HDMI to RGBs for Sony PVM

Hello experts,

What's the best way to convert an HDMI signal to RGB with sync. I have a Sony PVM monitor and would like to use my Old Xbox 360 with it. What type of signal converter would I need.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Get a scart cable for the 360 and buy Broken's (he's a member here) scart to BNC. That's all you need. You'll spend more money trying to convert that hdmi signal.

Does the PVM support component video?

GohanX said:

Does the PVM support component video?

Click to expand...

Some do, depending on the model.

GohanX said:

Does the PVM support component video?

Click to expand...

According to Broken, and RGB source is superior in clarity and color quality than Component Video.
After comparing the difference on my PS2 with a Scart and component cables I tend to agree.

Dark Sakul said:

According to Broken, and RGB source is superior in clarity and color quality than Component Video.
After comparing the difference on my PS2 with a Scart and component cables I tend to agree.

Click to expand...

I do not agree, both look the same, it's just a matter of adjusting the gamma and contrast/brightness levels and you can get the same result on both RGB and YUV.

It could be said that pure RGB is almost obsolete, even HDMI is encoded in component.

RGB is superior to component, though the difference is small on a PVM.

I agree with kidpanda, just get an RGB Scart cable and a scart -> BNC breakout.

Superior? superior in what??, component is just a """clever""" way to do the same but saving bandwith.

I believe is just the opposite actually, Component has an advantage over RGB which is only analog, but component can be both analog and/or digital.

Nobody uses RGB anymore, HDMI connections use component.

As far as standard definition signals go, RGB and component do fundamentally differ, and RGB is superior. RGB splits by color. YUV (component) uses luma / chroma splits. It's not just a "way to do the same thing."

Also, "normal" component video is analogue, not digital. DVI/HDMI are digital signals, RGB/Component are not. Yes, there is digital component video for higher resolution purposes, and higher resolution RGB is basically just VGA.

edit; I'm not disagreeing that RGB is basically obsolete at this point, but people who want the best signal for old standard definition stuff still use it. Obviously for new technology, RGB is dead. Hell, it never really was alive in the USA anyway at a consumer level.

Dark Sakul said:

According to Broken, and RGB source is superior in clarity and color quality than Component Video.
After comparing the difference on my PS2 with a Scart and component cables I tend to agree.

Click to expand...

It is superior when the source is older RGB game systems. However, the question was converting HDMI to RGBs for an Xbox 360, and if his PVM supports component then it would be a hell of a lot easier to just use component cables and a simple BNC adapter. Or, alternatively, RGB scart to BNC adapter. HDMI conversion would just be a messy way of doing it for this particular device.

RGB is considered one type of component video, so in that respect RGB and component video are the same with no differences. However, RGB( and S-video aswell) are just another types of component video,

There's also diferent types of RGB:

RGBS
RGBHV
RGsB (sync on green)

As you said, RGB splits by color, that would be color information through 3 "components" carrying the color information, YUV analogue video signals do not use Red, Green, Blue components, but rather a component without color, called the luma, combined with one or more components that do carry color, called the chroma, that gives only color information, so in the end is the same, but as I said before, it does it in a different way.

On a CRT display, Component and RGB look the same.

GohanX said:

It is superior when the source is older RGB game systems. However, the question was converting HDMI to RGBs for an Xbox 360, and if his PVM supports component then it would be a hell of a lot easier to just use component cables and a simple BNC adapter. Or, alternatively, RGB scart to BNC adapter. HDMI conversion would just be a messy way of doing it for this particular device.

Click to expand...

Is not that easy, HDMI uses digital component, and as far as I know that's the only way to get a digital component signal (there's also DVI), so, by connecting the 360 to the PVM using BNC connectors he will be switching to analog component.

As far as a XBox360 goes, yeah, just use component video if your PVM supports it.


However, when it comes to analog, Standard Def stuff over a straight RGB connection or a Component video connection, you have to keep in mind you are at the mercy of the component video encoder.


This is all especially true of those cheapo external component video encoders. Some of them are just shit and quite honestly not worth a damn.

Whilst in an ideal world component video and RGB would be identical, I think it really comes down to the application and outputting device.


Simply saying they are the same with no differences is being a bit naive and doesn't take into consideration how you are getting that Component video.





But yeah...with a 360, just go component if you can. I wouldn't even mess with RGB in that scenario unless you have a very specific reason.

RGB will always be better than component. Anyone saying anything different is either blind or not viewing true RGB.

chinitosoccer said:

Is not that easy, HDMI uses digital component, and as far as I know that's the only way to get a digital component signal (there's also DVI), so, by connecting the 360 to the PVM using BNC connectors he will be switching to analog component.

Click to expand...

Of course, if he's trying to convert from HDMI it's a reasonable assumption that his PVM doesn't support any digital inputs, otherwise he would use those.

GohanX said:

Of course, if he's trying to convert from HDMI it's a reasonable assumption that his PVM doesn't support any digital inputs, otherwise he would use those.

Click to expand...

I meant to say that more than a simple passthrough cable is needed to accomplish that........HDMI to PVM component, he will need a digital to analog transcoder.

Xian Xi said:

RGB will always be better than component. Anyone saying anything different is either blind or not viewing true RGB.

Click to expand...

That's not true , RGB can be converted to component with zero loss in quality, but that will always depend on the encoder doing the conversion which sometimes could not be tweaked correctly.

With a good encoder in between, RGB and component look the same.

RGB is superior to component and I tell you why.
RGB is a pure uncompressed format, so its free of any visual artifacts, and with quality cables, you have zero distortion.
There is a misnomer with higher resolutions. Higher Resolutions does not necessarily mean higher quality. Higher Resolution only supports for more detail.
Its why Laser Disc video still sells for $60 to $200 and up per disc because its a uncompressed video format (its why it the disk is size of a large vinyl record) that is in many ways superior to Blu ray even though Laser Disc came out in the late 70's and predate CDs.

If you are starting with 240p/ 480i resolution anyways, you aren't getting a better picture at 720 or 1080. If anything you run the risk of distortion and lost of quality.
1080p is only high quality when you get a clean 1080p picture. Or think of it this way SD source + HD display = Ugly SD image. You start to get noise and artifacts.

Reason RGB to YUV converters work so nicely is that, RGB is so free of flaws, any artifacts that might occur would be from the YUV converter or the LCD HD Display you are connecting it to.
Its also why Scan Line Generators are so recommended, it helps hide the unintentional ugly that the converter might spit out.

Its like a Photo copy, the copy is never a clear as the original.
So you would want the clearest purest source to copy from to keep your copy as best as it can be.
Because you aren't getting the original Image with most converters, you are getting a "copy".


The workaround is to start with a pure, uncompressed, zero interference image, hence RGB. RGB can be pipe directly to a RGB compatible CRT TV or Monitor, or it can be sent to a external video processor where the image is either upscaled or even better a line doubler, which is then displayed as a nice crisp 480 picture.

"With a good encoder in between, RGB and component look the same".
Yes with a good converter you never notice the difference, not just in image quality but also in zero image lag.

But not everyone gets a decent converter, some people "cheap out".