Scart to HDMI converter question

[brandonp514]

Hey guys,

I've brought up the subject on my old thread but I believe that this is deserving of its own thread. I asked Fudoh what he thought of the converter box I'm looking to get. He says he hasn't used this specific model but only the older obsolete model. I can still get that old model as well but this would fit me better because it has Svideo as well for my N64.

This is what I'm looking at:

Scart to HDMI converter:
http://cgi.ebay.com/SCART-RGB-Svideo-S- ... 691wt_1012

SNES Scart cable:
http://cgi.ebay.com/SNES-Fully-Wired-RG ... 103wt_1074

Basically I want to use this to hook up my SNES to my Zenith Plasma. Also I have an Svideo cable to hook up my N64. My TV does not have an SVideo input. Only Composite, Component, HDMI, and VGA. I'm on a budget and can not afford an XRGB and/or DVDO Edge. Trust me, I'd love one if I could get my hands on one.

I know that my TV looks great when playing PS1 games through my PS3 via HDMI so I'm hoping to get "comparable" results with this little device. I absolutely abhor the composite connection directly from my SNES to TV. It's not a pleasant experience.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

By using a S-Video cable with your SNES console, it's looks razor sharp compared to only using Composite Video. No dot crawl issues to contend with either if you do go the S-Video route. The general rule of thumb is to check the back of the newer HDTV monitors to make sure that they have all the necessary video inputs: composite video, S-Video, Component Video, HDMI, VGA and DVI (the more expensive USA region HDTVs will have all those listed inputs indeed).

Or you could check your local Craigslist listing for an older Sony CRT-based TV monitor (i.e. the Sony Wega TV monitors with S-Video are sharp).

TBH, going the RGB route (with an Japanese 21-pin RGB cable) with an SNES/SFC console piped through an XRGB upscan converter is awesome. Can't get any better than that period.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[brandonp514]

By using a S-Video cable with your SNES console, it's looks razor sharp compared to only using Composite Video. No dot crawl issues to contend with either if you do go the S-Video route. The general rule of thumb is to check the back of the newer HDTV monitors to make sure that they have all the necessary video inputs: composite video, S-Video, Component Video, HDMI, VGA and DVI (the more expensive USA region HDTVs will have all those listed inputs indeed).

Or you could check your local Craigslist listing for an older Sony CRT-based TV monitor (i.e. the Sony Wega TV monitors with S-Video are sharp).

TBH, going the RGB route (with an Japanese 21-pin RGB cable) with an SNES/SFC console piped through an XRGB upscan converter is awesome. Can't get any better than that period.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Thanks for the info.

Already gone the CRT route and I don't want a CRT again. Don't like geometry, convergence, noise, weight issues with them. I've had multitudes of CRTs on craigslist and don't like any of the ones I've gotten. All Sony Trinitrons from mid 90s to 2005.

My plasma plays my PS1 games through the PS3 via HDMI amazingly and I want something comparable to that for SNES. I have no S-Video inputs for my plasma. I have 2 composite, 2 component, and 3 HDMI. The RGB Scart to HDMI adapter is what I'm hoping for to add RGB to my SNES and output it on my HDTV scaled to 720p. I'm hoping the items that I'm looking at are the right fit for me.

[brandonp514]

Well guys I bought the adapter and cable. Should have them in the next few days. I'll give you an update on if they work or not and the performance from the converter.

[Strider77]

My plasma plays my PS1 games through the PS3 via HDMI amazingly and I want something comparable to that for SNES

You'll need a upscaler for that... the PS3 is doing the upscaling for you. That's why it looks good.

[brandonp514]

I've read Fudoh's webpage about upscalers and it lists the PS3 as having the best PS1 deinterlacing and upscaling PQ wise. The adapter I'm getting upconverts the signals as well to 720p or 1080p. The main benefit I'm getting is going from Composite video to Scart RGB. I just hope the device deinterlaces and scales better than my cheap plasma. We shall see. Even if it doesn't though, I gained RGB over composite which should dramatically help the PQ. It looks horrid on composite through my plasma. Can't wait to test it out.

[antron]

But the PS3 emulates PS1 games. Does that even count? How do you know it's not rendering the polys smoother?

[brandonp514]

Well it has options. One is for the smooth feature to be on and also to keep the aspect ratio or stretch out. Trust me, keeping smooth on and aspect ratio 4:3 is what you want. Otherwise its very pixelated. There's lag but it's not too bad. While we're talking about emulation, doesn't the PS2 emulate PS1 games as well?

[ZOM]

doesn't the PS2 emulate PS1 games as well?

Yeah, but even the PS2 is not all too ideal at it IMO. Personally I still use the PS1 to play those games, most of them just look better on it. That is, if you're not too keen on that "smooth" feature.

As for the PS3, PS1 games do lag quite a bit on my end. In fact I can set the PS3 to 480p, let the TV upscale and the input-lag feels pretty much the same as if i'd set the PS3 to 1080p and let it do the upscaling.
Anyways, having 50% of PS1 games as NTSC-J let's me ignore the PS3 option anyway. I might just as well hook a fancy looking HTPC on the TV and emulate the things if I feel the original hardware won't do.