RCA to HDMI device with the genesis

[Gamer888]

Hi all,

 

I am using a genesis 1 (along with other systems) on a LCD TV. Yes I know, I should be using such old systems on a tube TV but I don't have this option. Regardless of the composite original quality, the picture doesn't look super great since it is a LCD screen TV rather than good old TV.

 

If I plug my genesis on one of these devices doing the composite-to-HDMI changes, will my picture look better or not?Of course I don't expect a HDMI-like quality from my genesis but will it be better off having a composite input then HDMI output or not??

 

Even a slight improvement could be nice. On scart RGB, my LCD TV is actually great but too many pixels on composite...

[derFunkenstein]

Those composite to HDMI options all treat the progressive image from the Genesis as a 576i image. So transparency effects don't work right and everything is going to look pretty smeary. That's probably ALSO true of your TV. So buying one of those things will do nothing but burn through money.

 

Whether you want to stick with composite or eventually upgrade to component cables, the cheapest option that will actually improve your image is the Retrotink2x. Videogame Perfection is the European dealer (assuming your location of France is accurate), and they have them in stock right here: https://www.videogameperfection.com/products/retrotink-2x/

 

Yes it's pricey, but it's the cheapest way to get a nice progressive image on your LCD. You don't NEED any special cables, but down the road you might want the HD Retrovision YPbPr cables. Just plug in your system into this thing and fire it up. It should look much better. And if you have other composite, S-Video, or YPbPr systems that aren't HD (it doesn't support 720p or above), you can get a cheap composite switch and plug them all in.

 

If you want to go pricier, you can instead get an OSSC and a SCART cable. That's going to be more than 2x the price. The OSSC is a more flexible scaler, but if you're just worried about your Genesis, I don't know that it's worth the investment. The Retrotink, though, that's the ticket.

[Gamer888]

Well thanks for your answer first of all.

 

I figured the devices I checked on ebay (usually 11 euros or so) wouldnt do miracles but I expected at least something better than what I am curently using. I am better off spending the 11 euros on good old kid camelon loose then!!

 

As for your recommendations, I will check it out and think about it although it is a bit pricey for me now giving I have other priorities such as getting Border Down for the Dreamcast...

 

Cheers mate.

[derFunkenstein]

Yeah, it's definitely not for everyone, but those cheap devices use the exact same converters as most TVs. Glad I could at least save you the money.

[envytomdead2]

My CRT tv is on it's way out so I started looking at cheap solutions for my HDTV. My set up is as follows:

 

Genesis 2 AV out into a VCR(Not sure why this helps clean things up) in to a coolDigital av2hdmi converter. This upscaler is a bit nicer because it allows you to choose your aspect ratio. It's not a miracle but I prefer my Genesis on that to my failing CRT tv.

 

If you do check out the cool digital upscaler, make sure its the black metal one and not the white plastic one. The white one cannot control the aspect ratio.

 

I also use this for my 7800 except RF into the VCR.

[Gamer888]

Thanks pal...the one I was eyeing was white but looked cheaper the one you advised me to go for. I will look deeper into this one. I will soon get a scart RGB for my genesis 1 but my PC-FX (and maybe my futur famicom RCA) will need it....I only want a better picture, not an amazing one (money doesn't grow up on tree)

[blainelocklair]

I have the RetroTINK 2x and have used it with my Genesis 1 VA6 composite out. Not bad at all. Much nicer than the standard composite alone, and anything is better than the RF. The great thing about the RetroTINK 2x is that it takes the interlaced signal from the Genesis composite, turns it into 240p, then line-doubles it to 480p. The HDMI out will send this signal properly to the TV as 480p and not 480i. This makes the picture much cleaner, and the device introduces virtually no lag (I can't distinguish any lag at all). I'm getting my Genesis s-video modded to match my powered switcher, so the next time I plug it into the RetroTINK 2x it will produce an even better picture.

