UpgrowRCA to HDMI Converter - 1080P Mini CVBS to HDMI Composite Video Audio Converter for NTSC PC Laptop Xbox PS4 PS3 TV STB VHS VCR Camera DVD

I just purchased two units for an old game console and an old DVD/VHS combo. I tested the first one out and what I saw was what I expected...First and foremost, I've read dozens of complaints regarding this (type of) item and every single one that complains about focus, sharpness, distorted picture, etc. is because they overlooked PHYSICS. I'm an electrical engineer, so yes, I'm qualified to state the following:For anyone who has ever tried to enlarge a photograph, as SOON as you begin to hit 1% larger than the original, you've begun to distort the image. You can take a LARGE image and reduce it in size by removing content, but you cannot ENLARGE an image as there's nothing to "fill in the extra space." The way these devices do the enlargement is to take a dot (pixel) and make it into a square/rectangle based on the amount of stretching you're doing. People don't realize that they're fancy 4K televisions have almost four THOUSAND pixels width by more than two THOUSAND pixels/lines tall - it's because of this (and "widescreen") the resulting images look poor.NES64: 320x240 (dots) native resolution depending on the game ("capable of 480i"), Wii/Wii-U: 480p (852×480) native resolution depending on the game ("capable of 1080p"), SNES: 256×224/512×224, Atari: 160x192, PS2: 480i/p, Playstation: 256×448, just to name a few.Take an NES64 game of 320x240 and imagine it being displayed on a 4K television with NO stretching being done at all. The game's "image" would be a small box at the top, left corner of the screen, almost 90% of the rest of the screen would be empty.The old style (CRT) televisions usually maxed out at 480p (in relation to today's "pixels") so a console like the NES64 would be up-converted in a sense turning (roughly) a single dot into two rows of two dots in order to fill the screen. The screen was also almost perfectly square, so displaying the same image on today's TVs needs to also be square (4:3 ratio) otherwise you're stretching and already stretched image a lot more (16:9) which distorts the image a lot more.Yes, these devices do what they're intended. No, you're not going to be amazed at the quality of many older devices displaying images that are overly stretched in order to fit on your flat-screen. If your set is fancy enough to down-scale to 480p or less, you're in luck, as it's as close to a natural image you'll get. If you're connecting a Wii/Wii-U that have the RCA cable, there are devices made specifically for this purpose at around the same price (search for "Wii HDMI".)For those with "bad" devices, follow these safety instructions:1. Unplug the TV and the device you're intending to use this with.2. Plug the USB cable into the converter FIRST, then use a reliable USB power supply and connect the cable to it.3. Plug in the other two devices (TV last) and fire everything up.* The old USB-A Mini cables are known to be a bit risky at plug-and-play; it's best to unplug power to prevent shorting things out.When connecting an old video game console, VHS and/or DVD player, etc.:1. You're likely going to see a picture that's more dim than you might expect, this is common due to the stretching. Increase brightness, adjust contrast as needed and set the "Color Temperature" to Game or White depending on your TV's settings.2. Disable ALL stretching (Zoom, widescreen, etc.) and set the screen to 4:9 ratio. If the TV has it, set it to 480i or 480p and the switch on the converter to 720p.3. You MUST have an HDMI cable (v1.4) capable of no less than 18Gb speed for reasonable 720p video. A cheap media cable will "leak" due to the lack of shielding within the cable AND the cheaper/thinner wire inside it.

I'm not very technically savy, but I was able to install this with ease. It is affordable and great for cutting streaming costs via watching DVDs.

UPDATE 4/14/22: STOPPED WORKING. I bought this for a TV/DVD player I rarely use. It worked great when I installed, and again one other time (I think). HOWEVER, I tried to use it last week and it didn't work at all. NO SIGNAL THRU HDMI. I installed it on a power strip and only power it when I power on the DVD player. DVD Player comes on, but no signal thru. Amazon said they will replace it, so I will give 4 -stars instead of my intended 1. We will see if new one lasts longer and is more dependable.The UPGROW RCA to HDMI Converter is a great product. I was somewhat hesitant to purchase this for an older DVD player, but it was so easy to install. It was really plug and play--easier than putting batteries in a flashlight.After installing, the picture was bright and we experienced no problems at all. We installed the USB power block on the same power strip as the DVD player, so no extra steps are needed to change source to the occasionally used DVD player. I would definitely purchase this product again.

Used this to connect an old VCR to a newer receiver that didn't come with RCA jacks. I also tested with an original Xbox and that works fine as well. Didn't take a star off for picture quality as you can't expect it to magically make these old 480i formats as clear as 4K.

I bought this converter to hook up my old game systems to my TV. I am currently testing this on my SNES and so far so good.I am running my SNES through the converter and then the converter connects to my Onkyo receiver. The receiver is then connected to my TV. No issues with picture or sound.Things to remember. This is not an upconverter. It's just passing the signal through. I would recommend you set the signal at 720p if you are using it for old consoles. Also, the output is going to be whatever your TV is set at. So if it is on 16:9, that is what you will get unless you change it to 4:3. I recommend paying your games at the original 4:3 otherwise it will be blurry.Are there better converters, sure. Are they going to be $11, no they won't. For the money, this is a good product and I can't complain about the limitations.

Worked a few times years ago but when I tried to plug it back in to play again recently it doesn't work, I even bought new AV cables for my SNES & N64, tested different hdmi cables, etc, just to make sure it wasn't those which went bad, but nope - it's the converter.

I have been a Amazon customer for as long as I can remember and for me to do a review, the product has to be exceptional. I had an old tape player from the 80"s with RCA plugs that I wanted to connect to my 7.2 receiver, which required a HDMI connection. I knew where to turn too to shop--Amazon! Boy--there sure are a lot of converters. The reason that the Upgrow caught my attention is of course the price, the mini size, and the excellent reviews. One review in particular is what sold me on the Upgrow--someone used it to connect his turntable to his TV. If it worked for a turntable, it would definitely work for a tapeplayer--right? It took me about two minutes to get the Upgrow set up and I am now listening to some beautiful music. The Upgrow is well built and produces excellent sound quality. Trust me--if you need a RCA to HDMI converter--THIS IS THE ONE TO GET!

The plan was to use this to convert video tapes to MP4 files. I worked for capture, but generated stretched HD video, which had to be converted back to SD. I found a better solution. The lack of SVideo was also a factor, especially for my digital tapes.