Atari 2600 To HDMI

[Defunct]

Hello, i recently purchased an atari 2600, and am looking for a way to convert from what im dubbing "the shitbox¨ (below) to hdmi. any help appreciated!

 

(the picture above is not my actual switchbox, but aside from having far less rust its exactly the same)

 

if it helps i have the 4 switch model (example shown below)

EDIT: if anyone has any old Laptops, pcs, terminals, or consoles from 1970-1999 they are interested in selling just pm me

Thanks, all help appreciated!

-Acrain7

[Alexzz_]

is it a proprietary connector or some kind of standard? if it is a type of standard connector you might be able to find a converter for it.

[Defunct]

1 minute ago, Alexzz_ said:

is it a proprietary connector or some kind of standard? if it is a type of standard connector you might be able to find a converter for it.

first of, im not a genius whatsoever so this picture will have to do

thats the cable it has, an ancient RF video-audio combo... i just bought coaxial adapters for it test it out, could that be of some use?

[Monkey Dust]

It's a standard connector, but from years and years ago. This video might help;

In short, best to get a old CRT.

[Alexzz_]

30 minutes ago, Acrain7 said:

first of, im not a genius whatsoever so this picture will have to do

thats the cable it has, an ancient RF video-audio combo... i just bought coaxial adapters for it test it out, could that be of some use?

i found this webpage, might be helpful

https://atariage.com/howto/connect.html

[Defunct]

37 minutes ago, Monkey Dust said:

It's a standard connector, but from years and years ago. This video might help;

In short, best to get a old CRT.

the problem with CRTs is that they can be quite bad for your eyes, and either way the point was to get it working with the TV, not having to buy a whole new one!

[Monkey Dust]

There are a number of Coaxial RF to HDMI adapters available, but the issue is how much lag they introduce. A dedicated retro gaming community might be able to suggest a gaming friendly adapter.

[bcguru9384]

4 hours ago, Acrain7 said:

the problem with CRTs is that they can be quite bad for your eyes, and either way the point was to get it working with the TV, not having to buy a whole new one!

i typed atari 2600 circuit board into bing then clicked images

3rd from left 1024x768 from elsalvador.org but it shows rca red white yellow wired into atari board(no lag and will work on hdmi tv as these have rca inputs)

[mariushm]

The easiest would be to buy a good analogue TV Tuner / capture card and just set the tv tuner application on the channel the Atari console outputs and put the tv player on full screen, then redirect the monitor output to TV (or use clone first display to tv connected on 2nd HDMI connector of your video card)

 

If your motherboard still has PCI slots, such analogue tv tuners would be fairly easy to find on ebay, and they're super cheap at less than 10-15$ (considering the alternatives)

Something that should give you very good quality (and it's a model that I own, but the PAL version) is this Leadtek Winfast TV2000 XP Expert : https://www.ebay.com/itm/Leadtek-WinFast-TV2000-XP-Expert-NTSC-M-PAL-M-PAL-N-MTS-PCI-TV-Tuner-Card-LR6613/112454850559

 

The problem with this particular card is that besides having drivers only up to Windows 7, is that it was designed to output the audio from the card to the sound card using one of those analogue audio CD cables (see picture), because back then onboard sound cards still had CD In headers. So on motherboards that no longer have that CD In headers (or if standalone sound card no longer has that connector) you sort of have to hack yourself a cable ... i cut one of these cables in two, and then soldered the wires to a regular stereo jack and i plug the stereo jack in the Line In connector of the sound card... then instead of selecting CD In I select Line in inside the tv tuner application.

 

[Canada EH]

This brings back memories, I wish I kept mine becuz I had boxes of games. If you can find out the name of the device, then go to retro forum they'd know

[Unimportant]

21 hours ago, Acrain7 said:

Hello, i recently purchased an atari 2600, and am looking for a way to convert from what im dubbing "the shitbox¨ (below) to hdmi. any help appreciated!

 

(the picture above is not my actual switchbox, but aside from having far less rust its exactly the same)

 

if it helps i have the 4 switch model (example shown below)

EDIT: if anyone has any old Laptops, pcs, terminals, or consoles from 1970-1999 they are interested in selling just pm me

Thanks, all help appreciated!

-Acrain7

You can by combining 2 components:

• A RF demodulator that converts the RF output from the Atari to composite / audio signals: https://www.amazon.com/Analog-NTSC-Tuner-Demodulator-Output/dp/B01KC03BQ2
• A composite AV to HDMI converter: https://www.amazon.com/Mini-Composite-CVBS-Converter-Input/dp/B00I482KZI

Those amazon links are just examples. Make sure to get the correct equipment for your situation (NTSC, PAL, etc...)