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[Tal Shiar Agent]

RetroTINK 4K Details Revealed

Mike Chi has just revealed details about the upcoming RetroTINK 4K. I've personally been testing this product for months and am so excited to finally be able to discuss it publicly, however there's one thing I need to clarify before we continue: This should be considered the "Sony BVM" of scalers.

www.retrorgb.com

After a long wait Mike Chi has given details on the near-final specs for the RetroTINK 4K. Mike Chi has a long history of making retro scalers, starting with the original RetroTink 2x which was a line-doubler (it turns 280p and 480i signals that modern TVs can have a hard time reading and scaling without significant lag into 480p), before eventually coming out with the RetroTINK 5x which could scale up to 1440p. Now we will have the RetroTINK 4K, which in addition to being able to scale up to 4K it can also take HDMI input, meaning PS3, 360, WiiU, and Switch can be scaled and processed without needing to use quality-reducing HDMI-to-Component converters.

For reference the component ports can take composite signal over Green and the VGA (HD-15) and SCART ports can take component, composite, RGB, and S-Video. So if you have a video switch that sends everything out via VGA or SCART you only need to use the one input on the device. If you have an existing setup with another scaler like the RetroTINK 2x or OSSC you could just send the HDMI output from them in passthrough mode to the 4K to be scaled and filtered.

One of the biggest improvements to picture quality will be new masks and filters, like a CRT emulating filter that replicates how the pixels in older games were designed to blend into each other to produce smooth images on old CRTs.



My Life in Gaming did a 4 hour stream/interview with Mike about the feature set of the RetroTINK 4K. Mike hasn't announced a final price yet due to being a largely one-man operation and sourcing components, but it is likely to be between $500 and $1000. Mike Chi said to budget $1000 but be prepared to be pleasantly surprised.

Morph 4K | Pixel FX

A 4K Upscale that form fits your setup

www.pixelfx.co

Pixel FX - Morph Update

PixelFX have just posted their first official update on the Morph in over a year and a half and it seems like it was worth the wait! Their target release date is before the end of this year and there's multiple versions to choose from: An HDMI-only version at $400, plus multiple analog + HDMI inpu

www.retrorgb.com

In addition to the above, PixelFX (the people behind the various HDMI mods for consoles like the N64, PS1, and PS2 and products like the Optical Drive Emulator for the GameCube, GCLoader) have finally given details on their scaler, the PixelFX Morph 4K.
The Morph 4K will have a similar feature-set to the RetroTINK 4K but will be modular. At its base it will have two versions, HDMI-only and HDMI + Analog. What makes this different is that there is a PCI-e port on the inside of the device that lets you change what kind of inputs you want. So at launch you can have component and SCART, BCN, and component and VGA. This scaler can also take component, composite, S-Video, and RGB over VGA (HD-15) and SCART. Like the RetroTINK 4K, if you have an existing setup with another scaler like the RetroTINK 2x or OSSC you could just send the HDMI output from them in passthrough mode to the Morph 4K to be scaled and filtered.

The Morph will launch later this year for $400 for the HDMI-only model or $500 for the HDMI+Analog module, with one of the input cards of your choice.
We don't have videos or previews of the Morph yet, but I believe they are coming this weekend.

PixelFX is also working on a product called the Infinity Switch. It is a modular video switcher that will accept virtually every input type (including HDMI) and output HDMI, VGA, and BNC. It isn't a converter so you can't use this in place of a scaler, but in conjunction with one. With both the RetroTINK 4K and Morph 4K you could configure your modules in any way you want and send just the VGA and HDMI to either scaler and everything will work seamlessly. There is no price or date yet for the Infinity Switch.



I'm sorry if this reads like an advertisement but I am just very excited that we are finally going to have easy to use and relatively cheap HDMI-capable scalers designed specifically for video games, and that there is real choice for once.

 

[ThaMonkeyClaw]

 

[GrayFoxPL]

My Life in Gaming did a 4 hour stream/interview with Mike about the feature set of the RetroTINK 4K. Mike hasn't announced a final price yet due to being a largely one-man operation and sourcing components, but it is likely to be between $500 and $1000.

