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

[gertsy]

Sounds like a good deal. Photos??  

[gertsy]

That looks fantastic. "Special"
I'm in.
Bought a new Amiga SCART cable(Could build one but can't be stuffed) and the unit just now.  My main PC monitor is a BEN Q GL2440 hoping I can just plug into that.  Makes the desk much tidier with just one monitor on it.

Thanks for the tip.  It actually looks like quality hardware as well.

[gertsy]

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.

It has HDMI in but it is a cheapy.  Here's hoping. Benq website in Aus is down.  Probably gone out of business. I have another "gigantic" HDMI option like you..  Wide screen Bubble and Squeak. I'll need joystick cable extenders.

[gertsy]

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.

Just got mine all set up.  Tried it with my A1200 and 500 on our big Panasonic Plasma in the lounge. Amazing picture. Crisp clear and flicker fixed in interlaced mode too.  Beautiful.  Thanks for the tip djos.
Haven't tried the C64 yet and I've gotta get another HDMI cable to use my BenQ monitor. Pretty sure it will work on that too.

[gertsy]

No worries mate

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.

[gertsy]

There's a bit of black bordering on normal games, nothing intrusive. Using overscan on workbench I was able to get quite good coverage.  The RHS has a bit of unusable border.  4:3 Aspect was distracting.  Too much side space. Geometric games like Loopz can look a bit stretched on 16:9.  4:3 Zoom was like playing Doom, too blocky.

The upscaler couldn't handle my normal A1200 workbench screen which is..I've forgotten...  Anyway it was a 32khz mode 800 x 600 which looks great MUI. It actually came up double screen perhaps because my Panasonic thought it was 3D, dunno.

The colour looked great.  Especially when I'm so used to the washed out look of most Amiga video expansion options.

[gertsy]

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

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.