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Northgun

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In recent days I have been pondering how to make my retro game systems look much better on my 55 inch HD TV. I started doing a lot of digging and found that the first step in converting and up-scaling to HD is making the original signal better. To do this I found the best option is RGB (SCART). Most retro system except the N64 and game cube have the ability to put out this signal (there are ways of coarse to change that including modding among other things).

The next step in line is to to convert the RGB to S-Video (or alike). Apparently there is little to no loss in the signal here (most sources I found on the signal loss did testing, but nothing much in depth so don't quote me on that part). This step is skip-able though if you get a particular product in the next step.

The third step is to actually get the converter/upscaler. For this many recommend the DVDO iScan VP line High Definition Video Processor. It comes heavily recommended on the Retro Video game sites. The reason the previous step is skip-able is because you can get one of these devices that have RGB inputs and HD output. (A side note, if you go with RGB, be sure the converter/upscaler accepts the RGB signal, it doesn't have to have the ports to accept the signal. The above mentioned DVDO does accept the RGB signal.)

My overall mission is make the picture quality much better for my NES, SNES, N64, Sega, PS1, and PS2 (without building a HTPC).

My question to the community: is this actually worth it? Is there actually a substantial quality increase? Anyone know of anything better than the DVDO line? Would it be better to just wait for the Retron 5 for my cartridge consoles?
 

Bryan^H

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Northgun said:
My overall mission is make the picture quality much better for my NES, SNES, N64, Sega, PS1, and PS2 (without building a HTPC).

My question to the community: is this actually worth it? Is there actually a substantial quality increase? Anyone know of anything better than the DVDO line? Would it be better to just wait for the Retron 5 for my cartridge consoles?
I love my old systems, and play the often(mainly NES, Sega MAster System, and 3DO). No matter how much I tweaked my HD TV's I have never been happy with any conversion on the way these systems look. I quit trying and went back to CRT which looks stunning on all of the old systems. Recently found a 27" CRT that has less than 1 hour use, and was very pleased with the video quality.. CRT is meant for old systems, LCD, and LED is not. I never had a Plasma to try though.
 

Morgan Jolley

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As much as the legality is questionable, emulators on HTPCs usually look essentially fine. You could also look for some games on modern consoles (Wii and Wii U have a lot of old games on Virtual Console; PS3 and 360 have a lot of older games on their respective stores) and play them.

In terms of getting an old console to run nice on your TV....its pretty much not going to happen. Your best bet is something from the PS2 era and onward.
 

Carl Johnson

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That Retron 5 looks awesome. If it works as advertised I will certainly get one. I know of a local store that has hundreds of old school game cartridges for sale. I'd actually rather go back to playing those than upgrade to either of the forthcoming consoles. Sent from my SPH-M830 using HTF mobile app
 

Morgan Jolley

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A lot of retro gaming consoles are usually just PC emulators that read the ROM off the original carts. They almost always have graphics/sound issues with some number of games (and, wouldn't you know it, its usually games that are really popular). Check reviews for them to make sure your games will work properly.
 

Northgun

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Yeah, I am leaning heavily towards the Retron5 and getting a DVDO Iscan VP20. I need the Iscan to covert the N64, PS1 and PS2 to HDMI for my newest preamp that only has HDMI. I've been impressed with everything I've seen on the Reton5 so far. I sent an e-mail to a website that is offering preorder on them and they told me the console is set for release this October. Hopefully they are correct.
 

Morgan Jolley

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Amazon has the Retron5 up for preorder and also has a price guarantee where if the price somehow lowers, even temporarily, between the time you preorder it and when it is released then that is the price you will pay. Plus its Amazon, so good customer service, only charge you once it ships, and free 2 day shipping with Prime.
 

Northgun

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After reading a bunch of reviews I decided to go with the DVDO iscan vp20. I bought it new off of ebay for 120. I'll let everyone know how it works. I plan to dabble in Scart a bit to later when I don't have as much grad school hwk. I also will be pre-ordering the Retron5.
 

Northgun

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Jacob
I've got a lot of settings to go through still, but so far the DVDO iscan vp20 has been a worthwhile buy. It has caused a significant improvement. From reading other people's experiences I've seen that I need to adjust quite a few setting to get an even better picture. I'll report back with my findings soon.
 

Ron1973

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I guess I have to go the other direction. I have both Atari 2600 and SNES. The SNES receives more play than the 2600 but both look phenomenal in comparison to what they did on older TV's. I'm not claiming they're stunningly hi-def but I've certainly saw worse! Oh, for the fun of it, Megamania (Atari 2600 game from Activision) sounds absolutely stunning on the home theater system!
 

JohnS

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I've decided and have got the hunger to get back into retro gaming.
I miss those days of owning a NES again.
I even have an Intellivision with just about every game. (Back home tho)

I'm looking to get an Intellivision flashback
I'm also wanting to get a Retron 5
 

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