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

[Lefteris]

Hi
I'd like to ask what are the differences between HD BOX PRO v1 and v2? I got mine in June 2009, is it version 1 or 2?
If I have v1, is it worth to buy v2?
Thank you.

[SteveR]

I recently got the HDBoxPro to connect a Wii to a monitor. This unit doesn't seem to work, although I am pretty sure I've got everything set up correctly.

1. Wii set to 480P output.
2. Using the Nintendo component cable.
3. Tested that the above works by connecting to component input on HD television.
4. Connect the component cable to HDBoxPro.
5. Connect the HDBoxPro VGA output to monitor.
6. Get "No Signal" and very occasionally a fleeting un-synched image of the Wii menu (for 1 - 2 seconds at a time).

I sent an email to HDBoxPro "support" and "info" addresses but both get rejected as "Mailbox full"!

The site I bought the box from (suntekstore.com) has been very unresponsive.

Can anyone help with this!?!?

thanks,
Steve

[fagin]

What output resolution do you have for the HDBOXPro. Whatever it's set to, you need to check your TV will accept that specific resolution.

[SteveR]

Thanks for the response. I am hooking it up to a computer monitor, so it will allow many resolutions. Anyway, I tried setting the HD Box to every available resolution and it still doesn't work.

[werk91]

Has someone got any idea what box the HDBox Pro comes in now ,because I got one of someone who claims the he bought it from the official site three weeks ago. There is one thing though... the item came in box A rather than box B (the one that is on the picture in the official website)
A :
Box A
B:
Box B

I asked him why is that and he said that he was surprised about it as well...

I am scared that I may have a copy unit and not the original product..Is there any way to tell ?
PS1 games work (they show as 480i) but there are always black lines , and I have tried several NTSC games , my PS2 is NTSC as well.
there is also some wobble on text on some PS1 games but it is only noticeable from really up close.What I can't get over is how this person has a full screen with no black lines on MGS3 (which is a PS2 game :O) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4PFy0QcGds

and I have black borders on everything... no matter what aspect ratio or resolution I choose...
I suppose it could be because of the monitor ( HP w2207h 1060x1050 native res which is supported from HDBoxPro) but I somehow doubt it..

Is there any point in trying with different VGA cable or PS2 component cable ( mine is a generic one that is for 360 and Wii as well) ?

Thanks in advance.

[Fudoh]

Wanna see the paypal receipt of my payment ? C'mon...

The guy in the video has fullscreen because he has applied overscan on his monitor. PS2 only has 448 active lines of video, so you will end up with heavy underscan on EVERY processor unless you have an adjustable overscan control on either the processor or the TV. Doesn't matter if you have a $50 HDBox or a $500 Framemeister.

[werk91]

Sorry I wasn't really sure if the problem was in the source.I couldn't find any stretch or zoom in function on my monitor.I guess I can probably look for a smaller LCD that has a stretch function ,because I want to get rid of those black bars...

[Fudoh]

As suggested via email before, I would simply stay on the watch for an affordable scaler. If you were to find an iScan HD or somthing similar you'll get full overscan control, no matter what your monitor supports.

[mchay]

I'll sell you a DVDO ISCAN HD in a couple of weeks for around 120€ - that would probably perform better than your current solution

[werk91]

Thanks a lot but unfortunately I am a student at present

[Tigershark]

Could someone answer a few (probably basic) questions about this box please?

I've started using it again for this years STG with my PS2 copy of EspGaluda.

I've been playing with it on my Samsung Monitor in YOKO and just have not been that happy with the picture quality and have been mucking around with the settings constantly finally settling on 640x480 Full. I came back to this thread today and noticed that this game was 240p in TATE and so played the game like that and BINGO! Sharper picture at 640x480 and much smoother. A totally different and very pleasant gaming experience.

So the question is, why is this the case? Can someone explain to somebody who is not hugely technically minded.

[Fudoh]

That's because of the game's internal pixel mapping in yoko mode. The Game itself is running at approx. 320x240. If yet the game to tate that's the same resolution the system does output. But if you use yoko. The 240x320 image gets mapped onto a 720x480 interlaced image, which not only involves the usual interlacing problems, but also resizing, bluring and filtering.

