PS2 to HDMI Converter MG3000

[werk91]

http://www.magrex.co.jp/mg3000/index.html

So there is this new "gadget".Price is quite cheap but I can't really get a honest opinion of how good is it in comparison to HD Box Pro.I found loads of reviews but the webpages were in japanese so I was mainly looking at pictures.So far I know that it supports PS1 games and output is 480i（720 x 480）.People seem to be saying that the headphone connector is too close to the HDMI port but that is not really a problem for me.From what I saw on some display's there are no black lines but they are present on others.That is pretty much all I got with Google translate.I was worried that because of it's size there won't be any space left for the power cable on PS2 Slim but then I saw this pic : http://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/images/fo ... 125759.jpg . Oh yeah there is also a usb cable for extra power or something ;D. If anyone here is thinking of getting one or has already tried it let me know please.

[Fudoh]

As far as I can tell the MG3000 is a just an A/D converter, much like the Neoya Wii HDMI Adapter. It does not upscale, so the comparison to the HDBoxPro doesn't really make sense.

In general the conversion from component to HDMI isn't too hard. There has been the LKV5000 from Lenkeng for some time now and it does a *really* good job in converting component to HDMI. If you check the descriptions from various products you'll see that there are converters without any upscaling and others which have upcaling.

By using such a converter you rely on your TV's deinterlacing for 480i content. The processing of HDMI is usually a bit better than the processing of component signals, but it won't make a huge difference.

The only interesting thing about the MG3000 is how 240p is handled, since the HDMI specs do not cover this resolution. If 240p is output as 480i on the other hand, some TVs should be able to show it, but then again why would you trade a progressive resolution for an interlaced one ?

There are also several TVs out there which cannot handle 480i through HDMI, but can only accept 480p and higher.

[Fudoh]

Just ordered one to give it a try....

[werk91]

Cool let me know what the results are =]
Actually I have the Wii HDMI adapter and I quite like it.I use a monitor with HDMI and I think it supports 480i because Chrono Trigger works without a problem (I think that game is 480i only) also every virtual console I have tried with this adapter worked.Also with that adapter I have tried both wii output modes 480i and 480p and on both all games working fine ( Wii,Gamecube and VC games ). But if you're saying that progressive resolution is better than interlaced I should probably stick with the HDBP.In general if it does the same job as the Wii HDMI adapter and I know that for sure I will probably buy it straight away...

[Fudoh]

might be a while. Ordered it from HK, so 2+ weeks probably.

If 480i works on your TV and you don't mind playing an original 240p title in 480i (e.g. Chrono Trigger), then the MG3000 might be good idea. The HDBox (and GBS8220) are basically solutions to display 240p at all, their quality isn't great. The HDMI way is different approach. Your TV's deinterlacing for 480i material is likely better than the HDBP's and the MG3000 would solve the 240p problem....

[werk91]

Well my Wii is a EU one so all of my virtual console games are PAL and if I remember right (I don't have the Wii with me right now) Chrono Trigger was one that only supported 60hz and PAL60 is 480i right ? That game looks gorgeous on my monitor with that adapter.There are really tiny black borders but the quality of the picture and the colors are just wow...

It will be good if the MG3000 improves the 240p experience but I am hoping that 480i/p wise (PS2 games) don't look worse than with the HDBP because I quite like how some PS2 games look on the HDBP.

[Overkill]

So, that new gadget worths the money or what?

[werk91]

I assume he hasn't received it yet.I am quite eager to know as well

[Fudoh]

still waiting for it. I have received a bunch of other component to HDMI converters in the meantime - with very mixed results. Not neccessarily in terms of quality, but quite a few claim that 480i are supported as well, but then only work in 480p.

[Overkill]

Better stay with PS3 60gb backwards compatibility then

[Fudoh]

It's a bit of a hassle if you want to play PS3 games via HDMI as well. PS2 games without native 480p support lag like hell if played through HDMI in 480p or higher.

[werk91]

And as far as I know ( my PS3 is slim ) not all PS2 games are supported and even the ones that are ,don't always work without glitches ,bugs and flaws... I am really hoping that this HDMI adapter turns out to be good

[Fudoh]

I had a launch PS3 with HW-PS2 support and in terms of compatibility it was pretty great.

From what I've tried so far, there's absolutely no reason to believe that the HDMI adapter is anything but absolutely flawless. I have the Wii model and I have a standalone converter box* (which both use the same chip) and they're great. I just have to remind everybody, that this is just a A/D converter and no deinterlacer, so - for example - if you try to connect a PS2 to a PC monitor using this, it will not work, as most PC monitors won't sync to 15khz through HDMI (or DVI).

The conversion quality itself is great and if you have a display which can handle the resolutions, then it's nice (if for any reason you can't or don't want to use component).


* the standalone box I have outputs 240p signals as 240p, so it's hardly compatible with anything. That's the only thing I'll be interested to check on the converter stick.

[werk91]

so - for example - if you try to connect a PS2 to a PC monitor using this, it will not work, as most PC monitors won't sync to 15khz through HDMI (or DVI).

What ?! I was planning on using it on a monitor.... this is my monitor : http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docu ... =c01182749

I have the Wii -> HDMI adapter stick and it works great with my monitor..ohh man, that's a shame...I guess I am stuck with the HDBoxPro

[Fudoh]

You said before that your monitor supports 480i (above when you talked about Chrono Trigger), so it's fine for you. Not so much for 99% of the the other monitor users though.

Also the majority of Wii games support 480p, while only a minority of the PS2 games do.

EDIT: the specs listed on the website you linked must be wrong, because it says there that the monitor only supports 24khz and higher, while you are feeding 15khz from your Wii when playing in 480i.

