HDMI --> Component Converter

[DADoES]

 
Anyone have experience with and/or specific recommendation for said item (or against a specific choice/model)?  I need to replace my DVD player (existing unit won't work for streaming Netflix after 12/31/2019).  As I understand no players produced since 2014 have component video outputs and my 17yo Panasonic plasma panel doesn't have an HDMI input.

 

[cuffs054]

DADoES, I'm in the same boat and would be interested in any thing you come up with. The DishNet installer hooked my BluRay into the main sat unit but I can't seem to access it that way.

 

[mattl]

You may run into an issues with HDCP regardless of what adapter you buy.  A lot depends on how NF copy protects.  The reason they are dumping old Roku's and other equipment is precisely due to copy protection.

 

You might Be better off looking for a new Roku or such that offers component out, not sure they exist any more.  I'd call NF customer service and ask they exactly what equipment will work with their new copy protection algorithm.  I have a hunch you may be out of luck.

 

[sfh074]

Actually ....

I use this. Two of them actually. 

 

1.) HDMI out from a Roku 3, into this converter, and then out to a tv. 

 

2.) HDMI from a dvd player, into this converter, and into a tv.

 

 

They work very well and once setup, haven't had to touch them in several years.

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[gansky1]

17 year old Panasonic Plasma --  that's impressive.  You must check and refill the plasma regularly. 

  I had a Panasonic Viera plasma for five years, it is still my favorite picture on a flat screen. 

 

[yogitunes]

check around....there may be a converter box to do what you need....

my LCD tv has an optical output for the external sound....

the choice was to buy a new surround that would accept optical input...

OR....

buy a 20.00 converter that changed the digital optical output into RCA jacks hooked into the stereo...

 

[DADoES]

 
Bud, I'd found a selection of converters like that on Amazon, various brandings that seem to be the same physical box, and others that are different.  A comment on one selection at Amazon advises it didn't work with his "older Panasonic plasma."

Also found this review page Top 7 HDMI to Component Converters of 2019, their top choice seems NLA.  Their 2nd choice looks the same as your link (their Amazon link is to a different source).

I'm prepared to try more than one device if necessary ... to a point.

My plasma is essentially a heavy 42" flat-screen monitor ... no tuner or speakers.  Audio is not a problem long as the DVD player has an optical output to my AV receiver.

Greg, it's amazing that I've never had the plasma fluid refreshed or topped-off for evaporation loss.  Every time I mention it to a AV salesman, he's on the horn reporting the anomaly to headquarters.  I've not thus far been interviewed for any tech journal write-ups ...

 

[sfh074]

I have an older .....

50" plasma screen as well. The converter I showed works well. And yes,  the branding looks different on a few of those converters but the layout of the input and outputs are identical.  Simple Chinese converter with different cover graphics/writing. For $15 its worth a try. But my experience with them has been good. The tv likes the component video signal generated by this converter and defaults to 720p. No picture artifacts or any kind of video noise. The link I posted is the very converter I use. If your tv has component video inputs, this converter should work just fine. You can manually select from a list of resolutions that the converter can generate if needed, meaning it gives you options.  

 

I have to admit the older plasma screen to this day still looks impressive.  I have 2 newer led tv's, both samsung, and they don't seem to have the color vibrancy as the plasma. Only drawback is it weighs a ton and heats up the room. lol

 

[kb0nes]

It is impressive longevity from a TV, especially a plasma. I am currently using a 12 year old Sony LCD which is going strong, but it overscans horribly with HDMI inputs and there are no scaling adjustments. It's a super well made TV, but it needs to go.

I had a neighbor a number of years back with an early Pioneer plasma and I could hear whenever it was on most anywhere from 1.8-4Mhz. It is a shame that so many modern devices are so dirty. We even tried to add ferrites and filter the power to no avail. I was pleased when it died...

 

[mattl]

I have 2 plasma's, both relegated to secondary use and they both still work very well at 12-14 years old.  One is a Panny the other a Samsung.  A guy called AudioDane came up with a little circuit board that will restore the Panny to original black levels making the picture almost as it was out of the box.   Over time there is an algorithm used to boost the background levels resulting in more of a dark gray  than black quality to the image. Every few thousand of hours it kicks in and resets the clock to restore the image.  Neat trick.  That set still get a moderate amount of use in my library the Sammy is in the basement and rarely gets used.  Much prefer my 4K displays for everyday watching, TCL is my go to brand for use and recommendations.

 

[lordkenmore]

TCL is my go to brand for use and recommendations

Interesting to know that! I've seen their TVs at places like Target, and noticed the pricing is often attractive. (Although the models I notice are very low end basic models--probably far from 4K.) Yet, I've heard nothing about them, except I think one favorable review a year or so back that felt that some model or models wasn't "the best possible" but was a very good buy for the money.

