Ever felt the need to play some video games from your childhood. That nostalgic feeling you get when thinking about those good old days of CRT televisions, 8bit sounds, and hours of gameplay just to complete a single level. Many retro console enthusiasts still have old TV’s and a plethora of cables in their inventory just to be able to play their favorite childhood title. But what if you could relive those memories again, on an HD Tv. Yes! that is possible. The world of technology has offered us a device that is known as an open source scan converter or an OSSC (in-short).
Open Source Scan Converter The Open Source Scan Converter upscales the resolution of your console to an HDMI enabled TV with almost zero lag. Well,
almost zero because there still is a delay of a few milliseconds, not that anyone would mind. Currently, it is the best and sharpest way of playing your old titles on a modern screen. The OSSC focuses on individual scanlines than just a frame at a time. This ensures there is no input lag whatsoever, unlike the XRGB Mini or other such upscalers. You have a ton of upscaling options from, 2x 480p (which is 960p) and up to 5x 240p (yes! that is 1080p). The only downside is that it is compatible with some specific televisions and monitors (make sure you do your research when buying one). The OSSC can convert SCART, Component, and VGA to DVI/HDMI. The OSSC is not just about the image, you also can convert those analog sounds to digital sounds. Read also: What Is the Best Retro Gaming System?
Using the OSSC Also using the OSSC is quite simple. Just plugging in your consoles, connect to your TV select your input, and that it. For sharper images, you can update the firmware and load custom profiles for each console.
How OSSC Works? Want to know how it works? The OSSC is capable to achieve zero lag by scaling and not buffering the input video. In principle, it just multiplies the signal it receives by 2 to 5 times its original size. The default settings or the “generic mode” is usually the best place to start when you first power on the OSSC. You have the option to flash custom firmware’s but that is only
recommended to the geeks. For different consoles with higher or lower resolutions and different input settings, you can customize the OSSC to save profiles and load settings with respect to the console. Also, if you’d like to manually scale the image more sharply, simply multiply that exact signal to a round number. The phase is also different on every individual console. Including the cable situation that differs with each console. That you have to set manually.
Last Words In conclusion, once you’ve calibrated the perfect settings the OSSC is a worthy device. You have the option to save up to 15 different profiles and save slots. That makes switching between consoles a breeze and just a menu setting away.