retrotink 2x RetroTink 2X Pro: Fantastic!

[+DrVenkman]

On 4/24/2020 at 8:09 PM, tschak909 said:

They're currently in stock, so you'll see yours late this next week.

-Thom

 

Well as of today, they currently show as out of stock. Hope my order slipped under the wire and gets shipped this week.

[leech]

2 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

Well as of today, they currently show as out of stock. Hope my order slipped under the wire and gets shipped this week.

Probably due to this thread!  Good luck!  I still need to re-test mine with the new cables I got, as the S-Video split into RCA female connectors I was using seemed to not sit well on the port, so I had to fiddle with it a bit for it to stay in place, or it'd keep disconnecting.  Pretty sure it's because the port is recessed just a tiny bit too far in.

[mikesk8]

Hi, I am a new owner of Atari 800 (not XL) and looking for a good cable to connect it to retrorink pro to get svideo. Could you please recommend a good one (preferably available in Europe)? Thanks:)

[BillC]

22 minutes ago, mikesk8 said:

Hi, I am a new owner of Atari 800 (not XL) and looking for a good cable to connect it to retrorink pro to get svideo. Could you please recommend a good one (preferably available in Europe)? Thanks:)

https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=198

[mikesk8]

8 hours ago, BillC said:

https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=198

This cable does not have rca output needed for svideo I afraid. Only yellow for composite and 2 for audio. The svideo output plug cannot be connected to retrotink .

Edited July 17, 2020 by mikesk8

[BillC]

20 minutes ago, mikesk8 said:

This cable does not have rca output needed for svideo I afraid. Only yellow for composite and 2 for audio. The svideo output plug cannot be connected to retrotink .

According to the retrotink website the 2X Classic and Pro models do have a mini-DIN s-video input jack, the 4-pin mini-DIN has been the standard connector for s-video since it was introduced on Super-VHS VCRs in the 80's.

In this image from post#1 the s-video cable should be the one plugging in the right hand side, audio on the bottom, HDMI output and power on the top

[mikesk8]

18 minutes ago, BillC said:

According to the retrotink website the 2X Classic and Pro models do have a mini-DIN s-video input jack, the 4-pin mini-DIN has been the standard connector for s-video since it was introduced on Super-VHS VCRs in the 80's.

In this image from post#1 the s-video cable should be the one plugging in the right hand side, audio on the bottom, HDMI output and power on the top

Thanks a lot! I did not notice it:( super, im set then!;-)

[mikesk8]

I have just connected (via s-video) my Atari 800 with Lotharek cable and retroTINK pro (v1.5) and got strange artefacts on the right side of the screen in some games - have you noticed the same? It is visible in both composite and s-video options.

 

Edited August 1, 2020 by mikesk8

[+DrVenkman]

6 minutes ago, mikesk8 said:

and got strange artefacts on the right side of the screen in some game - have you noticed the same?

Yes, this is very common with some games (notably POLE POSITION, which you see above), when you run an Atari game, which was written for 4:3 CRT displays, on a modern 16:9 widescreen display.  It has nothing whatsoever to do with the RetroTink.

[bfollowell]

It looks like overscan garbage.

[mikesk8]

1 minute ago, DrVenkman said:

Yes, this is very common with some games (notably POLE POSITION, which you see above), when you run an Atari game, which was written for 4:3 CRT displays, on a modern 16:9 widescreen display.  It has nothing whatsoever to do with the RetroTink.

Thank you! Any options to remove it? or minimise it? 

[+DrVenkman]

Just now, mikesk8 said:

Thank you! Any options to remove it? or minimise it? 

Um, get a 4:3 display?   Otherwise you're pretty much stuck with it. If your TV has a 4:3 mode, you could try switching to it and see if it hides the video noise. (*)

 

(*) That noise is actually data in the Atari's memory that would normally not be displayed on a vintage screen.

[bfollowell]

3 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

Um, get a 4:3 display?   Otherwise you're pretty much stuck with it. If your TV has a 4:3 mode, you could try switching to it and see if it hides the video noise. (*)

 

(*) That noise is actually data in the Atari's memory that would normally not be displayed on a vintage screen.

 

Wouldn't Michael's GTIA V-Gate mod take care of this?

 

[mikesk8]

2 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

Um, get a 4:3 display?   Otherwise you're pretty much stuck with it. If your TV has a 4:3 mode, you could try switching to it and see if it hides the video noise. (*)

 

(*) That noise is actually data in the Atari's memory that would normally not be displayed on a vintage screen.

