HDMI Cable for Sega Saturn Console

PROS1. Input lag is probably 2 frames, which won’t break the experience.2. No dropouts during gameplay. This is something the fancier scalers can’t manage.3. Picture quality is very good! Clean, with accurate colors and solid deinterlacing of 480i content.4. Sound has no issues that I detected but I can’t confirm whether L and R channels are correct.5. Aspect ratio control switch.6. HDMI cable in the box.CONS1. USB-powered device means you need to find a way to power it. AC adapter not included.2. The 2 frames of lag make it less than ideal for 2D fighting games and platformers... though obtaining zero lag would have meant numerous dropouts in many games.CONCLUSION: Playing Sega Saturn on an HDTV means compromises, and the LevelHike HDMI adapter makes the right ones in order to give you an all-around great (and cheap!) solution. I'd recommend it highly.Upscaling the Sega Saturn is complicated. Older machines like the NES and Sega Genesis, old as they are, produce video in progressive scan that can be upscaled to 720p and beyond with zero input lag and a razor sharp picture. Systems like the Saturn, however, complicate things by running not only in progressive, but also in an “interlaced” mode, often in the same game. The long and short of this is that the best scalers for the NES and Genesis have major caveats with the Sega Saturn— namely, signal dropouts that can leave you watching a blank screen for up to 10 seconds, right in the middle of your game.Because of its fluctuating video signal, the Saturn requires an adapter that normalizes the output so the TV never loses the image. The LevelHike does this, and it necessitates a little bit of lag. It was always going to be at least one frame, and I think this device has 2 frames. This is a compromise, sure, but it’s the best one available since all games will work and the lag is not game-breaking. (For comparison, many retro gamers play with bluetooth gamepads that have *4* frames of lag and are fine with it.)Prior to buying this cable I had read some unflattering things about picture quality with the LevelHike. I was pleasantly surprised— colors seem perfect to me, and interlaced images are combed out in a way that preserves most details. Virtua Fighter 2’s interlaced backdrops still appear high-res, for example. Sharpness also looks very good to me— there’s no bleeding colors, rainbow artifacts or ringing to be found anywhere in the picture.I frequently hear that products like this "aren't in the same league" as the high-end OSSC or Framemeister in terms of image quality, but sharpness on the Sega Saturn represents a catch-22 anyway: given a crisper image, the "classic" 2D games will look crisper and cleaner, while the "dated" 3D games will only look jankier and uglier. Therefore this is another place where LevelHike's adapter makes the right compromise: it's free of serious image problems while not eyeball-slashingly sharp like an OSSC would be.I can't speak with much authority when it comes to sound, except to say that the Saturn sounds no different through this adapter than it did with any of my other good-sounding solutions. There's no distortion, audible buzz or anything like that. There is the possibility that this product, like many other Saturn products, has the left and right stereo channels switched. This is a problem common to Saturn because of some old Sega schematic that got the channels backward. Suffice it to say, if there's a problem, I haven't noticed it, and it wouldn't weigh heavily in my purchasing decision.When it comes down to it, there are many compromises at play here to make the LevelHike cable an easy-to-use and all-around solid solution. Maybe one day, systems like the Saturn will sync effortlessly with adaptive sync displays. Maybe one day, an adapter like this will have a mode switch so you can choose between "zero lag" and "no dropouts." At this point in time, however, this is as good as it gets. And for thirty-something it's really, really good.Prior to using the LevelHike cable I had cobbled together a retrovision component cable, a retrotink 2x and a professional scaler to normalize the signal and prevent dropouts. That solution had a mere one frame of lag and a very good picture, though the sound was a little hot. The cost? About $450. Be glad that cheap, easy products like this exist and enjoy your Saturn games.

Comes in a plain brown box and includes the upscaler, HDMI cable, and a micro USB cable. The upscaler has a hardwired Sega Saturn connector that plugs into the console. You would then plug in an HDMI cable and the micro usb cable for power. It doesn't include an ac adapter, so you would need to use your own (or you can probably plug it into a usb port on your tv). There is a blue led the lights up when the unit is plugged into power. There is an aspect ratio switch to select between 4:3 and 16:9. The bottom of the unit has ventilation holes; it does become very warm after some usage.It's a simple solution that is affordable and outputs a 720p image in 4:3 or 16:9.However, it has the same problem as several other cheap upscaler chips, where the pixels are sharp when nothing is in motion, but blur together when in motion. I've seen this issue in some clone consoles, like the Hyperkin Supa Retron HD.Another issue is that the audio channels are reversed. I tested a Street Fighter game and my character was hitting attacks on the left side of screen, but the sound effects come out from the right speaker. It's especially noticeable if you wear headphones. This is an issue with a lot of aftermarket Saturn cables because they all use an incorrect pinout schematic that was posted online years ago.On my unit, I had an issue where sometimes it would just display a black screen unless I wiggled the connection point between the Saturn cable and the unit. I opened the unit and reseated the cables inside and it seems to have solved it.I didn't notice too much lag, so at least that is better than using one of those cheap generic SCART-to-HDMI converters.Basically this is similar to plugging a Saturn into a cheap SCART-to-HDMI converter box through a RGB SCART cable, except it is all built into the cable. It looks better than using composite or s-video cables, but it is not as sharp or as vibrant as using a proper RGB SCART cable with a Framemeister or OSSC. However this cable only costs $30 and for what it does, it is pretty good for the price.One upside to this cable is that it doesn't have any sync issues that the Framemeister or the OSSC has. For games that constantly switch resolutions within the game such as Dead or Alive, it causes a loss of signal between the console, the Framemeister/OSSC and the tv. The signal loss could last as long as 10-15 seconds, which makes some games unplayable on the Framemeister/OSSC.For me, I will continue to use the Framemeister and OSSC for most games, but switch to the LevelHike HDMI cable for games that have sync issues with Framemeister/OSSC.

If you're playing a SEGA Saturn in 2022, this is as good afforable way to get a crisp picture if that's what you like. Compared to composite out this is like turning the shader in an emulator to nearest instead of bilinear. And it does output HDMI, and you can switch aspect ratio for games that support widescreen.On 2d games you may or may not prefer this to composite, it's crisp and clean but makes the mesh transparencies used in the games very obvious, and there's none of the built in blur that composite out gives that makes things look more like an old tv and makes pixel art look more organic. This is definitely better for 480i games though. if you're looking for way to hook your Saturn to hdmi, this works. The box seems to get warm, and I wish the cable was longer between the Saturn and the box. Good luck switching the aspect ratio comfortably, better to just use your TV's option. Also STEREO SOUND IS REVERSED. It's bothersome in the few games where it's obvious, might not bug you, but it's falsely advertised saying the channels aren't reversed.Good, not perfect. But great value considering a lot of upscalers are well over $100.