A good solution for multi-out?

[Howard_Casto]

So I'm trying to get all my old consoles hooked up in a permanent fashion and I'm trying to find as elegant a solution as possible.  Ideally it'd be nice to just have one connector coming out of my display stand to the tv but looking into it I doubt that is going to happen. 

Let me try to explain what I'm wanting to do and then I'll list my proposed hookup and questions.

I'm done with crts... sorry I just can't deal with them anymore.  The last of my nicer s-video enabled 27 inchers died on me a couple of years ago and I haven't looked back.  I just don't have the room and I have back problems that make it a pain in the butt to lug around heavy tvs so rest assured that is not an option.  What I'm using right now is a Vizio smart tv.  For the most part it works pretty well but I've noticed that that latest firmware update from last winter seems to have made the composite out less reliable.  It still works, but if I turn on "game mode" for some of the 240p consoles, the sync occasionally misfires and I get a glitched screen for a frame.  Now this is something I could probably sort out with enough time and effort, but honestly if supporting 240p is starting to become a pain in the butt it may be time to move on. 

That being said I am not one of these idgits that thinks a pixel perfect rgb signal up-scaled to 1080p without any blending looks good.  Quite frankly the games weren't designed to look that way and the monitor's cruddy signal was often used as a natural anti aliasing to fake translucency effects and other stuff.  That's not to say I'm that much of a purist, afterall I'm no longer using crts.  What would be nice would be to get all the video up to 480p, and rgb would be ok.  The TV's scalers should probably be able to blend things from there. 

So I've got all the Nintendo consoles, an Xbox, a 360, a Dreamcast and I might end up getting a few sega consoles just to see how the other half lived. 

Potential solutions:

Dreamcast - Well this one is easy, 20 dollar vga cable and I'm good to go.  I read that a couple of games don't like vga out (I don't have those games) but it looks like I could hack the iso's to enable it and burn copies to play, is this correct?

Xbox - Component cable ftw!  Does the original xbox have vga out as an option?

Wii - Ditto, but I'm kind of torn on those little hdmi adaptors they sell.  My thought is the blending of the component signal makes it look better but I dunno.

Gamecube  - honestly I'm not super concerned about this one... I can play my GC stuff on the Wii which has component out.  I had a mythical 480p component out cable that apparently everyone on this forum thinks I made up, but after looking for two months I can't find the thing (which sucks because it was a universal cable, so I've gotta buy another one for my xbox as well.... oh also the crow eating all around would be nice, but I'm not that petty.  ) 

Nes - Well I'm not modding my consoles, so it's rca out or nothing.  My tv seems to handle the nes just fine, but they do sell these rca 2 hdmi adaptors.... again I fear the resulting image might be too sharp. 

Snes - This one is interesting.  You can do rgb out on it, but getting that to something usable seems to be overly convoluted.  You have the option of making your own custom av cable, which would be great if you could find the parts (I can't seem to find them.) or using a scart cable and buying a 50 dollar converter box to convert that to component.  With the 20 dollar scart cable that's 70 bucks to get component out on the thing.... that hardly seems worth it.  My question is would it be easier/cheaper to get the signal converted to vga?  Heck can modern TV's with vga ports handle cga, because if so then what the snes outputs natively should be cga compatible. 

N64 - Again I'm not modding my consoles so I guess the best I'm getting on this one is svideo.  Unfortunately this particular tv doesn't have a svideo port,  So I'm going to need a converter box.  I think some of the rca ones also do svid, so maybe use one converter box for both the n64 and nes?  Maybe forget about rgb out for the snes and do all three through the same box?

So yeah unless I'm missing something a converter box is going to come into the equation at some point.  So suggestions on that would be appreciated.  Again, I think I'd rather have something that only outputs 480p, maybe even component out would be better as I want some blurring to be preserved.  That isn't to say I'm dis-interested in hdmi out... it's certainly more future proof, I just don't want things looking too crisp.  I'm definitely not interested in those 300 dollar framemiester monstrosities though. 

I haven't even looked into the sega consoles btw.  Is that going to be a mess?

