Seeing all these cheap/flawed HDMI solutions makes me so glad I went with the Framemeister. Every single one of these things you've reviewed have had some pretty glaring issues.
Is it just me, or does the zoomed in component output look nicer than the LevelHike HDMI cable alone? It looks like the mClassic definitely helps, but the LevelHike HDMI cable alone looks like the worst setup to me.
Maybe better to use a component to hdmi converter along with the mclassic just like the makers of the mclassic demonstrate in their God of War video on their TH-cam channel.
MrMario2011 I do agree with you Mr Mario. No disrespect to Metal Jesus but couldn’t notice almost any difference with the mClassic. Pressing the zoom button is not so hard after all
It wasn't mentioned in the video, but to be clear for everyone, *only* the PSP go can support an extneral controller. If you want to use the PSP 2000/3000's video output, you're going to have to use the real psp as your controller. Yes HDMI is more convenient and the zoom is way nice, but you're still going to have a lot of wires hanging out and it's not going to magically make the psp into a traditional console. While this solution is really cool I don't think it totally replaces the desire for a psp go and it's dock.
That's why I'll keep using patched PSP isos running on Cex PS3. Coz it allows you to use PS3 controller and it does 3D rendering at higher resolution. Did u tried?
Philippe Henry I've tried it. If I recall compatibility ain't that great. Some games won't even start. But the ones that do look great. But I still prefer using my Docked PSP Go or nvidia shield tv.
I've been messing with getting PS1 and PSP games on my TV recently. It's a pain. PSP Go with a dock (attached to an upscaler) and a PS3 controller works and looks fantastic, but the price of a dock is prohibitive. Also, pairing a PS3 controller requires a PS3 system and those controllers are a pain to charge. They don't just work with a usb power brick. Then you need all the special PSP Go cables. There are some less expensive 3rd party cables out there that will output to your TV and charge the system without the dock, but are difficult to find. For what this stuff costs, I'd go with a PSTV and CFW. It's much easier to set up and Adrenaline looks great. You can use a PS4 controller and PS1 games have no issues (other than not being able to disable graphic smoothing completely). There are lots of TH-cam tutorials to get you started.
Josh Nichols yea but PSTVs are also getting Expensive so it's just as bad. I own 1 that's not hacked. I'm waiting for Sony to really drop support before hacking mines. They like to release sneaky updates. So I don feel comfortable hacking mines yet. Yes you'll need a PS3 to setup the DS3. But I think there's a way for you to do so on the PC. I use my PS3 so I'm ok. Now I use my Nintendo Switch dock to charge my DS3. Just plug a USB Cable on the side and it works fine for me. The Dock is expensive but if you look online or on PSP Paige's on Facebook. You could find one for a decent price. I snagged one for $50. It's possible but it's up to the person to play the wait game. Either way getting all of this equipment for the PSP or a PSTV, PSP Go dock. Regardless it will cost some money.
Yeah much easier than any of this crap. The whole point is to play it portable. Not designed to be on the tv. Even though they had the component capability.
For the longest time, I used the Lenkeng LKV-8000 to upscale my PSP. It's essentially the same basic product as the LevelHike PSP to HDMI, except it's zoom button is on the connector itself so you need not get up to change it. It's discontinued now, so LevelHike's is probably a more readily available option. But of course, I don't use the LKV-8000 as much as I used to since I got Adrenaline running ISO backups of my UMD collection on my PSTV.
I imagine it's been covered already, but it's no judgement call about aspect ratio. The PSP screen is 16:9 so 16:9 on the tv is 100% correct. The proportions of a PSP pixel are different from that of a HDTV, so thanks to the lack of an internal scaling chip, you get both the windowboxing and the wrong aspect ratio with the official component cable.
Someone once chained 3 mClassics together and a rift in space/time was created and the soulful crooning of Barry White could be heard from a distance. #TrueStory
Linus chained 2 together and every character in had a strange glow outline around them. He was like, "hmmm... Counterstrike Players may want to look into this."
Mr. Metal Jesus. Your videos are so well put together. I really appreciate how you manage to show the differences in video quality. Keep on rockin’ in the free world.
No, you can plug the component cables for the psp go directly in the psp go. No need for the cradle. Only if you want to charge it simultaniously. Even for that, there is a special cable with a video+charging option. Also the psp Go has the option to play wireless with a ps3 controller.
Sterling20073 I managed to snag one cradle for $50 on eBay. They are getting crazy expensive. But keep a lookout. You might just find one for a decent price. It's worth it.
You’ve helped me properly HD-ofy allot of systems.... had to pay the big bucks for the Nintendo mod but folks, if u love the 64 you gotta get it HD modified like that video almost a year back, that Metal Jesus showed us.
In most cases IMO, it's better to hook up your PSP to a computer over USB, place a copy of PPSSPP on it into its own folder on the PSP memory card, then place a text file called installed.txt with the contents ".." (without the quotes) into the ppsspp folder. This allows you to use the ppsspp emulator on any computer or laptop your might have hooked up to your TV to play games at high resolutions, different upscaling methods, fps mods, etc, all while leaving your save files exactly where they should be so you can play games natively on your PSP or on the ppsspp emulator seamlessly without having to do anything hacky to keep your progress.
Thank you so, so much for this comment! I've tried so many different ways to sync up my save games across my computer and PSP, moving files around and such, I had no idea I could just run PPSSPP off my PSP, you're an absolute lifesaver!
