HD Box Pro: cheap (and good) alternative to the XRGB-3

[drewmantrivia]

Say hdboxpro,
How does the hd box pro deal with its audio? Does it switch between the phono jacks and the mini jack? Or does it just tie them together? Also i bought my box at the start of last year. Is it possible to get my firmware updated and maybe get the audio color code fixed on the phono jacks? Can the firmware be done by myself? I see that you have the header points on the motherboard to access it. Could it done my me or do i need it send it in? Thanks!

[Endymion]

ok cool, I will see if I can find something like that, it's a 42lg55 from LG, I got it at a awesome price brand new for 499.99 My first HDTV, but like I said, on the TV it looks worse than that screen I posted, so you could be right I remember fooling with the settings and seeing a option like that so I'm going to check right now. If that's true, that probably means I have to set that off on my brothers Sony XBR tv too cause he has the same problem.

I just looked up your user manual. If you go to Picture setting, then Advanced, you have options for Noise Reduction, as well as Real Cinema. I would turn both of these off, RC probably only affects movies (2.3 pulldown) but better to be on the sure side. Fresh Contrast and Fresh Color on this TV will use an eye on your set to try to dynamically adjust the image for lighting, this is one of those "see if you like it or not" kind of things I guess but it bugs me and I always turn them off, Eye Care changes bright level for really bright images--all this kind of stuff is just processing your image attempting to present it to you in a nicer way. It usually works pretty well for film and video, especially considering so much content was made before HDTV technology and tends to look different on these sets but they are like taking a blender to your game images. Even when they look okay turned on, I still turn them off, I prefer letting the settings stand as I place them so I have no surprises.

Still not sure if this will help your exact problem, it would help if you could post a picture, but good luck.

[ravihpa]

Hi guys,

I've been through the whole thread, and I must say it's a little confusing to get all the data at once Anyways, I want your suggestion. I have a Dell 24" S2409 (16:9) Full HD Monitor, and I am interested in playing my Wii on it. Now I have 2 options, either the Vdigi Wii Cable or the HD Box Pro. I know Vdigi only does 480p, and that in HD Box Pro, I'll have the benefit of playing 480i games (GC, VC, and WiiWare), but I read that the picture quality of Vdigi cable is better than HD Box Pro when it comes to displaying 480p games. Is that true ? If yes, then is it noticeable ?

So all in all, what would your recommend me ? Any suggestion in this regards will be greatly appreciated.

Thanx a lot in advance. Desperately waiting for a reply

[hdboxpro]

Hi guys,

I've been through the whole thread, and I must say it's a little confusing to get all the data at once Anyways, I want your suggestion. I have a Dell 24" S2409 (16:9) Full HD Monitor, and I am interested in playing my Wii on it. Now I have 2 options, either the Vdigi Wii Cable or the HD Box Pro. I know Vdigi only does 480p, and that in HD Box Pro, I'll have the benefit of playing 480i games (GC, VC, and WiiWare), but I read that the picture quality of Vdigi cable is better than HD Box Pro when it comes to displaying 480p games. Is that true ? If yes, then is it noticeable ?

So all in all, what would your recommend me ? Any suggestion in this regards will be greatly appreciated.

Thanx a lot in advance. Desperately waiting for a reply

xxx cable MAYBE better than hdboxpro under 640 x 480 and 800 x 600 although I dont think so, Our manger have buy a xxx cable before developing HD BOX PRO, xxx cable is only suitable for 4:3 monitor which is under 17" mon, then our manager ask our development team to give him a solution to play his Wii/XBOX360 at a 16:10 20" LCD monitor and finally the first HD BOX PRO come true.

[Fudoh]

It depends on the scaling quality of your display. Set your Windows desktop to 640x480 and check what it looks like. I would expect the Vdigi cable to be visibly sharper as it's a transcoder where as the HDBoxpro always includes processing. Also check the input delay of your display. The HDBoxPro adds a delay on it's own which might kill the "Wii remote feeling". The VDigi doesn't add any more lag on it's own.

