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Retro AV Club Thread 2: Classic Gaming Done Right!

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I never thought I'd say this, but I think I might go OSSC only in the next 2 to 3 years and sell all my CRTs. I'll start thinking harder about this after my 4K OLED arrives.

Downsizing/decluttering is my main motivation. FPGA is a big helper too, even though there's no 16-bit support yet.
 

Galdelico

Member
Has anyone moved to an OSSC only setup?
That's me.

Even after a long and dedicated search, I still couldn't find a good CTR TV and/or a PVM/pro monitor - not only around my area, but also after getting a couple of them shipped - that wasn't suffering from geometry and convergence issues.
The OSSC has been a life-saver to my retro gaming.
 

Conezays

Member
I feel like I may have to grab an OSSC after so many recommendations. Granted, I prefer to play my consoles on a PVM, but long-term it may be nice to have it on a big HDTV for my systems. Curious how things progress on the successor to the Analogue NT though. The option of HDMI/RGB is certainly enticing, especially if compatibility extends to 16-bit in the next couple years.
 
Couldn't get a SNES classic yesterday but got this on Craigslist today for $150. As an added bonus the console turned out to be a 1-chip!

1Gny3kBl.jpg

Congrats!
 

entremet

Member
That's me.

Even after a long and dedicated search, I still couldn't find a good CTR TV and/or a PVM/pro monitor - not only around my area, but also after getting a couple of them shipped - that wasn't suffering from geometry and convergence issues.
The OSSC has been a life-saver to my retro gaming.
Dark10x (John Linneman) of Digital Foundry really sold me on it in his SNES mini review. It being cheaper than a Framemeister helps a lot.
 

bodine1231

Member
The only thing I don't like about the OSSC is that you can't adjust the thickness of the scanlines. In line 3X they are just a TAD to thin.
 

RobotVM

Member
Alright any advice on adjusting the yoke on my Triniton? I have the grid the best I can get it except the tilt.
 

Yawnny

Member
There seems to be a bit of a rift starting in the retro gaming community?

Voultar (from Voultar's Mod Shop) is calling out Metal Jesus Rocks here. Seems to all stem from a Metal Jesus Rocks video where a Gamecube HDMI device was reviewed and it wasn't explained in the video that this was a prototype that could brick your Gamecube.

Voultar, Retro RGB, My Life In Gaming, HD Retrovision, all seem to be in the same camp (love watching these guys on the Retro Roundtable)...I'm only somewhat familiar with Metal Jesus Rocks.. don't really watch him as much.. Seems he's more in the game collection side of things where-as the likes of Retro RGB and crew love going even further re: quality, hardware, and the overall electronics of it all.

This reminds me of the (somewhat) awkward interview between Adam Koralik and Bob from Retro RGB. This started a bit of slinging back and forth in the comment section.

Not sure why I'm posting this.. I don't really like seeing a rift grow within a community I care for. I guess If some others had thoughts on this.. I hope we all get along by the end of it and everyone learns from each other.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
My thoughts are as follows:

Voultar is kind of an ass, but he knows what he's talking about. I also respect and identify with the fact that he's an ass.

Metal Jesus is... basically the stereotype I think gamers would do well to avoid.
 

Icelight

Member
Posted this on the OSSC forums but they move very slow (or I'm getting ignored :p).

Trying to see if I can get line3/4/5x working on my TV (Panasonic TC-P50UT50) - Line 3x and 5x don't display any image at all if I fiddle with the OSSC settings, but using These settings from a user on the OSSC forums based on their VT60 I can get an image...


Only it's.... well, not a great image :) (Really awful bottom half of the image only happens if I turn the TV off and back on yet too)

Anyone have any ideas as to whether or not I'm simply shit out of luck for line 4x, or are there still settings I might be able to play around with?

I'm guessing no, but the fact that my TV displays anything at all is a nasty tease :(
 
This reminds me of the (somewhat) awkward interview between Adam Koralik and Bob from Retro RGB. This started a bit of slinging back and forth in the comment section.

