Topic: IDK if I'm allowed to talk about Sega Genesis

Hi, I am trying to get a sega genesis and one of the good HDMI adapters for the genesis. I wanna get a few original games before using megadrive for... games I already own and want to preserve so I'll deal with that later. I just want to get the sega genesis up and running on my modern tv and I'm not sure what the differences between genesis 1-3 are and if that has a huge impact on picture quality if I get the wrong generation adapter.

No you aren't allowed to talk about Sega here.

Honestly instead of looking for an adapter you should look for a clone system like the Analogue Mega SG. That's one of the best clone systems out there for the Genesis. I have one and it's great.

It's been a while since I've been into the details of the (North American)Genesis, but getting a good one is trickier than one would think. Picture quality can vary even among the same revisions because there are different video encoder chips that Sega used. If the video converter you use takes the RGB signal from the Genesis, then I think it won't matter. But RF and composite can be pretty bad out of the Genesis. I'm not up to date on the video converter boxes, but good ones should use RGB. Definitely check reviews on picture quality.

The REAL issue with the Genesis is audio(and I don't mean the sound chip, which I love). There are several revisions that have terrible audio circuits and poor output. Most of those are Model 2, but the very late Model 1 systems are bad. Not every model 2 is bad, but the majority are. Also worth mentioning is that the Model 1 does not output stereo through the AV output, but does so from the headphone jack. Model 2 is stereo from the back of the system, and has no headphone jack. Also worth a quick mention, Model 2 systems use power supplies that are more common, with a center positive polarity.

Before I tell you which Genesis systems are the best ones, I want to say that the Genesis 3 is mono sound only unless modded. And the advice to get a system like the Mega SG as mentioned above is good advice because of all the issues with finding a good original Genesis. With that out of the way, the easiest way to go about this is to get a Model 1 that has "High-Definition Graphics" written on it. Those are all before the revisions that messed up the sound. They are revisions BELOW VA7 boards which are bad. If you want a Model 2, you want the VA3 or VA4 revisions, the final two kinds. They have corrected audio from the prior types and sound good. To find one of these, you have to look through the vents at the bottom of the system. If the metal RF shield extends all the way across to the edge, that's a system to avoid. If the shielding does not go all the way to the edge and there's a gap(people call these 3/4 boards), then that's one of the good ones. I wish it was a bit simpler, but that's the reality of it.

One issue with the Analogue Mega SG is that it's no longer sold by Analogue, so the prices have gone through the roof on eBay.

Usual recommendations I've seen for MD/Genesis are to use RGB SCART cables for the video out - usually through a converter/upscaler such as the RetroTink to output to HDMI. There are cables that convert the RGB signal to Component, but those connections are getting pretty rare on Modern TVs now too so RGB SCART > RetroTink > HDMI is probably the best combo.

Beware of cheap 3rd party PSUs too as they can also introduce noise into the video.

@Tasuki eeey I don't want a clone unless it takes all cartridges. What even is a clone system? I never heard before. Its not like the pre-loaded garbaje is it?

The Mega SG is a re-creation of the Genesis at the logic level, using an FPGA. As such, you've got 100% compatibility with cartridges, plus a bunch of mod cons like HDMI output and the option to use lag-free Wireless controllers alongside the original ones.

Modding an original Genesis up to the same standard would be quite the project.