[ravihpa]

It depends on the scaling quality of your display. Set your Windows desktop to 640x480 and check what it looks like. I would expect the Vdigi cable to be visibly sharper as it's a transcoder where as the HDBoxpro always includes processing. Also check the input delay of your display. The HDBoxPro adds a delay on it's own which might kill the "Wii remote feeling". The VDigi doesn't add any more lag on it's own.

So how do I find out all this ? The lowest resolution I can go down to is 800 x 600. I remember when my computer boots up, it shows the Intel Startup logo at 640 x 480 and sometimes when I run checkdisc, it checks the disc before starting up windows, and that too runs at 640 x 480. It is a little fuzzy, but it's okay. Is that how Super Mario Galaxy or any other Wii game for that matter will look like ? This is so confusing

Also, how do I check the "input delay" of my display ? It has a VGA, DVI, and HDMI port, and I've been playing my Xbox 360 on this monitor via the HDMI @ 1080p perfectly without any problems. Am not sure whether it answers the input delay/lag thing, but you tell me.

So in the end, what would you recommend me ?

PS: Do check out this youtube video....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ch0ekwciOw

This guy has his Wii connected to his 24" Samsung via the HD Box Pro. Even though the Wii is set to 480p, the output resolution by the HD Box Pro is still set to monitor default at 1080p. The user explains that it doesn't make any difference in quality if HD Box Pro's output is set to 480p or the default monitor's 1080p. Please see the video and tell me.

I've waited so long to get something to connect my Wii to this monitor. Thank you so much for the help

Major Edit: I went ahead and posted these questions to the guy who posted the above mentioned youtube video (Prizm4), and here's what he has to say....

Re: About HD Box Pro...
I don't think the picture quality from the HD Pro could get any better unless the connection was actually digital (ie, DVI or HDMI). I personally did not have any issues with the quality whatsoever. In my experience, the Wii looks just as good on an LCD as it does connected to a TV. Probably better.

They make an interesting point about scale quality (LCD monitors scaling the resolution lower than their default setting). I don't think this is much of an issue these days. You said you had a Dell and from what I understand, the quality of Dell LCDs is excellent.
So I don't think this is a problem. Personally, I find laptop LCDs have the worst scale quality.

The other issue mentioned was a delay due to scaling the Wii resolution (640x480) to your actual monitor resolution (1920x1200).
I personally did not notice a delay with the HD Box Pro when scaling the image to 1920x1200. Nor did I notice a different in quality. However, you can set the HD Box Pro to scale to whatever you like, including 640x480. So if you're worried about any form of delay, then just set it to 640x480 just to be safe. Overall, I did not notice any delay.

At the end of the day, I think the choice just comes down to aspect ratio. If the aspect ratio is a concern, then get the HD Box Pro.
If you're not bother by the image being stretched, then get the VDigi cable, as I think this is the cheaper option.

One more thing I remembered, the Wii has a widescreen option in it's settings, so for games that support widescreen, I believe they will look fine even if you use the Vdigi cable. I'm not sure how non-widescreen games would look using the Vdigi. I don't know whether they would look stretched or not. You'd have to ask someone who has the Vdigi.

Either way, if you don't like the result, just put the HD Box / Vdigi up on eBay. There's plenty of people that will buy either unit off you.

So I've decided to go ahead with the HD Box Pro Will let you guys know how it looks

[emphatic]

I got my HD Box Pro today and hooked it up via component to my PS2. But the thing is I live in the EU and does have another set of prongs on for my wall outlets than on the power unit for the HD Box Pro. I "solved" this by trying a power unit I had lying around but that only outputs 4.5V or 6V as the closest. I tried running 4.5V, but the picture is really unstable, so I'm just gonna guess that these things are pretty sensitive about what power they get?

Can someone please verify that the power needs to be 5V, no more no less?