Koralik's like "Who the hell is this guy" but doesn't ask him, then "He's asking a lot of questions, guy must be clueless!". Bob's like "This guy don't know who i am!" but doesn't bother to tell him, then "I'll ask him some questions i know the answers to". Basically they're both nerds lacking social skills then? Like all of us then!

Bob being far more knowledgeable about RGB & tech though, he should have been the one to stop the awkwardness and maybe give some pointers instead of trying to tease him.
 
Trying to see if I can get line3/4/5x working on my TV (Panasonic TC-P50UT50) - Line 3x and 5x don't display any image at all if I fiddle with the OSSC settings, but using These settings from a user on the OSSC forums based on their VT60 I can get an image...(

Jeez one look at that doc scares me right off the OSSC. Might be helpful when you have that TV but what about the next one you buy.

I have a Framemeister already, but keeping tabs on the OSSC in case something happens where I might want one. I've found Framemeister to be pretty much plug and play (not to say it doesn't have a lot of settings you can fiddle with if you want, just that you mostly don't need to). Though i've heard people say the OSSC is even simpler to get going, it doesn't seem that way to me.

I know they've got a small TV compatibility list, but how come they can't publish the exact TV specifications required to use the various Line #X modes? I realise some TV manufacturers don't always publish full specifications themselves (even in manuals), but take this one from my TV:

w9rIX1O.png

Format name / Display resolution / Refresh rate / Horizontal frequency / Pixel Clock

That at least tells me I can't use any of the Framemeister's 50p output options.
From the OSSC Wiki, "Generic 4:3" modes are:
  • 720x480/576 (Line 2x)
  • 1280x720/864 (Line 3x)
  • 1280x960/1152 (Line 4x)
  • 1536x1080/1200 (Line 5x) with option to output 1920x1080, 1600x1200 or 1920x1200
Does that suggest my TV would only work with Line 2x, 3x and 5x (since those resolutions are listed in my TV specs) - or does the Refresh Rate, Horizontal Frequency or other specs of the TV come into it as well? I guess if Line 5x can output at 1080p but some TVs don't like it still... something else must be at play.
 
There seems to be a bit of a rift starting in the retro gaming community?

Voultar (from Voultar's Mod Shop) is calling out Metal Jesus Rocks here. Seems to all stem from a Metal Jesus Rocks video where a Gamecube HDMI device was reviewed and it wasn't explained in the video that this was a prototype that could brick your Gamecube.

Voultar, Retro RGB, My Life In Gaming, HD Retrovision, all seem to be in the same camp (love watching these guys on the Retro Roundtable)...I'm only somewhat familiar with Metal Jesus Rocks.. don't really watch him as much.. Seems he's more in the game collection side of things where-as the likes of Retro RGB and crew love going even further re: quality, hardware, and the overall electronics of it all.

I've said this before, maybe not in this thread, but I think MJR would be an awesome dude to grab a beer with and just chill. He seems like a truly nice guy, but like others he puts no research into what he makes videos on. He also seems to not think about the fact that he has a large audience, and the impact that him saying hey X device is great go for it will have. I fully agree it was a big fail on his part not doing his due diligence and letting people know that was a prototype and the dangers associated with it (which people warned him about). It's ridiculous that he didn't make a video or comment on the dangers of it till his GC was killed by it. Even then he left the original up unchanged.

With all that said these kinds of things should not be sent to him, but the people who would give it a true test and put this kind of thing through it's paces, don't have the subscription base, and aren't going to throw blind love towards it. So they don't get it sent to them.



This reminds me of the (somewhat) awkward interview between Adam Koralik and Bob from Retro RGB. This started a bit of slinging back and forth in the comment section.

Not sure why I'm posting this.. I don't really like seeing a rift grow within a community I care for. I guess If some others had thoughts on this.. I hope we all get along by the end of it and everyone learns from each other.

It's fine to want everyone to get along, but Koralik and others just do NO RESEARCH, talk completely out of their asses, and spread so much miss information that then gets passed along, specially since they're so popular, that it damages the community. Guys like Koralik don't want to be told they're wrong, they aren't going to correct their statements or views on thing. If that's their attitude, then fuck them, let there be a rift and push these assholes out.
 

