SCARTtoHDMI Converter

I will present you an interesting device to help you play with retro equipment.

Converter from the input side: power and SCART.

Output side: HDMI and Audio. Control buttons and power diode. 


Power supply included.

This is a SCARTtoHDMI converter. I've been looking for one for a long time because, unlike many others, it can process all possible video signal inputs that can appear on the SCART/EURO input connector, ie:

• Video RGB (Red - red signal, Green - green, Blue - blue);
• S-Video (Luminance/Luma - brightness, Chrominance/Chroma - colour);
• Composite Video (integrated video signal).

Only one of these types of video signals can pass through at any one time, as some pins on the SCART connector have more than one function.

Of course, it also accepts Audio signals (stereo and mono).

SCART connector description.

As you can see in the description, the red signal from the RGB input appears on pin 15, as does the chrominance signal from S-Video, and on pin 20 luminance can appear from S-Video as well as Composite Video. 

The signal on pin 16 recognises whether RGB or S-Video/Composite Video signals appear. In the other case, it is automatically recognised which type of signals are being provided. If there is no chrominance (colour signal), this should appear in the integrated video signal (Composite Video) on pin 20. Otherwise, it will be a luminance signal. If there is no colour signal and only a luminance signal appears on pin 20, the displayed image will be monochrome.

If, for some reason, there is chrominance on pin 15 and an integrated video signal that contains it on pin 20, the image will be in colour, but the presence of a duplicated colour definition on different pins, can result in reduced signal quality and interference.

The converted video signal together with the sound appears on the HDMI output. If the receiver is not able to take an audio signal from HDMI or if you want to send audio to another device in addition, the audio itself is also available on the output in the form of a 3.5mm jack connector.

The parameters of the HDMI signal can be adjusted with the available switches: resolution "720P/1080P" and frame rate "50Hz/60Hz".

Technical data of the converter:
Operating voltage: 100 - 240 V/AC, 50/60 Hz (power supply)
Inputs: 1x SCART
Outputs: 1x HDMI, 1x 3.5 mm jack connection
SCART input format: PAL / NTSC3.58 / SECAM / NTSC4.43 /PAL-M / PAL-N

HDMI output format:

• 720p/50Hz
• 1080p/50Hz
• 720p/60Hz
• 800x600@60Hz
• 1024x768@60Hz
• 1280x1024@60Hz
• 1080p/60Hz

Dimensions (W x H x D): 84 x 28 x 73 mm
Weight: 139 g

Top view of PCB.

Converter label.

I will show you the effects of connecting the Commodore 128 to this converter using the C128toSCART adapter, with which you can obtain all the types of signals accepted in the SCART connector, and which are available in 40 column modes (S-Video, Composite Video and Audio available on the A/V DIN8U input) and 80 column modes (analogue RGB signals after processing from digital RGBI, available on the DB9 input).

MOD2 version of the C128toSCART THT adapter.

And now for the essentials, i.e. the HDMI captured by the grabber.

Screens generated in Composite Video: 

Screens generated in S-Video: 

Screens generated in RGB:

(C) 2024