If you input 480i (or 480p) and set the HDBP to 480p output, at least the vertical resolution doesn't get resized, so you're not losing any detail in the progress.

[Tigershark]

I see. So setting the movement number to 0 on TATE in this mode makes the picture clearer so that is changing it to 480p?

[Fudoh]

the movement slider actually disables the motion adaptive deinterlacing, so 30Hz effects in 240p titles (e.g. the drop shadows under the enemy ships in ESPGaluda) are treated correctly.

[Whitesnake]

Apologies if this has been asked before but is it possible to connect the SyncStrike to the VGA in on the HDBox Pro?

This would essentially make it work like the GBS 8220.

[Fudoh]

no.

[Whitesnake]

Thanks for the quick reply Fudoh.

Has there been any improvements on the budget scaler scene in the last year?
There seems to be so many out there and so little information on them, Especially those
ubranded models.

[Fudoh]

I would tend to say that they've gotten worse. More generic processing, less settings. Seems like there's just a single processor out there which is used for everything from $30 to $300.

[ryu]

seems like at least some models shipped in spring 2012 are not compatible with the wii. if they haven't done a new revision since then, this might still be the case with newly ordered models of the hd box pro.

people interested in buying this for use with a wii might want to be careful.

[DSatoshi]

Those buying this in general should be careful.

After about 2 years of hearing about the HD Box Pro; through months of research, Google, Hazard City, Smash Boards, Shoryuken, and even here at Shmups, I've wanted one of these things to make my Wii and PS2 look like they did on my CRT TV. I currently have a 42PJ550 LG Plasma (a wonderful TV *hugs*) and after hooking up my last-gen consoles, I wanted nothing more to enjoy the full glory of my PS2 and Wii back catalogs in the best way possible without murdering my wallet.

Today, my HD Box Pro arrived in the mail (after ordering it from the official site) and like a kid on Christmas morning, I ran from my door to my living room and ripped it open, set it up, and tested my Wii. And guess what?

"no signal"

...maybe I'm doing this wrong. *changes Wii settings, goes through every possible HD Box Pro resolution*

"no signal"

*tests out the PS2 in the exact same way*

"no signal"

*spends the next 2 hours looking for a solution*

Oh, look at that. The only other person in the universe that has the same problem as me is SteveR; the guy a few posts above me, who details (to a tee) the exact same issue I have with my HDBP. No signal, scrambled picture for a few seconds; sure, the HDBP menu looks flawless as ever and changes size with every resolution change, but the menu's only so entertaining. Ditto for the PS2. Also, the e-mails bouncing back when trying to contact tech support? Yep, that's still happening too. I can't even send the thing back to get it fixed or get a replacement. I am so disappointed right now. -_-

If anyone has suggestions... ANYTHING; other good budget boxes with decent correspondence, a way to contact the HK office at hdboxpro.com, soldering of the internal board, shoving it in the freezer overnight... please let me know. It's a glorified paperweight at this point. And for the sake of werk91's research, mine came in a "Box A", and again, it was ordered from the official site.

The reason I'm posting this here is because SteveR's the only person on the internet (yes the entire internet) to outline this issue and having been affected by it myself, I feel this is the right place to a) bring awareness of newly-shipped malfunctioning HD Box Pro units as of February 2013 and their very non-exisent customer service, and b) ask for help from a community that might be able to actually help me.

From what lurking I've done here as research for upscalers, I would also like the thank you guys here at Shmups. Your in-depth discussions about this stuff have educated me to no end and I appreciate it. Thanks for your time and consideration.

[Heisenberg]

Hello,

I was wondering if the HD Box Pro would work well with my computer monitor, which is a Dell UltraSharp U3011; it's a 30inch screen with a 2560 x 1600 resolution and 16:10 aspect ratio. If for any reason it would not, do you guys have know any alternative to the HD Box Pro that would do the job for a similar price ?

Thanks for help!