JDH

Member
So received my new OSSC 1.6 on Friday and finally got around to playing around with it yesterday. Line 5x does technically work on my TV, but alas, it's cut off top and bottom :/

So Line 3x was my previous "go to" but Line 4x does work on my set and doesn't cut anything off. Problem is "Game Mode" gets disabled on my set in this mode, and I have no control over HDMI Level settings (Normal/Low) or any other picture adjustment settings (besides brightness and contrast.

The picture is nice and sharp and pixel perfect from what I can see, although it is a tad washed out and colors are not saturated as they should be, and blacks aren't inky or actually "black" more of a very, very dark grey (not a mask issue either)

I have already tried different HDMI inputs including my "DVI/HDMI one as well as renaming to "DVI" or "PC" as well on different inputs with no success with the color issue.

Anyone else have this issue and a way to solve it?
 
I agree with the general opinion in this thread. I love MJRs upbeat attitude about everything and he seems like a great dude to hang out with and casually discuss gaming. He has even stated that what makes his videos different is they come off as a guy having fun instead of a guy meticulously researching every detail and reading from a script. I used to watch his videos but since he's switched to fulltime YouTube he's just shittting out videos as fast as he can. Still there are times where he finds something cool and it's fun watching a guy geek out over a "holy grail". When I talk about retro gaming with friends it's always about the games and never about csync vs luma or svideo vs rgb.

As an enthusiast and a techie I much prefer MLIGs formula but I respect MJR for finding his niche and rolling with it.




Yeah that Metal Jesus guy seems to know absolutely nothing about anything in every video of his I’ve watched.

Have you seen the gamesack parody video? They nail him exactly!
 

BTails

Member
Never been a huge MJR fan, I've watched a few of his video but they've never done it for me. I do like Game Sack though for more "strictly game focused" discussion. Light, good production values, and you cover a ton of games in one episode.

That being said, anytime MLiG or DF Retro post a new video, hooboy I'm on that quick like a fly on shit!
 

entremet

Member
Youtube is garbage.

I don't know. MLiG is great! So is phonedork. Curate your channels, like anything else online. Phonedork has been MIA for a bit now though.

MJR is a good guy, but he's not an AV nerd like us. We gotta remember that we're a strange bunch lol.

I mean, I was oogling a 27 inch Toshiba CRT that was on the curb. It had component and S video! But alas, I have decent Sony 20 Wega incher. Tempting tho!

This is not normal behavior lol.
 

Peltz

Member
Never been a huge MJR fan, I've watched a few of his video but they've never done it for me. I do like Game Sack though for more "strictly game focused" discussion. Light, good production values, and you cover a ton of games in one episode.

That being said, anytime MLiG or DF Retro post a new video, hooboy I'm on that quick like a fly on shit!

MLiG and DF Retro are the two best in the business these days when it comes to Retro reviews. If you're looking for something a bit more "fun" focused like MJR but in better quality, I'd check out Classic Game Room. I'm not sure if they're still making videos, but they definitely had some great ones out there.

By the way, that DF Retro comparison between the scanlines wasn't exactly fair. you have to do off-screen shots of both scanline images in order to compare the effect. Doing a direct capture of the emulator vs. off screen of the CRT is never going to give the audience an idea of what the comparison looks like in person under the same lighting/brightness conditions.

Plus, having a less high res monitor with more bloom for the comparison would have also been fairer. I have no doubt that the filter in the SNES classic won't be up to my standards when I finally get my device this week, but that comparison wasn't really the right way to do things.
 

This is hilarious. Thanks for the laugh.

Anyone want to buy Gamecube component, VGA, or RGB SCART cables from me? They've been in my storage for ages, I don't even have a GC anymore... Somebody make me an offer plz. I'll throw a Gamecube memory card in there as a freebie.
 

Kawika

Member
Has anyone moved to an OSSC only setup?

