Convert Composite and Optical to HDMI

[Ramy]

Is there a device that can convert composite video and optical audio into HDMI?

 

[Foxbat]

Is there a device that can convert composite video and optical audio into HDMI?

I'm going to say yes. I know you can get composite video and analog audio to HDMI for under $25 from Amazon and other sources.

 

[harshness]

What Roland said except the prices may be much lower.

Amazon lists RCA composite/RCA stereo units for under $10. Beware of the units that are USB-powered, as you'll likely need to provide the source.

Optical may necessarily involve a loss of surround sound (employing an audio extractor to get to RCA). The DMCA puts a serious hurt on digital-to-digital conversions, whether or not the original content was somehow copy-protected.

Providing more specificity about your use case (e.g., gaming console, LaserDisc player) may yield a more targeted answer.

 

[navychop]

Does this mean holosuite recordings will be DRM protected?

Actually, considering what goes on in (Vegas) the Holosuite, customers might PREFER a great deal of copy protection….

 

[harshness]

Does this mean holosuite recordings will be DRM protected?

DMCA criminalizes the reproduction of anything that has DRM, as well as making available technologies that support it. The content need not be formally copyrighted.

PLEASE LOG IN TO GET RID OF THESE ADS!

 

[Ramy]

I am not sure you all understand what I am asking. I have seen no devices that take in composite video and optical audio and convert it to hdmi. Please direct me to some if you would please, because I can't find any.

 

[navychop]

Good luck.

 

[harshness]

I am not sure you all understand what I am asking.

I think we all understand what you're asking. The problem is your TOSLINK requirement, as I made clear in post #3.

It is entirely possible that the most cost-effective method is to use an older AVR that features RCA video and TOSLINK inputs as well as the ability to upscale the composite video (this is going to be a stinker). There's a relatively narrow time window where all the necessary inputs and outputs were present and could be used together with upscaling.

As is often the case with such queries, you would get more thoughtful responses (or better alternatives) if you started at the beginning and told us what you are trying to accomplish, rather than somewhere in the middle where your theory hit an apparent dead end. Begin your query by identifying the source media origin.

As an example, state that you have some movies on LaserDisc, DVD, or another format with more than two-channel audio, and you want to show them on an HDMI system with multi-channel audio retained.

 

[Ramy]

I think we all understand what you're asking. The problem is your TOSLINK requirement, as I made clear in post #3.

It is entirely possible that the most cost-effective method is to use an older AVR that features RCA video and TOSLINK inputs as well as the ability to upscale the composite video (this is going to be a stinker). There's a relatively narrow time window where all the necessary inputs and outputs were present and could be used together with upscaling.

As is often the case with such queries, you would get more thoughtful responses (or better alternatives) if you started at the beginning and told us what you are trying to accomplish, rather than somewhere in the middle where your theory hit an apparent dead end. Begin your query by identifying the source media origin.

As an example, state that you have some movies on LaserDisc, DVD, or another format with more than two-channel audio, and you want to show them on an HDMI system with multi-channel audio retained.

I am trying to watch LaserDisc movies with DTS,DD, etc and want to pass them through my surround sound. My surround sound only takes HDMI and Toslink inputs, no RCA inputs.

 

[harshness]

I suspect that your wisest investment is going to be in a more flexible sound system that can slot in between the disc player and the TV.

As I noted previously, this isn't likely to be a current model AVR as analog inputs and SD upscaling are mostly a memory.

PLEASE LOG IN TO GET RID OF THESE ADS!

 

[Foxbat]

I am trying to watch LaserDisc movies with DTS,DD, etc and want to pass them through my surround sound. My surround sound only takes HDMI and Toslink inputs, no RCA inputs.

Which LaserDisc player do you have? I have the DVL-909 and it outputs digital audio via Coax and TOSlink. My Denon accepts four PCM sources, two Coax and two TOSlink.

 

[Bruce]

Which LaserDisc player do you have? I have the DVL-909 and it outputs digital audio via Coax and TOSlink. My Denon accepts four PCM sources, two Coax and two TOSlink.

Every Laser Disc player I owned ( back in the day) had, at least, TOSLINK outputs.

 

[Ramy]

Which LaserDisc player do you have? I have the DVL-909 and it outputs digital audio via Coax and TOSlink. My Denon accepts four PCM sources, two Coax and two TOSlink.

