Video Converter Help

[indierespawn]

Hey everyone! I am new here!

I am looking for some help with video upscalers or line doublers. First I will go into whats going on with my current situation. I am in production for a new YouTube channel called Retro Battle Challege and we hit a bit of a snag when it comes to video recording. I was trying to do everything as much as I can through Svideo. the original NES i have obviously cant do svideo so im running AV. The SNES i have though that I am doing through Svideo is SUPER jankey. so I tried 3 other converter boxes all the same result. SO in my thinking maybe its the cable so I bought 2 different Svideo cables and one is even hand made and bam still the same result. Whats going on is there are these weird streaks and they go across the whole screen.

I am at my wits ends with this and I am trying to find a way to get the best video recording quality on a budget. I know theres the Framemeister and right now thats on preorder and I am wanting to launch my channel next month. I did see a XRGB -3 and i dont know if thats as good or worse than the Mini. Those options ill keep open but their prices are throwing me off .

I am very interested in the OSSC but like the Framemeister its not in stock. SO i am at a loss at what I can do .

I am thinking of going to the RGB route but I am hearing those RGB converters on amazon are trash and add lag or they arent real RGB. If anyone can give me some ideas on what to do to get the best video quality for the price without spending 300+ that would be amazing! I am new to the world of upscalers and line doublers and I just want a solution that will work .

Thank you guys so much for your time!

PS if it helps I am using the Elgato HD60 which is only hdmi in/out.

[gray117]

http://www.hazard-city.de/ <get knowledge here...

... for svideo ... I'd just probably just hold out for a Framemeister for the simplest one stop solution.

...but use fudoh's amazing site and you might maybe consider some other alternatives, or go about things a bit differently.

If you're worried about lag - consider splitting your signal - playing svideo on a crt tv and then recording seperately via a scaler that upscales with the picture decently (and allows you to ignore the lag).... this may well increase your options assuming you can solve your streakiness...

About snes issue specifically - got a pic?

[indierespawn]

Yeah Im thinking I might have to save up and just record standard AV for a while.

I dont have a pic on hand of it but Ill get you one when i get home tonight.

I thought about splitting the signal either! good call! Ill give the site a good look over as well, maybe theres something there that can be a good compromise.

I did find something called a SLG In A Box but as far as I know it only outputs to VGA so if I do that route then Id have to use a VGA to HDMI converter and even then I dont know if the Elgato can read that signal.

I did read that DVD Recorders that have the upscalers arent that good either. Has anyone used one and is it worth trying to find one at a goodwill or other thrift shop?

Side Note:

For anyone who watches retro gaming channels, does the game quality affect your enjoyment of the video? I dont want to do any emulation and want to play on real hardware with real carts (as much as possible) and if the video is 1080 60 fps but the game footage is kinda bleh since its composite will just the commentary keep ya around or would u want ultra clear game footage? I know its kind of an open ended question but I really am curious because if game footage crutsyness doesn't matter then whats the point of all this lol.

Just curious.


Thanks!

[gray117]

I personally don't watch a lot of them, but in lieu of other opinions I think people do appreciate the effort that's taken to play originals, BUT I wouldn't say it's a turn-off to not have original footage. Especially if it means having a not so good picture. I'd imagine the majority that do take the time/cost/effort to play originals also put a fair amount of cost into doing it the rgb+scaler way too... ...I'd probably suggest doing it the way you enjoy - that'll be the only way you're going to want to keep doing your production after all.

It might depend on context - anything focused on scores or (non tool assisted) speed-runs may be best done on original hardware for accuracy. I think anything nostalgic always benefits from having the actual products shown... But the actual game footage? ... I think you'd be fine to do however you think looks best. If your doing some kind of review/commentary/presentation, the quality of that will likely be more important than the exact footage.

Whatever method you use just make sure aspect ratio is about right. Again nothing to get too worried about, no need for pixel perfection imho, just don't do the obviously 4:3 stretched to widescreen thing - that is the one thing I do hate no matter what the footage is of.

On the technical front, just read fudoh's site - it includes the slg in a box as well as other variants that make use of that same scaler. You'd still need an rgb or component signal to begin with, and the slg part of the box is simply to add scanlines... which you could do in post if you wanted (unless streaming?). You can always daisy chain something like the slg in a box's vga to a hdmi converter... some such as the gefen vga-dvi scaler plus maybe a cool choice (but again you'll need to test this output with your recorder, and costs climb unless you can score one cheap 2nd hand)... again fudoh's pretty much got it all in there.

There's a reason why the framemeister is often recommended - scalers have generally been the preserve of broadcasters/film buffs... neither of whom generally need to worry about lag too much... nor cost... both of whom tend to favour a smoother picture, and with softer edges, than us pixel lovers. Thus there are few devices that are designed for our niche area of interest - devices whose complexity, and one-off costs, tend to spiral the more you expect them to cope with - especially if you're about minimising lag and the chain of devices you're using.

Unless you need to avoid input lag, and put a fair amount of cost/effort into getting things just right, your efforts may ultimately be a slight waste of time - and achieve not much more than the regular scaler in your tv would... or dvd recorder (which unless someone can point out a specific model is unlikely to be of any great use for the same reasons).