 

[mattl]

TCL is currently the 2nd most popular TV out there.  The 6 Series  is the gold standard for affordable 4K sets with an outstanding picture.  It's 55" at $600 is a great value and the 65" for a few  hundred more compares favorably with sets costing almost double.  It has Roku built in and does a good job of OTA and even has a very rudimentary DVR  that will buffer up to 2 hours of OTA allowing you to pause and rewind but not record.  TCL released an app that will give you the option to get somewhat close to a professional calibration using certain cell phones.

 

I'm 18 months into ownership of my 6 series and still marvel at the picture quality. 

 

[perc-o-prince]

Converters

When using my karaoke laptop, I need to feed HDMI and RCA monitors at the same time. I use a couple of converters into and out of the video splitting box which has VGA input and VGA and RCA output. My laptop has an HDMI output.

*HDMI to VGA converter to go from my laptop's HDMI to the VGA input of my video splitter box.
*RCA splitter on the RCA OUT to feed 2 video only TVs for the lyrics.
*VGA to HDMI converter out of the splitter to feed the monster flat screen on the stage.

I've bought them off of eBay cheaply without issue. Here are 2 links that may help you. The white box one is the same "brand" (haha) as the VGA to HDMI one that I have, but it's USB powered. Just remember to check that it's HDMI input to RCA outputs!

Good luck,
Chuck

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Si...803055?hash=item52272129af:g:-qsAAOSwgZpdwTHQ

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-To-RC...=20263895037498f152bed2564311ae2ea51b502ad18f

 

[sfh074]

Those converters are ......

Composite video outputs. Max resolution is 480. Good enough for karaoke machine!

 

[48bencix]

34" SONY CRT HD tv set

My first HDTV was the 34" SONY with picture tube. Great picture and black blacks, but it weighted 200 pounds. It was less expensive that the Plasmas of the time and had 1080i picture. It also had one HDMI input and a couple of composites. I finally upgraded to a 50" SONY LED tv which has a good picture and 3 HDMI inputs. I am not looking for 4K as not much content is available. My cousin has one and they had to get a 4K BluRay player due to relative lack of streaming options. Some of the 4K BluRays are mastered in 2K and some theaters still have those projectors. Still the HD picture is quite stunning. I do think there is a very expensive service that you can get to have what is in the theaters.

 

[mattl]

Funy I went over my 1Terabyte Comcast cap a few months ago streaming 4K. There is a LOT of 4k content out there, Amazon, Netflix, Vudu, and on and on.  No lack of 4K content for me.

 

[lowefficiency]

>> TCL is currently the 2nd most popular TV out there. The 6 Series is the gold standard for affordable 4K sets
>> with an outstanding picture. It's 55" at $600 is a great value and the 65" for a few hundred more compares
>> favorably with sets costing almost double. It has Roku built in and does a good job of OTA and even has a
>> very rudimentary DVR that will buffer up to 2 hours of OTA allowing you to pause and rewind but not record.
>> TCL released an app that will give you the option to get somewhat close to a professional calibration using
>> certain cell phones.

TCL does make good TVs (phenomenal TVs for the price)... however there is good reason to be leery of what they bundle and how you use it. TCL is a Chinese company with partial ownership by the Chinese government, and all modern smart TVs utilize automatic content recognition. So when you're "watching TV" via your OTA antenna, a server in China is actively logging your viewing habits and profiling you as a person. They also, if you're using it as a smart TV, have the password to your WiFi network, and a connected platform for accessing that network from remotely - with automatic updating software by default. It's pretty scary when you take a step back and look at it.

If you value your privacy at all, one would be strongly advised to disable the WiFi (or hardwired networking) of your Smart TV (not just TCL), and migrate to separate devices for your streaming services to limit your exposure.

 

[mattl]

True, but for ALL modern TVs today.  Every one monitors you.  Personally I do not care if they track what I watch, I dies not specifically impact me in any way.  True you can defeat it by not connecting it to your network but you also loose much of the functionality.

 

[lordkenmore]

True, but for ALL modern TVs today. Every one monitors you.

That's my working hypothesis. I'm not terribly well versed in modern video, but I certainly have read articles discussing this issue. And I've read that at least there is a possibility that spying could go as far as eavesdropping on personal conversations.


 

One interesting article:

How to keep your smart TV from spying on you

Opinion: You could worry about Windows 10 spying on you, or you could worry about something a bit more serious -- like your TV listening in on you and passing on the information to intelligence agencies.

www.zdnet.com

 

I don't have a smart TV, and I have no desire to have one. If I ended up with one for whatever reason (say, someone gave it to me, and I decided I might as well use it because it's better than what I'm using), I'd use it disconnected from the Internet.

 

Admittedly, disconnected from the Internet loses some functionality, but the stuff I might care about (like streaming content) can be added by other means. I've heard arguments that using something external might get other benefits, too, like a possibly better interface.


 

Of course, those external devices might also potentially spy and send data back to the maker. I'm pretty boring, but I do like privacy. I don't know if this is and will remain possible, but I think if I went with streaming video, I'd like a media PC running Linux.

 

Finally, it's apparently possible to turn off data collection with a lot of TVs--but of course one is gambling that off does mean off with a given TV.