I am still debating if I should put away my Framemeister for the OSSC. I love the way the OSSC works on my old 32" samsung that I used in my office. But I upgraded to a small Sony 4K and that doesn't support every resolution and I find that some systems look better in 3x or 4x vs 5x. My 4K only really supports 5x on every system so I can't bounce between 3x and 4x when I would like to.

The way my set up works right now. I have 2 outputs. 1 to my PVM and the other to my scaler (Framemeister). For games I need to consider input lag, I use the crt. When I want to sit back and chill I use the XRGB.

When I move I will be replacing my "main setup" with my ossc+ks8000. I'm so happy with it that I've decided I no longer need to have a seperate retro setup.

I will be keeping CRTs around for more intimate setups like fighters/shmups where I prefer to play those close to the screen and I will be keeping a BVM setup on at my computer for when I'm multitasking/gaming alone.

At the end of the day my goal with gaming is to have fun with friends and playing local Coop is so much better on a couch and a big TV.

All my retro consoles are in a closet that I set up a tv stand in so I don't have to look at it when its not in use. I am probably going to tear out the whole closet and put in an entertainment center in there with a 40" HDTV/4K next to my PVM so I can still play PS3, Wii U and some of the other newer-old consoles. I will probably have another feed out to my Sony so I can play Adventure/JRPGs on a larger display and not really consider the input lag.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
MLiG and DF Retro are the two best in the business these days when it comes to Retro reviews. If you're looking for something a bit more "fun" focused like MJR but in better quality, I'd check out Classic Game Room. I'm not sure if they're still making videos, but they definitely had some great ones out there.
.

Yeah, people give Mark some shit for the newer CGR stuff, but I dunno -- I still think all that stuff is great. Mark's the kind of dude you'd want to hang out with IRL, and I think that's cool.
 

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
I agree with the general opinion in this thread. I love MJRs upbeat attitude about everything and he seems like a great dude to hang out with and casually discuss gaming. He has even stated that what makes his videos different is they come off as a guy having fun instead of a guy meticulously researching every detail and reading from a script.
Except he does read from a script which just makes it sad.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
MJR is like that friend you had in elementary school who had a bunch of cool shit that your parents wouldn't buy you, so you would go over to his house after school every day to play video games, but you weren't really friends with him, and his parents were like "I don't like that Chacranajxy kid, he's just using you for your stuff," and I'm like "no, dude, we Gucci," and then when we got to middle school I didn't hang out with him anymore because he was a loser.
 
So received my new OSSC 1.6 on Friday and finally got around to playing around with it yesterday. Line 5x does technically work on my TV, but alas, it's cut off top and bottom :/

So Line 3x was my previous "go to" but Line 4x does work on my set and doesn't cut anything off. Problem is "Game Mode" gets disabled on my set in this mode, and I have no control over HDMI Level settings (Normal/Low) or any other picture adjustment settings (besides brightness and contrast.

The picture is nice and sharp and pixel perfect from what I can see, although it is a tad washed out and colors are not saturated as they should be, and blacks aren't inky or actually "black" more of a very, very dark grey (not a mask issue either)

I have already tried different HDMI inputs including my "DVI/HDMI one as well as renaming to "DVI" or "PC" as well on different inputs with no success with the color issue.

Anyone else have this issue and a way to solve it?

I run Line 5x at 1600x1200 resolution, which fits the picture to the screen.
 
I'll have to try that when I get home; does it restrict any of your picture settings such as color adjustments, Game Modes, HDMI modes etc?

Nope, I am able to run it in game mode and have all typical picture settings (w/o post processing options, since it's game mode). However, on my TV (KS8000), I don't think access to those settings is contingent on the OSSC's line scaling.
 

Madao

Member
i've had the OSSC for a year and it's a dream come true. once set up, all it takes is flicking a switch on and it's almost as if the console plugged in had a native HDMI output.
leagues better than FM for my needs since i don't really care about scanlines but value low input lag a lot. i always aim to trim down and keep my setup the simplest i can and the OSSC fits pretty well. i only keep a CRT around since it's a hassle to sell it but might end up selling it since i haven't used it at all this year.