[yotsuya]

Bro, just get an ASUS G-Force One Ultra-Sync 4K 1080Mega-i monitor. I can't call you a gamer otherwise. 

[pbj]

You can do VGA out on an Xbox but you've either got to cobble together a cable and roll your own BIOS or find one of the X2VGA adapters that are coated in unobtanium.  Further complicating Xbox is that it grounds out the audio inputs on your TV while the system is off.  You cannot have it and something else simultaneously connected if you expect sound out of the something else.  It is such an annoyance I've pondered adding relays to the audio lines on that system to get around it.

If you're dead set on running old consoles, I'd invest in a plasma TV and take advantage of that technology's smoothing side effects.

[ChadTower]

If you get an AVR from a few years ago that will have 4-5 HDMI and a bunch of composite/component inputs.  It will upscale the SD components and push them through HDMI to the TV.  I have one like that (Haruman suggested it) and it works really well.  It does do a little disservice to the SD systems but really that's inescapable when trying to display an N64 on a large plasma widescreen.  This is probably the best single device way to do it and still have one single wire going from switcher to TV.

If you want I can get you the model # of the unit Haruman and I both have.  It does quite well with the mix of old/new and is a pretty good AVR too.  Can be had on the used market in the $250 range now because everybody wants networking on their AVR.

[Malenko]

Im probably not answering the question your asking, but Im assuming that played SNES and NES (and N64?) emulators on the xbox and using the xbox's component out isnt an option?


If thats not an option, best idea I can think of would be to get one of those AV switcher boxes, and plug it into a ViewHD box?

http://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Composite-Video-Upscaling-Converter/dp/B00FPFHEYA

[ChadTower]

Those little converter boxes are very hit or miss.  I'm not sure it would work all around to have one of the older powered AV switchers processing signals and then feeding into that converter.  Lots of potential weirdness given how many different resolutions are coming out of those consoles.

[SavannahLion]

If you get an AVR from a few years ago that will have 4-5 HDMI and a bunch of composite/component inputs.  It will upscale the SD components and push them through HDMI to the TV.  I have one like that (Haruman suggested it) and it works really well.  It does do a little disservice to the SD systems but really that's inescapable when trying to display an N64 on a large plasma widescreen.  This is probably the best single device way to do it and still have one single wire going from switcher to TV.

If you want I can get you the model # of the unit Haruman and I both have.  It does quite well with the mix of old/new and is a pretty good AVR too.  Can be had on the used market in the $250 range now because everybody wants networking on their AVR.

I'm interested. I looked for something like that a year or two ago but never found one. All I found was all of one or the other. Never both.

[Howard_Casto]

Im probably not answering the question your asking, but Im assuming that played SNES and NES (and N64?) emulators on the xbox and using the xbox's component out isnt an option?


If thats not an option, best idea I can think of would be to get one of those AV switcher boxes, and plug it into a ViewHD box?

http://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Composite-Video-Upscaling-Converter/dp/B00FPFHEYA

It's an option, but it kind of defeats the purpose.  If I was going to do it that way I would just run everything through the wii or better yet a pc.  Also, you know, all these years and n64 emulation is still kind of hit and miss.  Heck we are just now getting good snes emulation for some of the more exotic games. 

Yeah that's the ones I were looking at.  There are a ton of them on the market thought so I was wondering if anybody knew a good one.  Also there are these little pcbs you get on ebay that take a 15khz signal from arcade boards and output it to 480 or higher.  I wonder if that would work?  They seem to support a wide range of inputs/outputs and various resolutions and frequencies, but again, I don't know a lot about those boards in particular. 

Pbj:  It sounds like vga on the xbox isn't worth it then... I figured it would be something stupid like that. 

Eh... this is going to require more thought.... ugh....

[Malenko]

welp, those viewHD boxes are the only upscalers Ive seen in action. I figured you didnt want to buy 1 for each console, thats why I suggested feeding them through a switcher.  I still have a trusty 27" CRT I use for my old consoles

[DaveMMR]

Eh... this is going to require more thought.... ugh....

