RetroTINK 5x-Pro

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WobblingPixels
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by WobblingPixels »

There was bug in the previous firmware version but it was to my knowledge and testing fixed.
So I would check the settings first. pre-emphasis filter is set to 0? What DTV mode you use? 4:3 Generic? DTV858-A? B?
stranno
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by stranno »

0 PRE-EMPH and same color in every mode.

Medium-High LPF is the only option that changes the color a bit. I guess it's just mixing pixels.

Dolphin

Image

16:9 480P

Image

As always, it would be neat to downgrade the RT5X, at least to test this on previous FWs.
bryan_c
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by bryan_c »

I'm noticing a minor issue at the top of the screen with an older NESRGB and the 5x. The top few rows of pixels shake back and forth, and there's a bit of a warping effect that's particularly noticeable with vertical scrolling. Not every game draws all the way to the top of the screen; Sky Shark, Marble Madness, and Final Fantasy seem to show it off fairly well.

Setting LPF to strong helps, reduces the affected number of NES pixel rows from about 8 to 2. Triple buffer does not make a difference. With the NESRGB turned off (which I believe is supposed to restore the original composite output but I don't know if it's really 100% like the unmodded original), composite video seems to have less of a warp to it than RGB, and the notch filter shows fewer affected rows than the comb filter.

I think my NESRGB's firmware is 1.7, so no de-jitter feature there. Would a different NESRGB firmware and/or hardware de-jitter mod help? (I also have a 2-chip SNES with no de-jitter mod and no issue there even in the 240p test suite's 256x239 tests, so I'm not sure what I'm seeing with the NES is jitter, but admit I'm a bit lost regarding various hardware revision differences and mods and what issues exist where.)

Easy enough workaround of course: just use 1080p(OVER) to hide the issue completely. So I doubt I'd bother with a further mod.

Semi-unrelated 5x feature request: horizontal cropping, to hide the garbage tiles some NES games put in the overscan area at the left and right sides of the screen.
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Guspaz
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by Guspaz »

I believe the issue with the first few NES/SNES scanlines is the jitter, so the de-jitter mod ought to resolve it. But I'm speaking from half-remembered memory.
thebigcheese
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by thebigcheese »

When I added dejitter to my NES, those lines went away, so give that a try if you can.
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Tempest_2084
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by Tempest_2084 »

Out of curiosity, how well does hooking an HDMI to VGA adapter to the 5X Pro work? I have a pretty nice 20" Dell Trinitron (Ultrascan 1600HS) and I'm wondering how my games would look on it. I tried it years ago with a GBS 8200 and it was alright, but we all know that unless you reprogram it the GBS isn't the best.
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Josh128
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by Josh128 »

Tempest_2084 wrote:Out of curiosity, how well does hooking an HDMI to VGA adapter to the 5X Pro work? I have a pretty nice 20" Dell Trinitron (Ultrascan 1600HS) and I'm wondering how my games would look on it. I tried it years ago with a GBS 8200 and it was alright, but we all know that unless you reprogram it the GBS isn't the best.
Works fantastically. Better quality than a GBS-C due to the GBS-C's scanlines on certain colors issues. Less lag too. As you can see below, the GunCon 2 even works. This vid is from my PS2 slim>RT5X Pro>Tripp Lite HDMI to VGA transcoder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyWIRESQfow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6uDpaxd5Kg&t=101s
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Tempest_2084
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by Tempest_2084 »

Josh128 wrote:
Tempest_2084 wrote:Out of curiosity, how well does hooking an HDMI to VGA adapter to the 5X Pro work? I have a pretty nice 20" Dell Trinitron (Ultrascan 1600HS) and I'm wondering how my games would look on it. I tried it years ago with a GBS 8200 and it was alright, but we all know that unless you reprogram it the GBS isn't the best.
Works fantastically. Better quality than a GBS-C due to the GBS-C's scanlines on certain colors issues. Less lag too. As you can see below, the GunCon 2 even works. This vid is from my PS2 slim>RT5X Pro>Tripp Lite HDMI to VGA transcoder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyWIRESQfow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6uDpaxd5Kg&t=101s
Nice. I wonder how older consoles would look (like an RGB modded NES or TG-16)?