Seeing Daxter on your TV at the end, it would have been a good representation to just record the tv :D Also the M classic removed most of the jaggies and I've noticed it on every game, it's a big difference to me.
1: The mClassic doesn't upscale to 4K it upscales to 1080p ot 1440p if your tv or monitor supports that resolution. 2: The 3 switches on the mClassic are very simple, the middle with the green light is just pastthrought mode so you don't have to unplug it and plug it back into your device like with the mCable, the right mode with the green light does all the processing/scaling etc and the left mode with the blue light is the Retro Mode which is the same as the right mode but it gives it a 4:3 aspect ratio for older consoles and games etc etc Idk if you have the fixed 4:3 mClassic or not. And 3: you have to set the resolution of your consoles or pc down to 720p or 480p like Wii games on Wii U at 480p is the best way for Wii games with the mClassic. same goes for Nintendo Switch games at 720p and Wii U games at 720p and Xbox 360 and PS3 games at 720p and interlaced resolutions like 480i or 576i or 1080i are not supported at all but 576p is supported. These are Tips for if you are gonna do a mClassic video.
Actually the mClassic is just a line doubler with a little bit of post processing. Which is good, cause if it would lean heavy on the post processing it would introduce a lot of latency. But what it does it doubles the lines and softens the image a bit. For it's price it's a decent product.
What I was thinking, and I honestly would have been fine if Sony had gone with full 480p for the resolution., but I guess they wanted to be able to tout a wider screen then what Nintendo was doing.
@@F1NATIK Yes thanks for stating what I already know, but Sony likes to do weird stuff, which is why I suggested a standard resolution of 480p, of which would not have been odd when the PSP was originally released.
@@allg0odnamesaretaken I get Sony wanted a 16:9 aspect ratio, but I don't think the resolution scales very well when outputting to a normal display, which again is why I suggested 480p, which was fairly common at the time of the release of the PSP, and would not have been out of place.
If emulation legit gives you a better experience (no stretching, better filters, better upscaling, controller support), then there's no point in this tbh.
True. Upscaling in an emulator looks way better and smooth than this. Also, this looks like a mess with the cables, the hdmi and the mclassic thingy both need power from the usb port, it's too much trouble.
Ugh no, I couldn't tolerate the stretched image, completely ruins it for me. Not a solution for me. Thanks for reviewing this though so people know what they get!
There's always the Lenkeng LKV-8000. It's discontinued but it has a zoom button that merely crops off the black boarder and enlarges the image to fill the screen. I never noticed any stretching, but then again the games were widescreen anyway. Here's a video Djclyve and I did, the Final Fantasy 1 footage was recorded on an Elgato using the LKV-8000. th-cam.com/video/VL6BxDzr7wE/w-d-xo.html These are rare and even more expensive than the GameCube component cables now. So good luck!
Awesome, as always ‘metal head jesus’! The PSP was such a beast, I was very unhappy when, after the Vita, Sony would no longer make a hand held, I am somewhat biased but I would have felt Sony’s handheld would have lowered the volume on some of the noise caused by the switch, something by now would have been between PS3 & PS4 in quality.....it’s just too bad for Sony handheld fans
I can't help but feel that emulation on a PC is far superior to these solutions, especially because you can raise the internal resolution, and sometimes raise frame rate.
PSP's native screen resolution is 480x272, which is just slightly over a 16x9 aspect ratio (16 x 9.067 to be more precise). So a wide screen signal on your TV should be more accurate. It isn't that the HDMI cables are stretching the signal. It's that your TV is squishing the native 480p component signal.
Always good to see you give us new possibilities for the super great PSP. I've noticed PsP go works well on my old 1080p Aquos when connected, but very jagged on anything more recent in the 4k gen. I am glad there are possibilities.
MJR, cool video. But please give some time with these review vídeos, and bring back the older and loved ones series, like the hidden gems, buying guides and i hate u episodes. Feels like all you do now is review stuff. Cheers from Brazil!
thanks for putting in the time with all the devices and showing comparisons with all different setups. I didn't necessarily need a psp solution, but I definitely am now interested in the mClassic for upscaling some Xbox 360 games IE. the digital only OUTRUN !!!!
Still amazed at how it.looks to this day it aged well back then shit was like a mini ps2 in your hand was waiting for a xbox portable for years thought they would compete guess not.
The mClassic isn't doing much here, because the HDMI cable is already outputting at 720p, the mClassic has to upscale what is already high resolution, so it won't be able to add much smoothing to it If the resolution was at 480p or 272p even it would have a much more effect and enhancement to the image.
Hey man. If you are savy enough, you can do all this on a Raspberry. Though, I suspect the intention is do this on the original hardware. Either way, nice Vid. There are a TON excellent games on the platform that go without mention. A seriously unsung platform. Levelhike also makes a cable for the Saturn and various other consoles. There are a few issues with those cables, though for the price they are certainly a great entry level upscaler. I'd recommend them to anyone starting off and wants to screen cap content. Good job again.
480x272 is practically 16:9, i.e. standard widescreen TV. To me it looks like the OG component cables are greatly squishing the aspect ratio as it appears on the psp screen, unless it was intended to be treated as anamorphic widescreen and stretched by your TV.
