RetroTINK 5x-Pro

[Jefferson]

The new firmware fixed my Neo Geo issue!

Just curious on and an AES console and with SCART or HDRV cables?

I saw this:

“Both fixes seem to be most reliable with HDRV cables”

Was curious if anyone has tried an AES with a SCART cable. I’m using component cables now and they are a little bright and was about to buy a SCART cable. Now I’m not so sure.

[Tempest_2084]

The new firmware fixed my Neo Geo issue!

Just curious on and an AES console and with SCART or HDRV cables?.

MVS with a custom made SCART cable. I don't know if my issue (the zoom in issue in 1080p mode) was the issue Mike was talking about or not. I think he was referring to the image curling at the top of the screen which I never had.

[Tempest_2084]

Question: Is there any reason to run a PSP through the 5X rather than directly connecting it to my TV?

[Guspaz]

The PSP max output resolution is 480p, AFAIK, with heavy letterboxing, so if you want sharp scaling from 480p to 1080p/1200p/1440p, an RT5X would help with that.

Some zoom settings would also be useful to make the PSP fill the entire screen, so hopefully an upcoming firmware revision can add a PSP zoom setting (to go alongside the Game Boy zoom settings Mike has mentioned before). I could imagine a zoom menu that has entries for common zoom uses, like Super Game Boy, Game Boy Player GB/GBC, Game Boy Player GBA, PSP, and maybe some generic zoom factors to help with random games that have some natural underscan, as many 16-bit era games did.

[Tempest_2084]

The PSP max output resolution is 480p, AFAIK, with heavy letterboxing, so if you want sharp scaling from 480p to 1080p/1200p/1440p, an RT5X would help with that.

Some zoom settings would also be useful to make the PSP fill the entire screen, so hopefully an upcoming firmware revision can add a PSP zoom setting (to go alongside the Game Boy zoom settings Mike has mentioned before). I could imagine a zoom menu that has entries for common zoom uses, like Super Game Boy, Game Boy Player GB/GBC, Game Boy Player GBA, PSP, and maybe some generic zoom factors to help with random games that have some natural underscan, as many 16-bit era games did.

Good point. Funny thing is when I set the PSP to 16:9 mode the image doesn't look right, it's too narrow. But if I set the PSP to 4:3 then it looks correct.

[Tempest_2084]

I've got a bit of an issue with using splitters for the audio on my 5X. Because I use both the S-Video and the Component I have two splitters for the audio jacks, unfortunately this makes the audio so quiet that I have to turn it up past safe levels to hear it, and when I do I get some static noise because I have it up so high. Is there any way to fix this? Is there a different kind of splitter I can use to prevent this?

[Guspaz]

You'd need an audio switcher. AFAIK you can't use a splitter like you are because you're connecting the audio lines of the two input devices together.

EDIT: Or an audio mixer.

[Tempest_2084]

You'd need an audio switcher. AFAIK you can't use a splitter like you are because you're connecting the audio lines of the two input devices together.

EDIT: Or an audio mixer.

Even if one of the input devices is off (my S-Video and Component systems are never on at the same time)?

What kind of mixer or switch would you recommend?

[Guspaz]

The electrical circuit is still there even if the device is off... I'm not an expert in this stuff, though, either in the electronics or the mixer side.

For mixers or switchers, switchers are simpler and potentially cheaper, mixers have the advantage of letting you have one or more inputs active or connected at the same time without ever having to manually switch, as well as giving you per-input volume control. They cost more, though. Still, entry-level mixers that support at least two stereo inputs start quite low. A typical 5-input mixer is going to be one mono mic input and two stereo inputs (usually labeled as channels 2/3 and 4/5), and maybe a tape input that can serve as a third stereo input in a pinch (with no specific volume control other than main mix, and expecting line-level input).

Behringer products have a reputation for being lower quality, but they're still better than noname Chinese products, and their 5-input mixer starts at $39 USD on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-502-Pr ... B000J5UEGQ

Mackie has a much better reputation for being quality products (professional sound engineers won't laugh at you for using one like they would for Behringer), their 5-input mixer starts at $60 USD on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Mackie-Mix-Mix5- ... B00ND1K8T6

Soundcraft has a reputation as being a bit higher-end than Mackie, theirs starts at $109 USD:
https://www.amazon.com/Soundcraft-Notep ... B075SK443L

There are many other mixer brands, of course. I'd say avoid Pyle, and avoid the many random or unnamed Chinese brands. Personally, I'd probably go for the Mackie, as it's kind of a nice middle ground of having a better reputation/quality than Behringer without being too expensive, but if you're in a pinch and need to scrape and scrimp, Behringer stuff isn't *that* bad and it's really hard to beat that $39 price.