The games I tried (in my Xiong Ba Tri-sync cab with Wei-Ya monitor) were:
Gradius V (looked really nice)
ESPGALUDA (only worked in Yoko mode, but I knew this to be an issue with this box)
Mushihimesama (looked much better I think).

I'm gonna try and patch some games for 480P output and try them as well.

[Shelcoof]

I'd like to know as well

I too just bought a similar unit but with HDMI out. Same chipset apparently though from what I was told.

[Fudoh]

Just because it's using the same chip, don't assume it's using the same PSU...

[Shelcoof]

Just because it's using the same chip, don't assume it's using the same PSU...

I replied just in case I encounter any similar problems here with my box. I'm using the thread to keep me updated with any sort of help I may need. Even if its a different Box, some of the answers here could could be very helpful.

But your right though, I did assume that my box would be similar or better... I'm really hoping it at least performance similarly though :s.

Would be a big bummer if it didn't

[Fudoh]

I guess you can actually assume that it's the same quality, I was just refering to the PSU (power supply unit).

[emphatic]

I guess you can actually assume that it's the same quality, I was just refering to the PSU (power supply unit).

I have a solution now to test my unit with the original Japan (110-240V) power supply that outputs 5V, so I'm hopeful that the shaky picture will be all right now.

[keropi]

does this work OK with 50hz pal input? Let's say a PS2->component that outputs 576i/50hz... is the vga-out 50hz too or is it 60hz?

[KBZ]

I couldn't find my converter mentioned in this thread when I made a search so excuse me if it's mentioned already.

it's the one found at arcademvs.com, and you can see it in use here. I haven't tested the cga/rgb yet but the component works very well with DOJ through my vga crt. I did notice that the DM in KOF will cause a quick flicker though. It's a nice cheap rgb accepting alternative maybe. It wont get anywhere close to 1080p though and it's just a bare board.

[Shelcoof]

Hey guys

I just got a similar unit in but there is no remote. My unit inputs Component/Scart to HDMI. I"m wondering if a remote is required.

I'm assuming the remote controls these functions here listed on the HDbox official website.
"10. Adjustable brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, dark level, and motion level. Also keeps up to 5 settings for you to quickly switch for different games."

I'm a bit worried, that I may need a remote for specific settings.

btw I'm unable to use my Converter yet because the adapters and cables I want to use with hit hasn't arrived yet.

Hope some one can answer my questions.

edit: I checked the manual and official site and I guess there is no need for a remote.

Thanks
Jimmy

[GameCop]

This is a question for Fudoh...

On your website you mention:

Update (19 Dec. 2008): Since the introduction of the HDBoxPro in early 2008 a few clones using the exact same chip have shown up. Most notably probably the XCM "Megacool" VGA Box. It's slightly more expensive (around EUR 70), but has a sleeker design.

How did you find out the XCM 1080p Mega Cool VGA Box (according to Play-Asia, released June 15, 2008) uses the same chip as the HD Box Pro? I was reading the review for the XCM box and it wouldn't display the resolution like the HD Box Pro does. How did you determine the chip they both use is exactly the same? I'm just curious, as I find this to be very interesting, and there is a substantial price difference between both products.

If the performance of both products are exactly the same, then I see no point paying the extra few dollars for the XCM box. I just wanted to know how you determined it. Was the HD Box Pro first or the XCM box? Thanks!

EDIT: I also found something called the High Box Pro and the interface looks exactly the same as the HD Box Pro? Who's copying who? This is so confusing.

[Fudoh]

Who's copying who?

nobody's copying. Some chinese OEM made those deinterlacing/scaling chips available and several manufacturers built upscaling boxes upon them. Since the input/output design plus the firmware are custom, you'll find a wide variety, HDMI inputs and outputs, VGA, component, RGB/CGA on those intended for Arcade use. The output resolutions available are determined by the firmware used and programmed by the manufacturers. Buy anyway you turn it, the actual picture quality is only midly influenced by the surrounding design. This is why the picture quality is very much about the same on all the newer boxes. I tested a handful (incl. the original HDBoxPro and the XCM) and once the OSD is turned off you won't notice a difference.

