HDMI to component CRT, is there a non-powered solution?

[JBC]

Sorry in advance for all the dumb questions. Look at it as your time to shine, Shmups forum

I'm interested in picking up a modern mini PC for playing MAME on my CRT TV. There are HDMI to component adapters, but I suspect these will only work for HDTVs with component inputs as CRT's typically only support 240/480 & I doubt the old TV would automatically downscale the image.

A few of the mini PC models I was looking at feature DisplayPort & VGA outs as well. I've noticed DisplayPort looks a lot like the output slot my Wii component cables fit into. Could I possibly just use a set of Wii components? This also seems doubtful because modern PC's aren't typically equipped for analog output.

If there isn't a non-powered solution, then what is the best converter I could buy? Do I need to make sure the mini PC's graphics card can support 240/480?

How are the PC's in MAME cabinets typically hooked up to their CRT's?

Thanks!

[BazookaBen]

Yeah, displayport is in another universe from the Wii connector.

But if your mini-PC has AMD-powered graphics, you can probably run 15khz off the vga port. Then you just need a component trancoder.

The HDFury 2 can do component, and can be powered by HDMI if the HDMI devince puts out enough power, which most don't

[Sid]

But if your mini-PC has AMD-powered graphics, you can probably run 15khz off the vga port. Then you just need a component trancoder.

The HDFury 2 can do component, and can be powered by HDMI if the HDMI devince puts out enough power, which most don't

Confused. You mention VGA output, but then HD Fury - which will do component, but only via HDMI (By the way, did you end up working out if your HD Fury can carry lower resolutions than 480p? From memory, I think I found that my HD Fury 4 can do 480i, but only if outputting hdmi, which very much reduces it's usefulness in that regard).

There seems to be the suggestion that some AMD cards did YPbPr via a mini din connector, and came with a breakout cable. Maybe that's worth looking into.

[creamygarlicdip]

yah there use to be a fair amount of video cards that did component output with breakout cable. I used to have a nvidia 8500gt that did s-video and component, i regret giving it away now. It was fun for using snes emulators and playing on my 27" crt tv.

[BazookaBen]

Confused. You mention VGA output, but then HD Fury

I was mentioning them separately. I know for sure that most recent AMD cards can do 15khz over VGA. So no HDMI necessary, just a VGA>component transcoder. Even a CSY2000 should work.

But, if HDMI or DVI is the only connection your PC has, then you can try the HDFury 2. I recently tried using my HDFury Nano GX with a GTX 1080 at 15khz, and the only way I got stabe picture was to quintuple the horizontal pixel count from 320 to 1600 (so 1600x240), then I used GPU scaling to set 320x240. I'm guessing the 1600 horizontal pixels raised the pixel clock high enough to make everything work

I'm not sure if that was the Nano GX limitation or the graphics card limitation, I'd have to test with more configurations

EDIT: And yeah, if you're only going to be using this PC for MAME, then you should consider getting an ATI 4000 series or earlier GPU, since they have component/s-video output. And I'm pretty sure you can create custom 240p resolutions with the right tools.

[Guspaz]

Are you sure that those older cards support direct component/s-video output? AFAIK most (all?) cards with s-video output have a mandatory scaler step between the GPU frame buffer and the TV encoder, making it impossible to directly drive the output like that.

[BazookaBen]

Are you sure that those older cards support direct component/s-video output? AFAIK most (all?) cards with s-video output have a mandatory scaler step between the GPU frame buffer and the TV encoder, making it impossible to directly drive the output like that.

Maybe. I seem to remember reading that someone had achieved 240p on the component output. I could be wrong though.

There are multiple resolutions supported by the component output (1080i, 720p, 480i, etc) so I would hope you could add more with the right software.

[Guspaz]

Component maybe, but s-video only supports one resolution (480i), so videocards would just take whatever resolution you were displaying and scale it to 480i for output. I suspect that component output is a different story since it has more in common with VGA than s-video.

[JBC]

It's looking like the HDFury 2 is my best option so far.

I'm not really looking to do any tinkering or swapping of video cards. I'd imagine most of the latest mini PC's would make that difficult due to space constraints & shells that wouldn't have ports for things like S-video.

The idea is to be slightly OP, compact, & quiet. I don't want to devote any more than one power outlet to it & it should quickly boot directly to a nice front-end for MAME. Basically a consolized PC dedicated to classic arcades for my retro gaming cabinet. Once that's all proper I'll order a couple of wireless fight sticks & call it a day.

[WelshMegalodon]

Aren't wireless sticks generally laggy? You're probably better off with something wired.

And please don't buy an X-Arcade stick.

[BazookaBen]

HD Fury 2 might not work if it doesn't support low pixel clocks and/or you can't edit your video timings to quadruple or quintuple the horizontal pixel count.

If your mini-pc only has integrated intel graphics, you more than likely will not be able to run 320x240.

[JBC]

Oh, I'm not a fan of the X-Arcade look. There are a lot of options out there so I'm sure I'll find something. Probably needs to be wireless because I plan on running the mini PC to two displays - the CRT & HDTV on the other side of the same wall. It's so company can sit comfortably in a recliner while playing.

I never buy without researching so hopefully I can minimize the lag.

Oh, & thanks for the heads up BazookaBen. I'll def make sure it's capable of lower resolutions before buying.

You guys are really a great help, thank you!