Yeah, no.

 

[alphachino]

Im really interested in what the price of the tink4k is gonna be. Im definitely down for one. Morph looks interesting too, but i really like the 5x so prob gonna stick with mike. Main reason for getting the 4k for me is for that VGA input. Ive resisted hdmi modding any of my consoles and im really happy we have finally gottwn to this point where the hdmi for all the retro consoles is no longer necessary.

 

[alphachino]

Yeah, no.

Yeah, no what? Framemeister cost 500+ 10 years ago. The tink4k is totally worth it for what youre getting imo

 

[THE DUCK]

I dont get the price point on these .....I'm out.

 

[AV]

For that price I'm getting a MiSTer.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Yeah, no.

I get it, I do. These are enthusiast products for a niche market. Cheap scalers/converters like the RetroTINK 2x are still available, but then you will have to trust your TV to not butcher the scaling from 480p to 4K or adding a ton of input lag. Modern TVs are better about it than a few years ago but it can still be a crap shoot.

 

[cireza]

I guess it is better than nothing if you can't have a CRT.

 

[Porticus]

Much clever to buy a pc for 1000$ and use crt royale.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

For that price I'm getting a MiSTer.

The MiSTer is great too if you don't mind emulation or not using original carts/discs. In fact you can set the MiSTer to output native resolution and use it in conjunction with these scalers to have everything in one setup since I know a ton of people use the MiSTer specifically for arcade hardware emulation alongside original hardware for home consoles.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

I hesitated on upscalers until now but F, this sounds like the real deal. If one or both of these can provide the end-all, be-all solution to the resolution problem with older hardware, the price is perfectly OK especially if you haven't bought a Framemeister or something similar before. Good things come to those who wait.

Sure, a Mister is even better if you want a one-box solution for the majority of vintage game systems. If you want to enjoy Gen 6 and beyond without emulation though, this sounds like the best way.

 

[Bry0]

Cool but I can’t bite the bullet on these. Pricing is still crazy to me and if you have a lot of consoles you need to buy all these adapters and switchers and end up with an insane mess of wires. It will never happen but if these were built into an AVR type device with tons of ports that would be cool.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Cool but I can’t bite the bullet on these. Pricing is still crazy to me and if you have a lot of consoles you need to buy all these adapters and switchers and end up with an insane mess of wires. It will never happen but if these were built into an AVR type device with tons of ports that would be cool.

Someone did something like this a decade ago.

18 different gaming consoles combined into one system

The ultimate mod Modder Bacteria spent over three years and over $1,000 to merge 18 different consoles into one giant...

www.destructoid.com

 

[Pasta la Vista]

Yeah, no what? Framemeister cost 500+ 10 years ago. The tink4k is totally worth it for what youre getting imo

Pretty sure Framemeister was 300, thats what I got it for at least.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Oh they will and it will be $400 dollars worth.

Amazing device though.

 

[Nostalgic Nightmare]

Yeah I'll just keep using a CRT with RGB. Good for those that want to retro game on a 4k tv I guess.....

 

[Sleepwalker]

I love my tv but I wouldnt want to play retro on it. For $500 you can probably get a truckload of crt tvs


Theres also some twitter drama betweem the people that make these, its funny.

 

[Pelta88]

I know that BC is a big thing on forums but for me, as soon as the next generation lands, I box up my old system and gift it. I'm too eager to see what next/current gen can do to go back to games created for older hardware.

 

[BlackTron]

Man that Sonic comparison screenshot looks so good. Made me wanna get one. But at that price, I can just keep playing at Switch native res and use a real CRT/Genesis once in a while.

With the wealth of ports and everything. The utility is there. If you really care about a streamlined sexy setup, picture/input lag, and have extra money sure. It's chiseling out a few extra percentage points for massive cost.

 

[Ulysses 31]

If it shows some serious benefits over the RetroTink 5X Pro I'll get it!