Right now I still prefer my 27" Trintron (wonky geometry/convergence and all) but I'm always looking for alternative solutions for if/when the TV dies or I need to downsize. Then again I have no idea how many hours are on this monitor. It looks fine but it could be on its last legs for all I know. :)
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Josh128
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by Josh128 »

IMO, VGA monitors have the best PQ of any display available when paired with a good line doubler & scanlines are added. Devices like the GBS-C and 5X Pro allow for perfect 480i reproduction if you like that, or you can do 240p w/ scanlines or 480p or 720p or 1080i. NES, TG-16, Genesis, SNES, DC, GC, PS2 & Xbox all look their best on a VGA CRT IMO. Size is the only problem. :(

From a Compaq 17"

https://i.imgur.com/wsnpaMi.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/niwTeG1.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Z9krri0.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hSKXURZ.jpg
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Tempest_2084
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by Tempest_2084 »

Nice! I think the only thing that is stopping me from using my monitor instead of my TV is that I'd have to sit in a computer chair to play games instead of my couch. A chair is fine for quick games, but for RPGs where I'm spending hours at a time? My back would never forgive me.
garbagehead4
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by garbagehead4 »

Josh128 wrote:
Tempest_2084 wrote:Out of curiosity, how well does hooking an HDMI to VGA adapter to the 5X Pro work? I have a pretty nice 20" Dell Trinitron (Ultrascan 1600HS) and I'm wondering how my games would look on it. I tried it years ago with a GBS 8200 and it was alright, but we all know that unless you reprogram it the GBS isn't the best.
Works fantastically. Better quality than a GBS-C due to the GBS-C's scanlines on certain colors issues. Less lag too. As you can see below, the GunCon 2 even works. This vid is from my PS2 slim>RT5X Pro>Tripp Lite HDMI to VGA transcoder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyWIRESQfow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6uDpaxd5Kg&t=101s

What was the output resolution you set on the RT5X for these videos? Just wondering how the various output modes work on the 4:3 VGA CRT, when it seems like they're all meant for 16:9 displays.
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Syntax
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by Syntax »

Been toying around with my Tink and had a question about interlaced sprites.

I was playing SVC CHAOS on PS2 via component direct to my LCD TV and the lower bars dont show up properly when at MAX, they have solid white scanlines where they should be flashing white and red.
If I run the game thru the Tink 5x I get the same results, changing the filter to BOB or Linear fixes them but then the rest of the image is shaking.

Is the only way to view games that have interlaced sprites on a CRT?
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bmp02
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by bmp02 »

Hi all,
Having a little issue where the RT5X seems to keep switching itself on (and sometimes off again after a while) every now and then, after having been switched off. Anyone any idea what causes that?

I could just unplug it of course, but would be nice to just keep the plugs in, and have it staying in stand by mode without any issues.
Have already tried unplugging the SCART cable, in case that could trigger something, and tried another USB port, but no luck.
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TooBeaucoup
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by TooBeaucoup »

bmp02 wrote:Hi all,
Having a little issue where the RT5X seems to keep switching itself on (and sometimes off again after a while) every now and then, after having been switched off. Anyone any idea what causes that?

I could just unplug it of course, but would be nice to just keep the plugs in, and have it staying in stand by mode without any issues.
Have already tried unplugging the SCART cable, in case that could trigger something, and tried another USB port, but no luck.
How are you powering it? A USB from your TV or somewhere else?
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bmp02
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by bmp02 »

TooBeaucoup wrote: How are you powering it? A USB from your TV or somewhere else?
From my TV indeed.
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TooBeaucoup
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by TooBeaucoup »

bmp02 wrote:
TooBeaucoup wrote: How are you powering it? A USB from your TV or somewhere else?
From my TV indeed.
Sounds like your TV USB ports might be doing something weird. I have an LED light strip plugged into my TV USB port and when I turn off my TV, the lights are supposed to turn off as well, which they usually do. However, every now and then, I will turn off my TV, the lights will turn off, but then a few minutes later, the lights will come back on again and won't stay off until I power cycle my TV. I have my 5X plugged into a little phone charger into my wall and it's never turned itself on. I'm willing to be your TV USB ports are the cause.
thchardcore
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by thchardcore »

Using the RT5P with a few systems and a Gscart. Is the 480p output with the SNES really that unstable? I see a ton of twitching on the SD2SNES menu.
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bmp02
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by bmp02 »