FOR THE LOVE OF GAMES **** if you are planning to use the mCable you need to change your console display settings to output native 480p (for wii, GameCube, PS2 or XBOX) or 720p (PS3, 360, most wiiU games) to gain the most benefit. Using the HDMI adapter for the PSP i believe already scales it to 1080p so it will not help much.
Stretching to 16:9 would be actually correct, but it doesn't precisely stretch it to 16:9, you can actually see bars bellow and above after all. The component cable does more vertical stretching than it should in fact (probably directly throwing square pixels into NTSC tall "pixels", NTSC being 720x480 and 4:3 for DVD output). The PSP resolution being 480x272 is just 2 pixels shy of perfect 16:9, in fact quadruple the resolution to each side and you'll get 1920x1088, definitely not enough to call it a different proportion.
according to stone age gamer.... level hike is apparently suppose to be making a saturn hdmi solution... thats when i'll consider getting one of their own cables
Widescreen/16:9 has a ratio of 1.78:1, the PSP was 480x272 which is 1.76:1. The distortion of the image via this cable seems way more that that minor difference. For example, when you see a film with tiny black bars at the bottom & top, that is 1.85:1 and is barely percepable on most TVs. If they had scaled it by 4x, which would look probably as good as possible, it would have been 1920x1088, so requiring cropping of 4 pixels on top & bottom, or in relation to the original PSP image only 1 pixel at the top & bottom (480x270 scaled).
@metaljesusrocks MJR just wanted to say I am a huge fan of your channel. I even got some of the guys I work with in the office to subscribe too you. I work in software design in the UK. so as you can imagine most of the guys I work with love gaming. Your videos are really insightful and really well done. Keep producing, and I'll keep watching and getting more followers dude 🤘
Probably a silly question, but since both of these devices require power input, were they both able to operate via power from the TVs USB port if they had any? The only reason as to why I'm asking this is that I'm an owner of the NES, SNES and PlayStation Mini consoles and the PlayStation Mini refuses to run on the power from the smart TV's USB port. If you're having to use two wall chargers ( whether it'd be a phone charger for example ) then that's not really practical I don't think, heck, make it 3 if you're wanting to charge the PSP and play at the same time.
I got 3 mcables and I have them on cell chargers on a separate surge protector and turn off when I'm not gaming. It's not that it isnt a inconvenience. But you dont want to leve mcables or mclassic plugged in long time while not in use. It's not good for the processor. But it really depends on your tv. My sony bravia having 2 plugged in that they were pulling to much power through tv. Meaning it could damage the tv in long run and the message stayed on the screen best to just go cell charger and surge protector if you want multiple.
Metal Jesus, would you say that the Level Hike video quality is better than the component cables? I know you briefly discussed the aspect ratio, but, I don't think you touched upon actual video quality differences. Sorry if someone already asked this, but, I have a tough time reading through youtube comments...
I purchased and just tested one of these based on Metal Jesus review. Here are my thoughts: This device is basically identical to the Lenkeng LKV8000 (and its clones) which I own, just in a less bulky form factor. Just like the Lenkeng, it doesn't actually upscale the image; at least it doesn't appear to, just slight smoothing. It just converts analog to hdmi. And just like the Lenkeng, the stretched image still doesn't totally fill the TV screen. That said, it's not bad. The picture quality looked identical to using the Sony component cables. And there was no detectable input lag. Obviously, this isn't as good as the component cables hooked up to an OSSC and Framemeister, which I own as well, but it's a good option if you don't have an HDTV with analog inputs, $150 for an OSSC, or $300-400 for the Framemeister.
That’s nice to know because the one I have is branded as a Pyle PSPHD42 but is 100% the same. They also work for PS1 Classics which he doesn’t show the newer device doing though.
0:34 Mechwarrrior on the SNES!! Man, I loved that game, it was so freakin hard for me as a kid but i beat it, eventually, it took a few years of coming back to it every now and then, and I'd get a little bit farther each time. And with only 5 missions, I mean a LITTLE bit, each time.
Your missing the point of the hdmi scaler. Your suposed to have a low resolution (source) signal then put it through it will upscale it and polish it. However what your doing is upscaling the low resolution with a bad upscaler, then upscaling that with the magic box, that will confuse it and cause the image to barley look any better if not worse then the original image. I recommend a component to hdmi adapter so you put the pure 480x242 image into the magic box then it will do wonders.
The mCable could probably do a bit more if it had something closer to the PSP’s native resolution, so you might actually be better off if the other cable outputted 480p instead of 720p.
The level hike upscaling is nice but it's recommend that you use the games original output so 420p for psp games when using the mcable. Will definitely research the level hike more later though
testing full screen PSP without Monster Hunter F Unite, Dissidia Duodecim nor Tekken 6 (or some PS1 titles) but instead more like titles that hadnt the best graphics in the first place... if the big budget titles were shown and they looked great maybe that would ve convinced me. Still good explanation and presentation
Best PSP setup for playing on TV is PSP Go in the official cradle with the official component cable @480p passthrough through the OSSC outputting through a mClassic @1440p on a 4k TV using the TV it’s zoom function. Playing with my Dual Shock 3. No lag, no image degradation and no compromises.
Am I wrong or is plugging the mClassic into the other Levelhike HDMI converter weird? Wouldn't that mean upscaling to 1080p and adding post-processing and then again scale it to 720p and adding stretching and the Levelhike's own post-processing?
