HDMI conversion - help needed

[unixdude]

Hey everyone.  As I have posted, I have been modding 2600s and 5200s with the UAV.  So far I have only done composite, but I am going to be adding S-Video to these systems once I get some connectors from console5.

 

Anyway, my Vizio D43fx-F4 is not compatible with the composite output from the UAV (the video is jumpy, on both the 2600 and 5200), so I bought a Orei XD-901 since I've seen mention of it here, and others reported that it worked well (if with a bit of lag).  Reviewers on Amazon said that it preserved the correct aspect ratio, but that is not my experience, and @DrVenkman reports that the XD-901 always stretches the video (assuming that's the box he was talking about in that post).

 

 

The signal from the XD-901 to my TV is super nice, and the box itself is great -- with one exception: it stretches composite video to 16x9, and since my TV will not pillarbox video, I'm stuck with classic games at the wrong aspect ratio.

 

I'm looking for a good combination that works, by which I mean: I want to play 2600 and 5200 in the correct aspect ratio.  I will consider solutions that involve the purchase of a different converter box and/or a new TV.

 

I just want to be able to play classic games at the correct aspect ratio.  Ideally I can play my other game systems too (original PS, Xbox, Xbox 360, RetroN 77).  With the UAV mods installed, at this point all of my game systems are either composite/S-video or HDMI, with one exception: my Xbox 360 is component.

 

Unfortunately I was not able to try the XD-901 on my other TV, a Sharp LC-52D64U, because the Sharp did not see a valid HDMI output from the XD-901 -- very strange.

 

Will a Retrotink 2x-Mini work for me?  I mean: does it output pillarboxed video from analog sources, or can it be configured to do so?  I downloaded the manual but don't see any mention of the word "aspect," so I wonder.

 

Maybe a better TV is what I need -- something that can force an HDMI input to pillarbox view mode.

 

With this one exception, I really like the XD-901.

 

Thoughts?  How can I improve this?

 

Thanks.

 

Edited to add: I have read and/or skimmed many of the other HDMI/upscaler posts here on AA, and haven't found anything related to this, so I figured I'd post about it.

Edited May 14, 2021 by unixdude

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I had that same box that I used in combination with my JVC SX-700 for about 4 years before I upgraded. It all worked great for me with my 5200 and 7800. My 7800 worked on that box with both the LHE, Magic Knight, and UAV S-video. The 5200 has an older Low Budget s-video mod board installed into it but it worked well.

 

I've had several clients now all tell me they have issues with the composite output especially involving Vizio TVs. I've never owned a Vizio myself as I've always stuck with mainly Samsung and Sony. But both the Samsung and Sony I've used in the game room had the ability to force the aspect on all sources to 4:3. On the Sony they label is as "Normal" instead of 4:3 but yeah. 

 

The one you have only has buttons for input source between composite/s-video and resolution changes between 720p and 1080p and at least on the one I had it would switch between 50hz and 60hz as well with that same button I believe. But the only way to have correct aspect using that device, is if your TV allows you to adjust it separately. There are other scalers similar to that one I've seen that do have 4:3 and 16:9 buttons but they don't keep the setting and require you to have to press the button each time as they tend to default to 16:9 mode. But I don't know the exact brands off hand since I've not really been interested in getting one since I upgraded my AV setup.

 

There are separate scaler like devices that you can buy new or used that you could process the video through that would likely allow you to adjust the width and height of the images before you output them to the converter. And while the Tink2x would work in most cases, I've heard that the video jumping from 2600 games that don't have proper scanline programming in them is even worse on Tink2x devices. Don't know about the newly released Tink5x though.

 

 

[+MrZarniwoop]

7 hours ago, unixdude said:

Will a Retrotink 2x-Mini work for me?  I mean: does it output pillarboxed video from analog sources, or can it be configured to do so?  I downloaded the manual but don't see any mention of the word "aspect," so I wonder.

The RetroTINK-2X-MINI (and 2X-Pro, 2X-Multiformat) take composite and S-Video and normally displays it in Line2x mode as HDMI 480p (line-doubling the Atari-generated 240p) in 4:3, which on most TVs will be centered with black space on the left and right of the video on a modern 16:9 display. I have found it to be the least-expensive zero-lag high-quality solution.

 

There are a variety of less expensive "HDMI converters" that also do an ok job, but the RetroTINK products were designed with the use case of old video game consoles so are better at it and have active support with firmware updates.

 

There are also more expensive line 3x-5x scaler options for even higher quality video that can get 1080p HD (or slightly higher from DVI) such as the Framemeister XRGB-Mini, OSSC + Koryuu, and the new RetroTINK 5X-Pro with different features and trade-offs. There's also a new OSSC Pro in development, although may be a while due to global electronics shortages.

[+MrZarniwoop]

7 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

And while the Tink2x would work in most cases, I've heard that the video jumping from 2600 games that don't have proper scanline programming in them is even worse on Tink2x devices. Don't know about the newly released Tink5x though.

I have found that the RetroTINK 2X products and OSSC recover video sync much faster than the Framemeister, usually under a second. Also, you can configure the OSSC to be extremely tolerant to dynamic scanline changes so it doesn't lose sync on the problem 2600 games so it's better there than the RetroTINK 2X line. But, the OSSC doesn't have composite/S-Video inputs, and needs a transcoder like the Koryuu for those formats.

 

I have also found the Framemeister's 20ms-lag no-sync mode fully tolerates dynamic scanline changes with those problem 2600 games. But, it loses sync for much longer (2-3 seconds?) than the RetroTINK 2X/OSSC on video format changes like the Buck Rodgers title screen.

[unixdude]

Thanks, guys. I'm starting to think I have two good options:

 

First, I can keep this converter box, then replace the TV at some point, and just deal with the wider aspect ratio for now. It's not fully 16x9 and doesn't look horrible, but it's definitely stretched.

 

Second, I can return this converter box and get a RetroTink 2X mini (when they're in stock) or some other RetroTink box on eBay.  It would be nice if someone could confirm that the RetroTink 2x mini will output pillarboxed video to a Vizio D43fx-F4 -- if that works, that's my solution.

[unixdude]

Well, I'm going to have to return this converter box: while it looks great, it introduces terrible lag, which renders games -- notably Missile Command and Tempest -- difficult to play.  I'll be buying a RetroTink 2X -- not sure about pro vs mini, but I'll figure that out.

[+GoldLeader]

I really like  my Retro Tink 2X Pro,  but sorry I haven't tried it out with my Atari yet.  Unless I'm mistaken the Pro has Component Ins and the Mini does not, so if you can use the Component input for any other system,  I'd get the Pro.

[unixdude]

Yeah, my Xbox 360 is component, so I thought of getting the Pro version so that I can switch everything to HDMI. I really like that idea.