Vga to Hdmi - Which models give the best/reliable results ?

[Atotaloss]

Hi,

Hope the holidays are going fine with you all.

I have 2 vga to hdmi models which i think can convert the analogue into digital well . Both units have upscale ability and to be honest look identical except for the name.

These are the 2 models :

1 - StarTech.com Professional VGA to HDMI Audio Video Converter

link - http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-VGA2HDMIPRO-Professional-Converter-Scaler/dp/B001LRKB78

2 - Atlona AT-HD500

link - http://www.amazon.com/Atlona-AT-HD500DVI-Laptop-DVI-Converter/dp/B002V05HVY/ref=sr_1_2...tlona+AT-HD500

Both come with optical audio inputs except the Star-Tech costs less.

The reviews on both units are impressive . Has anyone bought and tried them out ; I am inclined to go for the Star-Tech as they both have identical specification.

Is it true that they give such a good picture and audio and in many cases the image is better than ordinary hdmi.

Have a great 20013 and Thanks in advance.

[sanlyn]

Amazing. Convert analog to HDMI, then the monjitor reconverts back to to analog for display. Whatever turns you on.

[Atotaloss]

Nothing better than a bit of Xmas `Spirit `, all merry and half under ! LoL.

I`ll make my question more specific.

I own a media-center , called - Reelbox - for anyone interested. It has one part where you can watch normal tv ( 2 sat cards and 1 tdt card ) - through a special graphics card , running an hdmi connector . The card is a modified ati , the whole card is what they call an - Extension High Definition or eHD for short aka the vdr.

The other part of the media-center is the pc part , i.e. the part where you have access to your desktop and software etc...

This part of the OS has both dvi-d and vga ports. We all know dvi-d ( digital ) and vga ( analogue ) carry only video. This makes the hdmi part so good as it carries both video and audio.

At this moment I have a dvi-d to hdmi adapter fitted , running a 15 m hdmi cable over a door ,through a wall and into the receiving lcd tv.

I run linux ubuntu on it - came as standard - I am on 8.04 hardy heron which is very out of date , but it runs ok.

I downloaded the latest iso and burned it to a dvd-r and installed it.

- The tv part ( eHD ) worked fine , however, the pc part ( which i connected via the dvi-d to hdmi adapter ) didn`t - no picture. However, when I made the install through the vga port , it worked .

I used the 32 inch lcd in the other room for the connection via vga because there`s only 2 m. I had to adjust the image which was in 4:3 mode to a 16:9 . The colors were faded out and it looked a bit like a sepia effect , but it worked - the vga cable is thin with no shielding so there was some interference.

In order for the pc to output video I needed to buy an nVidia graphics card and place it in the pci-e slot right next to the tv part of the OS ( eHD ). I bought the card as it was cheap but the load on the cpu was tremendous . went from 44 degrees to around 80 degrees and the card was red hot.
I switched the pc off and rebooted to check and see if everything was ok.........no , it wasn`t , the pc didn`t recognize the new card.

Now, I am no hot-shot at computers but I tried several times installing drivers for it ( the card ) but it just didn`t seem to install. I have placed questions forward on linux and Reelbox forums , even with their assistance I could not get the damn thing to work. In any case the cpu was going to overheat and so too was the card.

Now , I hope someone understands why I want to use the vga to hdmi converter in my first post.

[jagabo]

They're probably both the exact same OEM device with different artwork painted on the case.

[sanlyn]

Um....well I can't imagine anyone going through so much trouble, but....neither converter pictured would be an optimum unit (or you'd have to spend a LOT more $$$). But IMHO the Startech unit would do the job. I keep reading comments where Atlona gear is often criticized as being overpriced considering the results.