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[iapetus]

(copied and pasted from a post elsewhere...)

I'm trying to find a sane and high-quality solution to my console display needs. Basically, I have a shed-load of consoles, of which I'd like to hook up as many as possible. They include this generation (PS2 x 3, DC, GC x2, XBox), last generation (PSX, Saturn, N64) and others (Atari 2600, SNES, Master System, Megadrive etc.).

The output medium of choice is a projector, which has a single VGA input and either a single SVHS input or a single composite input (can't have both plugged in at the same time).

I want to get the highest possible quality output from this system, including progressive scan where possible, and I'm willing to buy new cables if necessary, but obviously it's not exactly trivial to pick up a shiny new component cable for the Atari 2600. The XBox isn't modded - it's a standard piece of PAL kit.

I've seen various VGA boxes, but to be honest a lot of the terminology is greek to me, and many of them seem to be progressive only (no use since most systems/games don't support that) or 480i only (possibly useful, but not as good as the real thing for systems that support it).

Can anyone with more experience in such things point me in the right direction?

 

[mrklaw]

what you want is the equivalent of the holy grail. We might be able to put something together piecemeal though.

first things first, you need to list all your inputs, and preferred connections. eg, SNES - Svideo. Then we can get an idea of the scale.

I have a proV - a simple upscaler which takes one svideo input and a VGA input, and a VGA output. It upscales the svideo to VGA(up to 1024x768), and can switch between that and the VGA input (passthrough)

So that could be one connector to your projector.

Then all your svideo capable consoles would need to switch into that input downstream (there are a few places that do up to 8x1 switchers). Might be worth getting an auto switcher, which simply selects the most recently activated signal. Perfect when most consoles are switched off - it'll auto select whichever you switch on.

If your projector doesn't have component inputs, then you'll need to get all your progressive component out stuff converted to VGA too. You can get a little box that does that, but I think it only takes one component input, so you may need a component switcher too (I think you can get auto ones for that too)


Places? If you are still UK, then lektropacks, keene are good and have plenty of options to look through.

I'm looking for something similar, and have never come up with a perfect solution. Mine is complicated by the need to have the outputs from everything go to a projector and a TV. Also all my Tivo/DVD, and receiver switching makes it complicated.

 

[FortNinety]

You'd think at this point, someone would have produced a decent component switcher that can handle more than three inputs. I too have a ton of systems, and need at least seven right now, and that number is only going to get higher when the new systems roll around.

 

[lolz im 2 bizEH to usE teh surch >X)D]

The Pelican System Selector Pro, has 8 components/S-video/AV as well as 3 optical outputs. it runs like a charm.

at most I've had about 12-13 consoles hooked up... man it get's messy behind the TV....

I eventually split them up to about 7 in one room with a smaller TV...and the newer generation in my main entertainment room hooked up to the HD TV

 

[iapetus]

What I'm going for as a starter is:

1) A VGA box with component, composite and SVideo inputs.

2) A three-way component switcher.

3) Component cables for XBox and PS2.

4) SVideo cable for GC (the component cables were extortionately priced)

All picked up from PlayAsia for £60 or so. I'll need to locate a VGA cable and composite cables locally, but that shouldn't be too hard.

Still doesn't do anything for progressive signals, though. I couldn't find anything that could take both progressive and interlaced inputs, which means I'd need a component *output* switch and a progressive VGA adapter which I could then run into the pass-through VGA input of the VGA box. Hey, that might actually work...

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Get a HT receiver. That'll handle most of your switching in addition to handling progressive needs (if you get a good receiver).

When you say progressive, are you content w/ 480p? If so, most switchers have enough bandwidth for that w/ out any noticeable degredation.