Analogue announces the Super Nt for $189 (SNES)

[FBX]

Try playing SMW2 and check the title screen on that computer and see if it holds 60FPS without dipping.

For SMW2 Higan has to emulate the SuperFX in its "ultimate version". The super nt use cartridge so it doesn't have to.
The accuracy core runs fine on not so powerful cpu for games that don't use co-processors (I can play F-Zero or Super Metroid just fine on my FX8350@stockClocks)

Yeah so could I on my old Q6600, but that wasn't my point. You can't just buy a $150 computer and run accuracy core perfectly. It is going to slow down on some games regardless of the cause.

[FBX]

Would you say this is the definitive way of playing SNES and/or GB games? Is it more accurate than the SNES Mini/Jr.?

Both the OSSC and Framemeister give you the ability to set square pixel aspect ratios (with the FM being approximated). I remember Marc being pleasantly surprised when I sent him my square pixel 7x profile for the Super Game Boy 1 ~ 2 for the Framemeister. He said it looked exactly like the aspect ratio on a real Game Boy.

[TooBeaucoup]

I just placed an order for one, despite already owning a SNES Junior modded for RGB, OSSC and Framemeister. Why do I do this shit?! I really can't help myself.

[Seraphic]

Is anyone ordering a SD2SNES to go with their Super NT? Was wondering if anyone knows what the newest board revision for it is?

[FinalBaton]

I just placed an order for one, despite already owning a SNES Junior modded for RGB, OSSC and Framemeister. Why do I do this shit?! I really can't help myself.

You could say that owning all that stuff is... TooBeaucoup

[bigbadboaz]

Reviews are starting to hit. Actual knowledge demonstrated by the "experts" writing varies as widely as you'd expect. The GameSpot review, surprisingly, goes deeper than most.

[TooBeaucoup]

I just placed an order for one, despite already owning a SNES Junior modded for RGB, OSSC and Framemeister. Why do I do this shit?! I really can't help myself.

You could say that owning all that stuff is... TooBeaucoup

AH HA! Well played.

Reviews are starting to hit. Actual knowledge demonstrated by the "experts" writing varies as widely as you'd expect. The GameSpot review, surprisingly, goes deeper than most.

I don't think anything has beaten the My Life in Gaming review.

[paulb_nl]

When I was watching the Super NT My Life in Gaming video I noticed the colors of the game footage was off. Among other things the dark areas in games were crushed. I checked some other videos and they all have the same issue. Here are some comparisons so you can see what I mean:

The pillar to the left and road above Megaman are too dark on the Super NT.
https://i.imgur.com/fHtmlZF.png


Notice the ground color looks very different (too much yellow?)
https://i.imgur.com/bvdmDDo.png

[Xer Xian]

Just finished watching MLiG's review, so good - both the console and the review! Only thing is I would have liked seeing them playing with the 'Scanline depth' setting, scanlines were way too thin imho.

Welcome bonus content on MLiG vid: Direct A/B comparison of raw pixels vs analog supremacy at https://youtu.be/d_OW_t9RXEM?t=15m54s

When I was watching the Super NT My Life in Gaming video I noticed the colors of the game footage was off. Among other things the dark areas in games were crushed.

You've got a keen eye. There's a built-in gamma boost though, that should address the issue.

[Fudoh]

In one of the YT reviews I saw somebody inserting a cartridge into the running system and then just chose "run cartridge" on the menu. This is something that I would consider as rather dangerous, especially to your save games. Is there any word if that's a safe practice all of a sudden now?

[orange808]

Nice to see interpolation and shimmering taken seriously.

Too bad about the underclock, but the compatibility is worth the tradeoff. I can't detect the difference on the Analogue or Hi Def NES, so that's a footnote inaccuracy.

With that framebuffer available, a visual "mirror" mode that also reverses the left and right controller inputs would be a very welcome additional feature.

[paulb_nl]

You've got a keen eye. There's a built-in gamma boost though, that should address the issue.

Well the crushing in dark colors is not exactly subtle The gamma boost wont help with the wrong colors though. Strange that so many people and even MLIG missed this.

Here is a nice dark scene comparison:

https://i.imgur.com/oBZHus3.png Youtube screenshot is from https://youtu.be/QN7wBWrlt04?t=44m17s

In one of the YT reviews I saw somebody inserting a cartridge into the running system and then just chose "run cartridge" on the menu. This is something that I would consider as rather dangerous, especially to your save games. Is there any word if that's a safe practice all of a sudden now?

Analogue actually states in the manual that you can do this. I would guess that there is no power on the cart connector before you choose Run cartridge.

[Ikaruga11]

Oh man. Not only are the colors off, but there's a lot of black crush too.

[bobrocks95]

For anyone in the US that's ordered or looked at getting one, was UPS the only shipping option available? It shouldn't cost anywhere near $40 to ship a tiny plastic console from Seattle.

[jayde6]

When I was watching the Super NT My Life in Gaming video I noticed the colors of the game footage was off. Among other things the dark areas in games were crushed.

Could it be a mismatch of limited/full range settings with their capture equipment?

[orange808]

When I was watching the Super NT My Life in Gaming video I noticed the colors of the game footage was off. Among other things the dark areas in games were crushed.

Could it be a mismatch of limited/full range settings with their capture equipment?

That's what I'm thinking.

I'll stick my neck out, here.

We'll see what happens when we start getting our machines, but I seriously doubt Kevtris would ship a machine with such a huge issue.

[tjstogy]

Kevtris said the SNES core on the Super NT is based on an earlier revision of the SNES (not the 1chip). Are colors the same on all SNES revisions? I know 1chips have exaggerated whites, but I wonder if there are other differences.