What if the mClassic is connected to an HDMI switch and then connect to let say an Nintendo 64, PS1, PS2, NES, SNES, SEGA Genesis... with the respective adapters / cables ??? it will work ???
I'm interested in seeing a comparison with the original cables plugged into a RetroTink attached to the mClassic. Since the RetroTink outputs closer to the original resolution, I think the post processing and upscaling from the mClassic will be much more drastic. With the LevelHike, it's already upscaling quite a bit, so the mClassic doesn't have much to work with.
@@sahasrahla7 I'm a purest so in a lot of ways, I want to play the classics the way I remembered them as a kid. They weren't supposed to be in HD so let them be as was intended. Imagine pixellating a modern game to get that nostalgic feel.
@@DungarooTV thesis are cheap upscalers they don't actually change the rendering and processing. Now check out some PPSSPP 4k gameplay vs PSP gameplay then come back.
@@DungarooTV I see what ur sayin but some consoles like Gamecube must be upscaled cuz theyre so blurry on 4k tvs. If u wanna be a purest and hurt your eyes go ahead and crash a lot in NFS underground like i do lol. I don't wanna waste money on a CRT TV or $200 on the licensed Nintendo component cables.
Seeing all these cheap/flawed HDMI solutions makes me so glad I went with the Framemeister. Every single one of these things you've reviewed have had some pretty glaring issues.
Me too.
Is it just me, or does the zoomed in component output look nicer than the LevelHike HDMI cable alone? It looks like the mClassic definitely helps, but the LevelHike HDMI cable alone looks like the worst setup to me.
Maybe better to use a component to hdmi converter along with the mclassic just like the makers of the mclassic demonstrate in their God of War video on their TH-cam channel.
Agreed. It looks on on par with the quality of a pound cable to me. Not great imo, I'll stick to a PSP Go with component to the OSSC.
Yes it does. This is just another cheap, low-quality, upscaler.
No it looks pretty blurry and that stretching/squashing of the top and bottom to fit 16:9 doesn't help.
MrMario2011 I do agree with you Mr Mario. No disrespect to Metal Jesus but couldn’t notice almost any difference with the mClassic. Pressing the zoom button is not so hard after all
You can never talk about Burnout too much!
^^ THIS ^^
It wasn't mentioned in the video, but to be clear for everyone, *only* the PSP go can support an extneral controller. If you want to use the PSP 2000/3000's video output, you're going to have to use the real psp as your controller. Yes HDMI is more convenient and the zoom is way nice, but you're still going to have a lot of wires hanging out and it's not going to magically make the psp into a traditional console.
While this solution is really cool I don't think it totally replaces the desire for a psp go and it's dock.
That's why I'll keep using patched PSP isos running on Cex PS3. Coz it allows you to use PS3 controller and it does 3D rendering at higher resolution. Did u tried?
Philippe Henry I've tried it. If I recall compatibility ain't that great. Some games won't even start. But the ones that do look great. But I still prefer using my Docked PSP Go or nvidia shield tv.
I've been messing with getting PS1 and PSP games on my TV recently. It's a pain. PSP Go with a dock (attached to an upscaler) and a PS3 controller works and looks fantastic, but the price of a dock is prohibitive. Also, pairing a PS3 controller requires a PS3 system and those controllers are a pain to charge. They don't just work with a usb power brick. Then you need all the special PSP Go cables. There are some less expensive 3rd party cables out there that will output to your TV and charge the system without the dock, but are difficult to find.
For what this stuff costs, I'd go with a PSTV and CFW. It's much easier to set up and Adrenaline looks great. You can use a PS4 controller and PS1 games have no issues (other than not being able to disable graphic smoothing completely). There are lots of TH-cam tutorials to get you started.
this comment should be pinned...
Josh Nichols yea but PSTVs are also getting Expensive so it's just as bad. I own 1 that's not hacked. I'm waiting for Sony to really drop support before hacking mines. They like to release sneaky updates. So I don feel comfortable hacking mines yet.
Yes you'll need a PS3 to setup the DS3. But I think there's a way for you to do so on the PC.
I use my PS3 so I'm ok. Now I use my Nintendo Switch dock to charge my DS3. Just plug a USB Cable on the side and it works fine for me.
The Dock is expensive but if you look online or on PSP Paige's on Facebook. You could find one for a decent price. I snagged one for $50. It's possible but it's up to the person to play the wait game.
Either way getting all of this equipment for the PSP or a PSTV, PSP Go dock. Regardless it will cost some money.
Alternatively, hacked PSTV is great at playing and outputting PSP games to the HDTV.
Exactly what my first thought was :D
This
A much better investment for the money and what you get
Yeah much easier than any of this crap. The whole point is to play it portable. Not designed to be on the tv. Even though they had the component capability.
For the longest time, I used the Lenkeng LKV-8000 to upscale my PSP. It's essentially the same basic product as the LevelHike PSP to HDMI, except it's zoom button is on the connector itself so you need not get up to change it. It's discontinued now, so LevelHike's is probably a more readily available option. But of course, I don't use the LKV-8000 as much as I used to since I got Adrenaline running ISO backups of my UMD collection on my PSTV.
I imagine it's been covered already, but it's no judgement call about aspect ratio. The PSP screen is 16:9 so 16:9 on the tv is 100% correct.