Alternatively, look at a store that focuses on audio/video gear like B&H, and take a look at their utility mixer section sorted by price:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/products ... OW_TO_HIGH

You can look at reviews there to see where there are complaints about noise/hum. Pay attention to if inputs are mono or stereo, as an example that first Behringer mixer says 4-input but they're 4 mono inputs, while some later also say 4 channel but are 4 stereo inputs.

You can do the same in the full mixer category, filtered here for 6 inputs and less:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/products ... %3Aup-to-6

There's a 6-channel Yamaha listed there for $100 that's worth a look, Yahama stuff is good, and it can combine the first two channels to act as a true 3-input stereo mixer. And if you ever want to repurpose it for something else, two mic inputs both with 48v phantom power means it's well suited for light streaming/podcast work.

Or just buy a cheap manual pushbutton audio or composite video switch with RCA inputs. They can be really cheap (like $13 for a 4-input), and there's probably nothing terribly wrong with them since they're mechanical devices with no power...

[Tempest_2084]

I have a spare rca switch so I guess I could use that. The funny thing is I already have a switch for my component and for my s-video so I'm going two have two switch boxes going into a third (for the audio anyway), I hope that's ok.

[Guspaz]

If your component switch is something like a gcompsw, you can use adapters to connect the output of the s-video switch to an input on the gcompsw, and then connect one output of the gcompsw to the RT5X component input and one output to the s-video input (using another adapter). S-video is sync on luma just like component, so AFAIK it should switch it just fine. Then you just need to set the RT5X input for the appropriate signal type, which will be obvious based on how it look on-screen.

[Tempest_2084]

Nah it's a cheapo Monoprice manual switch. It works well though.

[DragonQuarter]

Is there a YouTube video out there that showcases all the possible modes for SNES footage on Retrotink 5X? MLiG goes over some of it (4:3 passthrough and 256 mode), but are there any other modes with SNES?

[eightbitminiboss]

Is there a YouTube video out there that showcases all the possible modes for SNES footage on Retrotink 5X? MLiG goes over some of it (4:3 passthrough and 256 mode), but are there any other modes with SNES?

There are but they are not supported yet. 4:3 and 256 are what's available for SNES currently.

[Josh128]

It appears that DTV 858 mode is a strange 6:4 ratio when output to my LG 1080p monitor instead of a 16:9 mode. Vertical scaling is perfect, as evidenced by the perfect scanlines when output set to 1080(UNDER), but horizontal is clearly still squished some. This is clearly shown in FZero GX's widescreen mode.

Also, I'll pose my previous question again in case Mike can answer. What is Framelock(M)? Contrary to Guspaz's answer above, its not something you are locked to with 480p sources. I know this because with 480p source res, whether you get an unchangeable "Framelock(M)" or a standard Framelock or Triple Buffer option depends on the OUTPUT resolution.


How DTV 858 and generic 16:9 shows up on my monitor with GC FZero GX 480p (either widescreen or normal modes)



How it should look, in my estimation. (This is 480p out mode on the same monitor.)

[Kretinou]

Shinobi PCB (Live Gamer Portable 2 PLUS)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP-u_LH-dJM

[Tempest_2084]

I'm having a jail bar issue with my Atari 1200XL through S-Video on the 5X Pro. My Atari 5200 which is basically the same thing doesn't have this issue so I'm wondering if it's the 5X Pro or the cable I'm using. The 1200XL uses a 5-Pin DIN cable while the 5200 uses a standard S-Video cable (it's been moded). Any ideas? I don't have another 1200XL video cable to test with unfortunately.

http://atariprotos.com/temp/800_1.jpg
http://atariprotos.com/temp/800_2.jpg
http://atariprotos.com/temp/800_3.jpg

[Guspaz]

Does turning on the SDTV LPF help? Also try changing the comb filter setting, while you wouldn't normally expect it to impact s-video, I know that on the 2X Mini the "auto" comb filter setting has some noise filtering for PAL S-Video. I don't know if the RT5X does, but no harm in trying different settings.