I've been down the same path. I subscribe to the "just get a CRT" rhetoric because I did spend hours researching, trying to just get everything through just the one modern TV as to not waste space on bulky TV's. The best solutions (like this) cost more than I'm willing to spend (approximate $400 and it adds a little bit of lag on top of what is already presented by the TV - may be inconsequential, but it's there.)

I have also tried just working through it, hooking them up via their original methods and, yeah, I really didn't like it all that much.  I hated seeing the 'over scan' portion of old NES game screens - it kind of screws with you in games like SMB.

In the end, I gave up and just picked up an old 21" CRT from a garage sale that I can move easily by myself but still looks good.

That being said, I wouldn't mind finding a practical solution old hardware upscaling that doesn't involve spending more money than a new console or irreversibly hacking old hardware. It has yet to present itself though.

[Howard_Casto]

welp, those viewHD boxes are the only upscalers Ive seen in action. I figured you didnt want to buy 1 for each console, thats why I suggested feeding them through a switcher.  I still have a trusty 27" CRT I use for my old consoles

Yeah you guys can keep talking about crts all you want, it's not gonna happen.  The only reason I ever held on to them as long as I did was lightgun games and after the realization that all the gun games I actually play on consoles are via the NES and I haven't played any of those but duck hunt in over 20 years... yeah it's not worth it. 

There seems to be a lot of misinformation in regards to switchers.  That's the one thing I do know something about.  Switchers aren't particularly necessary so long as you have isolated grounds and even if you don't there are ways around that if you are willing to make custom cables.  If you do have to break down and get a switcher the old school BNC ones can be acquired for peanuts at this point.  The whole industry has switched to digital and thus they are unloading all this junk.  All they consist of are fancy relay stations, so even if you are dealing with svideo or vga, so long as your switcher has enough pins available you are ok. 

Mainly what I'm concerned about is a converter box that's going to be able to accept composite, svideo and possibly vga and rgb and convert them to a unified signal... so I don't have to buy one converter box for rca, one for svid, one for vga, ect....  Of course a box that isn't crap is also preferable. 

For the record I'm familiar with framemeister and these 250+ dollar boxes and that's why I specifically mentioned they aren't for me.  They seem to do things the round about way by making the picture as crisp as possible and then ugly it up via post processing instead of just..... you know, don't make the picture that crisp in the first place.  That's what I was getting at before.  Digital upscaling sucks, analog upscaling is where it's at. 


Anyway I think I might get a three pack of Nintendo svideo connectors and an inexpensive converter box and go from there.  I'll post results if they are worth posting. 

[ChadTower]

I'm interested. I looked for something like that a year or two ago but never found one. All I found was all of one or the other. Never both.

This looks like a slightly newer version of the one we both have.  It has the networked audio apps but more importantly it has several HDMI, 3 component, and several composite inputs.  I have mine set up currently with an N64, Wii, PS3, WDTV, and a Raspberry Pi.  I only have one HDMI cable from the AVR to the TV and the TV's speakers are disabled.  IMO in that price range it is by far the best solution given how much more it provides than basic converters that won't cost much less.

[Malenko]

Howard, if that's all you got out of my reply, then I think I wont bother posting anymore in this thread anymore.

I suggested a switcher because pretty much any TV made in the last 4 years that Ive seen has 1 composite input if you are lucky, and typically its a combination component/composite with the yellow video coupled with the green component input. You also said you wanted 1 (set of) wire(s) coming out of your entertainment stand feeding the TV. Short of some sort of input selector, I dont see how it can be done. As for the upscaler, the one I linked to Ive seen in action and the picture looks really good.  Figured you'd want the best picture possible that doesnt involve spending $400 to get.

I stated that I use a CRT so that you would know my suggestions are based on what Ive read/seen and not first hand experiences. I get that you don't want a CRT and at no point did I even remotely imply, suggest , or even hint that you should use one. I doubt you care, but the 2 main reasons I use my CRT are, 1 it works, and 2 I like to play Time Crisis and the like on my PS2. I guess a 3rd reason is I just like the way NES, SNES, and even Genesis look on a CRT over an LCD, and since Im not using emulation, I cant use an HLSL type effect

[Howard_Casto]

Man I don't know if you are just grouchy today or what but what you linked to took hdmi and converted to component, not the other way around... I'm not even sure what the point of that would be. 

