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| Geniatech HD GameBox Video to VGA Converter/Switcher | 
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| Brand: Geniatech
Category: CE
Buy New: $36.95
New (4) from $36.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
MPN: HD GameBox
Model: HD GameBox
UPC: 860679369873
EAN: 0860679369873
ASIN: B001463UNI
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Ideal for displaying playstation2 games on an LCD monitor November 8, 2008
I am very happy with the HD Gamebox. I bought it in order to play ps2 games on a 19" lcd computer monitor. I can compare it with two other products that I also use: Gamebridge AVC-1400 and Neoya's X2VGA2.
Details of my setup: I use a slimline Playstation 2 (scph-77001), with Sony's "Playstation 3 Component AV Cables" (YPbPr component video, these work for ps2), with a Dell 19" LCD monitor at 1280x1024 resolution and I hook up the audio cables directly to a stereo hi-fi.
HD Gamebox: very crisp and clear images, games at 480i look exactly like s-video on a good modern TV (e.g. Gradius V), games at 480p look spectacular (e.g. Tekken 5).
Gamebridge: instead of hooking it up directly to the monitor (like the other products) this runs through Windows because it is mainly intended for recording gameplay. It cannot run 480p. At 480i the games look very blurry (e.g. Gradius V looks significantly blurred). You can use software manipulation to improve the image, but it will never be close to s-video on a TV.
X2VGA2: This cannot display 480i (it supports an ugly 480i so that you can find your way to the options screen in ps2 games to switch the game to 480p). Games that run on 480p look spectacular. Unfortunately there are only few ps2 games that support 480p.
Audio: I do not recommend streamlining the audio through any of the products, but instead hook it up to a stereo.
Conclusion: Until I got the gamebox I used the last two products (gamebridge for 480i, and x2vga2 for 480p). Now I only use the HD gamebox since it supports both, and I no longer feel the need to hook the ps2 up to a TV.
 NOT TOO BAD November 4, 2008
I agree with the previous review but I wouldn't say this product is simply a piece of junk. Pros and cons stated by previous reviews will not be repeated here, but I have a couple of points to add.
Pros:
(1) This converter does a good on progressive signals. Vivid color, sharp edges and fast response impressed me.
(2) De-interlacing does a good job on 2D images like characters and maps. Even small fonts are very clear and the edges are smooth. I was really impressed when I saw "PLAYSTATION" logo showing up on my monitor.
(3) It does has a "anti-aliasing" filter when displaying interlace signals.
Cons:
(1) De-interlacing has TERRIBLE ghost-image when displaying fast motion images. It is OK for RPG games and movies. Action games like Ratchet and Clank are still acceptable. But if you wanna play sports games like winning eleven, boy, the moving ball is like a moving line. Players have long "tails". It is painful. Solution: Progressive signals. For ps2, software like Xploder HDTV for Playstation2 might help. As long as the signal is progressive, there will be go ghost-image.
(2) When resolution of the box is set higher than 1280*1024, image will get noisy.
(3) The cable that is supposed to connect to PC VGA ports DOES NOT work on thinkpad laptop!! As long as I hook it up to my T60, T60 will shut itself down. I guess thinkpad has some sort of protection scheme and that cable violates that rule and T60 just refuse to take it. It does work on other laptop.
(4) Buttons are not very responsive.
Overall, I am OK with this product. I beat ratchet and clank on it with no complaints. Except the first title, R&C supports 480p so I am very satisfied with the image quality. But if you wanna play sports games, forget it. If it worked with thinkpad, I would definitely keep it...
 Because one online review is never enough to make an educated decision....lol October 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I purchased a brand new Genia HD GameBox from HDTVonPC through Amazon due to the price being exponentially lower. Long story short....It's in the process of being returned now.
Pros:
1) This will display almost any signal from a video console onto a VGA monitor. That includes 480i which is not traditionally supported by LCD monitors.
Cons:
1) It does not support 16:9 aspect ratio as advertised.
2) It does not come with a remote control as advertised.
3) Quoted from the product box "Add black bar to match with 4:3 and 16:10 panel. No more distortion" This simply is not true. Every single option in the menu and all submenus were thoroughly explored. There is absolutely no option for retaining the aspect ratio of the original signal. Leading to number....
