Analogue & Retrousb FPGA Consoles OT

I am perfectly happy with what I can get out of SNES9X RX on my Wii. It runs very well, looks perfect on a CRT (better than my SNES, the colors and sharpness are better) and easier to work with off, there’s like zero lag, I can use a SNES controller via different options, and it’s like a SNES + SD2SNES for free.

And yet, I’d rather use a SNES. I’d rather use the real cartridges where possible, I’d rather use repro carts for some games over playing on my SD2SNES, cost be damned I have a certain experience I’m after and that experience is on a real SNES. I want the experience of slotting things in, moving that on switch, instantly in the game – no menu, no fuss – and I end up getting way more invested in the games I’m playing and enjoy the whole experience more.

Not everyone needs or wants that and it’s fine; to each their own.

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Yea, there’s something intangibly satisfying about it too. Like playing a record vs streaming an album.

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Wow that is hardcore. I found some details you posted about the 20PF4121 here. So it’s a display from 2007 you’re buying second hand. I’m surprised LCD tech from 2007 is still viable with the LCD response time and all that.

Of course motion blur of LCD’s is an issue in the sense that we’d rather not have it. But if you take the stance that it’s completely unacceptable it turns every display produced in the last 20 years or so into something that is and was unusable. And yes it comes down to personal preference. I grew up with the OG gameboy and gamegear, and the ugly smearing LCD’s at the time were absolutely horrible, but I have no issues with modern displays to the point where I find them unacceptable for gaming. If 99% of your gaming time consist of aladdin speeding through the cave of wonders on his magic carpet at suicidal velocities, id probably recommend you stick with a CRT. But most movement in games has such a much slower pace where it’s not even obvious it’s there unless you go looking for it.

But I agree with Matt, the advantages are just too many to ignore, especially considering the alternatives, and realistic budget outlooks. If you have a couple of grand burning a hole in your pocket, by all means grab a 20" PVM with low hours on the tube. But if your budget is in the 20-50 range, the considerations are on a different level.

Pro’s:
native 480 - there is a lot of 480p material out there, both console and pc games, and it looks at it’s best at native res without scaling.

IPS-S panel with 450-500 nits backlight. Great color reproduction, high brightness means the colors will pop, and your contrast is great. Adding scanlines to 240p material dimm’s the overall image. That’s a big issue if you use some crappy TN panel with 250nits backlight, no issue here.

You also get a 4:3 panel, which I consider a big plus. I hate the widescreen black bars. Most 240p material scales to full panel with integer scaling, some games/systems run at a 224 line count, meaning you get a 8 pixel cut-off top to bottom. That still leaves you with a massive display area compared to similar diagonal widescreen displays.

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Oh yeah that’s true, there were plenty of old-school LCDs around in the form of the GB/GBC/GBA! That’s why the IPS modded GPA SPs are so shockingly vivid and enjoyable to experience.

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Yes! It is difficult to believe. The panel in this is IPS made by LG Philips and seemingly only at 20" size. It was high end around 2007 with 15ms response. I’ve measured this and it’s accurate. My setup runs at 25ms as I send stuff through a scaler before it gets to the TV.

The picture is really not great through SCART, but the breakthrough is to use PC mode (DVI/VGA) to avoid any image processing. This was the Eureka moment.

Philips still make a similar TV today but the panel is no longer IPS. The 2007 TVs are fairly common in Europe. In the USA there are some sister models, but we need to confirm.

To get to this TV both myself and @Gravitone separately went through a bunch of other brands and similar models before we find each other and realised we were on the same mission, then swapped notes and tips. Others had a lot of blur, this one really isn’t noticeable, it is minor. I use the EIZO Monitor Test under Windows to compare the TVs (running as monitors really) that I have bought.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s no 240Hz modern gaming display. It’s not as bright as a modern display though I still have no reason to run it anywhere near full brightness. But for retro games it is jaw dropping.

It will really take some beating at this size and resolution. Actually, I doubt there’s a better LCD out there or we’d have found it by now. I’m still looking and buying but have cooled off since buying this. The list of remaining 640x480 TVs with DBI/VGA isn’t very long at this point, so I consider this problem solved.

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I’m convinced they will also work great for consoles that output 240p when using a retrotink or ossc, but I have yet to try such a setup.

I’ve tried 240p PlayStation through a GBS-Control and it’s great.

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It’s good news. I am consistently impressed by both the Mega Sg and the Super Nt for their ability to make it easy for me to play my favorite generation of games on the main TV in my home all these years later.

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So I’m getting pretty tired of how temperamental my front-loading NES is, but I always thought the NT Mini was just too expensive to be worth it. Starting to question that, though. What’s everyone’s thought - worth paying the $100+ premium to get a Noir off eBay now, or better to take a chance that a lower cost version will eventually come out? I love my Super NT and just wish Analogue had something in that $200 price point with an optional DAC.

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I wonder how far down the pipeline a theoretical cheap nt might be if we’re still waiting for the pocket and the duo, but if you have the cash and absolutely must have the nt mini now, I’d go for it - it’s a nice device.

Built in DAC, included controller, and with jailbreaking, the gameboy, GBC, and NES cores with full romsets are quite nice bonuses.

I’ve been using mine for a few weeks now, and beyond some minor quibbles, I’m glad I have it - it’s still a 600 dollar NES, but it’s the best way to play Nintendo classics if you still want to use original carts.

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For what it is worth it’s probably just an issue with your pin connector and they are actually very serviceable. There are a few videos out there about it. Usually involves bending the pins back into shape and hitting them with some fine grit sandpaper to remover any corrosion. I’ve done it to probably 10 of them and only ever had 1 that I wasn’t able to salvage. The trick is that you actually need to do upper back pins first.

That said Analogue makes awesome stuff.

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I’d recommend a Blinking Light Win to replace the pin connector in your NES. They work great. Every game I used to have trouble getting to work starts on the first try now. If you are set on an HD solution I’d also recommend a RetroUSB AVS. I have one of these also and I love it.

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Yep, I’ll second the blinking light win. It’s a great piece of kit and very easy to install.

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Thanks, that’s a good suggestion I had forgotten about. I’ve tried OEM replacement connectors, but it always seems like a matter of time before it starts acting up again. I’d actually prefer to keep a NES hooked up to the 27" CRT, so the Blinking Light Win is even more attractive.

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I love the BLW! Easy to install and every game works first try every time. Some have issues with the amount of force needed to pull the carts out, but I haven’t had that issue.

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Would have been cooler if they showed actual footage running on the Pocket of some of these games, because the flickering effect used to produce the shadows is wrong here, and I hope that’s not how it’ll be on final hardware:

There’s so many ways for the Pocket to get things wrong. I’m cautiously optimistic.

But not so much to pre-order!

Pocket delayed until Oct…sigh.

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