PS1 / PS2 HDMI Adapter by Pound Technology

[Tanooki]

Is it the stretch or would another negative be from your images the HDMI cable makes it look like it's using that really crappy popular emulator 2X filter which blobs out stuff softening things all around. Somehow that thing is managing to me to suck worse than the other choices and the component in your trios there looks the sharpest.

 

If that's the best it can do I'd rather stick to how my TV behaves (which is good) or usually the Sony unit attached to the psone.

[+KeeperofLindblum]

Is it the stretch or would another negative be from your images the HDMI cable makes it look like it's using that really crappy popular emulator 2X filter which blobs out stuff softening things all around. Somehow that thing is managing to me to suck worse than the other choices and the component in your trios there looks the sharpest.

 

If that's the best it can do I'd rather stick to how my TV behaves (which is good) or usually the Sony unit attached to the psone.

 

Nah, I think the smoothing effect is something built into the HDMI adapter. I believe the Xbox version of this did something similar. I had it briefly, but it did a lot of flickering so I got rid of the adapter.

 

EDIT - I still like it for what it does overall. It could be better, but for the money and simplicity, you probably won't find anything better.

 

Granted, a nice CRT or anything that uses S-video gives a pretty good picture from the PS1.

 

If we wanted overkill, I do have an old security monitor that does composite...

Edited November 29, 2018 by KeeperofLindblum

[Tanooki]

For the money I agree with you completely. I had a psone I found for like value meal pricing cheap awhile back, then a generous soul sold me a new in box Sony LCD made for it sometime after for an irresistible price, so that's what I use on my desk and that LCD is clean. The TV I have is very RCA friendly thankfully with a good image so I'm not suffering using it on there if I want to go that way. It's a shame it does that mudding out a bit, but at the same rate, it gets you an HDMI output.

[+KeeperofLindblum]

Pardon the bumping of this old thread, but I wanted to let future searchers others know that your TV might be able to fix the widescreen effect (unlike my TV).

 

You can force the aspect to 4:3 mode, and that will push it back into place. Unsure of what all TVs have this feature, but it's worth noting as that fixes one of the worst issues I found with the cable.

 

boxpressed showed this off in another thread ---> Playing PlayStation Games

[Atariboy]

Does this support PAL resolutions? A new LCD I bought supports PAL resolutions and things like 720p/50 fps. But with only composite and HDMI connections, it means being stuck with composite on a PAL PS2.

 

Sadly though, there's no option to force 4:3 on this LCD with a HD source. Such a foolish decision for this cable to stretch everything for a system that was predominantly 4:3 (And that's just PS2; Obviously on the PS1 side, 16:9 is 100% incorrect).

Edited February 25, 2019 by Atariboy

[John Stamos Mullet]

I agree with the video that stretching sucks. I disagree with the video that "most HD televisions have an option" to force 4:3 mode. I've only seen it on one TV in my whole life, and it's a Westinghouse TV from 2006. And even then it only lets you switch aspect if the signal is 480p. Once you hit 720p, the aspect button zoomed in to deal with overscan.

 

I can't believe these companies that want your retro dollars do this stupid kind of shit over and over. Up-scaling is not a difficult problem to solve. I have a component-to-HDMI box that does a great job and it was $30. It's apparently too hard to get right because amateurs are designing this stuff.

I own 3 different HDTVs, all different brands, form factors, and screen technology. All 3 of them have the option to force either 4:3, 16:9, auto, zoom, etc.

 

1. 32" 2010 Samsung 720p LCD.

2. 55" 2016 Sharp 4k UHD OLED

3. 65" 2009 Mitsubishi 1080p DLP

 

Point being, I think your experience is extremely rare.

[Atariboy]

It's becoming more commonplace, but it's certainly not extremely rare for a HDTV to lack the option to narrow the aspect ratio of a HD source.

Edited February 25, 2019 by Atariboy

[+boxpressed]

The Pound adapter works with a PAL PS2 I have on an NTSC Samsung LCD TV (22" 1080p). I think you have to set the color mode to RGB.

[derFunkenstein]

I own 3 different HDTVs, all different brands, form factors, and screen technology. All 3 of them have the option to force either 4:3, 16:9, auto, zoom, etc.

 

1. 32" 2010 Samsung 720p LCD.

2. 55" 2016 Sharp 4k UHD OLED

3. 65" 2009 Mitsubishi 1080p DLP

 

Point being, I think your experience is extremely rare.

 

I don't see that as an excuse to skip a five-cent switch to change modes. If Hyperkin can put it on all their shitty clones, so can everyone else, even on these non-HDMI-compliant super terrible cables that aren't worth buying because they only upscale composite video anyway.

 

https://twitter.com/HDRetrovision/status/1072172007813472256

Edited February 26, 2019 by derFunkenstein

[+KeeperofLindblum]

For $30, it delivers an easy enough HDMI experience. We all know there are better choices, but this is about the cheapest you'll get that directly goes to HDMI. Anything else requires at least 1 cable and 1 adapter.

 

Until someone delivers a true single cable HDMI experience for the PS1... I'm good with this adapter.

[wolfy62]

This sounds awesome!

I hope to find something similar to hook my Intellivision to my newer tv with.

Thanks for the info!😃

[+GoldenWheels]

Every TV should have a "native" option, no?

 

Video games aren't the only thing that people care about being stretched/zoomed, this is also a big thing for film buffs.

[derFunkenstein]

Every TV should have a "native" option, no?

 

Video games aren't the only thing that people care about being stretched/zoomed, this is also a big thing for film buffs.

 

There's a flag in the HDMI specification that indicates whether the image is 16:9 or 4:3. The Pound cable incorrectly flags it as 16:9. The setting on TVs is to OVERRIDE that. Devices that correctly flag the image as 4:3 display in 4:3 mode. My Retrotink 2x on the office TV and my OSSC in the living room both output 4:3 correctly.

 

If it wasn't for cheap-ass Chinese knock off garbage like the Pound cables and so many composite/S-Video converters, there wouldn't be a need. The device should just output the right aspect ratio.

 

And again: if Hyperkin and GamerzTek can get it right on their Genesis HDMI clones, there's no excuse for anybody else to get it wrong.

[Jess Ragan]

Heh, "get it right." I tried that GamerzTek system. Maybe mine was borked, but it sure wasn't getting Streets of Rage 2 or Sonic 2 right.