[Overkill]

Other option for PS2 will be a piece of sofware called "Graphics Synthesizer Mode Selector" to use with a component cable, or a home made vga cable. Look what i found in youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER_Om2MDdIc

[werk91]

Well I can't check for sure because my Wii is not with me but I am sure for this :
1. I haven't had any problems with any VC games on my wii with the HDMI adapter
According to this forum's topic NES games are with low rez and I've tried plenty :
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=49143
2. I have tried both display modes on my Wii (480p and 480i ) with the HDMI adapter and both worked fine without any problems with the picture on any game.


And I think that the specs for the monitor should be true ,because its the official website.. What if those figures given for the frequency range ( Horizontal scan range 24-82 KHz,Vertical scan range 48-76 Hz ) apply only for the VGA connection I am suggesting this because HDMI is a different type of connection right ? (being digital not analogue )

EDIT : I just remembered that the Wii HDMI adapter supposedly outputs in 720p or 1080p ( mine has a button to switch between the two) , what if it actually forces that and that's the reason it works... Shouldn't the PS2 HDMI converter basically do the same thing as well ?

[Fudoh]

Ok, I got the PS2 dongle today. I don't know why there is a USB connector in the first place. Maybe some PS2 models deliver less power on the A/V port than others ? Here on a PS2 slim (revision with external PSU) the dongle works without additional power through USB.

As suspected, it's a pure transcoder. Surprisingly it works with 480i on my Sony TV (surprisingly because the other component to HDMI converters I tried yet did not show any picture with 480i). Once I switch to 240p the screen goes dark though (unrecognized signal). If I connect the HDMI cable to my XRGB instead, it says 240p on the input, so 240p isn't converted to 480i and you can't play any PS1 games (or PS2 240p games) with it, unless you've got one of the few TVs or monitors which can actually display 240p through DVI or HDMI.

Qualitywise it's absolutely fine, 480p looks gorgeous, 480i looks as expected through the TV's processor.

This thing is about $10 cheaper than a universal component to HDMI converter and you save yourself the extra cables from the PS2 to the converter, on the other hand $10 more get you a standalone converter which can be used on many systems at the same time (Cube, Wii, XBox, PS2). None of these solve the 240p issue though.

[Fudoh]

EDIT : I just remembered that the Wii HDMI adapter supposedly outputs in 720p or 1080p ( mine has a button to switch between the two) , what if it actually forces that and that's the reason it works... Shouldn't the PS2 HDMI converter basically do the same thing as well ?

Then you don't have a simple component to HDMI converter like the Neoya, but one with integrated scaling. This means, whatever you set your Wii to, it gets always converted to 720p or 1080p (depending on the switch) .This explains why you don't have any problems on your setup.

Unfortunately the quality isn't good - just on a HDBoxPro level I would assume.

The PS2 adapter is a pure A/D converter (or transcoder). It does not change the resolution. If you want deinterlacing and scaling there are plenty of generic component to HDMI converters with scaling to 720p or 1080p.

[werk91]

In that case some PS1 games must be 480i as this guy has Tekken 3 working with the MG3000 :

http://ayasuke.exblog.jp/17866766/

I am back in the UK so I will test a few games on the Wii and see what the monitor shows for video input.This is my Wii to HDMI dongle:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leicke-KanaaN-W ... B006R5DFWW

It's a real shame that the MG3000 can't handle 240p though...

[Fudoh]

yepp, that's the one with the scaler.

Tekken 3 is 240p, so he's just lucky that his display "mistakes" 240p for 480i on the HDMI inputs.

[Overkill]

Any european website allready selling the MG3000? can't find any in the google search

[Fudoh]

plenty of relabeled ones on ebay.co.uk and ebay.de - just enter "PS2 HDMI".

[werk91]

So I tried a few NES games on my Wii and no matter what i set the console setting to (480p/480i/576i) there is this blackening of the screen when nothing is happening on screen.For instance if I move around in let's say Zelda everything is fine but if I stop,the second I do the whole screen gets a bit darker and stays that way until I start moving again.Not really sure why is this but I presume it shows that my monitor doesn't sync really well with low resolutions

[Fudoh]

I thought we cleared this up. There are no low resolutions ever reaching you monitor. Your Wii dongle has integrated scaling, so it's 720p all the time.... The blackouts you're experiencing is the dongle's internal scaler failing. I could imagine that it works better with 480i and 480p than with 240p.

[werk91]

I know that I am probably getting annoying but I really want to learn whether they're is point in me getting the PS2 to HDMI for 240p, the thing is that SNES games are supposed to be 240p right ? Because they work with the Wii dongle without any problems Any idea of another way I can test if the monitor will support 240p over HDMI

[Fudoh]

Because they work with the Wii dongle without any problems

once again: your Wii dongle outputs 720p *only*, no matter what your Wii is set to. If you like your Wii dongle, why not just get the PS2 HDMI dongle with integrated scaling as well ? It's just a few $ more than the MG3000.

[werk91]

Which is one is that ? Can you post a link of it

[Fudoh]

for example:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/TOP-PS2-zu-HDMI- ... 19d4ccdc76

Just go onto eBay or amazon in your country, enter "PS2 HDMI" and make sure it says scaling somewhere in the description.

[werk91]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PS2-to-HDMI-v ... 257458de74

Nothing in amazonuk but I found this on ebayuk , it says scaler in the product title.

" (2) Supported Video input Mode : 480i,480p,576i . "

I suppose that one is the same as the link you posted.Which means that this is different than the original MG3000 (the one you got ? )