TooBeaucoup wrote: Sounds like your TV USB ports might be doing something weird. I have an LED light strip plugged into my TV USB port and when I turn off my TV, the lights are supposed to turn off as well, which they usually do. However, every now and then, I will turn off my TV, the lights will turn off, but then a few minutes later, the lights will come back on again and won't stay off until I power cycle my TV. I have my 5X plugged into a little phone charger into my wall and it's never turned itself on. I'm willing to be your TV USB ports are the cause.
Guess that's it then! Would be nice if an option existed to not have it auto boot whenever there is power, as I guess I have a pretty common tv (Sony), so probably more people will experience this issue.
For now I guess I'll order one of those USB in line power switches.
Thanks :)
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bmp02
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by bmp02 »

hyp36rmax wrote:Rejoice for all of you in need of a way to pass VGA HD15 to your RetroTINK5X Pro's!
Any idea about 800x600 sources? Seen in a RetroRGB video that Virtual Boy Virtual Tap VGA mod (at that time) didn't work. Would be great if it did though..
nes.og
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by nes.og »

I hear some of the best CRT shaders on on the PC are pretty CPU intensive. How do they compare to RT5X?
garbagehead4
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by garbagehead4 »

Got my 5X in the mail today - to answer my own questions from the last page, 1600x1200 and 480p passthrough are totally doable and have no issues on a PC CRT. Still don't know the difference between DTV-A and DTV-B sampling, but A seems to be slightly better with the Wii.

I'm preaching to the choir here but yeah, this thing is really good! Native hardware N64 via S-Video into a PC CRT is something I've wanted to try forever and it looks better than I imagined. The scanline options are some of the best I've encountered and are impressively true to life. Just a slick looking output all around, and totally lives up to being a true plug and play scaler.

My only hope is for a firmware update that adds optimal sampling for the Wii's 320x240 output, in order to make use of those sweet LCD scanlines with GBA emulation. Or manual sampling adjustment if nothing else. I'll still be keeping the OSSC around for that use case in the meantime.

Great work Mike!
hypotc
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by hypotc »

I just received my Retrotink 5X and was wondering if I've encountered a bug.

If I play N64 (NTSC) with the sampling set to "N64 320", and then try to switch resolutions to "1080p (Filled)", it won't display on my TV. My TV only shows the next resolution which is "1080p (Over)". To fix this I have to set sampling to generic 4:3 first, and then switch resolutions. "1080p (Filled)" shows up on my TV then. After that I can change sampling to N64 and it works fine. Anyone know whats going on?

I'm using an LG OLED C8 (Using PC mode).

Edit: I found out that it needed more power than my TV could supply via its USB port. With power from an actual outlet it works fine!
Last edited by hypotc on Thu Nov 25, 2021 1:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
thchardcore
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by thchardcore »

From my own personal testing, at least for 240p at 2x with most systems, this is a step backwards from the OSSC as it has far more jitter than I was expecting. Is there something up with my unit or is this just a case of it being mostly for 1080p use?

As it stands, I'm not too thrilled with this purchase to be honest. Output at 480p with SNES is basically unusable in my opinion. Makes me really wonder if something in my chain is throwing this off?
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TooBeaucoup
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by TooBeaucoup »

thchardcore wrote:From my own personal testing, at least for 240p at 2x with most systems, this is a step backwards from the OSSC as it has far more jitter than I was expecting. Is there something up with my unit or is this just a case of it being mostly for 1080p use?

As it stands, I'm not too thrilled with this purchase to be honest. Output at 480p with SNES is basically unusable in my opinion. Makes me really wonder if something in my chain is throwing this off?
It shouldn't be having any problems at 480p. Here's a quick video I took with my cell phone of my 5X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUJOHRCmvlY

I usually run mine at 1200p on my HDTV, but switched it to 480p so you could see. I have an SNES Jr with an RGB mod and an old fat model SNES that both run at 480p like this video. I've also used my 5X on two other TVs in the house and they run fine at 480p. Although, it should run fine at 480p in frame lock, have you tried triple buffer? That should eliminate any issues. If it doesn't, I'd investigate other things in your chain. I haven't heard any reports of defective 5X units on a large scale. Have you tried multiple displays at 480p to see if the problem persists? If you've exhausted all of these possibilities, you might want to reach out to Mike Chi. He's quite helpful.