The proportions of a PSP pixel are different from that of a HDTV, so thanks to the lack of an internal scaling chip, you get both the windowboxing and the wrong aspect ratio with the official component cable.
Can someone please daisy chain like 3 mclassics just to see how smooth it can go 😂😂
Someone once chained 3 mClassics together and a rift in space/time was created and the soulful crooning of Barry White could be heard from a distance. #TrueStory
@MetalJesusRocks ROFL!
It's all about trust. If you really believe, you will see the difference: D It's like religion.
@@MetalJesusRocks God damnit how many do I got to daisy chain for it to be Betty White in the background instead of Barry?
Linus chained 2 together and every character in had a strange glow outline around them. He was like, "hmmm... Counterstrike Players may want to look into this."
Top funny. I just came to TH-cam to watch some old PSP videos. And, what did I see? A NEW PSP video!!! Great stuff!
What I wanna know is, why haven't people made a psp go dock replacement?
Its very rare to find something like this for a relic like PSP. Most psp videos are 8yrs ago and its hard to find recent years.
Mr. Metal Jesus thank you for bringing these to my attention. You have no idea how long I've been trying to find a good HDMI solution for PSP!
Me too.
@@MetalJesusRocks metal jesus I need help how can I do this same setup or similar to psp 1000 only I need help please!! 👍👍
I absolutely love to spend some of my free time with a Metal Jesus vid. I just find this type of stuff so relaxing, and so satisfying.
Oh, I need these. The PSP has an amazing library of classic collections and these will make them even better.
hey metaljesus, I miss your buying guides and hidden gems videos. they truly rock!
More coming soon!
Mr. Metal Jesus. Your videos are so well put together. I really appreciate how you manage to show the differences in video quality. Keep on rockin’ in the free world.
No, you can plug the component cables for the psp go directly in the psp go. No need for the cradle. Only if you want to charge it simultaniously. Even for that, there is a special cable with a video+charging option.
Also the psp Go has the option to play wireless with a ps3 controller.
I'm after one of those play & charge cables for the Go but can't find one anywhere and the cradles super expensive
Sterling20073 I managed to snag one cradle for $50 on eBay. They are getting crazy expensive. But keep a lookout. You might just find one for a decent price. It's worth it.
This is one f the most important invention ever created by mankind!
Absolutely fantastic piece of kit! I need these both in my life!😍 Great video Jason
6:12 that's why everyone who shows gameplay on GTA games they go into the game audio settings, turns off the music volume LMAO 😂
Metal Jesus back again! Waaaaahhhhhh
It irritates me that the vita doesn't have video out.
But the PSTV does 👍
Was gonna ask this.
TacticalPower88 but a lot of ps vita games aren’t supported
Sony should sell a dock...make it work like switch. Although, to be fair, a lot of VITA titles are getting ports now.
Andrew Hayford They made a dock in japan but it doesn’t have video output. The psv also works with the ds3 & ds4
Videos like this are why you're my favorite channel to watch MJ.
I’m not even a huge gamer but your videos are soothing
This guy should just rename to CableJesusRocks,
More cables than games at this point.
"Free" cables and adapters Jesus Rocks.
This true but when he put games on his channel, their prices rise.
@Girtana1 Idk about that, but he gets them for free. It's an advertisement on the free shit he gets. He has to pay for game lots.
Great video dude.
I just bought myself a PSP 2000 and fsncy trying it on my tv. This vid has been a big help.
You've got a new subscriber 👍
You’ve helped me properly HD-ofy allot of systems.... had to pay the big bucks for the Nintendo mod but folks, if u love the 64 you gotta get it HD modified like that video almost a year back, that Metal Jesus showed us.
In most cases IMO, it's better to hook up your PSP to a computer over USB, place a copy of PPSSPP on it into its own folder on the PSP memory card, then place a text file called installed.txt with the contents ".." (without the quotes) into the ppsspp folder. This allows you to use the ppsspp emulator on any computer or laptop your might have hooked up to your TV to play games at high resolutions, different upscaling methods, fps mods, etc, all while leaving your save files exactly where they should be so you can play games natively on your PSP or on the ppsspp emulator seamlessly without having to do anything hacky to keep your progress.
Thank you so, so much for this comment! I've tried so many different ways to sync up my save games across my computer and PSP, moving files around and such, I had no idea I could just run PPSSPP off my PSP, you're an absolute lifesaver!
I know you said a number of times that the differences were subtle but I thought the mClassic was pretty amazing.
Seeing Daxter on your TV at the end, it would have been a good representation to just record the tv :D
Also the M classic removed most of the jaggies and I've noticed it on every game, it's a big difference to me.
yey another psp vid
I started using PSP emulators on my PS Vita TV and use the PS3 controller. Looks great.
Brian Borkowski i have two ps tvs one modded and they do not in any way look great lol.
@@jrapocalypse Handheld will never look good on TVs better on Monitors
"you'll notice it looks very similar to a Pound cable". Yes. Yes it does.
1: The mClassic doesn't upscale to 4K it upscales to 1080p ot 1440p if your tv or monitor supports that resolution.
