Sega Saturn Pound HDMI Adapter Review
Release date: Fall 2019
Developer: Pound Technology
Price: $29.99
Looking for a way to play the Sega Saturn on a modern TV? Pound’s HDMI adapter for the Saturn may be the choice for the casual gamer. The Gamers Lounge got a chance to tinker with this setup and here are our thoughts.
The package comes with an HDMI cable, adapter for the Saturn and the usb cable. Gamers will need to connect the USB cable to a power source. I used the TV’s extra USB port. The cables feel like they have a nice quality to them and the hdmi cable and the adapter have a lot of length to them. The end of the cable that plugged into the Saturn fit easily, wasn't too tight or loose. Other similar cables for other consoles were too tight and I felt as if the pins would bend if I used too much force to remove them.
The Pound Saturn cable, like other Pound cables worked fine on my modern TV. I experienced a little flickering with the regular AV cables, but when I used the Pound cables the picture was steady, no flicker. One of my only complaints is there was no way to switch between 4:3 and 16:9. This is an option LevelHike’s HDMI cables supported. A power light on the Pound adapter lights up when there is power to the device but there is nothing to tell gamers that the cable isn't working if they cannot get a video signal. If there is a problem, troubleshooting might get interesting.
The sound is as good as using the a/v cables. Text looked sharped and overall the picture quality was better than a/v. The question that matters, should everyone pick this up? While there are more expensive products available for those craving the best picture possible, the Pound cable might be an ideal option for the budget minded gamer at $30. More on the cable here at Pound’s site and here is a quick Youtube clip with the Shinning Force III Intro movie.
Final Score
Pros:
Forces games to 720p
Works with PAL/NTSC consoles
Easy to use out of the box
Cons:
No way to force 16:9 from 4:3
Not for everyone