BobbyColtrane
Member
Hell yeah. Tomorrow it is!
- RetroUSB AVS - Real Hardware HDMI NES Clone Console
- Thread starter Rich!
- Start date
dcx4610
Member
Firmware updates are done through Scoreboard. You connect your AVS via USB to your computer, run scoreboard and update from there.
Yes, there is a Mac version. Software and instructions here. It's not clear if the AVS is being shipped with the latest firmware that fixes the audio issues so might as well be ready.
http://vintage.nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=106&threadid=166537
NOLA_Gaffer
Banned
That's awesome, thanks! I might have to invest in a super-long USB cable so I can participate in the scoreboard stuff.
The MLiG live stream had the retroUSB guy on tonight talking about it. Here's the archive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FW1rl78aFE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FW1rl78aFE
Marty Chinn
Member
Just got a shipping notice. Anyone know where these are shipping from?
StAidan
Member
Based on tracking, my shipment originated from Redwood City, CA.
dcx4610
Member
Got mine. Haven't had a chance to hook it up yet but I'm impressed but how small it is and it has a good build quality feel to it. The grey is very close to the original NES which I like a lot. I can confirm the console comes shipped with the 1.10 firmware which should be the latest.
Marty Chinn
Member
Whoa, that's like in my backyard. I guess that means I'll get mine tomorrow. Nice!
Most likely. And then be held up at customs for days on end :/
BobbyColtrane
Member
That's really good news. I wasn't looking forward to updating firmware tonight.
Polioliolio
Member
Dah, I'm jealous. Still no shipping notification for meeee.
Have fun guuys!
Have fun guuys!
Same, I pre-ordered the first hour we could and mine hasn't shipped, yet people already have theirs.
Guess they're randomly shipping orders. Here's hoping ours ships soon!
SuperCambot
Banned
Got mine! And I never got around to ordering it until at least a week after it went on sale.
riskVSreward
Member
Just 3 more hours of work before I can try it out. Perhaps I'll do a stream tonight and take some requests.
wutGot mine! And I never got around to ordering it until at least a week after it went on sale.
And those of us who ordered within minutes of it going on sale haven't received our shipping notices yet lol
Yes, I'm jealous
BobbyColtrane
Member
haha i wouldn't have noticed that if you didn't point it out.
according to the usps, mine is sitting on my doorstep....
and to be fair, i DID order mine as soon as it became available.
dcx4610
Member
Played it for a few minutes on my 4k TV and it looks and sounds fantastic. Unless you have an incredibly critical eye, I can't imagine anyone having a problem with it.
The scaling looks proper and everything sounds the way it should. I tested fighting Mike Tyson in Punch Out and beat him to test the lag. That's the quickest twitch test I know of and if that passes (it did), I'm happy.
The scaling looks proper and everything sounds the way it should. I tested fighting Mike Tyson in Punch Out and beat him to test the lag. That's the quickest twitch test I know of and if that passes (it did), I'm happy.
Polioliolio
Member
Do you think the tight grip will loosen up after awhile? Might it be beneficial to break it in by thrusting a junk cart in a few dozen times?
I'm also curious how the scoreboard works. Does it save completion times, or point values, or whaaaat...?
I'm also curious how the scoreboard works. Does it save completion times, or point values, or whaaaat...?
BobbyColtrane
Member
Im not going to post any pics, bc no pics or videos can do it justice. Playing SMB 1 on my 4k tv with the same controller i used in 1986.
Absolutely no comparison to playing on an emulator imo. This thing is world class, really happy i bought it.
Absolutely no comparison to playing on an emulator imo. This thing is world class, really happy i bought it.
bronk
Banned
My man! I played that, t&c surf and superspike v'ball. I have a vizio m60 4k and this looks incredible on it with amazing input lag.
Superblatt
Member
Still waiting for shipping confirmation as I ordered on August 8th. I'm guessing it if doesn't leave tmrw I won't see it in Chicago by the weekend. Crossing my fingers!!!
Being able to power this thing off my TV's USB port is pretty great. Tried River City Ransom for a bit, and man is it pretty. I know some people don't like the 720p > 1080p thing, but I tried to get up close to check out the upscaling and whether it's my TV or the system, I've for zero complaints.
Polioliolio
Member
Someone posted a thorough video review on the last page. In that review, I believe they said the best settings to match the CRT ratio is 4x vertical and 5x horizontal, if I remember correctly.