2: The 3 switches on the mClassic are very simple, the middle with the green light is just pastthrought mode so you don't have to unplug it and plug it back into your device like with the mCable, the right mode with the green light does all the processing/scaling etc and the left mode with the blue light is the Retro Mode which is the same as the right mode but it gives it a 4:3 aspect ratio for older consoles and games etc etc Idk if you have the fixed 4:3 mClassic or not.
And 3: you have to set the resolution of your consoles or pc down to 720p or 480p like Wii games on Wii U at 480p is the best way for Wii games with the mClassic. same goes for Nintendo Switch games at 720p and Wii U games at 720p and Xbox 360 and PS3 games at 720p and interlaced resolutions like 480i or 576i or 1080i are not supported at all but 576p is supported. These are Tips for if you are gonna do a mClassic video.
Actually the mClassic is just a line doubler with a little bit of post processing. Which is good, cause if it would lean heavy on the post processing it would introduce a lot of latency. But what it does it doubles the lines and softens the image a bit. For it's price it's a decent product.
@@_BitJager_ Ah alright I thought it would upscale not multiplies the lines
@@_BitJager_ So its ossc but not as good or expensive
@@GameSack Ah okay okay got it!
Ugh, how can they not get something as simple as the aspect ratio correct. I don't get it.
What I was thinking, and I honestly would have been fine if Sony had gone with full 480p for the resolution., but I guess they wanted to be able to tout a wider screen then what Nintendo was doing.
@@CommodoreFan64 PSP is 272p
The aspect ratio is correct since the psp is 16:9
@@F1NATIK Yes thanks for stating what I already know, but Sony likes to do weird stuff, which is why I suggested a standard resolution of 480p, of which would not have been odd when the PSP was originally released.
@@allg0odnamesaretaken I get Sony wanted a 16:9 aspect ratio, but I don't think the resolution scales very well when outputting to a normal display, which again is why I suggested 480p, which was fairly common at the time of the release of the PSP, and would not have been out of place.
If emulation legit gives you a better experience (no stretching, better filters, better upscaling, controller support), then there's no point in this tbh.
Anant Mishra agreed. this is a waste of $$
True. Upscaling in an emulator looks way better and smooth than this. Also, this looks like a mess with the cables, the hdmi and the mclassic thingy both need power from the usb port, it's too much trouble.
Well you could then collect psp?
There are people that are purists and want to play on the original HW. I'm not one of them, but if you are this is a good sln.
@@MrGlenn253 What's to stop you from collecting for the PSP if you use an emulator with games you've dumped from your only UMDs?
Finally! Black bars and zoom on remote are gone! Ive been waiting years for these
Ugh no, I couldn't tolerate the stretched image, completely ruins it for me. Not a solution for me. Thanks for reviewing this though so people know what they get!
There's always the Lenkeng LKV-8000. It's discontinued but it has a zoom button that merely crops off the black boarder and enlarges the image to fill the screen. I never noticed any stretching, but then again the games were widescreen anyway. Here's a video Djclyve and I did, the Final Fantasy 1 footage was recorded on an Elgato using the LKV-8000.
th-cam.com/video/VL6BxDzr7wE/w-d-xo.html
These are rare and even more expensive than the GameCube component cables now. So good luck!
Lol suit yourself
Awesome, as always ‘metal head jesus’! The PSP was such a beast, I was very unhappy when, after the Vita, Sony would no longer make a hand held, I am somewhat biased but I would have felt Sony’s handheld would have lowered the volume on some of the noise caused by the switch, something by now would have been between PS3 & PS4 in quality.....it’s just too bad for Sony handheld fans
I think Sony is going to Remake Vita with upcoming ps5 they already know some of the units are already been sold more they can now.
Video about HD-ing and i'm on data watching this on 144p.
same here
😂😂
I can't help but feel that emulation on a PC is far superior to these solutions, especially because you can raise the internal resolution, and sometimes raise frame rate.
Really cool. From what I see some games work better with it, some without. Daxter looks great with the new post processing. PSP forever!
michael games with this setup do not run right and will ruin the device.
MJR: yes the image is stretched...
Me: later 👋
In this case, because the PSP output isn't 4:3 stretched to 16:9 but something in-between I feel like it's personally acceptable.
@@MetalJesusRocks The mClassic has a 4:3 mode
mClassic Retro mode does nothing to 720p video.
@@MetalJesusRocks Oh sorry my mistake then I didn't know that.
So awesome to have a HD cable for the psp! I’m definitely grabbing one!
Nerdy Nick_91 nick!
Radical Reggie REGGIE!
I just discovered this like, 2 days ago. I was on the fence about purchasing it and, now I’m for sure going to buy it.
10:37 : The difference is the blacks. The smoother has better dark images than with HDMI alone.
PSP's native screen resolution is 480x272, which is just slightly over a 16x9 aspect ratio (16 x 9.067 to be more precise). So a wide screen signal on your TV should be more accurate.
It isn't that the HDMI cables are stretching the signal. It's that your TV is squishing the native 480p component signal.
🙂 I've got the Levelhike adapter for my PSP now. 🙂 I've tested it and I'm glad to say that it works with out problems.
Get unsubbed from you and was wondering why I never seen your videos anymore...but I'm back and ready to binge watch 😂
That mclassic(?) was SICK. It looked so sharp and clear!
Just subscribed. Great channel.
Thanks for subscribing!
Always good to see you give us new possibilities for the super great PSP. I've noticed PsP go works well on my old 1080p Aquos when connected, but very jagged on anything more recent in the 4k gen. I am glad there are possibilities.