[Wariolicious]

You've got a keen eye. There's a built-in gamma boost though, that should address the issue.

Well the crushing in dark colors is not exactly subtle The gamma boost wont help with the wrong colors though. Strange that so many people and even MLIG missed this.

Here is a nice dark scene comparison:

https://i.imgur.com/oBZHus3.png Youtube screenshot is from https://youtu.be/QN7wBWrlt04?t=44m17s

In one of the YT reviews I saw somebody inserting a cartridge into the running system and then just chose "run cartridge" on the menu. This is something that I would consider as rather dangerous, especially to your save games. Is there any word if that's a safe practice all of a sudden now?

Analogue actually states in the manual that you can do this. I would guess that there is no power on the cart connector before you choose Run cartridge.

Don't, Kevtris himself has stated this will risk your savegames being deleted!

[FBX]

I'll do some captures when mine arrives on Monday. If it's a thing where it's off, we can actually get Kevtris to fix it in a firmware update. They've already been releasing firmware updates with fixes from what I heard.

[paulb_nl]

Could it be a mismatch of limited/full range settings with their capture equipment?

Unlikely, I posted this issue in their comments on Youtube and they said there was no mismatch. I have also yet to find a single video where the colors are correct so that would mean everyone has been using the wrong settings.

Kevtris said in RetroRGB's interview that the SNES was really dark and needed the gamma boost even without scanlines. I thought that was strange and didn't understand but now seeing this comparison it makes perfect sense.

Kevtris said the SNES core on the Super NT is based on an earlier revision of the SNES (not the 1chip). Are colors the same on all SNES revisions? I know 1chips have exaggerated whites, but I wonder if there are other differences.

The colors are programmed with 15 bit RGB colors so they should be exactly the same. My captures between 3chip and 1-CHIP/SNES Jr also show they are the same.

Don't, Kevtris himself has stated this will risk your savegames being deleted!

Kevtris said that when they were pulling out the cart when the game already was running.

[Fudoh]

What's the status on international shipments? I haven't got a shipping confirmation yet, but I hear that some people (here in Europe) got theirs without getting any prior tracking information. Has everybody else got a shipping confirmation?

[rule_z]

I dind't get any email, so I directly wrote to them. My Super Nt was shipped on 06/02, arriving 02/14 (Italy).

[Gara]

For anyone in the US that's ordered or looked at getting one, was UPS the only shipping option available? It shouldn't cost anywhere near $40 to ship a tiny plastic console from Seattle.

I think ups was my only option. I paid $22.64. My package was dispatched from Las Vegas, NV on the 6th and arrived in California on the 8th. 3.1lb and small. They must he padding a pretty serious handling charge.

[jdawg131]

What's the status on international shipments? I haven't got a shipping confirmation yet, but I hear that some people (here in Europe) got theirs without getting any prior tracking information. Has everybody else got a shipping confirmation?

I'm in the US, and never received a shipping notification from Analogue. Even my order status page only states that the order is being processed. Fortunately, I was able to sign up for UPS My Choice and saw that my order shipped on 6 Feb. Not sure if DHL has anything like that.

[Seraphic]

For anyone in the US that's ordered or looked at getting one, was UPS the only shipping option available? It shouldn't cost anywhere near $40 to ship a tiny plastic console from Seattle.

Yes, it was always UPS Ground for USA and DHL outside USA. I was charged $33 shipping from NV to NY which seems like a lot for a 3lb box. Mine arrives the 14th.

[jayde6]

Kevtris said in RetroRGB's interview that the SNES was really dark and needed the gamma boost even without scanlines. I thought that was strange and didn't understand but now seeing this comparison it makes perfect sense.

Could it be how the DAC handles the video signal on the SNES? Maybe something happens through the conversion that brightens the picture and skews the colors a bit. Since the Super NT is going digital to digital I wonder if that's how it looks before it hits the dac.

[paulb_nl]

^ I have compared the output of various tests of the 240p suite to the source bitmaps and the SNES DAC just outputs the colors and brightness as is. Besides, emulators are also digital and they don't have this issue.

I think the Super NT is doing RGB->YUV conversion somewhere and messing up badly.

I'll do some captures when mine arrives on Monday.

Please post some captures of the 240p suite SMPTE Color Bars. I am curious how that will look.

[Fudoh]

I think the Super NT is doing RGB->YUV conversion somewhere

I haven't mine yet, but I strongly assume that the output of the Super Nt is full range RGB 4:4:4, so there should be no need for any conversions anywhere.

[strygo]

Mine arrived last night and I hooked it up to my older Vizio in my family room. The colors definitely seemed off, especially in Mega Man X in the initial background sequence. I plan to hook it up to my newer 4K Vizio to see if the problem persists there.

I was using 720p with scanlines for most of my testing. I would separately say I found the scrolling less smooth than I was hoping. I couldn't find any interpolation options, but the shimmering was more noticeable than SNES+OSSC. I noticed it in the background of the Super Castlevania IV opening stage (the brick wall). Have others observed this?

[bobrocks95]

Mine arrived last night and I hooked it up to my older Vizio in my family room. The colors definitely seemed off, especially in Mega Man X in the initial background sequence. I plan to hook it up to my newer 4K Vizio to see if the problem persists there.

I was using 720p with scanlines for most of my testing. I would separately say I found the scrolling less smooth than I was hoping. I couldn't find any interpolation options, but the shimmering was more noticeable than SNES+OSSC. I noticed it in the background of the Super Castlevania IV opening stage (the brick wall). Have others observed this?

There are interpolation options, make sure you're on the latest firmware and have advanced settings enabled. If you're doing a stretch to 4:3 or something, you'd definitely get horizontal shimmering without interpolation.