And I just mentioned that switchers aren't my concern.... converter boxes are.  I can figure out the switching part (if it's even necessary). 

My reply in regards to crts wasn't just directed at you, it was directed at the three other guys that mentioned crts in addition to you. 


Calm down a little.  You seem to be replying like I was mad at you or something, I wasn't.... you must have just read it that way.



Anyway took some headache powders and decided to have another crack at scouring through the interwebz.   

I found this little monkey:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HA19YM2/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=

I can't find a good review of the svid/composite functionality, but the PS2 guys seem to love it for it's component 2 hdmi conversion.  What I thought might be good about it is the fact that it'll just output 480p.   Typically even a lcd can scale up 480p pretty well, it's anything lower than 480p it ruins.  So if this box can deal with the 240p consoles and get it up to that... it might just work. 

 

[Malenko]

nah I posted a buncha ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- then you reply to the CRT part. ---smurfing--- annoying.

I linked to "ViewHD RCA AV Composite Video to HDMI 720P | 1080P Upscaling Mini Converter"
-Converter RCA Composite Video and Audio (Yellow, Red and White) Signal to Single Digital HDMI Video and Audio Signal


So you feed all your composites into the switch (or right into the upscaler), then run a single wire to your TV, like you said you wanted. But congrats, you fooled me into thinking I linked you to the wrong thing, so I went back and checked the link like 4 times just to be sure.  Yeap, takes a composite signal (like from and NES) and upscales it, then outputs it to HDMI just like I thought it did.

[ChadTower]

Anyway took some headache powders and decided to have another crack at scouring through the interwebz.   

I found this little monkey:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HA19YM2/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=

I can't find a good review of the svid/composite functionality, but the PS2 guys seem to love it for it's component 2 hdmi conversion.  What I thought might be good about it is the fact that it'll just output 480p.   Typically even a lcd can scale up 480p pretty well, it's anything lower than 480p it ruins.  So if this box can deal with the 240p consoles and get it up to that... it might just work. 

 

Are you thinking of putting that downstream from the switching solution?

[Howard_Casto]

nah I posted a buncha ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- then you reply to the CRT part. ---smurfing--- annoying.

I linked to "ViewHD RCA AV Composite Video to HDMI 720P | 1080P Upscaling Mini Converter"
-Converter RCA Composite Video and Audio (Yellow, Red and White) Signal to Single Digital HDMI Video and Audio Signal


So you feed all your composites into the switch (or right into the upscaler), then run a single wire to your TV, like you said you wanted. But congrats, you fooled me into thinking I linked you to the wrong thing, so I went back and checked the link like 4 times just to be sure.  Yeap, takes a composite signal (like from and NES) and upscales it, then outputs it to HDMI just like I thought it did.

I'm sorry man, but some of the stuff you linked to didn't make any sense.  I've got three weeks until my wisdom teeth get removed, I'm taking the strongest stuff they can give me and I'm still barely managing 3 hours of sleep a night.  What's you excuse for getting confused? 

The little cheap one I looked at, but seeing as how it only does rca and all the Nintendo consoles save the nes have at least svid available I promptly ignored it as it isn't useful.   The second one you linked to was the one I was just referring to in my last reply.  Something was really off with that one... every time you clicked on one of the pictures in the description the description would change and it would basically be another product.  I'm not sure what went on there, so something was definitely off. 

chad:  I'm not sure yet.  I would probably want it right before the tv, but now I've researched that particular box a bit more and some people are saying it can't handle 240p... others are saying it can though and this was what was frustrating to me and why I asked for help.  Nobody seems to know much about these middle of the road boxes... only the really expensive ones or the really cheap ones (which are often crap).  I found another on the fleabay for 30 bucks... it just handles svid and rca but if it'll do 240p I might have to go with it as I'm running out of options. 