4) Every signal will be scaled to the resolution that you set in the menu. This means the signal will be STRETCHED or SQUEEZED together to fit the selected resolution. This would not be a problem if traditional High Definition resolutions were given as an option, but they are not. So, you will not be able to select 1280 x 720 for 720p nor will you be able to select 1920 x 1080 to give you 1080p. Think of the picture as looking at a 4:3 picture on a 16:9 widescreen LCD HDTV that is not set to aspect or real ratio. Faces get stretched to a weird wide look, etc....
5) Because everything is scaled and there is no way to disable the scaling, there will be a loss in signal quality for all pictures displayed.
6) Some other boxes such as the X2VGA2 by Neoya have two component inputs for gaming systems versus only one on the Geniatech HD Gamebox. I later discovered and bought this competitor's product and am keeping it. However, my only 1080i game had it's black shades displayed in shades of green. So I had to set my Xbox to incorrectly say my monitor doesn't support 1080i so the X2VGA2 would display the 1080i game properly in 720p. My monitor is a 1920 x 1200 resolution DoubleSight DS-263N which supports perfectly even 1080p. The colors were perfect on the HD GameBox in 1080i (albeit stretched to 1920 x 1200).
7) The sound "quality" on the Geniatech HD GameBox can only be described as defective. Even when the HD GameBox is turned off, tremendous noise/interference/static is run through your speaker system. So you have to unplug the sound cable when not using it if you are plugging this into an alternate MP3 jack in your speaker system as I was (Logitech Z-4 speaker system) Also, the volume has to be turned way down low so that all this horrible sound quality noise doesn't overpower the actual video game sound.
8) This HD GameBox runs HOT!!! Even when not actively in use, this thing runs about as hot as a gaming video card in your PC. I didn't feel comfortable leaving it on when not in use for this reason. One has to wonder just how long an electronic device that runs this hot will last over time.
9) Although HDTVonPC has stated they are willing to refund the initial shipping costs, they will not pay for return shipping on this misrepresented and defective (from a sound quality perspective) product.
In summary, if you just need a product that will display 480i on a PC monitor and don't care about picture or sound quality, then this is an ok product for you. If you want a high definition box that will properly display your high definition signal on your high definition LCD monitor, then I suggest you run (don't walk) far, far away from this Geniatech HD GameBox. It does not live up to it's name or advertising.
*** UPDATE: HDTVonPC did NOT refund the initial shipping costs as they agreed to in their email correspondance. So approximately $16 (initial and return shipping) was lost on a misrepresented and defective product. They did say it is their policy NEVER to pay for return shipping even on a defective product. However, they did NOT honor their word of refunding the initial shipping costs either. It became very clear from an unprofessional demeanor (overly casual and disinterested) and specific statements in their emails that HDTVonPC is definately a "Mom and Pop" shop. They don't do RMA #'s and it took me almost two weeks and several emails for them to answer the simple question of what address to send the return to. Detailed return instructions were requested in the first email. Also, the product box initially shipped to me was pretty banged up due to it being "packaged" in a completely unprotected normal priority mail envelope (product itself was undamaged). On the bright side, I guess HDTVonPC could have been worse by trying to blame this damage on me and not accepting the return, but I did bubble wrap it to minimize this chance. This is not a good vendor to choose for any of your needs. This product rating of two stars does not take into account HDTVonPC being the vendor (which would have lowered it). It's based solely on the product itself purchased at a cost of below forty dollars.
 geniatech hd-game box for computer monitors April 18, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a neat product that allows you to hook-up TV type video inputs such as composite, s-video, and component video (either interlaced or progressive). The product works fairly well especially when using a component video input. The s-video input provided poor brightness when I used it with my Gamecube. You can adjust brightness, contrast, etc. on the unit itself but it's very slow and cumbersome to do so and you are probably better off changing these settings on the monitor itself. This device upscales and deinterlaces video input. I myself use it with a Sony Trinitron CRT monitor at 1600x1200 resolution. Pretty good product and seems to be the only one on the market that supports high resolutions and component input. Also note this model does not come with any form of remote control so don't expect to get one like I did. Mine also lacked instructions but if you are tech savvy you should be able to figure it out. There is no tuner either this is strictly a video input device only so use it with a dvd player, video game console, vcr, etc.
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