My Denon does not accept RCA inputs, that is the issue, hence wanting to combine both TOSlink and RCA into HDMI.

 

[Foxbat]

My Denon does not accept RCA inputs, that is the issue, hence wanting to combine both TOSlink and RCA into HDMI.

Something like this adapter would allow the coaxial Digital output from your LD Player to connect to your Denon's TOSlink input:

https://a.co/d/01fEmQ3X

On my old Yamaha receiver, I had to use a four-input Digital Audio switch to be able to connect all my equipment. It had an IR Remote, so I was able to use my Harmony to send it commands when selecting my Home Theater activities. My Denon now has enough digital audio inputs that I don't need the switcher. The switcher also had both Coax and Optical inputs on each channel, and would prefer the Coax over the TOSlink so it could actually "switch" more than four devices by organizing the Inputs. It output to both the Coax and TOSlink optical outputs simultaneously.

 

[harshness]

Something like this adapter would allow the coaxial Digital output from your LD Player to connect to your Denon's TOSlink input:

If you believe the legends on the ports (and I do, since the port that looks like an HDMI output is so small as to be a micro USB), this device only converts between digital input formats (coax to optical or vice versa). As noted in the OP, the LD Player already features an optical output.

Even if that were the problem, it still doesn't address folding in the video portion of the stream.

PLEASE LOG IN TO GET RID OF THESE ADS!

 

[Foxbat]

Okay, so there's this from Black Box available at B&H Photo that takes Component or Composite Video and Digital Audio and converts it to HDMI:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1584568-REG/black_box_avsc_video_hdmi_component_composite_signal_to_hdmi.html

So the TOSlink to Coax conversion may be necessary if the LD player doesn't have a coax S/PDIF output.

But, the point of treating the Video HDMi conversion separately from the Audio would be more affordable. ~$30 for the Video converter and just program the Denon AVR receiver to use HDMI channel "x" with Digital Audio input "y" for LaserDisc.

 

[harshness]

But, the point of treating the Video HDMi conversion separately from the Audio would be more affordable. ~$30 for the Video converter and just program the Denon AVR receiver to use HDMI channel "x" with Digital Audio input "y" for LaserDisc.

The problem with this line of reasoning is that they have to be glued back together in a lip-synced manner, and that's nearly impossible without an integrated solution.

 

[Foxbat]

I assume Ramy wants to play a Laserdisc on his home theater setup, not attempt to record the HDMI stream. He'd be listening to the surround audio with his Denon AVR and watching on his screen. I never saw any lip-synch issues between my Denon's different inputs pulling audio from the digital input, but my AVR-X3400H is old enough to do the analog video upscaling internally.

edit: regarding the Black Box unit, the reviewers say the Composite upscaling is pretty bad, 2.3️ out of 5️:

By Steve 2/18/2026

I'm no expert, but this thing seems to be designed to use the component input, with composite an afterthought.

With composite, my unit displays a terrible, blocky image, as if it's using 1/2 or 1/3 of the resolution, and being an interlaced signal, it may be just half of that. Really bad. When I had the chance to test it with a component signal, I got a nice picture. So it's of limited use to me, and so disappointing that I don't trust Black Box at all.

 

[harshness]

I never saw any lip-synch issues between my Denon's different inputs pulling audio from the digital input, but my AVR-X3400H is old enough to do the analog video upscaling internally.

Since video processing would be entirely independent of audio processing (both of which usually take time, especially when affordable gear is involved), this isn't the same as your setup, which was designed explicitly to bring everything together.

This is why I've been advocating a system similar to yours.

I remember well the good old days when using a digital video mixer and the audio stream delay required to sync audio with the video.

 

[savarese04]

No box can put RCA video and TOSLINK together into a common HDMI signal. it's just not a thing because you're asking the device to convert analog + convert digital and then combine them into a new digital stream. It's just not going to happen. Best bet is to buy an AVItoHDMI box for like $20 and then run TOSLINK directly from the LD player to the receiver

if something were to exist that could do what you're wanting, the price would be prohibitive enough that you'd be better off buying a new receiver that could take RCA inputs.

PLEASE LOG IN TO GET RID OF THESE ADS!