Composite / S-Video to HDMI adaptor?

[izo]

Hi,

I would like to connect my SNES and other old consoles to my computer screen which sadly only has an HDMI connection. What exactly do I need to make this work?
I have been looking for composite to HDMI adaptors but for some reason I only find HDMI to composite ones. Maybe I'm looking for the wrong thing?
Any help is appreciated.

 

[mickcris]

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=101&cp_id=10114&cs_id=1011406&p_id=9994&seq=1&format=2

 

[izo]

So this is all I need? This is actually cheaper than I thought. Thank you!

 

[izo]

Ok, I got my converter now but am having a weird problem. I have a Japanese SNES as well as N64. The N64 works perfectly but the SNES won't show an image. If there is no signal the converter usually displays "No Signal" but in the case of the SNES the screen just stays black without sound or anything, so at least something seems to be coming through. I tried different games but to no avail. I'm using the same Composite cable for SNES and N64 so this can be ruled out as a factor.
Could there be any problems with signal conversion? Or does the SNES have an issue here because I suspect that both consoles' signals are the same type and if one works but not the other something must be wrong with the console, not the converter. Is that correct?
Any help with what could be the problem here is really appreciated, so I can start looking for a new SNES if it is broken.

 

[Foxi4]

You originally forgot to mention the tiny itsy-bitsy important bit about your "SNES" actually being a Super Famicom, AKA "Japanese SNES" which uses NTSC-J. This might be a factor, although the difference between NTSC and NTSC-J is minimal (black level/blanking level is slightly lower). Do you have any TV with composite input at all to verify whether the Super Famicom displays any picture at all?

 

[izo]

Yeah, sorry, that fact kind of slipped my mind. I think I also found out the issue now, the converter I bought can't read the 240p signal of the SNES. I tested it on my HDTV without the converter and it worked there so the SNES itself is fine. It's just weird because on the Amazon page it said that the converter will work with the SNES and people even wrote in the reviews that they used it with the converter. Yet on other reviews of the converter I read that it can't handle the 240p signal.
Anyway, I ordered a converter now that works with 240p so once it arrives I hope that I can finally play my SNES games.

 

[Wisenheimer]

Yeah, sorry, that fact kind of slipped my mind. I think I also found out the issue now, the converter I bought can't read the 240p signal of the SNES. I tested it on my HDTV without the converter and it worked there so the SNES itself is fine. It's just weird because on the Amazon page it said that the converter will work with the SNES and people even wrote in the reviews that they used it with the converter. Yet on other reviews of the converter I read that it can't handle the 240p signal.
Anyway, I ordered a converter now that works with 240p so once it arrives I hope that I can finally play my SNES games.

I'm kind of curious as to whether Ocarina of Time would work then, since it is rendered in 240p. Maybe the N64 upscaled it as 480i?

I'm not sure about the Japanese version, but I don't think the US version of the SNES used 240p. It usually used some weird resolutions such as 224p (the most common) and lso did some wierd interlaced resolutions.

Maybe that is what it is choking on. If it can play Ocarina of Time, I think it can do 240p.

 

[izo]

Well, according to what I found out the N64 isn't 240p but 480 or something like that. I had no problems useing my Japanese N64 with the converter.
I'm in Europe so for me this is a lot more annoying than for you guys from the US. Especially getting an old CRT that natively understands NTSC.

 

[Walker D]

Yeah, sorry, that fact kind of slipped my mind. I think I also found out the issue now, the converter I bought can't read the 240p signal of the SNES. I tested it on my HDTV without the converter and it worked there so the SNES itself is fine. It's just weird because on the Amazon page it said that the converter will work with the SNES and people even wrote in the reviews that they used it with the converter. Yet on other reviews of the converter I read that it can't handle the 240p signal.
Anyway, I ordered a converter now that works with 240p so once it arrives I hope that I can finally play my SNES games.

Well, if you said so, then that may be the problem.
Combining regions can get a bit confusing too (ntsc-j is similar to american ntsc ...but europe generally uses pal, with interlaced images at 50htz, if I'm not wrong..) But if your tv can process the snes signal, then this new tvs may be using progressive signal also.

You said that you already ordered a new converter, but on this video, the guy said that the converter he got can do what you want for snes and n64.

BTW, I don't know why you're having all this work to output Composite Signal though ..it seems to me a waste of money and time. Since you're already not paying cheap for all of this, it would be better to output some quality video signal from the snes/n64.
You should use Component or RGB Signal or Scart for output, in my opinion.

