PlayStation 1 on a new tv?

[Patch1875]

I random bid on eBay landed me a PlayStation one!


Anyone recommend the best way to connect to a modern tv?

I bought this.

https://amzn.eu/d/00FT5JAv

But the picture quality is awful don’t know if I’ve set the tv up correctly but the picture is pretty dark and the graphics are really blocky like the processing is all wrong(maybe that’s how it was!)


Any ideas or recommendations without spending a fortune?

[alangla]

First of all what connections are on the back of the TV? Is it HDMI only or does it have a SCART, 3 phono connections or 5 phono connections?

[hungry_hog]

PS1 games have aged horribly. It was one of the original 3D systems, along with the N64 and Saturn.

Most of the 3d games for these systems look awful, we are now four generations on from PS1.

We'll give Gran Turismo a pass as this is PH!

[InitialDave]

I just connected my PS2 up the other day so I could poke around a bit at Gran Turismo 4 again, and yes, the graphics of 20-30 year old consoles don't look great on modern TVs (well, projector in my case).

Further Ebaying for an old CRT perhaps?

Edited by InitialDave on Tuesday 18th August 20:48

[soad]

Can’t advise, but graphics were terrible at that time! Still, it’s all we knew.
Tomb Raider, GTA, Resident Evil, Gran Turizmo, Driver etc.

alangla said:

First of all what connections are on the back of the TV? Is it HDMI only or does it have a SCART, 3 phono connections or 5 phono connections?

Modern TV won’t have a SCART, connection is long obsolete.

[Patch1875]

Thanks all.

Yes no scart just hdmi.

I’m not expecting great graphics but they aren’t looking like the original at all Theres definitely something wrong with how it’s appearing it’s pretty much unplayable I changed the screen to 4:3 but it still looks really poor really pixelated and dull.

I’ve ordered an rca to hdmi to try next.

[Lefty]

I went through a phase of this, I still have my n64, Ps1 and PS2. I tried loads of various adaptors to make them work on a modern telly and they all looked beyond potato.

I picked up a free 32” CRT telly on farceberk marketplace and they work perfectly - and look so much better.

Tv takes up a load of room mind you

[alangla]

soad said:

Modern TV won t have a SCART, connection is long obsolete.

Oh I know, but you can always hope. I’ve got an old PS2 connected to a relatively recent LCD screen with a Component kit I got in a clearance from Game or something, that would probably be the ideal solution if the OP had the connections, but it sounds like it’s HDMI only.

[Pebbles167]

If you want to use real hardware and not an emulator on a modern TV you'll want an upscaler. Something like the Retrotink4k Takes care of HDMI and will give you good quality. At many hundreds of pounds it's an expensive solution, but works flawlessly. (Edit: Seems they offer a few cheaper options too).

https://www.retrotink.com/shop/retrotink-4k

Upscalers are available from other brands for sub £50 but no idea if they even work at all.

Outside of upscaling get a decent CRT, they often come up cheap. They're sharp and have zero lag. Even a lower quality one will give you what you're after.

Edited by Pebbles167 on Wednesday 19th August 05:16

[Patch1875]

Pebbles167 said:

If you want to use real hardware and not an emulator on a modern TV you'll want an upscaler. Something like the Retrotink4k Takes care of HDMI and will give you good quality. At many hundreds of pounds it's an expensive solution, but works flawlessly. (Edit: Seems they offer a few cheaper options too).

https://www.retrotink.com/shop/retrotink-4k

Upscalers are available from other brands for sub £50 but no idea if they even work at all.

Outside of upscaling get a decent CRT, they often come up cheap. They're sharp and have zero lag. Even a lower quality one will give you what you're after.

Edited by Pebbles167 on Wednesday 19th August 05:16

Thanks seems the best route I’m hoping to borrow an old pioneer plasma from a friend to see how it looks on that should have more options with the older connections.

[Pebbles167]

A plasma from the 2000's will fit the bill, almost guaranteed to have SCART. Always quite liked plasma. Though the blacks are nowhere near OLED level, they're much better than an LCD.

Enjoy the PS1!

[Dave Hedgehog]

Pebbles167 said:

If you want to use real hardware and not an emulator on a modern TV you'll want an upscaler. Something like the Retrotink4k Takes care of HDMI and will give you good quality. At many hundreds of pounds it's an expensive solution, but works flawlessly. (Edit: Seems they offer a few cheaper options too).

https://www.retrotink.com/shop/retrotink-4k

Upscalers are available from other brands for sub £50 but no idea if they even work at all.

Outside of upscaling get a decent CRT, they often come up cheap. They're sharp and have zero lag. Even a lower quality one will give you what you're after.

Edited by Pebbles167 on Wednesday 19th August 05:16

another vote for the retrotink, especially ones that have CRT filters, makes the old games look so much better

[Dave Hedgehog]

Pebbles167 said:

A plasma from the 2000's will fit the bill, almost guaranteed to have SCART. Always quite liked plasma. Though the blacks are nowhere near OLED level, they're much better than an LCD.

Enjoy the PS1!

and they keep you toastie warm in the winter my kuro was about 500w lol

[Jamescrs]

I have a passing interest in retro gaming, mainly because as with many of us it's the games I grew up with. I don't own anything older than a Wii at the moment but I know the people who aer really into Retro gaming usually buy old CRT TV's to play their older consoles on.

eBay can be expensive because resellers snap them up and put them on there so worth looking on good old FB Marketplace and Car boot sales, if you have a local FB community group it may be even worth posting a wanted post in there and someone will probably have one gathering dust.

[Pebbles167]

Dave Hedgehog said:

Pebbles167 said:

A plasma from the 2000's will fit the bill, almost guaranteed to have SCART. Always quite liked plasma. Though the blacks are nowhere near OLED level, they're much better than an LCD.

Enjoy the PS1!

and they keep you toastie warm in the winter my kuro was about 500w lol

Yes! Our 52" LG plasma kicked out serious heat. Whilst not painful, it was certainly uncomfortable to touch. Was a mid 2000's model and only retired it last year as the last HDMI port went bust and was showing artefacts in the screen corners.

Bloody heavy thing too!

[IanH755]

I had the same issue with an OG Playstation 1 and couldn't find a way to "reasonably" solve it without spending a lot. It's not that the game "graphics" are low quality (that I know) but its the HDMI to 1990's PS1 just doesn't translate well, leaving the screen looking distorted, colours incorrect etc.

In the end I sold mine and used the money to buy one of those "50,000 games in one box" type consoles from Amazon, which runs emulated PS1 games (and allows you add any you download too) which doesn't suffer the translation issue so the colours are correct, the scaling is correct etc and they look correct over HDMI.