First on the market was the HDBoxPro, but they missed the major selling points as they've only been available through direct mailorder whereas XCM and clones are available through major channels like Play-Asia.

By the way: I wouldn't worry about scaling capabilities. You'll hardly find any difference between outputting VGA or Fulll HD from those boxes. Maybe VGA will even look better (depending on the scaling of your display). It's the deinterlacing and initial processing that counts and this is basically the same on all those boxes.

[Khan]

ok I got paid and have been thinking about trying a hdboxpro out maybe somone can help

I have a supergun with scart output since the hdboxpro takes component do I have to buy something like this?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SCART-RGB-to-YUV- ... .m63.l1177

is there an alternative? help please!

[Fudoh]

If you want to use the the upscaler with a supergun, buy this PCB instead of a HDBoxPro:

http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ310159942806

The HDBoxpro isn't made for accepting RGB and you can run into troubles even if you convert to component before. The PCB above uses the same processing chip as the HDBoxPro, but accepts RGBs directly.

[Khan]

I dont see where I can input my scart cable on that board? because my supergun outputs to scart

[Fudoh]

Scart is just connector. Your signal is RGBs (R/G/B plus Sync) and there's a connector on the board for exactly this kind of signal.

[keropi]

I was browsing eBay and looked at the hdboxes again... this time almost all had this in description:

HD Game Box Component Ypbpr to VGA 1080P Converter CF1

Compatible for Multi Signal inputs: Video, S-Video, PC (bypass).
OSD control menu: 50-to-60HZ frame rate conversion, Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, hue control, video standard.
3DMotion-adaptive interfiled de-interlacing.

so I thought, wow maybe a new version is out that has this option to enable/disable 50->60hz frame rate convertion.... and I sent an email asking if a 576i/50hz signal can be made to a vga/50hz signal by disabling the conversion option in OSD menu. (also asked about the remote too)

I got this reply:

Thank you for inquiry!
There is no option to disable the convertion.
It can take 576i/50hz component and give vga/50hz, but there is no remote.
Regards, Susan

I find it a little hard to believe this since there is no option as this susan says, what do you think?

[Khan]

Thanks fudoh I've ordered it and at like £39 its got to be worth a punt! if it performs better than my xrgb2 then that will be for sale!

will let u know when it gets here

Khan,

[Shelcoof]

Can anyone confirm how much lag/delay there is with the HDBoxPro?

Thanks
Jimmy

[Fudoh]

around two and a half frames. It's a pain to measure those devices.....

[Shelcoof]

Yhaa I know...

I was testing my Box as well, and I'm assuming it doesn't go any higher than 2 frames of lag. My results calculated is roughly 1.1 frames and if I'm assuming my notebook monitor lags as well that would be 1.7 frames for the Box that I own.

Which is really good but for some reason I can't seem to be happy with my results for my Box.

[GameCop]

Has anyone tried the official PlayStation 3 Component AV Cable to connect the Playstation 2 to the HD BOX PRO?

I'm thinking of using this method, as I've read the cable works for the PS3 and PS2, and quality wise it should be best (without any drawbacks).

[Shelcoof]

I have a really cheap 5$ component cables for my PS2 and they work amazingly well.

[Khan]

Ok I recieved my upscaler pcb yesterday, I got two wires with it one that seems like it plugs in into the rgb connection and one in the power, so how do I go about connecting my scart output super gun to this thing?

(I'll post pics in a bit)

[Shelcoof]

Ok I recieved my upscaler pcb yesterday, I got two wires with it one that seems like it plugs in into the rgb connection and one in the power, so how do I go about connecting my scart output super gun to this thing?

(I'll post pics in a bit)

You got an HDBox Pro? Or some other device?