PS2 Gets Integrated HDMI

It might be difficult to imagine in our modern HDMI Utopia, but there was a time when game consoles required proprietary cables to connect up to your TV. We’re not just talking about early machines like the NES either, turn of the millennium consoles like the PlayStation 2, Gamecube, and the original Xbox all had weirdo A/V ports on the back that were useless without the proper adapter.

But thanks to the efforts of [Taylor Burley], you can now upgrade your Slim PS2 with integrated HDMI capability. It’s not even a terribly difficult modification, as these things go. Sure there’s a lot of soldering involved to run from the console’s A/V connector to the commercially-made HDMI dongle he’s hidden inside the case, but at least it’s straightforward work.

Tapping into the console’s A/V connector.

As [Taylor] shows in the video after the break, all you have to do is remove the proprietary connector from the HDMI adapter dongle, and wire it directly into the console’s A/V port with a bit of ribbon cable. There are only 8 pins in the connector that you need to worry about, and the spacing is generous enough that there’s no problem getting in there with your iron and some standard jumper wires. You’ve also got to pull 5 V from the board to power the adapter, but that’s easy enough thanks to the system’s nearby USB ports.

There’s a perfect spot to mount the adapter board next to the console’s Ethernet connector, and once that’s tacked down with a bit of adhesive, the only thing left to do is cut a hole in the back of the enclosure for the HDMI port and snip away a bit of the metal RF shield. Presumably the same modification could be done on the original “fat” PS2, though you’ll be on your own for finding a suitable place to mount the board.

While modern game consoles can easily emulate their earlier peers, providing enhanced graphical fidelity and introducing modern conveniences like wireless controllers in the process, there’s still something to be said for playing classic games on the original hardware. Even if these projects are fueled by little more than youthful nostalgia, it’s a safe bet we’ll continue to see folks keeping these older machines running far into the future.

34 thoughts on “PS2 Gets Integrated HDMI

      1. Exactly! It’s the cable you had to shell out a weeks worth of paper route money to replace when your untrained puppy or younger sibling crawled behind the TV and chewed it. That was no RCA connector on the console end. Sony knew how to keep the revenue coming.

        1. I more took this as, “were not just talking about early machines like the nes” which had literal rca connectors on the machine. I understand the ps1/2 had a proprietary connector on the back but the nes did not and they shouldn’t have referenced it. Now if they said snes that would be a different story

    1. The PS2 has a custom AV connector, not RCA Phonos.

      The PS2 did com with a bundled composite RCA cable – but for those of us in Europe who wanted better quality video than composite, we had to buy an extra, external, proprietary Sony AV connector to European standard 21 pin RGB SCART cable.

      1. Or better yet, a YPbPr component cable. 20 years of PS2 ownership and I only learned a few weeks ago that the PS2 supports it – it blows anything else out of the water with the amazingly clear picture!

        1. …it blows anything else out of the water. In comparison to what, Fam? Connection to connection for the platform , maybe? But, honestly…I love my PS2 library (Japanese, European & domestic…) however GameCube & OG Xbox COMPLETELY dominated PS2, in terms of resolution & graphic fidelity.

          Yeah, Sony kinda got their groove back with PS3 (kinda…was HELLA expensive, but nice on the eyes!!!). I digress…

          I love the games. I REALLY do. But, even if Sony set the stage for THE modern gaming platform (PS4), the graphic fidelity for PS2 was/is quite pathetic.

          I would be VERY interested in seeing what the makers of the Wii Dual could do with the PS2, dough. THAT would be glorious!!! 🤩🤩🤩❤️❤️❤️🎮🎮🎮

      2. Aww, disappointed.
        I was thinking it’s getting an actual HDMI mod of some sort and not just putting in a RGB or Composite-to-HDMI dongle inside…
        All of this can be avoided with proper cable if your TV has a Composite input. Bought a Bravia last year which still had and it’s doing better job at processing the picture than the $10 HDMI dongle which I’ve also got (I’ve read that the TV might not handle deinterlacing properly, which turned out not to be the case).

          1. Still alive, Dan has just shelved it for a while as he put out a PS1 version and is now making an N64 HDMI mod with a few other technicians. He said not long ago the PS2Digital is definitely coming

        1. I once had to crack open my TV, unhook the tuner module and run extension cables from the module and mainboard where the module normally connects to the outside of the chassis. Then I hooked those to an RCA A/B switch. That was still only composite but it was a way better picture than I ever had through a RF modulator.

          That’s the kind of options we often had with american TVs! Well, ok, I am talking more NES days than PS2 but you get the idea.

        2. @Ren – I don’t know. I just got sick of the snowy picture so I cracked open the case looking for a way to bypass the tuner. I saw the tuner was in it’s own shielded metal case with an RCA connector to connect it to the mainboard. I thought maybe that’s component. This was pre home internet access and I didn’t really have any way to verify what kind of signal belonged on the cable. I just assumed it probably wasn’t high voltage being that it was coax and an RCA plug.

          Still, I didn’t really know it wasn’t going to catch fire or something but it was a garage sale tv. I think I connected an Atari to it first because at the time that was about a $5 garage sale item too. And it worked. No smoke, no heat, way better picture than I had ever had before.

          I mentioned this once before here on HaD and someone told me that it was probably if, not baseband that belonged on that cable. I must have been driving it strong enough that it just bled through to where it needed to be. Well, I still don’t know about that, but it worked and it didn’t break anything. When I switched my A/B switch back to the tuner everything was as before. I didn’t do that much though because I found the tuner in my VCR received more channels.

          I guess this was more like circuit bending then engineering but it worked.

          Oh, and I didn’t have audio this way. I didn’t care because I had a separate amplifier and speakers for that anyway. Actually, maybe that was my motivation in the first place now that I think of it. Using the VCR as a tuner meant I could send the audio to my amp. But to do that I needed a component input.

  1. Using an adapter and soldering it to the board is not “native” HDMI. Integrated, yes. Native, no. It’s still converting the signal which introduces lag and image artifacts. I will be impressed when the GPU is tapped before any analog conversion is done.

  2. Aww! Was hoping that citrus3000psi had released another HDMI mod! These cheap Chinese adapters do the job, but typically have poor video quality. Black Dog happens to make some excellent HDMI mods. I’ve installed a few DCdigital, a PS1digital, and the GC Dual.

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