Snes can output Scart and Componet directly as far as I now, only by using a proper cable (for direct RGB it needs a internal hack), but you shoud find out if the Scart cables for Ntsc-j is different from theones of other regions before buying.
You can use the same snes Scart cable on N64, but just after a internal hack on the N64 though...

well ..I guess I just gave more thing for you to search about ..not much of a solution.

Good luck

 

[izo]

Actually the new converter I bought is Scart and not Composite. I have the Nintendo RGB cable from the PAL GameCube and it works without problems with my Japanese SNES and N64. So hopefully with the new converter I will be able to finally get the signal on my computer screen.
I only bought a cheap converter as I'm just getting into all of this. Once I got down how everything works and know for sure what I want I'm prepared to invest more to get a better image quality.

 

[Wisenheimer]

Well, according to what I found out the N64 isn't 240p but 480 or something like that. I had no problems useing my Japanese N64 with the converter.
I'm in Europe so for me this is a lot more annoying than for you guys from the US. Especially getting an old CRT that natively understands NTSC.

It depends on the game. Ocarina of Time, for instance, was 240p (which is why it has scanlines). Majora's Mask was 480i because it used the RAM upgrade. Most of the games that were not taking advantage of the RAM upgrade were 240p.

A lot of new televisions don't understand the weird NTSC formats that consoles like the SNES used. For a CRT, it was s no real issue since the timings and such did not have to be converted. They were just vector control schemes for the electron gun.

PAL is a whole different ballgame, especially since SCART supported component instead of composite, which the NTSC N64 did not.

 

[Wisenheimer]

Well, if you said so, then that may be the problem.
Combining regions can get a bit confusing too (ntsc-j is similar to american ntsc ...but europe generally uses pal, with interlaced images at 50htz, if I'm not wrong..) But if your tv can process the snes signal, then this new tvs may be using progressive signal also.

You said that you already ordered a new converter, but on this video, the guy said that the converter he got can do what you want for snes and n64.

BTW, I don't know why you're having all this work to output Composite Signal though ..it seems to me a waste of money and time. Since you're already not paying cheap for all of this, it would be better to output some quality video signal from the snes/n64.
You should use Component or RGB Signal or Scart for output, in my opinion.

Snes can output Scart and Componet directly as far as I now, only by using a proper cable (for direct RGB it needs a internal hack), but you shoud find out if the Scart cables for Ntsc-j is different from theones of other regions before buying.
You can use the same snes Scart cable on N64, but just after a internal hack on the N64 though...

well ..I guess I just gave more thing for you to search about ..not much of a solution.

Good luck

PAL in theory incorporates both 50Hz and 60Hz, although not all PAL devices fully support both standards.

 

[Lumstar]

PAL is a whole different ballgame, especially since SCART supported component instead of composite, which the NTSC N64 did not.

You're thinking of RGB not component. Neither N64 benefits from SCART, since there's no RGB output.

 

[Foxi4]

You're thinking of RGB not component. Neither N64 benefits from SCART, since there's no RGB output.

You can modify the system to output RGB relatively easily.

 

[Fishaman P]

It depends on the game. Ocarina of Time, for instance, was 240p (which is why it has scanlines). Majora's Mask was 480i because it used the RAM upgrade. Most of the games that were not taking advantage of the RAM upgrade were 240p.

Expansion Pak =/= 480i. Majora's Mask and Pokémon Stadium 2 were 240p, for example. If you want screenshots of my CRT for proof, I can provide them.

Anyway, NTSC-U and NTSC-J are electrically and mechanically compatible; the brightness will just be a tad off.
The monitor likely barfed on the SFC because the SNES/SFC outputs 256x224, whereas even the NES outputs 256x240.

 

[Wisenheimer]

Expansion Pak =/= 480i. Majora's Mask and Pokémon Stadium 2 were 240p, for example. If you want screenshots of my CRT for proof, I can provide them.

Anyway, NTSC-U and NTSC-J are electrically and mechanically compatible; the brightness will just be a tad off.
The monitor likely barfed on the SFC because the SNES/SFC outputs 256x224, whereas even the NES outputs 256x240.

I did a little research and it looks like the N64 probably did not support resolutions greater than 240p without the expansion pack, but not all games that utilized the expansion pack outputted in 480i. Some used the extra memory to increase things like draw distance and color palettes.