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  #1  
Old 05-26-2017, 10:57 AM
Outland Outland is offline
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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.
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  #2  
Old 06-11-2017, 08:53 PM
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KentTeffeteller KentTeffeteller is offline
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Big issue will be the HDMI HDCP (High Definition Content Protection) handshakes. Especially due to the Motion Picture Association of America goons.
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  #3  
Old 06-11-2017, 10:36 PM
Outland Outland is offline
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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.
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  #4  
Old 06-12-2017, 09:29 AM
user181 user181 is offline
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Originally Posted by Outland View Post
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.
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  #5  
Old 06-12-2017, 12:48 PM
Outland Outland is offline
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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.
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Old 06-12-2017, 08:04 PM
centralradio centralradio is offline
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It reminds me of the betamax case years ago.Somebody online more likely has a work around "Hack" for it.
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  #7  
Old 06-12-2017, 09:13 PM
Outland Outland is offline
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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.
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  #8  
Old 06-12-2017, 11:45 PM
user181 user181 is offline
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Originally Posted by Outland View Post
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.
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  #9  
Old 06-13-2017, 04:09 AM
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David Roper David Roper is offline
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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?
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  #10  
Old 06-13-2017, 09:53 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Outland View Post
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.
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.
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  #11  
Old 06-13-2017, 11:24 AM
user181 user181 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David Roper View Post
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?

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.
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  #12  
Old 06-13-2017, 11:30 AM
user181 user181 is offline
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Originally Posted by David Roper View Post
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?

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.
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  #13  
Old 06-13-2017, 12:30 PM
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DavGoodlin DavGoodlin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David Roper View Post
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?
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
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  #14  
Old 06-19-2017, 10:35 PM
colectorad colectorad is offline
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Has anyone tried one of these? The zoom percentages aren't mentioned in the listing.
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  #15  
Old 06-20-2017, 10:36 AM
user181 user181 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by colectorad View Post
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).
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