RetroTINK (5X Pro and 4K), gcomp switch, and SCA-101: first impressions

[importaku]

Well i got my DHL bill this morning so my tink isn't far away now, still waiting for scart cable to turn up will be awesome to finally have a competent scaler that i can use on PS1 without having to wait forever for the screen to come back. While the rad 2x cable was serviceable it didn't have any scanlines so games still looked a bit janky, will finally be able to fix that. My PS1 deserves better than the lamemeister

[briareos_kerensky]

Added imprssions about firmware 2.39 and the new scart switch I've got.

[Yakumo]

Added imprssions about firmware 2.39 and the new scart switch I've got.

The new firmware really improves things a lot. Plus the remote now actually makes sense

[Hirst]

I used to use a high-end Toshiba NTCS/PAL deck as an audio recorder.

I've got a JVC S-VHS deck that I bought for nearly £200 right as they were about to discontinue VHS and it still amazes me how good the quality can be. I think VHS has an unfair reputation due to people creating modern "VHS filter" effects that are just a picture with the contrast/brightness ruined, a soft smear effect over the whole picture and random lines of interference that simply wouldn't be there unless it was the first 20 seconds of an ex-rental tape or some off-brand one that was solely used to record Neighbours every day in LP mode on its 500th go round. Proper tapes on half-decent equipment still look alright to me.

[speedlolita]

S-VHS is decently higher resolution than VHS right? Would like to pick up a deck at some point.

[importaku]

Well i have gone through a selection of test PS1 games and this thing is nothing like the lamemeister keep sticking up for it folks because for PS1 it was useless, stuff like parappa & bust a move were unplayable on that, the frame lag it added was way too much it threw them right out of sync. Put them through the retrotink expecting the same problems and nope totally gone, was able to play them like i was playing on a crt went through both games with no failed stages. Also handled pop n music like a pro too, in fact it's totally aceing everything i throw at it, gonna test it a load more but so far from the single hours mess about it's been well worth getting and i have barely dug into the settings. Gonna test with DDR next as i have played all these for so long i can tell if my timing is off if it adds in any lag or not, but so far consider me very impressed it's totally brought my PS1 back to been able to enjoy it again the picture looks amazing so crisp & pleasant.

[doodledude]

Where do you source this if in the UK?
This doesn't take VGA as an input right? If I had one I would want to use my dreamcast with it and prefer to use VGA output rather than Scart.
The only other console it would be useful to me would be my PSOne so I don't think it'll be worth it to me for the amount I'd use it.

[briareos_kerensky]

This doesn't take VGA as an input right? If I had one I would want to use my dreamcast with it and prefer to use VGA output rather than Scart.

The OSSC accepts VGA, but the newer version of that, the OSSC Pro, should be out soon.

[chopemon]

Where do you source this if in the UK?
This doesn't take VGA as an input right? If I had one I would want to use my dreamcast with it and prefer to use VGA output rather than Scart.
The only other console it would be useful to me would be my PSOne so I don't think it'll be worth it to me for the amount I'd use it.

You need to buy it from the official site and there is an easy to miss UK ordering link on this page: https://www.retrotink.com/product-page/5x-pro

You've reminded me to try it with my DC. I use an Akura for mine currently but it means I can't play Bangai-o which is something that frustrates me almost daily.

[speedlolita]

Vgperfection will be stocking this too apparently soon, shipping out of Ireland. Not sure what import laws are from there but hopefully you get to avoid that fat £50 fee.

[chopemon]

Has anyone tried a Dreamcast on theirs yet? My DC is currently hooked up with an Akura HDMI converter which is great but VGA incompatible games are a problem and there are at least three that I own/want to own.

I just tried using a cheap DC cable I got for free off here and I get no image at all. The Retrotink reports no signal. I assume it is the cable but before I order a replacement, does anyone know of any issues the DC would have with this (like a NTSC GameCube not working over scart due to the lack of RGB output)? It's a PAL console modded to be region free.

[briareos_kerensky]

Japanese conso over SCART, no problems to report.

[edit] Oh, and someone ported the firmware update program to Mac and Linux.

https://www.retrorgb.com/update-retrotink-products-on-mac-linux.html

[chopemon]

Cheers. After trying the scart I tried a composite cable with a scart adapter and also didn't get any signal. Is that something that should be expected?

[briareos_kerensky]

Do you get signal with composite or S-video? I've always found the DC to be very picky with cables and output devices, I went through several consoles and some wouldn't work with SCART cables that were fine with others. Composite seemed to be the safest choice to see if the console was working.

[chopemon]

No signal with composite. Just VGA. So I guess maybe my Dreamcast just doesn't like these cables or Retrotink. Just realised my TV has a scart socket so I can at least test to see if anything comes through that. Just good to know that in theory it should work with the RetroTink.