 

The RetroTINK 2x isn't customizable in any meaningful way. It serves one primary purpose: get the interlaced picture and turn it into a line-doubled progressive picture transmittable in correct form to HDMI. Depending on the TV (mine works fine), it also allows that 480p signal to be displayed at the 4:3 aspect ratio rather than being stretched to 16:9 widescreen, which looks disappointing. Yes, it's around $100, but the case of getting a quality picture, you will get what you pay for. I tried one of those Amazon converters first, and it did the exact opposite of what I needed: 480i and stretched picture. For $100, to accomplish this task, it's one of the best values on the market. As mentioned above, you can put a switcher in line between the consoles and the RetroTINK 2x and just push the button for the input you need without swapping cables. I'm very happy to have the RetroTINK 2x. Made a huge improvement immediately in the quality of my picture with just one simple device.

[derFunkenstein]

The great thing about the RetroTINK 2x is that it takes the interlaced signal from the Genesis composite, turns it into 240p, .

What? No. The Genesis redraws the same 240 lines over and over instead of alternating (interlacing) the image. Even over composite and RF, the Genesis outputs 240p. That's why there's no dot crawl. I mean, there's nothing with being wrong, but you're saying it like that's authoritative and it's the opposite of what's actually happening.

 

Edited January 9, 2019 by derFunkenstein

[blainelocklair]

Fair enough. My misunderstanding. Thanks for clarifying. I'm not an authority on every console (or maybe any of them). Just wanted to share that the RetroTINK 2x has really done a great job of helping me out with picture clarity.

 

I definitely get the understanding about interlacing. I think what threw me off in my response was that my flat-panel TV showed the picture from the Genesis as 480i when connected from composite. I'm not home at the moment, but I think all of my consoles, which put out 240p, got unintentionally "upscaled" to 480i, which was what made them look poor on the screen. That's where the rub comes in that the RetroTINK 2x can help; making sure it gets a full 480p that the TV can understand and display.

 

Thanks for helping clear this up. It is indeed important to be right. This stuff gets cataloged in Google for the future, so people need to get the best answer possible from us all. Good looking out.

 

Thanks,

Blaine

[derFunkenstein]

I'm sorry if that was harsh. There's so much bad info out there, it's hard to get answers you're looking for. It wasn't that long ago that I was a total n00b to retro consoles on LCDs, but in the last 18 months I've done tons of learning.

 

I don't have my Retrotink yet. It's due to ship on 1/15, and I hope it handles composite out of my NES well enough that I don't feel the need to have an RGB mod done. If I can avoid that, it'll have paid for itself twice over.

[blainelocklair]

Don't worry, it's all good. I'm super laid-back and we're all in this great hobby together. Besides, I'd rather be right than feel right when it comes to the tech stuff.

 

The only thing about the TINK that slows down the startup process a small bit is that it doesn't save the last settings it had before it turns on. I just power mine from the USB from the TV so that it only turns on when I turn on the TV. Others have mentioned the same thing about the TINK, that it doesn't stay set up each time. It's no big deal to me; I only need to hit one button for the input and all is well. For the folks that like to make fine adjustments, it slows down the startup process just a bit. You'd also have to remember which consoles like which modes. You know, two presses of the first button and three for the other, that sort of thing. I only use the input button and I don't use the other features, so I'm good. I really like it. Very cool that yours is shipping shortly. I think you'll dig it, especially with your extensive knowledge of this stuff.

 

- Blaine

[Punisher5.0]

Those composite to HDMI options all treat the progressive image from the Genesis as a 576i image. So transparency effects don't work right and everything is going to look pretty smeary. That's probably ALSO true of your TV. So buying one of those things will do nothing but burn through money.

