Universal Premium Quality HDMI to Component Video Converter with Stereo RCA L/R and Optical 5.1CH Surround Audio Outputs | Support 480i, 720P, 1080i and 1080P Video, Output PAL or NTSC | Model: H2CS

Are you that guy that wants to convert 1080p HDMI to look its best on an old CRT?Do people think you're crazy? Forget them CRTs are AWESOME!Look no further fam because this converter is legit.The biggest downside is that $69.95 price tag for a one-trick pony device. I'll admit, it's a steep entry just to convert something that you should probably just buy a modern TV for. In fact, getting a modern TV and placing it alongside your CRT will no doubt result in a better viewing experience.However, for those hell-bent on getting 1080p devices to display well on your old CRT, this 100% will do the job. Your CRT will need to have a Component Input (Y'Pb'Pr) [that's the red/green/blue RCA cables] for this device to work; it does not do any other video signals (cannot do composite [yellow]). Check if your CRT has this before buying or you can step down the signal through another converter (but at that point, I'd recommend just buying an HDMI converter for the type of input you have).Using the converter is pretty straightforward: hook up your cables, select PAL/NTSC, then power on the converter and press the video button until you see a picture. The video button allows for 720p &1080i/p modes as well, but I have not tested any of those as my CRT is only capable of 480i (as are most all US Consumer CRTs). I also have not tested the 5.1 surround audio mode either (uses toslink cable) as I simply connect the Stereo RCA output to my CRT.The picture is amazing! ...but there are some drawbacks. It does not have a letterbox mode and will shrink to fit the screen. IF DISTORTING THE ASPECT RATIO IS A DEAL BREAKER, DO NOT BUY THIS CONVERTER. ALSO, 720p/480p CONVERSION TO A 480i CRT IS JANK. Running 480p mode on HDMI devices doesn't convert to a usable picture on a 480i CRT at all. 720p results in extreme overscan and you lose a good chunk of the picture. ONLY USE FOR CONVERTING 1080p IF YOU ARE USING THIS PRODUCT ON AN OLD 480i CRT. When devices are outputting 1080p the converter does exactly what you would expect and does it amazingly well. Temper your expectations though, a 480i CRT is still only running at 480i resolution and extremely small text (for example) will look bad, naturally. Also, keep in mind that most all consumer CRTs have a tiny bit of overscan and you may lose the edges of the picture but normally this is not an issue. On my Nintendo Switch, I changed the "Adjust Screen Size" setting to 97% and it fits nearly perfectly on my CRT (your mileage may vary). I should also mention when the converter detects no signal (and is on) it displays a static test pattern; you will need to make sure to turn it off or have a device connected that is always on and will run a screen saver automatically. I've also noticed some blips that will happen with the picture, but it's rare and quick enough to where it's not a big issue.I use my CRT to play retro video games mostly but do occasionally use a Google Chrome Cast and my Nintendo Switch on it. Both of which I have no complaints about other than how 4:3 content is handled (it's not terrible, but it sucks that I have a 4:3 TV and the picture is still distorted). If they ever add a 4:3 Crop feature to a new model I would buy it in a heartbeat.The converter is pretty quick too. I don't have any testing equipment to be able to give any quantitative data, but I'm able to pull off a windbomb in Breath of the Wild with no problem (if you don't know what that is, Google it). To me, it even seems faster on my CRT than playing on my modern LCD TV. That might be purely placebo, but the converter is definitely not a slouch when it comes to the speed it converts the signal.All in all, I'm very happy with this product. It only gets four out of five stars because of the lack of features (missing letterbox and/or crop for handling 16:9 to 4:3) and the high (but understandable) price.If you are looking to convert 1080p content to your Component capable CRT and the aspect ratio distortion isn't a deal breaker then I highly recommend you buy this converter. It is a really good one-trick pony for sure.

This worked great for hooking up a pc to a massive Sony Trinitron CRT TV that only accepts up to 480i. Worth the money!

I found the unit to be well built and the instructions to be easy to understand. I bought it to convert the HDMI output from a new Sony 4K Blu-Ray player into a connection type (component) that my 18 year old Mitsubishi rear projection TV (which has a maximum resolution of 1080i rather than 1080p) could accept.When I had it perform the down-converting from the progressive scan signal to the interlaced signal at 1080 lines, I did see some small visual glitches in the form of tiny red dots that would twinkle on and off very quickly in dark areas of the picture where the color was just a shade lighter than true blank. Other areas of the picture were perfect. This could be the fault of my TV I suppose, but I suspect not (keep reading).These visual artifacts might have bothered me enough to return it given the price tag being a little higher than other converters I had considered, but two things I discovered while testing it convinced me to keep it. First of all, the digital audio output works flawlessly with my A/V receiver, and there is no discernible delay (almost perfectly synced with the video). But I also discovered that the 4K Sony Blu-Ray player (Model BDPS6700) I purchased had a setting that was somewhat hidden in the configuration menus that allowed me to force it to output 1080i rather than selecting the output signal characteristics automatically. Once I configured that to force 1080i, this converter sensed that change automatically and then the little, twinkling red dots were gone. And the picture was amazing considering the age of my TV! Of course the converter was no longer down-converting the signal (the function YOU might be buying it for) any longer, but MY biggest objective was to get a clear picture and good sound via the component video (RGB) + digital audio connections, which is working great for me.I really appreciated that it briefly shows (overlays over the picture) the input signal and output signal specifics in the upper left corner of the screen whenever you press the hardware button to change the output signal format or when the input signal format changes. Hence there was no question as to what formats you are working with (provided that your display panel was capable of presenting it at that configuration). If your display panel is not capable of presenting that signal, then just pressing the hardware button again (or a couple times) allows you to cycle through the other available options until you find one that works.I decided to keep it due to the build quality and my overall satisfaction given that my other components solved my one remaining concern. Well, and I just wanted to be done searching for a solution...Note that the power cord is fairly short; in my case I had to use an extension cord to reach to the nearest power strip, but this is no big deal to me. Also, I did not test the audio output via the RCA jacks, but I seem to remember the documentation stating that it would only support 2 channel audio output if you used that option (I did not need it, so it did not matter to me).