 

[Bry0]

I know that BC is a big thing on forums but for me, as soon as the next generation lands, I box up my old system and gift it. I'm too eager to see what next/current gen can do to go back to games created for older hardware.

I used to be that way but softmodding 6th gen and ps3 is so incredibly easy that it really changed my view on those systems. They can still provide hours of fun especially if you are a tinkerer.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I'm in for the Tink4K. One of the bigger draws for me is the application to newer consoles - it'd be nice to revisit the few 360 games I liked and have them look really good on a new display, despite them rendering at 720p. Honestly, it's probably going to be good for PS4 games that only output at 1080p, too. Not night and day, but a definite nice to have.

 

[Esppiral]

Ermmmm I'll stick with my series X and CRT royal, thanks.

 

[joeygreco1985]

I appreciate it exists but that price is shitty. I'm all for original hardware but that's a lot of money to get a display that looks similar to an emulated game

 

[Ulysses 31]

I appreciate it exists but that price is shitty. I'm all for original hardware but that's a lot of money to get a display that looks similar to an emulated game

Have you seen how these old consoles look with cheap HDMI adapters on HD/4K TVs? Devices like the RetroTink make big improvements to the picture quality with options to make the pixels very sharp or give it more of a CRT look.

 

[Hudo]

Damn, thats 361900 Zimbabwe Dollars.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

I appreciate it exists but that price is shitty. I'm all for original hardware but that's a lot of money to get a display that looks similar to an emulated game

These are individuals/small teams designing the hardware, writing the software, sourcing components, and contracting production lines themselves. They don't have the resources to make deals for economies of scale that big corporations do, their profit margins are not big on these kind of products at all.

$500 is cheap for what this can do. Professional equipment can cost 5 digits.

 

[64bitmodels]

Man that Sonic comparison screenshot looks so good

The mario kart comparison impressed me more imo. Turned that render from a crusty n64 jpg into a shiny, well rendered highres mario.

Still. Probably nothing you couldn't achieve with CRT Royale on a bog standard LCD/OLED

 

[ReBurn]

I'll just keep using the cheap component to HDMI converter I have. Features are nice but theres a limit to what it's worth.

 

[Ulysses 31]

Probably nothing you couldn't achieve with CRT Royale on a bog standard LCD/OLED

So not really an option then if you're playing on original hardware which is what devices like the RetroTink are made for.

 

[Ulysses 31]

I'll just keep using the cheap component to HDMI converter I have. Features are nice but theres a limit to what it's worth.

Digital component is capable of 1080p signals so for that, (cheap) adapters usually are adequate enough. But for composite signals, cheap adapters ain't really gonna cut it on big HD TVs.

 

[mrmustard]

The price is ridiculous. Hope Aliexpress sellers will copy it for cheap.

 

[64bitmodels]

Component is capable of HD signals so for that, (cheap) adapters usually are adequate enough. But for composite signals, cheap adapters ain't really gonna cut it on big HD TVs.

True, but component is the way to go, in these scenarios. Composite should never be used for retro systems. It's too ugly and blurry.

 

[Bry0]

I'll just keep using the cheap component to HDMI converter I have. Features are nice but theres a limit to what it's worth.

I mostly use cheaper hdmi converters for my Xbox and ps2, kaico and xbox2hdmi. From my observation if the device can do 480p out at minimum, it looks pretty good, so for Xbox is a non issue. Ps2 however is mostly 480i and MAN does the interlacing look awful on my LG CX running through a component>hdmi converter. Games like socom that have a 480p mode look exponentially better. I totally see why people like these devices especially for even older systems where tvs may not even take those 240 signals. Maybe if I had a bunch of 5th gen or older consoles I’d be more inclined to shell out for these.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

The price is ridiculous. Hope Aliexpress sellers will copy it for cheap.

You realize how much of a scumbag saying this makes you seem like?

Anyway, Mike deliberately lasers off the product info on this chips to prevent this kind of crime from happening.

 

[Knightime_X]

If it can make Xbox 360 games I can't play anywhere else look good on a 4k set, and improve jaggies in a switch game I might bite.