 

Whether you want to stick with composite or eventually upgrade to component cables, the cheapest option that will actually improve your image is the Retrotink2x. Videogame Perfection is the European dealer (assuming your location of France is accurate), and they have them in stock right here: https://www.videogameperfection.com/products/retrotink-2x/

 

Yes it's pricey, but it's the cheapest way to get a nice progressive image on your LCD. You don't NEED any special cables, but down the road you might want the HD Retrovision YPbPr cables. Just plug in your system into this thing and fire it up. It should look much better. And if you have other composite, S-Video, or YPbPr systems that aren't HD (it doesn't support 720p or above), you can get a cheap composite switch and plug them all in.

 

If you want to go pricier, you can instead get an OSSC and a SCART cable. That's going to be more than 2x the price. The OSSC is a more flexible scaler, but if you're just worried about your Genesis, I don't know that it's worth the investment. The Retrotink, though, that's the ticket.

That retrotink looks pretty cool. Ive been watching videos on it all day after reading your post. I might try it out in the near future.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I had no idea the Tink didn't save any of the configuration settings? The OSSC does of course as it has flash memory to store your settings individually for multiple profiles you build. You can also configure which input you want as the default for the OSSC. I have mine set to the VGA input since most of the time it is a retro console being played through my Extron to the OSSC.

 

But yeah, I'm surprised the Tink doesn't remember settings. Is there a way to set different defaults like which input to default to etc at least?

 

Now regarding the original topic, I can provide some input on this. For nearly 7 years I was using a composite/s-vid to HDMI converter and upscaler. It actually produced really good results! But honestly only through the S-video side. Specifically with the Genesis through my converter it was a blurry stinking mess and while most games were still quite playable, anything with lots of text like the RPGs, especially stylized text was nearly impossible to actually read. And this was on a 43" flatpanel.

 

So I ended up going with the s-vid mod route to all of my classic consoles when running them through the converter for the best picture quality. In the case of the Genesis it was a huge improvement once I added the S-video and ran it through the converter.

Edited January 10, 2019 by -^Cro§Bow^-

[TheCoolDave]

Well thanks for your answer first of all.

 

I figured the devices I checked on ebay (usually 11 euros or so) wouldnt do miracles but I expected at least something better than what I am curently using. I am better off spending the 11 euros on good old kid camelon loose then!!

 

As for your recommendations, I will check it out and think about it although it is a bit pricey for me now giving I have other priorities such as getting Border Down for the Dreamcast...

 

Cheers mate.

 

I had no idea the Tink didn't save any of the configuration settings? The OSSC does of course as it has flash memory to store your settings individually for multiple profiles you build. You can also configure which input you want as the default for the OSSC. I have mine set to the VGA input since most of the time it is a retro console being played through my Extron to the OSSC.

 

But yeah, I'm surprised the Tink doesn't remember settings. Is there a way to set different defaults like which input to default to etc at least?

 

Now regarding the original topic, I can provide some input on this. For nearly 7 years I was using a composite/s-vid to HDMI converter and upscaler. It actually produced really good results! But honestly only through the S-video side. Specifically with the Genesis through my converter it was a blurry stinking mess and while most games were still quite playable, anything with lots of text like the RPGs, especially stylized text was nearly impossible to actually read. And this was on a 43" flatpanel.

 

So I ended up going with the s-vid mod route to all of my classic consoles when running them through the converter for the best picture quality. In the case of the Genesis it was a huge improvement once I added the S-video and ran it through the converter.

 

 

No the RetroTink does not have any memory. Once powered off, it reverts to it's original state. I hit up the Dev of it on Twitter and asked him. was asking for memory and IR control, and the device offers none of that. He said maybe in the NEXT version.

 

Every time you start it up, you need to hit the source button 1-2 times to get it to correctly show the input. It's what you get as it's a $100 scaler. The other options are $250-350, so no question it's an affordable option.

 

My original concept was to get 3 of them. One for composite, one for Svideo and one for Component but, as you would need to switch them manually. I found the OSSC or the Framemeister (Mini-RGB) was a better option... I went with the Framemesiter due to it supporting S-video that some of my consoles will use...

 

If your looking to get the BEST out of Sega systems, RGB is the best you can get... but, if your in the US, you do need one of the better devices to be able to use it...