Scart To HDMI Converter Options

Hello! So I'm more of a recent lurker to these boards (pretty cool by the way) and have been working with Borman behind the scenes to to get some stuff setup because I want to live-stream some gaming for my buddies. I intend on streaming some newer generation console stuff but am going to try and do a lot of the older stuff too. Anyway, one of the things I'm looking to pickup is an SCART to HDMI converter. He picked one up recent and it seems to work fairly well for him so far but I was curious to get some other opinions from you techies before I drop 50 or 60 bucks. I realize it is better to go higher $$ here and usually i'm picky as hell and like high end stuff, but at the moment I don't have loads of change to fling around and just want to grab one of these decent more economic friendly ones to see how it works out.

I'm seeing various options like Stardust, Belfan, Linkstyle, etc and many of them are relatively similar in price. Anyone have any info or experience with these converters that can chime in?

Thanks!


Chris

 

I kind of regret not getting a cheapy upscaler just to see the progressive differences.
AV composite -> cheap HDMI scaler -> XRGB.
Instead I just went AV composite to XRGB and my mind is blown! :love-struck:

Edit: And welcome to the world of posting! :smile-new:

 

Hey Junkie! Thanks for the warm welcome man. Im jealous for sure about your XRGB but the job I'm starting here soon will easily let me pick that up in the future so all in good time! Groovy Sega mod avtar pic thing you got going on there hehe! Hope to talk to ya more in the future. :topsy_turvy:

 

Hahaha, I am sure we will. More people with Retro as the first part of their naming! Bet the original retro is happy about that!
Muhahahaha! :congratulatory:

 

We are awesome for sure!

Now I just got to get some of these other gurus to feed me some input on these converters...

 

Give them time, they can be a little slow at times. But after discovering new blood they'll swarm! :biggrin-new:

 

If your display has a VGA input, the GBS-8220 is a good option. It doesn't come with a case, and you'll need an adapter for SCART, but it's very cheap (~$30), and the picture is pretty good (for the price). It also has a component input.

 

Problem with most scart to hdmi converters is that they force 4:3 video into 16:9 stretch.

 

My HDTV does in fact have a VGA input. Bear with me here as I am good with electronics but have never really gotten into video conversion before. There seemed to be a lot of praise for SCART TO HDMI (for example I was going to mod my snes jr. and then get scart cable and run it through HDMI converter to the TV at times - but also through a capture card in my pc as well at other times.) So just help me to understand what's going on with the GBS setup as it obviously is a slightly different route than the HDMI. Haha again forgive me some of this is still "huh what?" for the time being...

Ya I've seen some issues with that show up in my research online. Appreciate the confirmation. Even so, it seems some people still insist SCART to HDMI is the way to go so long as the device supports RGB.

Again some of this is easier just going to the TV. I plug my SNES up and some other older 240p res systems and can enjoy it as it is. The whole idea of getting the better color / res is because I intend on streaming it through capture / pc for some buddies who want to see some old retro action.

Thoughts? Thanks again guys for the feedback and uh nice to meet yas since im new hehe!

 

No worries, dude. So, the main difference is that the GBS outputs VGA instead of HDMI (duh). VGA is analog, whereas HDMI is digital, so your TV has to convert the signal to digital video. VGA is actually a type of RGB called RGBHV - which means RGB with separate horizontal and vertical sync. SCART, by contrast, is RGBS - which means RGB with composite sync (or composite video as sync).

Depending on the resolution of your TV, it may have to do some scaling as well - I think the GBS goes up to 1366x768 or something like that. So the downside is that your TV has to do some processing, which could introduce lag depending on the TV. The upside is that the picture quality is pretty good, compared to similar scalers in the same price range, and it supports 240p inputs. The other thing I mentioned but didn't explain fully is that the GBS doesn't have any casing - it's just an open circuit board. So you have to either make/buy a case for it, or just use it as it is. That's what I do. So, those are some things to consider. Where are you located, by the way?

 

Just remember, there are few VGA capture cards. Id rather convert the format once to HDMI (or component, whatever your choice), than convert to VGA, then convert that into HDMI or component

 

option: dvd player with scart input, upscaler and HDMI output.

 

Well, VGA (generally) has a better picture than component. He said he wanted to "live-stream" the video - does that mean he wants to use a capture card to stream it? I wasn't clear on that.

 

Yeah using a capture card.

