New Kickstarter - The Component Video Box For Most Classic Gaming Consoles

[turbokon]

Me and a couple of other guys have been working on the component video box. We were only going to build a few but we've been getting a lot of request for them so we decided to take it to the next level and do a kickstarter to help with mass producing these. We just launched our kickstarter last night. Please help spread the word and thanks for your support.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1845713947/the-component-video-box-for-classic-game-consoles

If you're looking for composite to component via only pass thru (just rewiring), then this device is not it. However if you want rgb quality via component then this is way to go.

Some hdtv don't support 240p/288p resolution. While this is true, the ones that don't support is the monitory I think. I have four HDTV's, two sony's, one Samsung and one Phillips all work with the component box. I must add that two, (my bigger Sony and Phillip), looks better then the other two.

There is a simple test to see if your HDTV supports 240p/288p resolution. Using the stock RCA cable for example with the snes or genesis, plug the yellow RCA into the "Y" input of your HDTV set. If your sets support it, you should see a black & white pictures.

Here is a video comparison that somebody did between composite video thru the xrgb mini and our rgb to component version 1 .

http://youtu.be/FQ3bkYTInLw

[Niku-Sama]

whats going to be the end game price for one of these units?

[Bratwurst]

I have used one of Shawn's boards in my own component-out box that hooks up to the expansion port of a TG-16, and I can verify that the video output is simply beautiful when piped through a CRT.

[Pikkon]

Most of hdtv's now do not support 240p over component,it's just not something engineers add.
Older hdtv's have a better chance.

Some tv's will do 288p while it wont do 240p via component,my component modded pal snes will play in 288p on my vizo but not in 240p with component.

If it was me selling this I would try to figure out how to add a line doubler so the tv will see it as 480i/p then it would work on pretty much any hdtv but that would up the cost.

[Greg2600]

The issues with 240p over component forced me to use a full HDMI upscaler. While I know the guy's work is top notch, I just think it could be an issue for people.

[Leo_A]

240p support over component on HDTV's actually has increased in recent years, not decreased. That's why, for example, that the HD Retrovision guys are going that route with their cables for the Genesis and SuperNes instead of HDMI. Not nearly as bad as it was a decade ago, it seems.

I doubt that has happened though because tv manufacturers sought that improvement out, since the need to send 240p via component is minuscule and only decreasing as we leave the PS2 era behind. Rather, improvements in scaling technology and decreases in prices have led to more HDTV's having decently capable internal scalers.

Of course, the issue that we're going to be facing soon, if it hasn't already happened, is the disappearance of analog component inputs themselves. I'm confident that it won't be long before we see that high end legacy connection disappear in favor of just a single composite input, likely front mounted, for the greatest support. Then, the next step in a few years will be moving to HDMI only televisions.

Already seen a shift in that direction. Ignoring the death and disappearance of S-Video and VGA inputs, we now have many set's that don't even have a standalone component input. Rather, it's frequently combined with the rear composite input.

[theclaw]

Good points, it's just people take for granted how bad the worst affected sets are.
Literally refusing to process (from the user's viewpoint) 240p component with a black screen or error message.

[Pikkon]

I have a good number of hdtv's and the only one that worked awesome was a old HP plasma tv,it gave out a awesome picture but that tv died not to long ago.

Best bet is to use a sd crt with component as that will work every time.

[buzz_n64]

I'm very interested in purchasing this. I would like to know if my 2011 model Sony Google tv would work with this. It works with my Dreamcast with VGA to HDMI at 480p, my PS2 with HDMI at 480i, and my Xbox with component at 1080i.

Let's say by chance you don't hit your funding goal, would you still be making these?

[turbokon]

You can easily test to see if your hdtv works with 240p by connecting any retro consoles that have composite (yellow rca) into the "Y" (green rca) input of your hdtv. If you see black & white picture then you are good.

The kickstarter is to help get these mass produce easier. Too much work to build everything by hand. If this kickstarter isn't successful, we'll do another campaign.