Want to connect Nintendo to an HDTV

[gambit35]

Hey guys! Real quick, anyone know how to change your avatar? I got a wicked Gambit image I'd like to put up. Haha thx.

Ok, I recently found my old NES console and two controllers! One being the large one with a joystick. Oh yeah!!! Really excited to play Double Dragon with my son. One problem though: NES has red/white/yellow plugs but my TV only has HDMI ports. A friend showed me a composite video converter https://bzbexpress.com/CON-AV-HD4K-Composite-S-video-to-4K-HDMI-Converter-by-KanexPro.html . If this is what's needed, the $100 price reasonable? Because I'm seeing units on amazon for only $15 https://www.amazon.com/HDMI-Converter-Composite-Video-Audio/dp/B077T53C6W/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1520537885&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=composite+video+converter&psc=1 . Why the big price difference? Will the cheap one be good enough? Thanks for the help!

[hexen]

Profile option right under the forum header, then modify profile above the summary bar.

If all you have is an modern TV you are going to have some trouble... even getting it hooked up probably requires at least some low-end converter stuff and you are likely going to have a LOT of problems with the image looking like garbage, but more importantly input lag can sometimes occur and we are talking a whole second between press and reaction. The cheap one you linked should work, but these two problems could make it nearly unplayable... the lag may depend on your specific TV, but the crap image is largely universal. Here is a video that goes pretty in-depth into options for modern TVs, though most are probably going to be more than you'll want to pay.

In my opinion the easiest and cheapest solution is probably buying a CRT tv at just about any thrift store for dirt cheap.

Also, welcome!

[justin8301]

If all you're looking to do is play some NES games on a modern tv, i would consider something like the Retron HD

I know its not playing on the original hardware, but I think it might be the cheapest way to play your original cartridges on a modern TV. I have one and its works great.


ALSO to answer your original question, with the two upscalers you linked, i think the more expensive one does 4k and the cheap on is just 1080p

[oldgamerz]

You're better off buying an old round screen (not a flat screen CRT) like @Hexen told you if you want to use the old NES you have. Because unless you have an old fashion round screen CRT . if you ever plan on playing with the Zapper gun, for Duck Hunt or something else like Hogan's Ally for example. Because the Zapper gun only works on an old CRT like the kind of tv you would find in homes in the mid 1990's

I once had an older used non CRT Flat Screen HDTV. That had connections for both HDMI and AV as well as RGB inputs. and all my games worked fine though but if you are going to use the red and yellow cord on some of the older HDTV flat screens that have the inputs  you might need to plug the yellow into the green hole in order to get a picture , that is

if you don't see a yellow hole and then you need to turn your tv to. Input 1 or Input 2 or game mode on some televisions

[scoobs22]

I've been using this: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V2ULHBS/

It's basic, and everything is still stretched out, but I haven't been able to detect any lag. Supports 720 and 1080.

I've only had it for a few weeks, though, so this is not an endorsement. I primarily use a CRT.

[marvelvscapcom2]

Hey guys! Real quick, anyone know how to change your avatar? I got a wicked Gambit image I'd like to put up. Haha thx.

Ok, I recently found my old NES console and two controllers! One being the large one with a joystick. Oh yeah!!! Really excited to play Double Dragon with my son. One problem though: NES has red/white/yellow plugs but my TV only has HDMI ports. A friend showed me a composite video converter https://bzbexpress.com/CON-AV-HD4K-Composite-S-video-to-4K-HDMI-Converter-by-KanexPro.html . If this is what's needed, the $100 price reasonable? Because I'm seeing units on amazon for only $15 https://www.amazon.com/HDMI-Converter-Composite-Video-Audio/dp/B077T53C6W/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1520537885&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=composite+video+converter&psc=1 . Why the big price difference? Will the cheap one be good enough? Thanks for the help!

I'd say if it did work it'd odds are make the image look awful.  I have never had success with those converters.  At 100 dollars i'd say that's a pretty premium price for the type of solution it gives.  I'm not an expert on conversion or the type of wires or converter boxes you'd need though so I won't say it wouldn't work for sure.  Just that in my experience i've never gotten results that satisfied me out of trying to hook up an original NES to a HDTV in any manner lol. 

If I had to give you my number 1 suggestion although it's a little more than 100$ is a NES Classic Edition or some other type of HD clone console.  The one that comes to mind is the anologue NT Mini but finding one is hard it seems from my research.    Ive seen NES classics cooling in price and can be hacked pretty easily by either a shop or by yourself and can hold hundreds of the best NES games.   They usually go for the reseller special of about 120-180 but since you already are at 100 maybe it'd be a good option for you . 