Stretching any game EVER should earn you a one way ticket to Hell.
Curious how does the PSP with component look like through a Retrotink?
MJR, cool video. But please give some time with these review vídeos, and bring back the older and loved ones series, like the hidden gems, buying guides and i hate u episodes. Feels like all you do now is review stuff. Cheers from Brazil!
thanks for putting in the time with all the devices and showing comparisons with all different setups. I didn't necessarily need a psp solution, but I definitely am now interested in the mClassic for upscaling some Xbox 360 games IE. the digital only OUTRUN !!!!
I have a similar PSP device, the Lenkeng LKV-8000. It even has a "zoom" button on the connector to fill the screen.
This...This is just the stuff I love from you.
Please make one for N3DSXL and PS VITA
I still god dam love my PSP had so many amazing hours with it 👍🏻
Still amazed at how it.looks to this day it aged well back then shit was like a mini ps2 in your hand was waiting for a xbox portable for years thought they would compete guess not.
@@ReallyPhilly215 Imagine a portable Halo :)
The mClassic isn't doing much here, because the HDMI cable is already outputting at 720p, the mClassic has to upscale what is already high resolution, so it won't be able to add much smoothing to it
If the resolution was at 480p or 272p even it would have a much more effect and enhancement to the image.
Indeed, there has to be no other upscaling in the chain than the Mclassic/Mcable for it to properly do its magic
Bill Brasky carried around a full sized Centipede cabinet in his back pocket and let kids play it if they first regaled him with a hearty joke.
Component FTW. Looks sharper and plus it drives me nuts when games aren't displayed in the ratio they were designed.
Hey man. If you are savy enough, you can do all this on a Raspberry. Though, I suspect the intention is do this on the original hardware. Either way, nice Vid. There are a TON excellent games on the platform that go without mention. A seriously unsung platform. Levelhike also makes a cable for the Saturn and various other consoles. There are a few issues with those cables, though for the price they are certainly a great entry level upscaler. I'd recommend them to anyone starting off and wants to screen cap content. Good job again.
I still love both. The PSP also can easily be connected to an outside display as it was meant to be done while PS Vita needs a lot of hoops
480x272 is practically 16:9, i.e. standard widescreen TV. To me it looks like the OG component cables are greatly squishing the aspect ratio as it appears on the psp screen, unless it was intended to be treated as anamorphic widescreen and stretched by your TV.
FOR THE LOVE OF GAMES **** if you are planning to use the mCable you need to change your console display settings to output native 480p (for wii, GameCube, PS2 or XBOX) or 720p (PS3, 360, most wiiU games) to gain the most benefit. Using the HDMI adapter for the PSP i believe already scales it to 1080p so it will not help much.
Stretching to 16:9 would be actually correct, but it doesn't precisely stretch it to 16:9, you can actually see bars bellow and above after all. The component cable does more vertical stretching than it should in fact (probably directly throwing square pixels into NTSC tall "pixels", NTSC being 720x480 and 4:3 for DVD output). The PSP resolution being 480x272 is just 2 pixels shy of perfect 16:9, in fact quadruple the resolution to each side and you'll get 1920x1088, definitely not enough to call it a different proportion.
I'm sure this hardware stuff might be fun to mess around, but honestly, thank god I use emulation
Then you don't have to but PSP looks good on its screen
Looks great with those two products!
according to stone age gamer.... level hike is apparently suppose to be making a saturn hdmi solution... thats when i'll consider getting one of their own cables
Thanks MJ, you helped me a lot. Great vid.
Widescreen/16:9 has a ratio of 1.78:1, the PSP was 480x272 which is 1.76:1. The distortion of the image via this cable seems way more that that minor difference. For example, when you see a film with tiny black bars at the bottom & top, that is 1.85:1 and is barely percepable on most TVs.
If they had scaled it by 4x, which would look probably as good as possible, it would have been 1920x1088, so requiring cropping of 4 pixels on top & bottom, or in relation to the original PSP image only 1 pixel at the top & bottom (480x270 scaled).
@metaljesusrocks MJR just wanted to say I am a huge fan of your channel. I even got some of the guys I work with in the office to subscribe too you. I work in software design in the UK. so as you can imagine most of the guys I work with love gaming. Your videos are really insightful and really well done. Keep producing, and I'll keep watching and getting more followers dude 🤘
Probably a silly question, but since both of these devices require power input, were they both able to operate via power from the TVs USB port if they had any? The only reason as to why I'm asking this is that I'm an owner of the NES, SNES and PlayStation Mini consoles and the PlayStation Mini refuses to run on the power from the smart TV's USB port.
If you're having to use two wall chargers ( whether it'd be a phone charger for example ) then that's not really practical I don't think, heck, make it 3 if you're wanting to charge the PSP and play at the same time.
I got 3 mcables and I have them on cell chargers on a separate surge protector and turn off when I'm not gaming. It's not that it isnt a inconvenience. But you dont want to leve mcables or mclassic plugged in long time while not in use. It's not good for the processor. But it really depends on your tv. My sony bravia having 2 plugged in that they were pulling to much power through tv. Meaning it could damage the tv in long run and the message stayed on the screen best to just go cell charger and surge protector if you want multiple.
