OSSC Pro is coming out soon. Probably not a bad idea to wait for that.
I ordered a Retrotink recently and should come by Monday, I want to test it out.
Only if you’re willing to drop a very substantial bit of dough on it. And willing to wait an indefinite amount of time.
The OSSC is the best all-in-one linedoubling device. I would strongly recommend googling around and finding out if others with your TV have tested its compatibility. If you’re using a computer monitor you’re probably going to have passable compatibility across the board, but if you’re using a consumer television, it’s far less consistent. Once you know where you stand on that, it’ll be easier to move forward. If you can’t find any data on your TV, it’s a bit of a crapshoot.
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It seems like some tv brands (LG for example) will be more accepting to a number of off resolution modes, but you have more compatibility when it comes to 4k sets.
It also depends on what you’re planning to upscale. If its going to be say mostly PS2, which is mainly 480i I think the framemeister or waiting for the OSSC Pro (which should have better deinterlacing) may be the way to go. Personally I’m not a fan of the OSSC’s bob deinterlacing.
I’d say it also depends on if you plan on streaming at all. The OSSC again is going to have less compatibility there, and mainly only the more expensive capture options work with it.
What are your main plans for the upscaller, what do you plan to use it on and with? How technically savvy are you?
Funny enough I’m using the Retrotink mainly for PS2 due to 480i but I will try out other systems on it.
My Retrotink has arrived, going to do some tests on it.
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as opposed to what device?
Wait, what? Which device?=O BTW Retrotink is fucking awesome so far.
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I’d mostly use it for xbox and sega Saturn. Maybe sega genesis if I feel like modding. I’m pretty technically sound. I’ve put a modchip in my gamecube and I’ve modded AV out and Led into my Sega Genesis model 3.
I might use ps2 for things that aren’t compatible with pcsx2. I have a dedicated pc hooked up to my tv so I can put my disc in and run it at a higher resolution.
no I mean, why did you choose the retrotink for 480i instead of another device? For the ps2 especially i don’t think it supports 480p and it doesn’t offer deinterlacing options, so I’m curious why you chose that. Unless I’m missing something in its featureset?
Uh, it does deinterlace it though(RetroRGB and other sites say this), my capture card sees it at 480p for the output(not input as it doesn’t support 480p input, only output)as it only likes progressive signals, interlaced signals are capped at 30fps and obviously not deinterlaced so it’ll look like crap in motion. It does look better than just 480i only, and the smoothing even helps with the flicker and interlacing as well to reduce it.
Plus my scaler broke down recently and I needed something quickly to deinterlace at a cheap price. With the OSSC Pro coming I wouldn’t want to waste money on an OSSC, and my capture card already captures 480p natively for component(and VGA) so I saw less point of getting the OSSC for now. For what it’s worth the Retrotink is awesome for the price.
The OSSC / RetroTink / RAD2X offset bob deinterlacing looks genuinely good and yeah the smoothing option in the latter two really helps with any flickering. It’s a lot closer to what a crt looks like than more advanced deinterlacing.
FWIW you may just want to not bother with 480p on PS2. There isn’t good results in most games that even support it natively. Due to RAM limitations most ps2 games run at 512x448 with a fat pixel-aspect-ratio, whereas 480p runs at a higher horizontal res with a skinny 10:11 PAR no matter what so either games are boxed in and look too skinny ot have other negative effects like lower color depth or performance to reach the higher res.
It’s a 480i native console and it’s best to treat it that way.
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Ah, that’s interesting to note for the PS2 when it comes to 480p, I didn’t know that.=O Guess I’ll just stick with the Retrotink for deinterlacing and smoothing 480i games, even the 480p ones.
I sold my OSSC to pay for my PVM - and while I don’t do much flat panel retro-gaming these days I’m pretty tempted by the Retrotink 2x SCART.
I’m in the middle of knocking together a rolling cart for my PVM and 9 consoles - so the idea with the retrotink is that I’d use the pass through video out on my 20L2 to output to my Bravia for when friends come over.
I’ll probably eventually pick up another OSSC when prices get low enough to make a 4K version of the pro.
ah okay it’s bob deinterlacing. Sorry, i should have specified, I knew it output 480p but I wasn’t sure if it had some more involved deinterlacing options.
I think 480p is definitely worth bothering with, but only for the games that offer built-in support for it. List: https://sonicwbii.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_2_games_with_alternative_display_modes
Burnout 3: Takedown - for example - is glorious: full colour, full screen, 60fps.
Forcing other games into 480p using GSM is very much hit and miss, but can get good results with certain games if you’re willing to download settings or do some testing yourself. See my discovery regarding SSX Tricky in another thread.
Even games that fully support it have issues. Some just display the game boxed in without aspect correction so everything is rendered wrong, some will do a smeary scale horizontally, some will render the extra pixels and render at a lower color depth with dithering or with effects missing. Even Sony produced big budget tentpoles like Gran Turismo 4 have noticeable issues with the 480p presentation vs 480i.
It took me a long time to really come to terms with this cause you’d think 480i would just be worse but on this console it’s very not the case.
GT4 is an odd implementation and it switches between 480i (menus) and 480p (game) which may cause issues with some setups. With my 480p setup it’s fine.
I’ve not encountered the other things you’re mentioning outside of GSM, but maybe I’ve not played those games, whichever they are.
I guess it comes down to personal preference and that’s cool. I love 480p on PS2 but I’m not expecting my opinion to sway anybody else either way.
Wright. Ow I’m deciding between the retrotink 2x pro and the OSSC. They both seem to be around the same price. Anyone have experience with them.