 

[squarealex]

Yeah, no.

Jesus Fking christ, what the fuck this price.

 

[mrmustard]

You realize how much of a scumbag saying this makes you seem like?

Anyway, Mike deliberately lasers off the product info on this chips to prevent this kind of crime from happening.

Calm down. i'm not talking about a 1:1 copy. Just something similar for a reasonable price.

 

[U n i o n 0015]

Everyone old enough to want to buy these devices can afford $1K, I don't think the price is bad at all considering it's one guy making it and an amazing product.

 

[Bry0]

If it can make Xbox 360 games I can't play anywhere else look good on a 4k set, and improve jaggies in a switch game I might bite.

I don’t think it’s going to do much for a 360 that your tv can’t already do. This is really most helpful for older systems that don’t have hdmi and are putting out 480i or lower signals.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

I don’t think it’s going to do much for a 360 that your tv can’t already do. This is really most helpful for older systems that don’t have hdmi and are putting out 480i or lower signals.

It'll do a lot for games that aren't upscaled already. So anything that's native 720p. Same goes for Switch, anything that's actually native rez will look better through these scalers scaled to 4K than your TV can do.

 

[Ozzie666]

Solid products for Retrotink, he does excellent work. The Pixel FX stuff is very hard to get at the suggested retail prices, there is something going on there. Installers seem to get access to them before normal people. prices get jacked. Retro world is expensive. My N64 is in great shape, but it's long in the tooth. Dreamcast, Gamecube are getting to the point where they probably need re-capping or real servicing. I retired old Super NES and Genesis with Analogue products, have not been disappointed.

My worry is whatever prices they say now, will double or triple, especially the Pixel product. Anyone into this will easily pay the price.

 

[Katatonic]

Solid products for Retrotink, he does excellent work. The Pixel FX stuff is very hard to get at the suggested retail prices, there is something going on there. Installers seem to get access to them before normal people. prices get jacked. Retro world is expensive. My N64 is in great shape, but it's long in the tooth. Dreamcast, Gamecube are getting to the point where they probably need re-capping or real servicing. I retired old Super NES and Genesis with Analogue products, have not been disappointed.

My worry is whatever prices they say now, will double or triple, especially the Pixel product. Anyone into this will easily pay the price.

I'm worried about that too. I really want this as I have hardware going back to the 80's and my Trinitron is on borrowed time.

 

[Katatonic]

HDR is the secret sauce for CRT filters. See Shadow Gangs on PS5 with CRT filter enabled.

 

[Naked Lunch]

The RetroTINK 5X is the single best purchase I ever made in my gaming history.
Been using it for years now and I cant recommend it enough. It re-animated my entire retro setup that was sitting it storage for years.

I have no plans retro gaming on a 4K TV (1080p is just fine for me) but the RT4K looks to be the be all, end all, solution.

 

[StereoVsn]

$500 would actually be a very good price for something like this. I have a Retrotink 2x Pro Multiscan and 5 and they are very good for what they do.

If its a $1000 ...that's a tough situation, I would probably try that other company.

 

[Grechy34]

The MiSTer is great too if you don't mind emulation or not using original carts/discs. In fact you can set the MiSTer to output native resolution and use it in conjunction with these scalers to have everything in one setup since I know a ton of people use the MiSTer specifically for arcade hardware emulation alongside original hardware for home consoles.

Calling Mister emulation is underselling it a little let's be honest here.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Calling Mister emulation is underselling it a little let's be honest here.

I know the FPGA community can get their panties in a twist about it, but it's still emulation. MiSTer, Analogue's consoles, etc its emulation, a different kind from stuff like PCSX2 and Nesticle, but it's still emulation.

 

[Grechy34]

I know the FPGA community can get their panties in a twist about it, but it's still emulation. MiSTer, Analogue's consoles, etc its emulation, a different kind from stuff like PCSX2 and Nesticle, but it's still emulation.

Hard to argue that, it's just a perfect level of emulation I guess.