PixelFX RetroGEM - Universal Internal HDMI for PS1/PS2/N64/DC/XBOX

[tongshadow]

Havent seen a thread here, so I thought it would be interesting to make one to discuss the hardware.



It's essentially the same as the PS1/N64/DC Digital, but now supporting resolutions up to 1440p and CRT mask effects.

[bobrocks95]

I installed a Basic version one in my N64, it's quite nice at the reduced price point. Their flex is well-made and at least for N64 relatively painless to install. Hooking it into a Tink 4K will be very nice.

Other installs I had planned though may be on ice with Mike showing off automatic resolution detection over analog. PS1 looks and sounds great over analog already but the games have so many different resolutions that you have to reference a list, which a digital mod gets rid of. But if you can set the Tink 4K to just "PS1" and it handles everything from there, that's not bad at all.

[Konsolkongen]

Wasn't there talk about the GEM mods being able to communicate with the Morph through HDMI? I could imagine that being a killer feature, as the Morph would do everything the Shiny edition does and much more.

But maybe Mike Chi could implement something similar in the RetroTink 4K as well

[bobrocks95]

Wasn't there talk about the GEM mods being able to communicate with the Morph through HDMI? I could imagine that being a killer feature, as the Morph would do everything the Shiny edition does and much more.

But maybe Mike Chi could implement something similar in the RetroTink 4K as well

Yes, that is kind of remaining the Morph's main strength in my eyes right now, not that we've heard much about it. I could imagine a very seamless integration with their own GEM kits.

Depending on how the signaling is done, Mike could implement something similar, BUT it may use HDMI-CEC which PixelFX has fully implemented on the GEMs already (you can control the menus with your TV remote for example), but Mike said the protocol looked gross so he didn't bother. Maybe he left the pin hooked up for future implementation though.

[Konsolkongen]

Wasn't there talk about the GEM mods being able to communicate with the Morph through HDMI? I could imagine that being a killer feature, as the Morph would do everything the Shiny edition does and much more.

But maybe Mike Chi could implement something similar in the RetroTink 4K as well

Yes, that is kind of remaining the Morph's main strength in my eyes right now, not that we've heard much about it. I could imagine a very seamless integration with their own GEM kits.

True. But the RetroTink would have to include some pretty wild must have features that I haven’t yet heard of to justify the much higher price

[tongshadow]

Quoting from another topic, here's the audio crackling fix for the PS1

they posted this fix for the audio cracking on discord

i already did the fix and it works well


source:
pixelfx discord: https://discord.com/channels/1101136714 ... 3188678688

[spmbx]

So is that audiofix something that (can ? will ?) be incorporated in future flexes ?

[bobrocks95]

So is that audiofix something that (can ? will ?) be incorporated in future flexes ?

Sounds like they'll probably at some point start including the extra resistors to replace them in the kit itself.

[tongshadow]

My units have finally arrived, and after sucessfully installing both on my PS1 and PS2 I want to share some thoughts regarding the PS1 Shiny Edition for now.

Compared to my current setup for digital displays using an OSSC, quite honestly, there's little to be gained on this digital kit. The picture produced by the 1080p/1440p output on both devices is identical for all intents and purposes. Improvements in sound quality, however, are quite noticeable. Other than that, using an OSSC and this yields the same results on my LG C2, so if you're already using an OSSC or, even batter, a RetroTink 5x dont expect a huge upgrade.

However, that is not to say advantages do not exist. Because the Retro Gem outputs proper standardized video signals, its compatibility with all displays is almost guaranteed. My 50" Panasonic Plasma, for example, wont even accept Line 3x mode from the OSSC, so I cant enjoy retrogaming on this specific display. But with this, now I can!
So if you have a display that dislikes out of spec display modes, the Retro Gem could be a solution for you!

And because both digital and analog outputs from the console can be used at the same time, it's way easier to record or streams games by sending the digital signal to a capture card/secondary display, while enjoying the good old analog experience on a CRT, or even into a scaler connected to another display.

Overall it's an amazing device, but unless you're coming from the bottom of the videophile world, it hardly impresses. If the convenience of having full compatibility to digital displays or capturing footage is important to you, then this is a worthy investment.

[bobrocks95]

My units have finally arrived, and after sucessfully installing both on my PS1 and PS2 I want to share some thoughts regarding the PS1 Shiny Edition for now.

Compared to my current setup for digital displays using an OSSC, quite honestly, there's little to be gained on this digital kit. The picture produced by the 1080p/1440p output on both devices is identical for all intents and purposes. Improvements in sound quality, however, are quite noticeable. Other than that, using an OSSC and this yields the same results on my LG C2, so if you're already using an OSSC or, even batter, a RetroTink 5x dont expect a huge upgrade.

However, that is not to say advantages do not exist. Because the Retro Gem outputs proper standardized video signals, its compatibility with all displays is almost guaranteed. My 50" Panasonic Plasma, for example, wont even accept Line 3x mode from the OSSC, so I cant enjoy retrogaming on this specific display. But with this, now I can!
So if you have a display that dislikes out of spec display modes, the Retro Gem could be a solution for you!

And because both digital and analog outputs from the console can be used at the same time, it's way easier to record or streams games by sending the digital signal to a capture card/secondary display, while enjoying the good old analog experience on a CRT, or even into a scaler connected to another display.

Overall it's an amazing device, but unless you're coming from the bottom of the videophile world, it hardly impresses. If the convenience of having full compatibility to digital displays or capturing footage is important to you, then this is a worthy investment.

Unless you picked up a Tink4K, I think another big advantage people don't talk about a lot is, especially for PS1, automatically getting optimal sampling on any resolution changes. Even if you have a Tink 5X, when a PS1 game changes resolutions (which they love to do) you're suddenly getting incorrect sampling, or you have to leave it on the much less sharp generic modes. Depends of course on your preference for sharp pixels.

[tongshadow]

Unless you picked up a Tink4K, I think another big advantage people don't talk about a lot is, especially for PS1, automatically getting optimal sampling on any resolution changes. Even if you have a Tink 5X, when a PS1 game changes resolutions (which they love to do) you're suddenly getting incorrect sampling, or you have to leave it on the much less sharp generic modes. Depends of course on your preference for sharp pixels.

Yes, the scaling features are very robust. Also, it's possible to add custom resolution modes. I sucessfully managed to add Plasma resolutions, and with said scaling features it's possible to get 720p inside the 768p container for perfect spaced 240p scanlines. This is another advantage the OSSC doesnt have.

[tongshadow]

Some shots of the PS1 GEM on my 50" LG HD Plasma, it looks really good and these high pitch cells definitely give a nice texture to low resolution games. I'm not using any filters other than the scanlines to eliminate every third line in order to reduce pixelation. The motion clarity really is CRT-like, this is my favorite display to play PS1 games now.

Spoiler

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