[neorichieb1971]

I thought this device was plug n play.

It certainly has crept into the "change this setting" "change that setting" type of device.

I guess Mike Chi listened too much to the people that want a gazillion options in one box. Perhaps it would be better if we had one box for 240p consoles, one for 480i/p consoles. I mean i'm going to buy multiple of these and if the price could come down for those that just want certain features. I'm guessing leaving it as is is the best option.

Any news on stock updates?

[Tempest_2084]

Does turning on the SDTV LPF help? Also try changing the comb filter setting, while you wouldn't normally expect it to impact s-video, I know that on the 2X Mini the "auto" comb filter setting has some noise filtering for PAL S-Video. I don't know if the RT5X does, but no harm in trying different settings.

No change.

[RocketBelt]

I guess Mike Chi listened too much to the people that want a gazillion options in one box. Perhaps it would be better if we had one box for 240p consoles, one for 480i/p consoles.

I expect at some point in the future there'll be a Rad2x (or Rad5x) type arrangement going on.

[Guspaz]

I thought this device was plug n play.

It certainly has crept into the "change this setting" "change that setting" type of device.

I guess Mike Chi listened too much to the people that want a gazillion options in one box. Perhaps it would be better if we had one box for 240p consoles, one for 480i/p consoles. I mean i'm going to buy multiple of these and if the price could come down for those that just want certain features. I'm guessing leaving it as is is the best option.

It really is plug-and-play. At the default settings, the vast majority of systems will just work fine out of the box. It's impossible for Mike to test every combination of system and input/output resolution, and issues are being addressed in firmware updates as fast as he can. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to experiment a bit with the settings to see if there are workarounds when issues are encountered that haven't yet been fixed in the firmware, or are caused by suboptimal signals.

I mean, we're talking about super rare/niche consoles here: the Atari 1200XL is believed to have sold something like 105k units worldwide, it was niche even compared to its sibling 8-bit Atari computers...

[Tempest_2084]

I mean, we're talking about super rare/niche consoles here: the Atari 1200XL is believed to have sold something like 105k units worldwide, it was niche even compared to its sibling 8-bit Atari computers...

Actually it seems that all my Atari 8-bit computers are having this problem, but it could very well be the video cable though. I wish I had another to test.

I'm been extremely happy with the plug and playness of the 5X Pro so far. There are a ton of options, but most people won't have to touch them.

[TooBeaucoup]

I thought this device was plug n play.

It certainly has crept into the "change this setting" "change that setting" type of device.

I guess Mike Chi listened too much to the people that want a gazillion options in one box. Perhaps it would be better if we had one box for 240p consoles, one for 480i/p consoles. I mean i'm going to buy multiple of these and if the price could come down for those that just want certain features. I'm guessing leaving it as is is the best option.

Any news on stock updates?

It is plug and play... Plug in an NES, SNES, Genesis, Turbo-Grafx 16, Saturn, PS1, PS2, N64, Dreamcast, Gamecube, XBox1.... set it to 1080P and play. You don't need to do anything else. It is the literal definition of plug and play. And.... if you want to tweak the picture quality further, you can. You don't need to.

Mike said he should have stock in June/July. Even he doesn't know for sure.

[Josh128]

So today I got a good deal on a brand new 32" LG QHD IPS monitor. The prospect of 1440p + RT5X intrigued me as its the only resolution that 240p, 480p, and 720p can integer scale into. Tried the GC+ official comp cables+RT5X Pro and the results are promising if not perfect. You do get perfect scanlines in 1440p mode as expected, but there are still black bars at top and bottom of the screen. I can only imagine the reason is that GC actually outputs 448 active lines and not true 480 active lines. If thats the case, and I believe it is, this is as good as vertical scaling gets-- 2 monitor lines per 480p active line and 1 monitor line for each blank line. The end result is perfect CRT 480p look. Cool.