I'm running over 8 consoles into this thing and they've all worked flawless at every resolution other than 1440p because my HDTV doesn't support that res.
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BrianC
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by BrianC »

VGA 2 SCART adapter arrived. I tried the JP DC + VGA box with it. GGX looks incredible upscaled to 1440p. Works great with Crazy Taxi 3 on the Xbox too (should look great with the original too, but haven't tested it).
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by thchardcore »

TooBeaucoup wrote:
thchardcore wrote:From my own personal testing, at least for 240p at 2x with most systems, this is a step backwards from the OSSC as it has far more jitter than I was expecting. Is there something up with my unit or is this just a case of it being mostly for 1080p use?

As it stands, I'm not too thrilled with this purchase to be honest. Output at 480p with SNES is basically unusable in my opinion. Makes me really wonder if something in my chain is throwing this off?
It shouldn't be having any problems at 480p. Here's a quick video I took with my cell phone of my 5X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUJOHRCmvlY

I usually run mine at 1200p on my HDTV, but switched it to 480p so you could see. I have an SNES Jr with an RGB mod and an old fat model SNES that both run at 480p like this video. I've also used my 5X on two other TVs in the house and they run fine at 480p. Although, it should run fine at 480p in frame lock, have you tried triple buffer? That should eliminate any issues. If it doesn't, I'd investigate other things in your chain. I haven't heard any reports of defective 5X units on a large scale. Have you tried multiple displays at 480p to see if the problem persists? If you've exhausted all of these possibilities, you might want to reach out to Mike Chi. He's quite helpful.

I'm running over 8 consoles into this thing and they've all worked flawless at every resolution other than 1440p because my HDTV doesn't support that res.
Thanks for the tips and point of reference. I'm going to try a different usb brick and run directly into the PC CRT instead of through the Extron 203.
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TooBeaucoup
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by TooBeaucoup »

thchardcore wrote:
TooBeaucoup wrote:
thchardcore wrote:From my own personal testing, at least for 240p at 2x with most systems, this is a step backwards from the OSSC as it has far more jitter than I was expecting. Is there something up with my unit or is this just a case of it being mostly for 1080p use?

As it stands, I'm not too thrilled with this purchase to be honest. Output at 480p with SNES is basically unusable in my opinion. Makes me really wonder if something in my chain is throwing this off?
It shouldn't be having any problems at 480p. Here's a quick video I took with my cell phone of my 5X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUJOHRCmvlY

I usually run mine at 1200p on my HDTV, but switched it to 480p so you could see. I have an SNES Jr with an RGB mod and an old fat model SNES that both run at 480p like this video. I've also used my 5X on two other TVs in the house and they run fine at 480p. Although, it should run fine at 480p in frame lock, have you tried triple buffer? That should eliminate any issues. If it doesn't, I'd investigate other things in your chain. I haven't heard any reports of defective 5X units on a large scale. Have you tried multiple displays at 480p to see if the problem persists? If you've exhausted all of these possibilities, you might want to reach out to Mike Chi. He's quite helpful.

I'm running over 8 consoles into this thing and they've all worked flawless at every resolution other than 1440p because my HDTV doesn't support that res.
Thanks for the tips and point of reference. I'm going to try a different usb brick and run directly into the PC CRT instead of through the Extron 203.
I'd certainly try direct and I have heard PC CRTs can be finnicky with different gear. Of course, there's always the chance the 5X could be faulty, but that'd be my last guess.
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Josh128
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by Josh128 »

thchardcore wrote:From my own personal testing, at least for 240p at 2x with most systems, this is a step backwards from the OSSC as it has far more jitter than I was expecting. Is there something up with my unit or is this just a case of it being mostly for 1080p use?

As it stands, I'm not too thrilled with this purchase to be honest. Output at 480p with SNES is basically unusable in my opinion. Makes me really wonder if something in my chain is throwing this off?
Is this into the Hitachi dual scan? What kind of jitter are you seeing, stuff similar to whats shown on the Trinitron micro-jitter thread?
thchardcore
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by thchardcore »

Hi Josh - Not the Hitachi, just my NEC Accusync 90, but I also see it on my Viewsonic and Apple CRTs. Will have to take a video but it is almost like the waves you will get with bad power.
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WobblingPixels
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Re: RetroTINK 5x-Pro

Post by WobblingPixels »

thchardcore wrote:From my own personal testing, at least for 240p at 2x with most systems, this is a step backwards from the OSSC as it has far more jitter than I was expecting.
The 480p mode of the R5x is displayed at 1440x480p (due to compatibility reasons afair) so its not the same as with OSSC. The soft filter might help a little bit

edit: does the oled lg c1 or cx support 1440p mode of the R5x?
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