[Jambolangus]

I've been using the hd box pro and slg3000 with my genesis all day. It works perfectly. When I use it with me Snes however, I get this really nasty jumpy picture. Some video here.

http://youtu.be/gANOR4iXQP4

Both consoles are connected through scart to a scart switch. Then a scart to yuv (component) converter. That goes in to the component in of the hd box pro and the VGA out of that goes into the slg3000 then into the tv.

The snes looks great when I plug in the scart to component straight into the tv. I also tried composite and that works fine too.

Anybody ever seen this before?

[raz123]

Does the HD Box work with 50hz PAL games? Also what kind of cable do i need for the output? Male VGA cable on both ends, 1 end connects to the Box, 1 end to the TV?

Thanks!

[raz123]

Ok, i got the HDBP anyways. The unit works fine, even though no matter how much i change output resolutions, my game looks exactly the same. My HDTV supports pretty much all resolutions up to 1080p, and i've tried from 640x480 to 1920x1080, but i can't seem to notice any differences... Am i even supposed to notice such resolution differences?

[mmortal03]

Those buying this in general should be careful.

After about 2 years of hearing about the HD Box Pro; through months of research, Google, Hazard City, Smash Boards, Shoryuken, and even here at Shmups, I've wanted one of these things to make my Wii and PS2 look like they did on my CRT TV. I currently have a 42PJ550 LG Plasma (a wonderful TV *hugs*) and after hooking up my last-gen consoles, I wanted nothing more to enjoy the full glory of my PS2 and Wii back catalogs in the best way possible without murdering my wallet.

Today, my HD Box Pro arrived in the mail (after ordering it from the official site) and like a kid on Christmas morning, I ran from my door to my living room and ripped it open, set it up, and tested my Wii. And guess what?

"no signal"

...maybe I'm doing this wrong. *changes Wii settings, goes through every possible HD Box Pro resolution*

"no signal"

*tests out the PS2 in the exact same way*

"no signal"

*spends the next 2 hours looking for a solution*

Oh, look at that. The only other person in the universe that has the same problem as me is SteveR; the guy a few posts above me, who details (to a tee) the exact same issue I have with my HDBP. No signal, scrambled picture for a few seconds; sure, the HDBP menu looks flawless as ever and changes size with every resolution change, but the menu's only so entertaining. Ditto for the PS2. Also, the e-mails bouncing back when trying to contact tech support? Yep, that's still happening too. I can't even send the thing back to get it fixed or get a replacement. I am so disappointed right now. -_-

If anyone has suggestions... ANYTHING; other good budget boxes with decent correspondence, a way to contact the HK office at hdboxpro.com, soldering of the internal board, shoving it in the freezer overnight... please let me know. It's a glorified paperweight at this point. And for the sake of werk91's research, mine came in a "Box A", and again, it was ordered from the official site.

The reason I'm posting this here is because SteveR's the only person on the internet (yes the entire internet) to outline this issue and having been affected by it myself, I feel this is the right place to a) bring awareness of newly-shipped malfunctioning HD Box Pro units as of February 2013 and their very non-exisent customer service, and b) ask for help from a community that might be able to actually help me.

From what lurking I've done here as research for upscalers, I would also like the thank you guys here at Shmups. Your in-depth discussions about this stuff have educated me to no end and I appreciate it. Thanks for your time and consideration.

Did you ever figure out what was wrong with yours?

Edit: I did finally get mine second hand off of eBay. It was stated by the seller that he originally ordered it direct from the official site, though I don't know when this was. Anyway, it came in Box A, and it has so far given me no problems. It seems as if you guys just got duds.

[Rock Man]

The XRGB-3 is a complicated little beast. At times it can be a pain with my TV but most of the time runs like a dream. Thing is I've been noticing a little bit of blinking here and there with SCART oriented sources (Playstation consoles, Neo CD, etc.) then again when I connect a console that supports both SCART and component (PS2. modded MVS) to the XRGB-3 it cuts out the blinking. But the picture noise is so visible you'd think there were an earthquake.