Now the problem. Opposite to the issue in my previous post when displaying 1080p out, when outputting 1440p, the RT5X always displays in 16:9 ratio. Which, if you are playing F-Zero GX in Widescreen mode, is absolutely great, but if you are playing basically ANY other GC game, it is horizontally stretched when it shouldnt be. Basically, the problem is that in 1440p out mode, the Generic 4:3 horizontal sampling mode is exactly the same as the Generic 16:9 sampling mode. Switching between the two does absolutely nothing, as you are stuck in 16:9 mode with both. I'm super hopeful that Mike could address this problem, as well as the weird 6:4 ratio in 1080p whether selecting DTV 858 or Generic 16:9 sampling modes.

Mike, I know you are swamped and there are probably already many items on your RT5X future firmware plate, but please consider looking into both of these issues when you can. Below are some cell phone pics (not the best, admittedly) of FZero GX running on my 1440p 32" monitor with integer scanlines.

Full Size

Spoiler

Full Size

Spoiler

[djc5166]

So today I got a good deal on a brand new 32" LG QHD IPS monitor. The prospect of 1440p + RT5X intrigued me as its the only resolution that 240p, 480p, and 720p can integer scale into. Tried the GC+ official comp cables+RT5X Pro and the results are promising if not perfect. You do get perfect scanlines in 1440p mode as expected, but there are still black bars at top and bottom of the screen. I can only imagine the reason is that GC actually outputs 448 active lines and not true 480 active lines. If thats the case, and I believe it is, this is as good as vertical scaling gets-- 2 monitor lines per 480p active line and 1 monitor line for each blank line. The end result is perfect CRT 480p look. Cool.

I think it depends on the game. IIRC GCVideo is always displaying the active resolution area, I think this number will change depending on the game you are playing.

[bobrocks95]

Would not be surprised if the monitor is seeing a 1440p input and forcing it to display in 16:9- see if there are any aspect ratio controls on the display itself. I don't see how the input sampling would affect the output resolution but maybe mike can say something there.

As for black bars, well, you kind of have to decide if you're more bothered by black bars, or by non-integer scaling... I am a little surprised there's not a couple of options for 1440p for overscan area like there is with 1080p.

[Josh128]

So today I got a good deal on a brand new 32" LG QHD IPS monitor. The prospect of 1440p + RT5X intrigued me as its the only resolution that 240p, 480p, and 720p can integer scale into. Tried the GC+ official comp cables+RT5X Pro and the results are promising if not perfect. You do get perfect scanlines in 1440p mode as expected, but there are still black bars at top and bottom of the screen. I can only imagine the reason is that GC actually outputs 448 active lines and not true 480 active lines. If thats the case, and I believe it is, this is as good as vertical scaling gets-- 2 monitor lines per 480p active line and 1 monitor line for each blank line. The end result is perfect CRT 480p look. Cool.

I think it depends on the game. IIRC GCVideo is always displaying the active resolution area, I think this number will change depending on the game you are playing.

This is not using GCVideo, its using official Nintendo component video cables. I tried a few games, they all display the same that I can tell, vertically and horizontally.

[djc5166]

So today I got a good deal on a brand new 32" LG QHD IPS monitor. The prospect of 1440p + RT5X intrigued me as its the only resolution that 240p, 480p, and 720p can integer scale into. Tried the GC+ official comp cables+RT5X Pro and the results are promising if not perfect. You do get perfect scanlines in 1440p mode as expected, but there are still black bars at top and bottom of the screen. I can only imagine the reason is that GC actually outputs 448 active lines and not true 480 active lines. If thats the case, and I believe it is, this is as good as vertical scaling gets-- 2 monitor lines per 480p active line and 1 monitor line for each blank line. The end result is perfect CRT 480p look. Cool.

I think it depends on the game. IIRC GCVideo is always displaying the active resolution area, I think this number will change depending on the game you are playing.

This is not using GCVideo, its using official Nintendo component video cables. I tried a few games, they all display the same that I can tell, vertically and horizontally.

Oh yea I didn't mean to say you were using it, just saying i've seen that resolution changing.

[Guspaz]

Would not be surprised if the monitor is seeing a 1440p input and forcing it to display in 16:9- see if there are any aspect ratio controls on the display itself. I don't see how the input sampling would affect the output resolution but maybe mike can say something there.

The aspect ratio menu on LG gaming monitors is "Full Wide", "Original", and "Just Scan", with the last of those being disabled if VRR is enabled. I don't remember what the default setting was, and don't want to do a factory reset and lose my calibrations, but since "Full Wide" is first in the list, I'd imagine it's the default. "Original" is what most people here would actually want.