Rca to hdmi?

[DannyBoii]

Ive had a couple bad experiences trying to find the above mentioned converter. I want to play things that use rca composite cables on my hdmi tv without breaking the bank. I tried buying from amazon and my local game shop and i learned that some companies make product that just looks like it converts when really it doesnt do anything. I dont remember the name of the company; this was before covid. If anyone knows a base i can start with or of a reliable converter id appreciate it. Thanks!

[saintlouisbagels]

You might need to give us more information.

From the looks of it on Amazon there are many, many dozens of options that work.

[Needfuldoer]

Your TV doesn't have a composite input, even in a headphone-style connector or as the green plug on the component video pulling double duty?

 

The cheapo adapters work well in my experience. You might have to set your TV scaling so it doesn't try to stretch the 4:3 picture to 16:9, but that's all. Technology Connections has a good explainer.

 

 

This conversion path is a rabbit hole thanks to retro gaming, so there are scan converter options galore. From affordable, semi-do-it-yourself projects all the way up to scalers like the RetroTink.

 

But I think old broadcast equipment is also a viable option that almost nobody talks about. If you're lucky enough to have the opportunity to snag a frame sync, BlackMagic Broadcast Converter, or AJA FS1-X at a reasonable price, jump on it. Even if the machine you end up with only has an SDI output, like an AJA FS1 or old Leitch frame sync, take it. An SDI to HDMI adapter costs less than $50, and all of those converters will do some processing to clean up the analog signal. (Most notably time base correction, which fixes the unsteady picture you get from consumer tape players, and a good comb filter, which eliminates chroma dot crawl.)

[DannyBoii]

48 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

You might need to give us more information.

From the looks of it on Amazon there are many, many dozens of options that work.

Im looking for the most simple and frugal solution. I wasnt sure if anyone could suggest one they used. My tv is a tcl roku 55". Im planning on buying a ps2 to run my library of old school games on.

[Needfuldoer]

20 minutes ago, DannyBoii said:

Im looking for the most simple and frugal solution. I wasnt sure if anyone could suggest one they used. My tv is a tcl roku 55". Im planning on buying a ps2 to run my library of old school games on.

If your TV has component inputs, get a component AV cable for the PS2.

 

Or get a backward-compatible PS3 and just use HDMI.  

[saintlouisbagels]

The most frugal option is laptop, emulation and ROMs

[B16CXHatch]

For specifically PlayStation 2, you can get one of those PS2 A/V to HDMI adapters. It plugs straight into the A/V port of the PS2 and has an HDMI out:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MYVF61Y

 

I have one and used it some. It works reasonably well. I don't use it on the regular though since I have a CRT that I use with S-Video.

 

Also, there are other similar adapters out there for other consoles, such as this one for SNES, N64, and GameCube:

 

https://www.amazon.com/yoxxzus-Adapter-Converter-Cable-Gamecube/dp/B0BW8N6X48

 

If you just plan on sticking to Composite, they're pretty much all going to be crap. You'll get slightly better results if you use Component or S-Video and grab a converter for them, but then you'd have to buy new cables and you may as well buy the previously mentioned direct adapters.