Metal Jesus, would you say that the Level Hike video quality is better than the component cables? I know you briefly discussed the aspect ratio, but, I don't think you touched upon actual video quality differences. Sorry if someone already asked this, but, I have a tough time reading through youtube comments...
I purchased and just tested one of these based on Metal Jesus review. Here are my thoughts:
This device is basically identical to the Lenkeng LKV8000 (and its clones) which I own, just in a less bulky form factor. Just like the Lenkeng, it doesn't actually upscale the image; at least it doesn't appear to, just slight smoothing. It just converts analog to hdmi. And just like the Lenkeng, the stretched image still doesn't totally fill the TV screen.
That said, it's not bad. The picture quality looked identical to using the Sony component cables. And there was no detectable input lag.
Obviously, this isn't as good as the component cables hooked up to an OSSC and Framemeister, which I own as well, but it's a good option if you don't have an HDTV with analog inputs, $150 for an OSSC, or $300-400 for the Framemeister.
That’s nice to know because the one I have is branded as a Pyle PSPHD42 but is 100% the same. They also work for PS1 Classics which he doesn’t show the newer device doing though.
0:34 Mechwarrrior on the SNES!! Man, I loved that game, it was so freakin hard for me as a kid but i beat it, eventually, it took a few years of coming back to it every now and then, and I'd get a little bit farther each time. And with only 5 missions, I mean a LITTLE bit, each time.
Your missing the point of the hdmi scaler.
Your suposed to have a low resolution (source) signal then put it through it will upscale it and polish it. However what your doing is upscaling the low resolution with a bad upscaler, then upscaling that with the magic box, that will confuse it and cause the image to barley look any better if not worse then the original image.
I recommend a component to hdmi adapter so you put the pure 480x242 image into the magic box then it will do wonders.
using the emulator u will be beyond blown away by the graphics of psp they look sooo good
The mCable could probably do a bit more if it had something closer to the PSP’s native resolution, so you might actually be better off if the other cable outputted 480p instead of 720p.
The level hike upscaling is nice but it's recommend that you use the games original output so 420p for psp games when using the mcable. Will definitely research the level hike more later though
Thanks for the non-US link!
cool video tech talk metal jesus rocks
Sold. Just ordered one off Anazon Prime.
testing full screen PSP without Monster Hunter F Unite, Dissidia Duodecim nor Tekken 6 (or some PS1 titles) but instead more like titles that hadnt the best graphics in the first place... if the big budget titles were shown and they looked great maybe that would ve convinced me. Still good explanation and presentation
is there a way to have only the image and not the sound? i want to plug my speakers on my psp
Pretty cool, luckily my TV’s still use component but it’s good to know there are options in the future
Awesome! I remember having a lot of fun playing my psp on my TV way back in the day.
IN 2023 DOESNT WE HAVE A COMPONENT THAT MAKES THE JOB OF THE 2 ATTACHMENTS?
Or do we still have to buy 2 devices to play on tv?
Thanks for the review.
I hope you review LevelHike's PS1/PS2 cable, too. :)
Wait, I totally noticed the ultimate alliance right away. Am I nuts? The walls and the grates on the ground looked way better.
Best PSP setup for playing on TV is PSP Go in the official cradle with the official component cable @480p passthrough through the OSSC outputting through a mClassic @1440p on a 4k TV using the TV it’s zoom function. Playing with my Dual Shock 3. No lag, no image degradation and no compromises.
Nice. Very nice. But why the bloody HELL are they using that same annoying ass component cable attachment angle?
Am I wrong or is plugging the mClassic into the other Levelhike HDMI converter weird? Wouldn't that mean upscaling to 1080p and adding post-processing and then again scale it to 720p and adding stretching and the Levelhike's own post-processing?
What if the mClassic is connected to an HDMI switch and then connect to let say an Nintendo 64, PS1, PS2, NES, SNES, SEGA Genesis... with the respective adapters / cables ???
it will work ???
No reason it shouldn't.
Now if we could use that combo for PS2 it self, it would look amazing.
PSP is my all time favorite handheld.
Mine To, Far Better Than Vita in a Game Library.
I'm interested in seeing a comparison with the original cables plugged into a RetroTink attached to the mClassic. Since the RetroTink outputs closer to the original resolution, I think the post processing and upscaling from the mClassic will be much more drastic. With the LevelHike, it's already upscaling quite a bit, so the mClassic doesn't have much to work with.
This is weird, but I'd rather have the pixellated graphics feels more authentic.
I agree. I'm not too fond of the mclassic, looks blurry.
@@sahasrahla7 I'm a purest so in a lot of ways, I want to play the classics the way I remembered them as a kid. They weren't supposed to be in HD so let them be as was intended. Imagine pixellating a modern game to get that nostalgic feel.
@@DungarooTV thesis are cheap upscalers they don't actually change the rendering and processing. Now check out some PPSSPP 4k gameplay vs PSP gameplay then come back.
@@legendaryoutcast4440 I think you're missing my point. I'm saying that I don't like any upscaling at all.
@@DungarooTV I see what ur sayin but some consoles like Gamecube must be upscaled cuz theyre so blurry on 4k tvs. If u wanna be a purest and hurt your eyes go ahead and crash a lot in NFS underground like i do lol. I don't wanna waste money on a CRT TV or $200 on the licensed Nintendo component cables.
There is no noticeable differences, but I do like it -MJR