PC to CRT TV - HELP before I start buying things necessary to connect these two

[B-Radical]

Hello all,

First post! I have been doing a lot of reading recently, especially on this specific topic but I haven't quite found the answer I'm looking for.

I have just started getting into the wonderful world of cab building/assembling and am going to start mine up soon. At the moment I am gathering the materials I need to make this work. Here is what I am working with:

CRT TV - 27" Sanyo - model is DS27425 - supports up to 480i through component

The computer I'm using is an HP Pavilion a6618f Desktop - integrated graphics card is nVidia GeForce 6150SE (only has VGA out) (has a slot to upgrade or put a new one in, which I am willing to do, and supports  PCI Express x16 GC)

I want to play games up until the PS1, Saturn, and N64 generation and of course MAME on my cab.
I am pretty committed to using hyperspin as well, so anything I do will have to work with that.

I have read a lot about how my type of tv only accepts 15khz signals and the ones being sent form my PC is 31khz (from what I recall).

My question is what are all of my options as far as connecting the pc and TV, and what am I going to need to do it (please provide some links if at all possible). Is there a simple way to do this without sacrificing the visuals too much?

I have read a number of threads suggesting a downscaler (transcoder?) that costs upwards of $150 to do this, and furthermore tinkering with that program associated programs that help reproduce truer visuals (240p etc) that most arcades and consoles were viewed at. I am not so sure I want to spend that kind of money when I can buy a new LCD TV that connects easily. I am by no means a videophile or anything like that, so not having the most authentic look to it isn't the end of the world.

Any information you guys can provide would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.



 

[tobiasbp]

If you have access to a TV with SCART (You don't say), this looks like a good solution:
http://scarthunter.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/umsa-ultimate-scart-adapter-review.html

Regards,
Tobias

[shrunkenmaster]

If you have access to a TV with SCART (You don't say), this looks like a good solution:
http://scarthunter.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/umsa-ultimate-scart-adapter-review.html

Regards,
Tobias

I just hooked one of these up to a PC with an ATI 64Mb Radeon 7000 AGP Card, using Soft15Khz. I tried it on 3 different TVs - works perfectly with no fuss! Not particularly cheap, but an excellent piece of kit if you want the best image from a TV.

[Ben1981]

If you are from europe and want to save shipping costs consider wolfsoft. Their cable works perfectly fine in my setup.
http://www.wolfsoft.de/shop/product_info.php/products_id/12836/%3Cbr%20/%3E

If you have access to a scart tv that is.

Cheers,
Ben

[B-Radical]

Thanks for the replies guys. I have decided to bite the bullet and buy the Crescendo Systems TC1600 VGA to Component transcoder (which was recommended in another thread) as my tv only has up to component in (no SCART). I was able to get Soft15khz working on my xp64 so hopefully once I get the transcoder back I should be able to start tinkering with it and get some games up and running to see what the resolution looks like. I'm sure I will have many more questions throughout this process, so I look forward to speaking with you all again real soon 

Brad