$26 Portta PETHRV HDMI to Component Converter

I’ve been using the $49 Gang Hu HDMI splitter for the past three months, but recently discovered the Portta PETHRV HDMI to Component YPbPr + R/L Audio Converter v1.3 1080P – Not for Windows 10 which is half the cost at $26. I was curious how the two devices compared, so I bought one. The two units have nearly identical connections with one glaring exception: the Portta PETHRV does not have an HDMI output connector. As such, if you need a pass-thru connection for your TV, you’ll need to use an HDMI splitter or the Slingbox’s component outputs.

In theory, the Gang-Hu splitter skirts copy protection laws because it’s splitting the signal between the non-copy protected analog component device and an HDCP-compliant device connected to the HDMI out. Personally, I have not witnessed this as the Gang Hu device works if the TV is off, on or even not connected. By comparison, the Portta PETHRV doesn’t even pretend to comply and formally promotes itself as an actual HDMI to component converter.

The Portta PETHRV comes with a full AC adapter where the Gang Hu requires you to supply your own USB adapter (not that we all don’t have tons of those laying around). I was happy to find the Portta PETHRV that I received had a nice metal case and was not plastic like the one shown on the Amazon page.

The “Not for Windows 10” part of the item’s Amazon description is puzzling. I’m not totally sure what this means. The only thing I can think of is the HDMI source can’t be a Windows 10 machine. It’s not my use case, but I suppose it could apply to someone. Still. Having that disclosure right in the item title is kinda odd.

So how did the Portta PETHRV perform with my Slingbox M1? Pretty well. This is very subjective, but I felt the picture was slightly better than the Gang Hu. Sadly, the audio had the same faint stuttering effect that the Gang-Hu has, but you get used to it. At half the cost of the Gang Hu, it’s a pretty nice alternative.

Other Alternatives

The number of products in this space is getting really crowded. Hard to tell if companies are just repackaging the same circuit board or what. Anyways, here’s a handful of some of the more popular offerings with decent reviews. (If you have a good one not on this list, please let me know and I’ll add it):

• HDMI to Compornent + L/R Audio and HDMI to HDMI 1080i Video Converter/Adapter with USB Power Cable for Slingbox. If you need pass-thru, this may be better option. Appears to be same as Gang-Hu.
• Tendak 1080P HDMI to AV 3RCA CVBs Composite Video Audio Converter Adapter – #1 Best Seller on Amazon; inexpensive; resolution button.
• Portta PETHRSP HDMI to YPbPr Component RGB + R/L Converter v1.3 Scaler – Resolution button
• E-More® HDMI to 1080P Component Video (YPbPr) Scaler Converter Supporting Coaxial Audio Output (Type3) – Resolution button
• E-More 1080P HDMI To Component of Ypbpr Scaler Converter Supporting Coaxial Audio Output – Resolution button. No idea if this is different than one above.

Updates:

2018-02-17: Added HDMI to Compornent + L/R Audio and HDMI to HDMI 1080i Video Converter/Adapter with USB Power Cable for Slingbox

2016-11-05: Added HDMI splitter link

2017-02-25: Added Alternatives section