That's what I was getting at before and I think that's why Malenko is getting confused.  I need one converter box for everything.  Now switching is ok, I don't mind a switch box if it's absolutely necessary, but I need a lone converter box that can handle svid, composite and if possible vga and component and output hdmi or component. 

The reason is lag.  If you take an analog signal and convert it to digital that'll introduce lag... feed that through an up-scaler and you'll get even more lag.  So if at all possible stuff needs to go through only one box. 

[Malenko]

I only linked to one thing, how Amazon tries to plug other merch isnt my issue 

I look forward to your solution, since in time, I'm sure I'll have the same problem you are having now.

[DaveMMR]

The reason is lag.  If you take an analog signal and convert it to digital that'll introduce lag... feed that through an up-scaler and you'll get even more lag.  So if at all possible stuff needs to go through only one box.

I never ran any tests or saw otherwise but does your standard, run-of-the-mill A/V switch box introduce lag?  Like if you connect everything to a five input switch and output it via S-Video (you can use adapters for the non-S-Video) through the up-scaler - would that be an issue?

I know CRT's are out of the question but if you change your mind and want to simplify all this, find yourself one of those Commodore 1702 monitors.  Those things are tiny and fairly lightweight - I can practically juggle them - and they even accept S-Video with a simple cable hack (or an easy to add port.)  Then get a Retron5 for the HDTV - while still emulation, you can use all your original hardware* and cartridges (as for the latter, you have no other choice, it won't load ROMs without one.)

(*except for lightguns, obviously - oh and the 4-player adapters for the NES - oh and some non-licensed games.)

Hopefully someone else has a solution though.  I've done research before and some more with this thread and the best solution, I believe, still remains the pricey xRGB Framemeister from Japan. It may be a worthwhile investment for you. 

[Howard_Casto]

No, switches, y-adaptors or anything like that won't introduce lag.  It's when you try to change something electrically that you'll get lag.  For example a svid 2 component adaptor is going to have to de-modulate the colors out of the chroma and luma signals.  That type of lag is very minimal though... upscaling adds more lag as lines have to be stretched and doubled before the frame is sent out.  The framemeister also introduces lag btw.  Heck your tv does for that matter, unless it has a "game mode"  Mine does, but like I originally posted it's starting to lose sync.... so I figure if I'm going to have some lag anyway I might as well go for a cleaner solution, but you don't want to convert multiple times. 

Retron 5's are junk.  If they weren't then I wouldn't bother with the original consoles.  You are lucky if you can get one of those things to last the year and that's ignoring their obvious limitations.  Again, if it's emulation then that defeats the purpose... I'll just use a pc. 

[ChadTower]

Retron 5's are junk.  If they weren't then I wouldn't bother with the original consoles.  You are lucky if you can get one of those things to last the year and that's ignoring their obvious limitations.  Again, if it's emulation then that defeats the purpose... I'll just use a pc.

I bought a couple of the Retrons.  They are GARBAGE.  Just total crap from a manufacturing perspective.  Both of mine had major issues with all three cart slots inside of a month.  And that was just with light use.

I'm not sure S video really matters all that much in this situation.  There are only a couple cases where S video is available but component is not.  And once you are talking about an upscaler the difference is probably washed out during processing.  It might work out best if you eliminate the S video requirement to open up the amount of options.  Most modern displays seem to have totally dropped S video but kept a little component and composite.

[Howard_Casto]

Well the reason I want to do svid is the composite on a snes in particular bleeds like crazy, the system is known for that... (at least the original snes models anyway).  Also I definitely want to use svid on the n64 as it'll output 480p natively and that'd give me the best possible color data on the system without modding.  You are right though, on most systems it isn't going to matter that much. 

Anyway, another round of searching this morning and I finally found a converter box confirmed to work with 240p consoles. 

http://www.amazon.com/Portta-PETCSHP-Composite-Converter-Upscaler/dp/B003NS0UUQ/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header

Now unfortunately, just like the others, there are just as many reports of it working as it not working on older consoles.  I think a lot of this is user error unfortunately.  There are pics of a NES running on it though and imho it seems to have just the right amount of blur.  NES only has composite out as well, so the newer ones will probably fair better. 