 

Converting from SCART to Component would normally be the way to go, but many HDTV's, including mine, don't take the 240P signal properly. Going to HDMI costs about the same and will likely work on all sets. However, while some systems like SNES aren't too bad stretched, others like Genesis look flat terrible.

 

Bloody copycats! heh.

Doesn't Yakumo sell an upscaler? I think it might be one of the latest XRGB but I can't find the thread so I'm not sure. Anyway, he says it's good!

 

Scart to HDMI is the way to go verse scart to component since (as mentioned before) some TVs do not take in a 240p. Now if you want a high end (and awesome) capture card that can record and stream HDMI and VGA (there is a component to VGA adapter included) then I have to recommend my capture card: http://www.avermedia.com/product/ProductDetail.aspx?Id=565

 

That's where I got my one from. He's close. It's not good. It's DAMN good! :topsy_turvy:

 

Of course Yakumo's scaler would be among the best, you get what you pay for really Even stretched though, the cheap scaler does an admirable job for what it is, and scaled back down, you still have higher quality than composite, that is for sure. And if you're streaming or recording, it is trivial to scale it back down to the proper aspect ratio.

 

Ahh ok that all makes sense. I just figured SCART right into HDMI (and some component) would be simpler or more effective. But in a lower post of yours you do say VGA shows better picture typically than component so I'll definitely have to take note of that. This whole process really seems to bounce around all over the place for possible options :tongue:. All in good time I suppose... Located in Northern South Carolina U.S. You?

Hrmm... :confused-new:!! Not sure what you mean here. Not really looking to run DVD player for what im doing, but if that was just a generic reference to "device you want to upscale" then ya, that was pretty my plan for the moment: Device => SCART / HDMI Converter => HDTV (of course not ps3 but i mean older 240p systems ie: snes)

Yeah - my biggest intentions for improving the quality of visual is for live streaming with a capture card. Otherwise I'd just do something more simple, although this HDTV only accepts certain inputs and I'd still have to convert certain stuffs just so I could even play leisurely for myself and not streaming interests.

Ooooh interesting! I was maybe planning on doing SCART to HDMI for the Genesis 1 as well (granted I haven't researched it yet - been mostly on just snes thus far but I figured possibly similar). Might you have some suggestions for me then for when I work @ the Genesis setup? Possibly running similar setup as for SNES but tweaking TV settings like aspect ratios etc. to help out?

Doh! That is awesome you got the original retro name. I remember typing it in for user name on boards thinking "no way in hell is this available", and now I see can confirm why :topsy_turvy: ! Anyway, as much as I'd love one of these suckers I'm pretty sure it is in the healthy $$$ range and I'm just trying to get the ball rolling for now (though like I've mentioned earlier I am a high quality freak and will eventually have one of those beastly $500-$700 units, but it will have to wait a little longer and these buddies of mine are chomping at the bit to see some old school retro streaming!) So yeah, not a trash unit but something I can go through with for now where my buddies will be like "oh sweet it's up... can't wait till he mans up and gets an XRGB" lol... :friendly_wink:

Good for further confirmation! Funny you bring up specific capture card recommendations... So through my own research and before I started working with Borman I pretty much landed on the Black Magic Intensity Pro. Well after finally recently snagging one off ebay for about half price, I get this sucker put in to my new tower I just picked up and install the drivers. Well, apparently there is some sort of crap incompatibility with certain Dell PC's and the BMI Pro. I could never get around it on mine so I dropped it in my brothers PC (also a Dell) and BAM! Working within 5 minutes. Sick to my stomach... In any case I call BMI customer support and talk with them for a bit and I figure it is a chipset issue with certain motherboards, and apparently they feel the same way but haven't been able to pinpoint the issue yet (which sucks because it is apparently plaguing tons and tons of other users including businesses who use video editing on Dells). Sucks because I really think this card is the way to go for all around versatility. Most practical option is just re-selling the tower which is pretty silly since I just picked it up and got a really good deal considering the specs - just terrible luck (BMI support guy said it is like 1/10 Dells lol...) Ok ok ./end cry rant.

So how's that Avermedia overall? Aside from selling the tower only other realistic option I have is dropping this BMI card back on ebay (fortunately they dont drop in value) and trying another one I suppose. Anyone else have any thoughts / experience on what I might could do here since I got robbed on some freak compatibility issue?

Appreciate all you guys weighing in on everything by the way. I came back to see a load of responses and was pretty damn excited. This is fun stuff. Look forward to further posts for sure!