Topic: N64 to HDTV..........

I've been searching everywhere on the world wide web, forums, back ally markets, and I can't find a definitive answer. What way can I hook up an N64 to an LCD TV and get the best picture? I found (so far) the best method is the S-Video cable, but even that looks like crap (on a 55" Sharp Aquas). I tried it on my 46" Panasonic Plasma and it looks a lot better, but that's my wife's TV. I WANT TO PLAY N64 IN MY MAN CAVE DAMMIT! I noticed that there are up-converters, but haven't really heard any good reviews. Does anyone out there have a solution to my problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated. NINTENDO 4 LIFE!

I have used one of these before
http://www.playerschoicevideogames.com/pd_gamecube_vga.cfm

If you have a VGA port on your tv

Is there a significant improvement of video quality for the N64 on on an HDTV using the VGA port?

Well, after a couple of weeks of research, it seems that the best way to play an N64 is through S-video on a small screen (32") HDTV. Anything larger and the picture becomes waaayy too pixilated.

If anyone has tried an hdmi converter with the N64, please let me know if it's worth the cost.

Assuming an HDMI cable is the same as a converter, I got one for $4 on Amazon.

N64 suffers from what the same era Sony and Sega systems do. They used various cut corner stunts with the early 3D hardware that took advantages of various things of the old CRT style tvs. Sadly due to this, unless you can find some crazy device that luckily fix some bad issues I'll mention, it's a lost cause. You got it right that stuff gets pixelated pretty badly, but also a few other bad things happen too which are far worse and one is game breaking even. Looking for scanlines and not finding them will cause various images (like the movie screen snaps on Rogue Squadron's menu) to have every other line missing and has a jittery fit when you rotate the menu. Again using RS1, this one is game breaking, various methods of creating lighting in games won't work on an LCD and as such stages at night with lit up areas so you can see canyon walls or buildings are gone...out entirely everything is jet black...yeah good luck in that canyon wall or city area. Oh and the last one, and even a few (mostly it's just Hudson games showing their laziness) SNES games do this, due to the lack of scanlines they used to shade and join colors instead all the formerly sharp images look like vomited up splotches of paint (makes Bomberman look awful, Adventure Island too.)

As of now I quit buying N64 games as I'm not going to just keep a CRT around for old games, so unless I know the game doesn't use that style of dynamic lighting I won't buy it, and in most cases unless I know it's all light and fluffy like Kirby it's off my buy list as unplayable games are wastes of money.

That's what I was afraid of. I guess I'll have to wait for emulation of the N64 on Wii to improve so that I can play Silicon Valley again. Thanks for all the help.

You could look into scanline generators and see if they would help your situation

I played N64 on my 46" Rear Projection CRT HDTV using S-video. It looked pretty bad but I got use to it after about an hour or so gaming. Still it was no where near ideal. I try to stick with older smaller CRT's for retro gaming but that isn't an option for most people. I have a 14" Commodore 1084 CRT with S-video and RGB and a recently aquired 20" Sony PVM-2030 also with S-video and RGB. Both look excellent but take up valuable space.

I'm one of the few who hasn't really upgraded to HD televisions yet. There is a rather small one in the house, but it really just get's used for movies and TV shows. As cool as it looks, being used to the CRT TV's, I haven't had a problem with using them, even for modern consoles. It comes in handy sometimes.

I read up on this a while back and was really interested, but...... I really don't feel like spending $150 - $200 (Scanline generator + Upscale converter) on a product(s) that I'm not sure is going to work for me. If there are user reviews of the scanline generator and it works, then I'll definitely grab one.

I really dont understand those... I've never seen them improve anything, they make things look worse

i don't know how well it'll work for an N64 but...
i purchased a dreamcast vga box then used something called an Atlona VGA to HDMI upscaler converter (kinda expensive). through that i was able to take the 640p hi-def the VGA box natively outputs in and upscale it to 1080p which of course makes your dreamcast really pop. all and all that was about a $200 investment. you can buy an N64 VGA converter for cheaper than a dreamcast one but the Atlona upscaler will set you back between $100 and $150. so, in theory, you can play your N64 in 1080p on your shiny new HDTV, full screen and all. i don't know about all that business with scan lines and stuff, but as far as the dreamcast goes it works like a charm and is worth every penny if you're a true collector/fanatic like me. Atlona, as far as i know, is the only company making a VGA to HDMI video upscaler converter so i believe you're stuck paying the price. you can youtube "dreamcast in hd" to find a tutorial on how to rig it together. expensive, yes. but if it works it's gonna be real worth it. i plan to try this out myself since i already got the Atlona box so i'll try to update you guys on how it works. (turok 2 in 1080p? i can't resist)

I am pretty sure the OP doesn't need anymore advice. Seeing as he asked this 3 years ago I figure that he either figured something out or moved on.

@tasuki: but what if others have a similar question? TheMastodon is trying something new, give them a chance to add something constructive to the existing discussion please

I guess you learn something new every 3 years

Assuming that there is anything worth playing on N64

I have to agree with the Wavester here. That's why all my retro systems are in my Retro Cave hooked up to a CRT tv. The only thing I need now is the old wood grain tv set to hook up an Atari to it.

You gaiz R silly

Me, I grew up with the N64; my dad and I would rent one to play during down time after school.
I had always kind of hoped to revive that feeling and build a collection of games through the Wii Virtual Console. Alas, the collection of titles that made the jump was a dismal lot, compared to all the titles I had enjoyed back in the day.

Ocarina of Time was probably the best / most definitive experience I had, but other favorites include 1080 Snowboarding (and Snowboard Kids, for that matter), Paper Mario, Yoshi's Story...
There's plenty more that I know I would be willing to try, but I still need to build that collection. x(
So I guess this is my shout out to fans of the N64 era.

Hi all, I apologise now for my naivety here. I recently got the itch to play some Goldeneye and was quickly disappointed when I read the issues people were having with hdtvs. By the looks of it, a CRT monitor looks the cheapest option (plus an s video connection). My question is - I can get hold of an old emac, which has a CRT display and s video port. Can anyone think of a good reason why it wouldn't work to play an N64 on? Many thanks!