmmm. Wonder could I get an rgb to hdmi adapter for my ps2.

[@mandibiedermann2246]

@@KrisVic91 yes you can find a bunch of adapters, just write RGB scart to HDMI

[@KrisVic91]

@@mandibiedermann2246 yeah I found one, thanks.

[@IxMADMANxl]

It’s not the best

[@Goji2428]

For 99% of people it is

[@IxMADMANxl]

@@Goji2428 your clueless 😂

[@noctsickversusTOBETOLD]

WHAT IS THE BEST FOR PS2 PLEASE TELL ME

[@fnmystical_ttv]

Does it work with all fat ps2 models