CrashPrime
Member
So with this outputting only 720p, I basically get 1:1 or 4:3 (or the odd looking 5:3)
If I have a 1080p display, that integer scaled image will not be integer correct anymore when the internal TV scaler brings it up, right?
A previous post talked about basically the only way to get a correct image on a 1080p display would be to render at either:
1) 5:4 (1280x960) resulting in black bars all around a properly rendered image
2) 6:5 (1536x1200) resulting in a slight overscan vertically but still proper square pixels
ie: this device is really ideal mainly for 720p and 4k sets?
Right?
The confusing part is, am I aiming for square pixels? Isn't that really only 1:1? ie: 1080p would be perfectly square at 1280x1200 instead?
If I have a 1080p display, that integer scaled image will not be integer correct anymore when the internal TV scaler brings it up, right?
A previous post talked about basically the only way to get a correct image on a 1080p display would be to render at either:
1) 5:4 (1280x960) resulting in black bars all around a properly rendered image
2) 6:5 (1536x1200) resulting in a slight overscan vertically but still proper square pixels
ie: this device is really ideal mainly for 720p and 4k sets?
Right?
The confusing part is, am I aiming for square pixels? Isn't that really only 1:1? ie: 1080p would be perfectly square at 1280x1200 instead?
Marty Chinn
Member
Weird, the lighting in my office makes the upper shell look like it's old and yellowing.
Beer Monkey
Member
There essentially is no such thing as a 720p set. All of the "720p" flat panels are some version of 768p and still perform non-integer scaling on 720p inputs.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
All part of the nostalgia
Marty Chinn
Member
Heh, that part of nostalgia is the part I could do without =)
Glad to hear you and others have good impressions. From what I saw in the MLiG video, 4:3 is the best out of the three options although still wide (1:1 is too thin and 5:3 is extremely wide).
That's not possible on AVS. It has a fixed 3x vertical scale (720p).
Everything in your post is correct except the part about a 720p TV being ideal. The best option seems like 4K as it's the only one that will give you an integer upscale. Neither a 768p nor 1080p display will do that, although 1080p upscale doesn't seem to bother anyone.
You don't want square pixels (1:1), it looks too narrow. You want ones that are a bit wide. NES games were designed with roughly 5:4 to 6:5 aspect ratios in mind.
Polioliolio
Member
I wouldn't sweat it.
Dig this -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGSidnlOhd4
They talk about the settings available to you with the AVS to get an accurate looking image. I suppose it's not perfect, but they seem quite enthusiastic. I was worried about that too, but what they show in the video looks fine to me, but I'm not too picky here. For "perfection", there's always playing NES on a CRT in a neighbor's garage.
Edit: guess I've been corrected.. Well whatever they did in that video. Yeah, that looked great and I'm content with that, heh.
Edit again!: okay I think I get it then. 5:3 is what you can set it to with AVS, but it's not quite right.
Got my shipping notification today!
Can't wait to play this weekend!!
CrashPrime
Member
So are 5:4 1280x960 (letter/pillarbox) or 6:5 1536x1200 (slight vertical overscan of 120px) available on the Analog NT mini? Is there any talk of this, or are we assuming the future is 4k sets and accepting 12:9 (4:3) the way forward displaying NES games?
dcx4610
Member
Played through Double Dragon 2 tonight and I love how accurate the AVS is. DDII has a massive amount of video glitches on its borders and AVS retains them perfectly.
Obviously the AVS should be 100% perfect as long as the FPGA is programmed correctly but it's still cool to see it in actual practice. I've seen or heard nothing so far that makes me think something is wrong on all of the games I've thrown at it.
I'm not sure how much time I'll actually devote to the system but I still love knowing I can now play my NES games in high definition with big, beautiful, crisp pixels.
Obviously the AVS should be 100% perfect as long as the FPGA is programmed correctly but it's still cool to see it in actual practice. I've seen or heard nothing so far that makes me think something is wrong on all of the games I've thrown at it.
I'm not sure how much time I'll actually devote to the system but I still love knowing I can now play my NES games in high definition with big, beautiful, crisp pixels.
Ooh, did the extra sprite mode stop the sprites from flickering all crazy?
RadarScope1
Member
Love this. Glad you're enjoying it.
cacophony555
Member
Yes, the Nt mini supports both of those according to Analogue.
Yes, the NT Mini has both. The Hi-Def NES mod has the first one. You'll have to accept 4:3 on the AVS. It's not the worst thing ever tbh.
riskVSreward
Member
So how do I use Scoreboard? I got my AVS powered via my PC USB and it just fails to connect to the host.