15Khz RGB YUV Video to VGA Converter Scaler For Amiga Atari Apple IIGS

[djos]

Good stuff!

Does your BenQ support Hdcp? If it has a hdmi port it will for certain but not all dvi-d only screens do. I finally figured out this is why it doesn't work with my Mitsi 19" LCD monitor.

[djos]

Hdcp is part of the hdmi standard and optional for dvi-d, it's just the DRM the movie studios forced upon intel when making the hdmi standard.

So you'll be fine as the same chip that runs the hdmi port usually runs dvi-d port.

[djos]

It also converts composite and s-video using a cheap scart plug adapter.

Good news folks, using a scart plug adapter it most definitely converts composite and s-video to Hdmi along with the audio.

I tested the s-video with my TiVo and got a superb picture, really quite impressive considering and it shows "scart SV" via the osd.

The c64 via composite also produced a surprisingly nice picture considering, like really really nice, was hard to believe it was composite, only the softness and bit of colour bleed gave it away but it was a much better pic than my Bravia TV produces when fed the same signal!

Bad news tho, using my very cheap c64 s-video cable it doesn't recognise the signal as s-video (shows "scart av" on the osd) and as a result produces a truly aweful aweful picture!

I checked my S-Video cable and it does have the 300ohm resistor but my c64 still wont work properly with my SCART-HDMI Converter - seems Commodore video is just too far out of spec for it to recognize it properly.

c64 Composite does work tho and looks surprisingly good.

[djos]

@djos - I have one of those scart adapters (it came with a BenQ HD TV I bought several years ago) and I also have the RGB HDMI to HDMI Scale Coverter recommended in the thread. Could you please let me know I will need to connect my A1200 to my LG HD monitor with HDMI, DVI and VGA ports?

Hi, the little SCART adapter I was showing before is just for Composite and S-Video input into the SCART-HDMI Converter - to connect an Amiga you'll need an Amiga DB23-Scart_RGB cable, the SCART-HDMI Converter and a HDMI Cable.

That's it.

[djos]

So I went to the trouble of breadboarding a low-pass filter for use with the c64's S-Video:



I discovered using 100nF Cap and 360ohm resistor didnt work too well - the chrominance info was completely MIA and only the luminance info was getting thru. my wiring tested out ok the filter was obviously filtering too much.

Anyway for whatever reason I thought Id remove the filter and plug the c64 directly into the scart converter again and to my surprise it works fine and the SCART-HDMI converter showed "Scart SV" as it should.

The picture is quite decent too:


and comparable to native s-video direct to my Bravia:


I must have done something dumb like not plug my cable in properly! :p

[djos]

No worries mate

[djos]

The unit: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/310620740857?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_6693wt_1040&clk_rvr_id=478495447823
Apart from the shocking clarity the best bit is the way it handles dithering or gouraud shading.  Most video converters have big trouble with that especially the "silver" look. Special!

On High res interlaced PAL there is a slight shimmer of drop down menu items for a split second but if you didn't know it wasn't supposed to happen you might think it was an effect. It could just be an artefact of the upscaling. Also when jumping from low res back to high res the same split second shimmer is evident but barely noticeable. Almost like a settling.
I'm pointing out tiny insignificant blemishes on what I think is the best Amiga display I've seen since vanilla 1084.  I have / used 2320(Amber), Picasso II, Retina Z3 and they either suffered from shading artefacts or the washout look. This is crystal and very 1084ish.

I ran through a few WHDload games in front of the big screen last night; Super Cars, Superfrog, Loopz, Historyline(sucked in for too long there!)  Had to sit a good 3 metres back from the screen but the contrast was great and the display rock steady.  Might have something to do with the Panasonic VT30 1080p screen though.

Once I pick up another HDMI cable I try out my cheapy BENQ Monitor and let you know if the result is the same.

Cheers.

Good to hear it's working great for you too mate, my only beef is the lack of compliance with the SCART pin8 signalling and it stretching 4:3 to 16:9 as a result as my Bravia doesnt allow me to squash 16:9 720p/1080p content back to 4:3 AR!

I've calibrated my display for it too by hooking up a BD player to the HDMI pass-thru and running thru my spears & munsil calibration disc. This is worth doing as the SCART-HDMI converter tends to turn up the colour saturation a little bit (and im anal about PQ).

Your Panny VT30 is a superb screen so im not surprised it works well for you - does it have an "aspect" or "zoom" button that allows you to fix the aspect ratio?

[djos]

yeah I found the image is slightly shifted to the right of screen too but just so pleased with the results I dont care.

[djos]

Tested on my BenQ.  Works fine.  A little more washed out than the Panasonic but still nice. Still has the slight menu flicker on opening so its an artefact of the SCART - HDMI converter.  Still it's good to switch from my Amiga 1200 to PC with a touch of the Monitor input button. Just like my A4000.

Im seriously considering buying a new 24" IPS LCD for my Mac Mini and moving my 21" Samsung LCD to my Amiga 1200 along with a 2nd SCART-HDMI converter - beats the hell out of my GBS-8220 and my Samsung lets me correct the aspect ratio back to 4:3.

[djos]

The only issue with the HDMI converter is moving items look soft due to the deinterlacing method used.

Aside from that it's great as it supports 50 & 60hz. Your tv will need to support forcing 720p or 1080p into 4:3 mode tho as the converter ignores the Scart aspect ratio signals.

Btw there is one better unit IMO, it's form the same mob and converts scart-rgb to component video - either 576i 50hz or 480i 60hz.