I would have much rather gone with the 50 dollar model as it'll output 480p, which would let the TV's "inferior" upscaler muck it up a bit, so I might research that one a bit more. 

But anyway the plan is to output the old Nintendo and Sega consoles through this and anything that'll support component or better I'll use an alternate solution... possibly an unconverted connection as I do have component and vga ports available. 

Dreamcast cable is on the way btw.... DC stuff is at an all time low for some reason so you can get cables and accessories and stuff really cheaply atm.  I think I might pick up a jump pack and a seaman mic. 

[DaveMMR]

Question: Are you concerned about RF consoles (Atari, et. al.) and if so, what are your plans for those? 

[sharpfork]

Is there such a thing as an AV receiver (video switcher/ converter + audio driver) that will take in component, composite, and maybe sVideo and output HDMI without introducing a bunch of lag?

[ChadTower]

Is there such a thing as an AV receiver (video switcher/ converter + audio driver) that will take in component, composite, and maybe sVideo and output HDMI without introducing a bunch of lag?

Yes, read back in this thread. 

[sharpfork]

Yes, read back in this thread.

An AVR is a Microcontroller to me so I totally skipped that, thanks!  The TX-NR525 you linked to seems like a good fit for my needs.  What model do you guys have? I read some other places and onkyo seems to be one of the brands with the least lag in conversion.

[ChadTower]

Yes, read back in this thread.

An AVR is a Microcontroller to me so I totally skipped that, thanks!  The TX-NR525 you linked to seems like a good fit for my needs.  What model do you guys have? I read some other places and onkyo seems to be one of the brands with the least lag in conversion.

We have pretty much that model but minus the networking.  I can grab the model number tonight if I remember.

[Howard_Casto]

Question: Are you concerned about RF consoles (Atari, et. al.) and if so, what are your plans for those?

It'd be nice to do a 2600 but the rest I don't particularly care about.  There aren't a lot of options unfortunately.  You basically need either an rf-modulator hooked up to the coax in, or a dvd/bluray player with a free coax in hooked up via av cables.  Doing one RF console seems do-able, but you'd have to piggy-back multiple ones and I've gotta think that would go badly in terms of interference.  You might be able to use a rca switcher to switch out the various consoles but I dunno to be honest.  Those older models seem to be pretty sensitive about impedance and what not.

[DaveMMR]

It'd be nice to do a 2600 but the rest I don't particularly care about.  There aren't a lot of options unfortunately.  You basically need either an rf-modulator hooked up to the coax in, or a dvd/bluray player with a free coax in hooked up via av cables.  Doing one RF console seems do-able, but you'd have to piggy-back multiple ones and I've gotta think that would go badly in terms of interference.  You might be able to use a rca switcher to switch out the various consoles but I dunno to be honest.  Those older models seem to be pretty sensitive about impedance and what not.

I use splitters for my RF-only consoles and I haven't noticed any significant interference. I have a 3-way and a 2-way separated by an A/B slider switch, they all have those RCA female to Coax male adapters.  Unfortunately, none of the old (pre-NES) consoles can use the auto RF switch that the NES and Sega consoles used which is too bad because you could piggy-back those.

[danny_galaga]

Is this the thread where I post about C64 power supplies?

http://dannygalaga.com/c64.html

[ChadTower]

If you use an RCA->Coax adapter you can eliminate the degradation that the TV switchbox introduces.  You do still need something to process from Channel 3, though, since new TVs won't have it.  I have never seen anything dedicated that does that VHF to Composite sort of processing other than an actual TV Tuner.  Maybe find the tiniest old VCR you can and consider it part of the 2600.

The 2600 case is mostly empty if I think about it.  I wonder if it's possible to pull the tuner from a VCR and integrate it.  You'd have to figure out how to power the thing externally and then put in a second power socket for that but it might be possible.

[DaveMMR]

If you use an RCA->Coax adapter you can eliminate the degradation that the TV switchbox introduces.  You do still need something to process from Channel 3, though, since new TVs won't have it.  I have never seen anything dedicated that does that VHF to Composite sort of processing other than an actual TV Tuner.  Maybe find the tiniest old VCR you can and consider it part of the 2600.

