Connecting Atari 2600 to "Modern" TV HDMI without Going Through a VCR

[Jaydiggity]

Hello!  I know versions of this question have been asked but I couldn't find an answer for my specific situation.  I have an original Atari 2600 with the RCA connection.  My TV does not have the F7/Coaxial hookup slot available, but there are plenty of HDMI options.  I've looked through many videos but all of them give two options:  1.  Plug into the coaxial input of the TV by using an adapter; or, 2)  Use an upscaler and go through a VCR and hook up to the TV either through the yellow/red/black or HDMI cables. 

 

Here's my question:  Is there some sort of "magic box" (an upscaler or whatever) that I can plug my Atari RCA cable (with the coax converter, I assume) into, that I can then plug into my TV WITHOUT running through a VCR?  I have a VCR (a few of them, actually) but I am trying to streamline everything and I don't want to plug in and power up a VCR each time I want to use the Atari.  Any assistance you can provide is appreciated.  Thanks!

[CPUWIZ]

Have you tried AI?  Or Google "Coax to HDMI converter"?  I bet many follow up responses will ask you why you don't modify it for composite or S-Video and go from there.

 

Sorry I don't have a specific solution, because I would avoid it myself.

[+splendidnut]

Google search:  site:atariage.com hooking up atari 2600 to modern tv

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aatariage.com+hooking+up+atari+2600+to+modern+tv

 

[+splendidnut]

More serious answer:  Using CPUWIZ's suggested search 'Coax to HDMI converter' seems to provide options that are right up your alley.  Those appear to fit the bill of 'streamlined'.

[BigO]

If your 2600 is unmodified, the RCA connector supplies an RF Modulated analog signal that has to be demodulated or "tuned" at some point, which is likely what your VCR was doing. After that, there seems to be a number of converters available that will convert the baseband video and audio signals (A/V) to HDMI. 

 

In lieu of the VCR or other analog tuner/demodulator, one could modify their 2600 to output the A/V, bypassing the RF modulator so that tuning/demodulation is not necessary to arrive at the signal that a to-HDMI converter could accept as input.

 

 

[Glorkbot]

My LG OLED tv has a coaxial jack in the back. So all I needed was a $3 RCA to coaxial adaptor. I was really surprised that it had one because it doesn’t have any composite or component jacks. https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=42

 

I know that my tv having it doesn’t help you… I was just really surprised that my TV had it!

[BillDMatt]

I'm confused you said your atari has the RCA connections?    Normally when you hear RCA  you think composite the Red Yellow and White cables.  Is that what you have?   

[+pboland]

I assume he is referring to the standard coax connection on the Atari 2600 as that is technically an RCA male connector. If you are wanting to go into HDMI on your TV. The issue you are going to have is there isn't a cost effective way to convert RF (which is the standard RCA male output on the Atari 2600) directly to HDMI. You could try something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166552952329?chn=ps&var=466201243702&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1cK1VVOYcQb-4o0dvAP6V8Q42&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-213727-13078-0&mkcid=2&itemid=466201243702_166552952329&targetid=4580702894586631&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=418640321&mkgroupid=1233652283797640&rlsatarget=pla-4580702894586631&abcId=9300602&merchantid=51291&msclkid=1f709f41e27b1fbdb897fab5a86736a3

 

However the analog RF connection on this box is an F type connector. You would need two adapters (F-type to Coax then Coax to RCA) to make this work. The problem with these type of set-ups is the input latency. It take time to convert analog to digital single and you will feel it when playing your games.

 

Your best bet is to either get an old school TV (CRT tube) or get the new Atari 2600+ console that has an HDMI output and will play all your games.

 

 

 

[BigO]

4 hours ago, pboland said:

The problem with these type of set-ups is the input latency. It take time to convert analog to digital single and you will feel it when playing your games.

I have connected the RF from my 2600 into the F connector on my HD TV. The lag through the digital tuner was much, much greater than demodulating/tuning the RF down to baseband video and using the RCA A/V inputs on the HD TV.

 

Through the TV's built-in tuner, I could not play paddle games (Kaboom!, Circus) due to the delay. Using the external analog tuner to feed A/V into the same TV, the paddle games were playable. Just barely, but playable. An old school VCR is probably going to provide a video signal with much less lag than any modern digital tuner/demodulator. Of course, you still have to do something with that baseband video to get it to play nicely with HDMI. 

 

I currently wish I'd bought every one of those external analog tuners that I ever saw (which really wasn't more than a handful).