As others have said getting a cheap CRT tv from the thrift store is the cheapest and fastest option and NES games really do look cool on original CRT style format.

[hoshichiri]

I'm in a similar boat- wanting to use original hardware, but lacking the space for a CRT to display it properly.

You've got 2 options here- convert the video, and upscale the video.

Upscale will alter the video signal to be higher resolution so it looks much nicer on your HDTV, better than CRT depending on who you ask. Trick is, it's very expensive to do right- we're talking several hundred dollars here. The $100 unit your friend linked to seems to be a low-end upscaler. This is a bad idea- assuming it'll put out a decent signal, you don't know what kind of input lag it will introduce into your setup. See, it takes time for the video signal to get altered and displayed. For movies, this isn't an issue, but for games where you're attempting to manipulate something within the video? You can get scenarios where the character doesn't move right away after you tell them to, and really screw up your gameplay. If you're not gonna pony up for a good setup, it's not worth doing.

A Converter will simply change the video signal to something HDMI can understand, without trying to improve the resolution. As a result, the picture is worse, but the units cost less. That's the $15 dollar thing you found. The problem with converters is, if they're poorly made, you can get especially bad video quality, poor color/saturation, and even still run into lag problems. Now, for various space & cost reasons, I use a converter. I've gone through a couple now, but my current unit by enKo is excellent. I'd give you the Amazon link, but for some reason it's not currently available. My tips:

-Don't buy the unit from Musou that Amazon advertises. The colors are extremely muddied, and mine died 1 year in.
-Check the inputs before you buy. They do make units that convert HDMI into composite so you can use newer equipment on old displays, you don't want to get one by mistake.
-Be ready to return/replace anything you buy. A lot of these are cheap Chinese junk where your performance can vary wildly even within the same production run. Make sure you can deal with getting a dud.

I've been using this: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V2ULHBS/

It's basic, and everything is still stretched out, but I haven't been able to detect any lag. Supports 720 and 1080.

I've only had it for a few weeks, though, so this is not an endorsement. I primarily use a CRT.

One last tip for both of you: find the video settings for whichever input your converter is plugged into, and CHANGE YOUR RATIO TO 4:3. It fixes the stretch & improves the image. Very important step if you're using a converter!

[scoobs22]

One last tip for both of you: find the video settings for whichever input your converter is plugged into, and CHANGE YOUR RATIO TO 4:3. It fixes the stretch & improves the image. Very important step if you're using a converter!

Thanks for the input, hoshichiri. I looked at all my video settings right off the bat, but I have a really cheap TV. Seems there are 4 or 5 different "zoom modes," but I'm not finding any way to set a 4:3 ratio at all. The options are stretched, stretched, stretched, and ridiculously stretched.

This is my 2ary setup (bedroom) anyway.. I have a CRT in the game room, and it "just works" of course. Thank goodness for that!

[hoshichiri]

One last tip for both of you: find the video settings for whichever input your converter is plugged into, and CHANGE YOUR RATIO TO 4:3. It fixes the stretch & improves the image. Very important step if you're using a converter!

Thanks for the input, hoshichiri. I looked at all my video settings right off the bat, but I have a really cheap TV. Seems there are 4 or 5 different "zoom modes," but I'm not finding any way to set a 4:3 ratio at all. The options are stretched, stretched, stretched, and ridiculously stretched.

This is my 2ary setup (bedroom) anyway.. I have a CRT in the game room, and it "just works" of course. Thank goodness for that!

What's your TV model? Just in case someone here knows a workaround.

[scoobs22]

One last tip for both of you: find the video settings for whichever input your converter is plugged into, and CHANGE YOUR RATIO TO 4:3. It fixes the stretch & improves the image. Very important step if you're using a converter!

Thanks for the input, hoshichiri. I looked at all my video settings right off the bat, but I have a really cheap TV. Seems there are 4 or 5 different "zoom modes," but I'm not finding any way to set a 4:3 ratio at all. The options are stretched, stretched, stretched, and ridiculously stretched.

This is my 2ary setup (bedroom) anyway.. I have a CRT in the game room, and it "just works" of course. Thank goodness for that!

What's your TV model? Just in case someone here knows a workaround.

The brand is Element, model ELEFW328. It's a POS. I use it primary with Roku, but I had a few extra consoles so I set out on this fool's errand

It's not really that bad, though. The 3DO looks surprisingly good.

[betelgeuse]

You can also just use the antenna input, pretty sure most TVs still have these. As others have said, the picture is going to be distorted.