So received my new OSSC 1.6 on Friday and finally got around to playing around with it yesterday. Line 5x does technically work on my TV, but alas, it's cut off top and bottom :/

So Line 3x was my previous "go to" but Line 4x does work on my set and doesn't cut anything off. Problem is "Game Mode" gets disabled on my set in this mode, and I have no control over HDMI Level settings (Normal/Low) or any other picture adjustment settings (besides brightness and contrast.

The picture is nice and sharp and pixel perfect from what I can see, although it is a tad washed out and colors are not saturated as they should be, and blacks aren't inky or actually "black" more of a very, very dark grey (not a mask issue either)

I have already tried different HDMI inputs including my "DVI/HDMI one as well as renaming to "DVI" or "PC" as well on different inputs with no success with the color issue.

Anyone else have this issue and a way to solve it?

i got the same problem. line4x would be ideal but the TV's settings can't get changed and it looks bad. i stuck with line3x for 240p stuff and just passthrough for 480p stuff.
 

Kawika

Member
MJR is like that friend you had in elementary school who had a bunch of cool shit that your parents wouldn't buy you, so you would go over to his house after school every day to play video games, but you weren't really friends with him, and his parents were like "I don't like that Chacranajxy kid, he's just using you for your stuff," and I'm like "no, dude, we Gucci," and then when we got to middle school I didn't hang out with him anymore because he was a loser.

I kinda feel we all knew a person like that. Now we collect retro hardware and come to a forum where other like-minded people talk about our stupid obsession of picture quality, scan lines and input lag. I am sure we are lower on The Geek Hierarchy than other video gamers and anime fans but probably beat out trekkies and larpers.

I think there is a wide spectrum of retro gamers. MJR is of the I buy all the games and don't play all of it variety. I am on the replace the games I lost over the years but if its too expensive, play that shit on an everdrive because Nintendo or whomever isn't getting a cut anyway. I am also of the variety that buys stupid expensive things to get the best picture out of my games and movies. I could care less about my game collection if it got stolen or destroyed. I would just replace everything with everdrives. I would be bummed to lose my hardware and crts more than the media.
 

bodine1231

Member
As far as I'm concerned there is no reason to own an XRGB mini now that the OSSC is available. The reason I used the mini over the OSSC was for scaling up GBA games,but that meant not having scanlines because the XRGB would also blow up the scanlines and they'd be to far apart and thin, it was worthless. Now,most modern (2015 and up) have awesome built in adjustable zoom functions. So you can scale up the GBA game to fill the screen while keeping even and tight scanlines! If you have a newer 4K TV with adjustable zoom sell your Framemeister and buy an OSSC.It has better PQ and no lag.
 

Peltz

Member
MJR is like that friend you had in elementary school who had a bunch of cool shit that your parents wouldn't buy you, so you would go over to his house after school every day to play video games, but you weren't really friends with him, and his parents were like "I don't like that Chacranajxy kid, he's just using you for your stuff," and I'm like "no, dude, we Gucci," and then when we got to middle school I didn't hang out with him anymore because he was a loser.

Oh yea. I had a friend like that.

Who am I kidding? I was that kid.
 
I was a cool kid with stuff until I moved and decided I liked Sega more than other people.

I hope I don't ever see you guys that think YouTube is garbage ever clicking on or sharing a YT video. ;)

RetroRGB - $6 RGB SCART Cable vs High-quality shielded cable. I'm looking forward to part 2.

I support CGR on patreon and don't mind some RetroRGB or that one channel where the guy posts videos his dad recorded in the 90s but if they put every gaming youtuber on a rocker and launches them into the sun the world would be better.

I live for Japanese cooking Youtube though.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
I was a cool kid with stuff until I moved and decided I liked Sega more than other people.



I support CGR on patreob and don't mind some RetroRGB or that one channel where the guy posts videos his dad recorded in the 90s but if they put every gaming youtuber on a rocker and launches them into the sun the world would be better.

I live for Japanese cooking Youtube though.

I didn't even realize Japanese cooking Youtube was a thing, though I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I should really learn to cook more Japanese-style stuff.
 
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