PS2 HDMI Upscaler

  • Thread starter Doomotron
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Doomotron
Is there an HDMI adapter for the PS2 that upscales it to an HD resolution? All of the ones I've seen on Amazon keep the native resolution of the PS2.
 
If you're willing to pay, yes. All of the cheap scaler boxes are garbage (as are many of the cheaper RGB -> HDMI transcoders) even if they don't butcher the picture being fed into them; and the things that are somewhat inexpensive and quality like the Rad2X are just line doublers (which are great, but benefit the PSX era and older consoles much more) rather than HD upscalers.
 
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I want to plug my old PS2 into my new 4K TV (MU406120K). Bought a component cable, but it says 'Resolution Not Supported'. Tried a cheap HDMI convertor, but it doesn't even recognize the signal. Plugged the PS2 via the HDMI convertor into my Magewell Pro Capture AOI 4K & all I get is an 'Unsupported Signal' message. Any ideas would be very welcome indeed...


 
Your PS2 might be set to output RGB through the component cable. Need to manually change it to YPbPr from the main menu.
 
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Your PS2 might be set to output RGB through the component cable. Need to manually change it to YPbPr from the main menu.
Yeah, that @VBR

Your TV can take a composite signal in through the Y component port so you can see your PS2 screen in order to change it.

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Thanks guys, I'll try it out & see what happens.


:cheers:


EDIT: I used the old AV cable that came with the PS2 to change the settings from RGB to Y/Pb/Pr. However, the PS2 app I'm using runs at a resolution of just 256 (really), so the picture is not displayed as my TV will only go as low as 480, & the same goes for the HDMI adapter. I need an HDMI upscaler that will accept a 256 input, but can't find one...
 
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Most TV's made in the past decade either don't accept a sub-480 progressive scan signal or screw it up by forcing it to interlace (my old Philips from 2008 displays it natively, as did my old AV receiver from 2007; my previous Hitachi from 2013 screwed up the image by forcing it to interlaced, and my current AV receiver from 2019 doesn't accept it at all). It's like the opposite of the late-2000s problem where a bunch of LCD HDTVs only accepted SD resolutions over component cables and forced you to use digital inputs for HD images.

Rad2X is your best option I'd think. You couldn't use PS2 games with progressive scan with it, but should be fine otherwise. Everything that works better than that new is at least double the price new, and everything that's cheaper than that is garbage. What I personally use for my Genesis and Laserdisc player is a Silicon Optix ImageAnyplace IA-100, but the prices for those fluctuate all over the place and I don't know if they were ever sold outside of the US to begin with (though they are specced to work).
 
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@Tornado - That Rad2X gadget looks to be exactly the kind of thing I need. Unfortunately, it's way too expensive. My Old TV was an Acoustic Solutions LCD32761HDF 720p, & it handled the PS2 very well. In fact, it was such a good TV that I never felt that I needed to upgrade to 1080p. I went straight to 4K very recently, & ran into these issues. Sold the old TV before I realized there would be problems. Maybe I can pick up a Rad2X cheap somewhere...
 
VBR
However, the PS2 app I'm using runs at a resolution of just 256 (really), so the picture is not displayed as my TV will only go as low as 480, & the same goes for the HDMI adapter. I need an HDMI upscaler that will accept a 256 input, but can't find one...
There is actually a (semi-)native way around this actually if you have FMCB installed on a memory card (or any other means of loading unsigned code), by using the GS Mode Selector homebrew. Works well for running PS1 games over component cables, and interestingly allows forcing a native 576p/720p/1080p output which no commercial game release actually uses.

(Unfortunately, for PAL-region PS2 games, there is no option to output 720p, 1080i or 1080p at 50Hz, only 60Hz. However for any game that supports NTSC output, 1080i mode tends to work pretty good.)
 
Is there an HDMI adapter for the PS2 that upscales it to an HD resolution? All of the ones I've seen on Amazon keep the native resolution of the PS2.

As a workaround, I ended up getting a cheap backwards compatible 60GB PS3 (CHECHC03) off eBay. That should be able to play PS2 games & upscale them to 480/720/1080. They can go for between £100 to £150 ish, but I managed to get one for around £50. It came with some other accessories that I didn't need, so once I sell them on the overall cost will be even cheaper.

👍
 
VBR
As a workaround, I ended up getting a cheap backwards compatible 60GB PS3 (CHECHC03) off eBay. That should be able to play PS2 games & upscale them to 480/720/1080. They can go for between £100 to £150 ish, but I managed to get one for around £50. It came with some other accessories that I didn't need, so once I sell them on the overall cost will be even cheaper.

👍
Is the upscaling increasing the resolution of the game or just the final image displayed on the screen?
 
Is the upscaling increasing the resolution of the game or just the final image displayed on the screen?

It doesn't run PS2 games in higher res, no. It just upscales them. If you want PS2 games running in higher res (& frame rates), only an emulator will do that (or a modded PS2).

EDIT: gave it a thorough testing yesterday, & overall I cannot recommend it as an option. It's hit or miss with PS2 games, some play fine, whereas others are quite glitchy. For instance, it wouldn't play any of my Gran Turismo or Richard Burns Rally replays properly. However, I only bought it for one particular app which seems to be working well, so I'm happy.
 
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A very expensive alternative to the Rad2x for retro gaming capture is the Kaico OSSC Convertor.

 
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