HDMI Converter Recommendations
 

Does anyone use an HDMI source with their old TV?

I use a DVD player, but playing DVD-Rs is annoying because some sources are only available online these days etc. The old DVD player is also starting to skip.

The problem I see is that the aspect ratio is incorrect with the cheap converters. The ones I see on Amazon fill the screen with the signal, so 720p 16:9 becomes 480i 4:3.

Is there a converter out there that will let a PC output a proper 4:3 signal through HDMI so 16:9 content becomes letterboxed and 4:3 content fills the screen? My laptop will output a 4:3 signal to a monitor just fine but it appears that wouldn't work with an HDMI converter.

Big issue will be the HDMI HDCP (High Definition Content Protection) handshakes. Especially due to the Motion Picture Association of America goons.

I actually picked up the RadioShack HDMI converter, and it works fine. The conversion to composite isn't great, but passable.

According to my video card, the converter is HDCP compatible. I don't know if that's to the MPAA's liking.

Is this the one you have?

https://www.radioshack.com/products/...site-converter

I stocked up on a couple of these and a couple of the component video versions during RS's liquidation sales.

I even got one of their HDMI-to-RF adapters, which I didn't even know existed.

That's the one. It accepts 640x480, so the aspect ratio is correct when connected to a notebook for a 4:3 television. However, it overscans excessively which must be adjusted in software.

It reminds me of the betamax case years ago.Somebody online more likely has a work around "Hack" for it.

I'd still like to track down a converter that scales an HD widescreen image to 4:3 correctly. It doesn't seem like anyone's made one.

I understand what you mean. I've been looking for the same thing too and haven't turned up anything so far.

Why the hell would you want that? I wish it overscanned even more. The letterbox is almost invisible on most sets, but I wish it was 100% zoomed in. I f**king HATE a letterbox...can you tell?

What are you outputting to exactly? Many CRT sets had 2-5" of over-scan...Which will be super noticeable with a desktop if the graphics system is set to exactly fill the image portion of the signal with the digital image in it's buffers... I rather have the full-screen of my video player fill the signal space exactly and show the over-scan built into the TV SETs I'm watching, than have the signal fill only the screen of one TV set correctly.

When evaluating signal characteristics of digital video devices I always try to variac a CRT set down for under-scan (with no signal) on all sides + corners, then compare to a 4:3 DVD, LD or VHS source to see how well the image of the digital device fills the video portion of the video signal (and sometimes see if the sync/blanking looks decent).

I don't particularly like that TV have over-scan and try to minimize it on regular use sets, but I except it as part of a TV's design....Crappy signal devices that don't properly fill the picture space of a signal do get on my nerves.
Letter box is a double edge sword for me...I want to see the whole image in the format it's creators intended without distortion ~%90 of the time, but there is ~%10 where I miss filling the screen on older sets and want to crop in to 4:3....One thing I like about our Cisco mini cable boxes is that they let me choose proper cropped 4:3 (which is great for older shows with the little 4:3 box in the center/ as it removes the artificial boarder), or 16:9.

Perhaps you misunderstand the issue. Depending on the signal source, sometimes there are different adjustments that are needed (but unavailable) to make the video display properly on a 4:3 set. If you're using a digital media player (i.e. Roku, etc.), there are occasions when it would be nice to have a scaling function in order to crop 16:9 content. In the case of over-the-air DTV, I've experienced a few sub-channels whose broadcast signal appears entirely wrong on a 4:3 set -- the show is originally 4:3 format, but what I see onscreen is horizontally-squeezed video with black bars on the sides, and my converter boxes are somehow forbidden from zooming and/or stretching the video (on these channels only). It's quite annoying, as the video portion looks almost like a 1:1 aspect ratio.

So, it would be nice if there were a video processing device which had composite inputs and outputs which allowed the user to perform various zooming, stretching, and/or squeezing functions on the input signal, to compensate for sources which are not displaying properly for whatever reason.

Perhaps you misunderstand the issue. Depending on the signal source, sometimes there are different adjustments that are needed (but unavailable) to make the video display properly on a 4:3 set. If you're using a digital media player (i.e. Roku, etc.), there are occasions when it would be nice to have a scaling function in order to crop 16:9 content. In the case of over-the-air DTV, I've experienced a few sub-channels whose broadcast signal appears entirely wrong on a 4:3 set -- the show is originally 4:3 format, but what I see onscreen is horizontally-squeezed video with black bars on the sides, and my converter boxes are somehow forbidden from zooming and/or stretching the video (on these channels only). It's quite annoying, as the video portion looks almost like a 1:1 aspect ratio.

So, it would be nice if there were a video processing device which had composite inputs and outputs which allowed the user to perform various zooming, stretching, and/or squeezing functions on the input signal, to compensate for sources which are not displaying properly for whatever reason.

Ill second that. I have both a 4:3 and 16:9 HD CRT TVs that have component input from Samsung box. Nothing is adjustable the way it needs to be! Also, the smaller the screen you have the more likely this happens:thumbsdn:

Has anyone tried one of these? The zoom percentages aren't mentioned in the listing.

How interesting! I don't have one, but may give this a try.

The HDMI2AV device has been around for a few years, but this is a new variation with the zoom function. Might be just what we need.

I would also like a device that has composite input and output that provides zoom & stretch functions so that I could correct signals from my DTV converter boxes (which are already composite).