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-   -   Firestick to CRT TV? (https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=185514)

Telleadict 4th Nov 2021 6:02 pm

Firestick to CRT TV?
 
Hello

I have an Amazon "Firestick", model no. W87OUN (I think, it's very hard to read).

Has anyone any experience of using one these with one of the <£10 HDMI to composite video converters to feed a CRT TV? eg. does it work at all and is the UI usable at SD?

Relatedly, there seem to be two distinct models of the cheap converters, both around under various names. One is a matchbox looking case with RCA connectors for the output and the other is "sleeker" looking with a SCART socket. Any opinions as to whether one is any "better" than the other, the SCART model is perhaps the newer design as there seem to be more sellers of this one?

Thanks for any advice even if it's to "forget the idea"
Will

paulsherwin 4th Nov 2021 7:10 pm

Re: Firestick to CRT TV?
 
They should work, but you may have problems with the aspect ratio if it's a 4:3 screen. I've never actually done it.

Scart or not doesn't really matter, but it's better if the converter supplies RGB rather than composite if the TV can use it (most can).

G6Tanuki 4th Nov 2021 8:16 pm

Re: Firestick to CRT TV?
 
I've not tried this myself but one of the issues you may come across is the 'downscaling' problem of converting digital 1080p-or-better content to analog 625-lines.

The algorithms used for this sort of thing vary from the technically-brilliant to the utterly-dire, and in general tou-get-what-tou-pay-for.

[I had issues with this professionally when needing to display 1080p fast-action video on screens that only did 576i - the results were often unintelligibly-messed-up with artefacts]

cmjones01 4th Nov 2021 8:45 pm

Re: Firestick to CRT TV?
 
I have a couple of the little "matchbox" converters with phono sockets on. They work surprisingly well. One I use with a Chromecast plugged in to its HDMI input, and converter extracts the audio to feed in to the speakers in our kitchen so we can 'cast' almost anything to them from our Android phones. I have also used the composite video output from the converter to feed one of those little 4.3" LCD monitors which are sold as car reversing monitors. That way we can see the picture content of what we're casting. The image is as good as you're likely to get from PAL or NTSC composite video, with strong colours and as much detail as I'd expect.

I use another of the converters in my office with its HDMI input connected to my PC, the composite video output feeding a 14" Philips CRT TV. It works well for viewing videos, and it's quite handy to be able to switch the converter between 50Hz PAL and 60Hz NTSC to match the source material. The converter isn't smart enough to do clever inter-frame interpolation when converting frame rates so some tearing of the image is visible if the source and output frame rates don't match, but that's to be expected.

The converters support a variety of input resolutions, at least one of which gives a correct 4:3 aspect ratio picture. I think it's 1024x768 that does.

They're extraordinary value and well worth trying out.

Chris

Telleadict 5th Nov 2021 5:30 pm

Re: Firestick to CRT TV?
 
Hello

Thanks, Chris. That's the kind of first hand experience I was hoping to find here.

A lot of the converters seem to have a USB power input and come without any supply. Would a "borrowed" i-pad charger do? I occurred to me that Apple stuff might be "too cleaver by half" to re purpose like this.

Thanks again
Will

paulsherwin 5th Nov 2021 5:38 pm

Re: Firestick to CRT TV?
 
They tend to assume you can steal power from the TV or another device. I can't think why an iPad USB charger wouldn't work, or you can buy perfectly usable USB chargers from Poundland for a quid.

Where is the Firestick getting its power from?

Eidolon 6th Nov 2021 4:51 pm

Re: Firestick to CRT TV?
 
Do they output in NTSC by standard as well? I was looking into the idea of a Firestcik a while ago, I currently use a PS3 to get Youtube on my CRT, as it also supports 4:3.

Anything in 4:3 on a Firestick would be pillarboxed.

Telleadict 6th Nov 2021 5:54 pm

Re: Firestick to CRT TV?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by paulsherwin (Post 1421138)
They tend to assume you can steal power from the TV or another device. I can't think why an iPad USB charger wouldn't work, or you can buy perfectly usable USB chargers from Poundland for a quid.

Where is the Firestick getting its power from?

That has it's own "wall wart" supply.

I would buy something if that became permanent but wandered what I could do with stuff most already about the house.

Thanks again
W.

Welsh Anorak 8th Nov 2021 10:41 am

Re: Firestick to CRT TV?
 
I recommend using the 'wall wart' with a Fire stick. Although a TV's USB is supposed to give 1A output we've just had a TV in where doing this has damaged the HDMI and USB inputs requiring a new main board.

Gulliver 8th Nov 2021 3:17 pm

Re: Firestick to CRT TV?
 
I've had a couple, because I still want to record from my Virgin Tivo box to my DVD recorder, which accepts composite inputs.

I find them unreliable. One day it'll work like a charm, the next it'll take 40 minutes of fiddling. It seems especially sensitive regarding which screen resolutions it will accept and downscale. When it handshakes with the Tivo it seems to send a signal that it can handle screen resolutions that it actually cannot and gets in a right old tizzy. As does the tivo which likes to save those settings without being asked so it subsequently doesn't work with the TV.

But when they work, even the cheap £10 ones are quite acceptable. Colours can be a little off...but that's what the colour knob was for! They tend to output both PAL and NTSC with a switch to select.

Kramer do more sophisticated and reliable boxes but these cost £200 or more.

Hunts smoothing bomb 30th Nov 2021 12:10 pm

Re: Firestick to CRT TV?
 
I only have three colour CRT sets, one is a 90's "no name" thing (Roadstar I think) and the other two are a 18" & 26" Decca Bradford

I have tried this with the sets and i only get a watchable picture on the 90's piece of tat, both bradfords do not resolve an image, it would seem that there is something different about the sync.

Regards


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