Test of video converters for Commodore 64

Video converters for Commodore 64 (Composite/S-Video)

In my quest to find some nice cheap video converters for Amiga and C64 (and similar) I thought I’d post some test images here to share my findings.

These tests has been made on the C64 ReLoaded. While they might be good for other/newer Composite/S-Video equipment, these tests are only made for the C64.

 

Input power 5v
Power Connector Round
Power consumption standby/active 480mA/520mA
Input Composite Yes
Input S-video Yes
Output VGA
Output resolutions 800×600 / 1024×768
Price USD $12

1 - Video converter

Showing connectors

Showing connectors

1 - Composite

Composite Signal.

1 - Svideo

S-Video signal

As you can see this device is absolutely horrible.

 

Next up is the Mini Video to VGA Scaler. Again I found this on eBay for around $10

Power Connector  Mini B USB
Input power  5v
Power consumption standby/active  300mA / 340mA
Input Composite  Yes
Input S-video  Yes
Output  VGA
Output resolutions  800×600 / 1024×768
Price USD $10

 

2 - Video Scaler

Showing connectors

Showing connectors

2 - Composite

Composite signal

2 - S-video

S-Video signal

 

The Scart to HDMI converter

Power Connector  Round
Input power  5v
Power consumption standby/active  300mA / 420mA
Input Composite  Yes via Scart
Input S-video  No
Output  HDMI
Output resolutions  720p/1080p
Price USD $10-20

3 - Scart-Composite to HDMI

Showing connectors

Showing connectors

3 - Svideo

S-Video signal

3 - Composite1

Composite signal

3 - Composite2

Composite signal

When first powered on I got the blue screen on the composite signal, after a reset I got the static gray you see on this last image. The S-Video signal looks good, but the converter is only Composite so you won’t get the colour.

 

Power Connector Round
Input power 5v
Power consumption standby/active
Input Composite
Input S-video
Output HDMI
Output resolutions 720p / 1080p
Price USD $24
Scart to HDMI

Scart to HDMI

Showing connectors

Showing connectors

I’ve shown this box for Amiga RGB and I’m quite happy with that as a cheap converter. Though I was going to use this for testing as well it seems to have stopped working. I’ll update this when I either get it fixed or someday aquire a new one.

Thomas R McFarland on facebook reported that this device doesn’t work well with the C64’s S-Video.

 

For a good measure, I’m posting the native Composite and S-Video signal that my monitor takes.

 

Composite signal

Composite signal

S-Video signal

S-Video signal