The 2600 case is mostly empty if I think about it.  I wonder if it's possible to pull the tuner from a VCR and integrate it.  You'd have to figure out how to power the thing externally and then put in a second power socket for that but it might be possible.

You know, it sounds like it'd be easy enough for a tinkerer to remove a RF-Demodulator from a VCR and put it in a little project box of some sort so it's out of sight.  The one problem are the consoles that have wacky, proprietary RF-Switch boxes (like a few old Odyssey pong consoles and the 4-port Atari 5200.)

(As an aside:  When I hooked up my 2600 to an HDTV directly - it has coax input - the picture wasn't all that terrible to me IIRC.  But if there's no coax on your display, that's moot.)

[ChadTower]

You know, it sounds like it'd be easy enough for a tinkerer to remove a RF-Demodulator from a VCR and put it in a little project box of some sort so it's out of sight.  The one problem are the consoles that have wacky, proprietary RF-Switch boxes (like a few old Odyssey pong consoles and the 4-port Atari 5200.)

I know a lot of console collectors and don't know any that actually play those old pong clones.    Most of them don't even collect the pong stuff for some reason.

The 5200 is a unique case but there are mods to eliminate that power/TV switch.  The real issue with the 5200 is rebuilding the controllers.  It's like $25 each to get the parts.  My 5200 hasn't been used in years because I don't feel like shelling out $100 to fix the controllers.

[DaveMMR]

You know, it sounds like it'd be easy enough for a tinkerer to remove a RF-Demodulator from a VCR and put it in a little project box of some sort so it's out of sight.  The one problem are the consoles that have wacky, proprietary RF-Switch boxes (like a few old Odyssey pong consoles and the 4-port Atari 5200.)

I know a lot of console collectors and don't know any that actually play those old pong clones.    Most of them don't even collect the pong stuff for some reason.

The 5200 is a unique case but there are mods to eliminate that power/TV switch.  The real issue with the 5200 is rebuilding the controllers.  It's like $25 each to get the parts.  My 5200 hasn't been used in years because I don't feel like shelling out $100 to fix the controllers.

Yeah, Pong consoles were an extreme example - I just mentioned it for completeness. I have the Odyssey 500 and it never gets hooked up (but I guess I can if I ever the need.)   And yeah, I never buy Pong consoles - the two I have were actually given to me by friends clearing out their garages, etc.

As for the 5200 - I think the two-port version eschews the wacky power/switch combo in favor of the traditional separate RCA cable. But yes, it's a pain-in-the-ass console for so many reasons otherwise including the joystick issue. I know a lot of collectors love their 5200's, but it is definitely a high-maintenance console.

[Howard_Casto]

Well the thing about the old vcr/dvd player route is those tuner modules degrade over time just like the rf-modulators do.  Mind you most of those older consoles look so crappy it might not be that big of a deal, but still.....

I looked into getting a module just for this and hard-coding it for channel 3 just to use for older consoles, but they are very hard to find in bulk, use odd-ball power requirements like 24 volts and are seldom documented. 

I mean yeah I could theoretically find a good tuner from a vcr, trace the pins and make a stand alone module, but it would be a one-off. 

I lost a lot of older stuff in a flood several years back... sears tele-games, Atari vcs (sears edition), you know, the stuff you might want to actually use. 

[sharpfork]

This looks like a slightly newer version of the one we both have.

I'm actively researching AVRs to solve this same basic issue.  I want to point out that the unit ChadTower linked to does not appear to do the up-scaling the unit he and haruman have.

[ChadTower]

This looks like a slightly newer version of the one we both have.

I'm actively researching AVRs to solve this same basic issue.  I want to point out that the unit ChadTower linked to does not appear to do the up-scaling the unit he and haruman have.

Yeah, looks true.  Ours is in the 600 series and this a 500.  I'm not sure if that means it would still pass all through to hdmi unchanged or just not pass SD to hdmi at all.