Should you buy an OSSC Open Source Scan Converter for Retro Video Game Consoles
637In this video we set up and test out the OSSC, the Open Source Can Converter, designed up up-scale old video game systems for HD displays.
Have you ever had a shiny new toy that once you put it all together and you learn a critical piece was missing? Like something missing so significant that you couldn't use your new toy. Well that happened to me recently with the HD Retrovision Cables for my SNES, Super Famicom and Sega Genesis. The cables worked great on my 4K UHD Samsung TV but my video capture card and Element TV in my game room, well those were a different story. I had been debating about buying an up-converter for some time, like an XRGB Framemeister, but the nearly-$400 price tag made it way out of my budget. A company in the UK has recently released a less-expensive competitor to the Framemeister with a ton of capabilities called the OSSC. Well, I finally broke down and bought one and while expensive I'm glad I did.
The OSSC has inputs for Component RGB Cables, SCART, VGA and now with version 1.6 analog audio in. 1.6 also introduces an HDMI output which replaces the previous DVI output. While image quality is basically identical between the two HDMI is a lot more convenient to use in the long run. To connect the HD Retrovision cables I was able to use the regular RGB inputs for the video but for audio I needed to adapt the RCA Jacks to a 3.5mm headphone-style jack. I hit up my local Best Buy for a set of RCA-to-3.5mm cables and a set of Female-Female couplers to make everything work, and it did perfectly. One thing of note is that you need to use firmware with an "a" in the file to make sure audio passthrough works.
Oh my goodness, this thing is awesome! You'll want to make sure you check out my individual videos on the Genesis and SNES HD Retrovision cables by using line doubling and line tripling the video quality was better than I ever expected out of a stock system!
Why it RoX
- Amazing video quality
- Lag Free
- 1.6 version now has analog audio in and HDMI out
- Scanline options for those who want them
- VGA, Component and SCART inputs
- Firmware upgradeable
- Small Size
- You can buy it assembled or as a kit
- Much more affordable than the Framemeister
What Could Be Improved?
- Still expensive
- Power Supplies have been out of stock for sometime
- The remote should just come with the overlay
- Unlike the Framemeister it is not compatible with Composite inputs
Should you buy one?
If you're investing in original hardware and not doing an HDMI mod this is the best quality you're going to get for the money. But I cannot say this is a must own for the casual enthusiast. Yes, it's amazing, yes, it looks great but you can get a really good clone system and a ton of games for the same price of JUST the OSCC. I don't like that required items, namely the AC Adapter and Remote Control, are sold separately. However if you want to play on real hardware this is the way to go!
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