Which begs the question, is there a go-between device I could use on the 3 that would clean-up the picture noise? I've got the CMVS linked to D-Terminal (XRGB-3). I already have the SLG 3000 chained up to the XRGB but I wouldn't mind another source link. At first I wanted to just use the Framemeister to connect my NeoGeo then I discovered it doesn't take my NG in D-Terminal (tried it on my friends Framemeister... mines is coming through the mail). So I'm stuck using the XRGB on this SNK hardware. My experience at least with this TV - the blinking occurs in SCART where there are white flashes, but when it's in Component it's completely stable. What are your suggestions on a 3rd device?

Note - I also had a SCART cable ordered for this thing but I'm not sure whether it will circumvent blinking. Regardless I await it's arrival.

[Fudoh]

wrong thread, hmm ?

The dropouts on the Mini can be cured by altering the JP21's input termination (and readjusting the brightness instead). Or you add a sync stripper to your RGB cable. Noise level from a PS2 will be *much better* on the Mini. If want to reduce it to nearly zero switch to RGB.

For your sources it doesn't make much sense to keep both processors. The Mini should easily replace the XRGB-3. No idea why your MVS didn't show up through component, but then again RGB should be better anyway. Why transcode a signal when you could it's native form as well ?

[Rock Man]

wrong thread, hmm ?

The dropouts on the Mini can be cured by altering the JP21's input termination (and readjusting the brightness instead). Or you add a sync stripper to your RGB cable. Noise level from a PS2 will be *much better* on the Mini. If want to reduce it to nearly zero switch to RGB.

For your sources it doesn't make much sense to keep both processors. The Mini should easily replace the XRGB-3. No idea why your MVS didn't show up through component, but then again RGB should be better anyway. Why transcode a signal when you could it's native form as well ?

%$#@! I can't believe I just did that! I thought I was posting in the XRGB-3 thread. That's what I get for not using my reading glasses (starts punching himself in the face continually)

As per the mini yeah I got a slightly better experience using it coupled with a sync stripper in the SCART cable. Ultimately it didn't completely fix the problem I still got dropouts. However I did not try readjusting the brightness level, nor did I know about the Mini's input termination. I will attempt it soon as the Meister arrives on my doorstep. I would've connected the PS2 to D-Terminal anyway since it eliminates blinking but you're right about RGB being better. If I could stay in the SCART zone that would be ideal. I will apply your method on the input term and brightness level and hopefully it will solve my blinking problem on SCART. If not it's Component/DT all the way for my TV on the PS2 side of things.

The only reason why I'm stuck on Component NeoGeo for now is I ordered the machine from Analogue Interactive. Chris was on major back order and it took like 9 weeks to get the console, Component leads and S-Video but he owes me a SCART cable. So for the time being I'm using Component. It's shocking learning this display won't do the CMVS Component at the Framemeister's HDMI level but the XRGB-3's VGA will allow for it. Only problem there is NOISE.

EDIT: Any chance we can carry this convo over to the actual XRGB-3 thread? You can respond there if you like.

[Fudoh]

nor did I know about the Mini's input termination.

sorry, my mistake, meant to write XRGB-3 there. On the Mini you should not have problems and if you adjusting the sync level setting should fix them.

It's shocking learning this display won't my CMVS to do Component at the Framemeisters HDMI level but the XRGB-3's VGA will allow for it. Only problem there is NOISE.

you get noise using a MVS as a source ? That can't be. The MVS's RGB signal as clean as it gets - really perfect. If you get noise with the component output, then there's something wrong with the built-in transcoder. And noise, no noise, component has to work on the Mini as well - I would really talk to Chris about this. I love his work, but he's asking a premium and quality of the interiors has to match this premium as well - not just the exteriors.

[Rock Man]

I tried adjusting input termination under XRGB-3 many times, doesn't seem to do anything for the Playstation 1 or 2.

I get noise using my MVS when it's hooked up to D-Terminals XRGB-3... I would very happily connect the CMVS in regular Component. Too bad this TV set rejects it in it's raw form. I'm not sure if it's the transcoder I figured the XRGB-3's noise problem when Component is on. I don't get this problem with SCART/JP21, S-Video, VGA (Dreamcast).

I would hope Chris did his job on the transcoders - I'd be very upset to find out I'm not getting the most out of my CMVS.