I use a PC LCD widescreen. Even in 4:3 mode it shows. Oki, will live with it:) thanks!

[+DrVenkman]

3 minutes ago, bfollowell said:

 

Wouldn't Michael's GTIA V-Gate mod take care of this?

 

Is the VGATE available as a stand-alone mod? I don't know - I've got it on my 1088XEL and XLD of course. 

 

[bfollowell]

Check out this page

 

https://ataribits.weebly.com/vgate.html

 

Also, watch the video at the bottom. In the example shown there, the corruption doesn't look as bad as what you're seeing, but I'm pretty sure it's related.

 

[tschak909]

Yup, pretty much, this is DMA noise that presents itself when ANTIC is set into WIDE playfield (192 pixel / 384 pixel) mode. It also presents itself when HSCROL is set on a NORMAL width display list line (because ANTIC has to shift into the WIDE playfield mode to fetch pixel data to scroll shift)

 

-Thom

Edited August 1, 2020 by tschak909

[bfollowell]

7 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

Is the VGATE available as a stand-alone mod? I don't know - I've got it on my 1088XEL and XLD of course. 

 

 

You may be right. I knew it was incorporated into our 1088XEL & XLDs, and I saw an image of it installed in an XEGS on Michael's page, but when I read a little further, I read a comment he made about the firmware being stable but the hardware not being quite ready for prime time.

 

Still, in theory I think the V-Gate would take care of this. It just may not be available to the general public outside of 1088s just yet.

 

[mikesk8]

1 hour ago, tschak909 said:

Yup, pretty much, this is DMA noise that presents itself when ANTIC is set into WIDE playfield (192 pixel / 384 pixel) mode. It also presents itself when HSCROL is set on a NORMAL width display list line (because ANTIC has to shift into the WIDE playfield mode to fetch pixel data to scroll shift)

 

-Thom

Can it be removed via software in RetroTINK? I assume its not only me having this issue with retroTINK and modern screen.

[tschak909]

Mike could probably add functionality to crop the display slightly, that'd be about it. Dunno how it would be triggered, as all of the buttons are overloaded many times over.

 

-Thom

[+DrVenkman]

Just now, tschak909 said:

Mike could probably add functionality to crop the display slightly, that'd be about it. Dunno how it would be triggered, as all of the buttons are overloaded many times over.

 

-Thom

If he fixes/adds anything new, I wish he'd add a fixed 480p output resolution mode (not just line-doubling). As it is, the RetroTink 2X/2x-Pro models simply don't work with some 2600 games due to non-standard numbers or timing of scanlines, and even 5200 and A8 software can be problematic if there are too many or two few lines in the ANTIC Display List. 

[leech]

The V-Gate mod should be installed in Every Atari 8bit!  I get overscan stuff just from the Ultimate cart mwnu on normal CRTs.  So there is that.

[+mytek]

9 hours ago, bfollowell said:

You may be right. I knew it was incorporated into our 1088XEL & XLDs, and I saw an image of it installed in an XEGS on Michael's page, but when I read a little further, I read a comment he made about the firmware being stable but the hardware not being quite ready for prime time.

 

Still, in theory I think the V-Gate would take care of this. It just may not be available to the general public outside of 1088s just yet.

Yep you are exactly correct on all counts. I just got to get my lazy ass to work and fix the stand-alone version some day. It needs a different analog switch IC and a bit more research based on the implementation in the 576NUC+ which promises to make the PAL/NTSC adjustment automatic. But it certainly would fix the problem of over scan that you guys are talking about.

 

[leech]

1 hour ago, mytek said:

Yep you are exactly correct on all counts. I just got to get my lazy ass to work and fix the stand-alone version some day. It needs a different analog switch IC and a bit more research based on the implementation in the 576NUC+ which promises to make the PAL/NTSC adjustment automatic. But it certainly would fix the problem of over scan that you guys are talking about.

 

By the way, the Jaguar suffers the same thing.... you know, if you find the time...  hahaha!

It really seems like it should be a feature of things like the RetroTink and OSSC.  The OSSC does seem far more configurable though.  I just wished they had included Composite instead of component, as I literally have ZERO systems that output component. 

[mikesk8]

I still think it would be interesting to check if its possible to fix on RetroTINK level. Not sure how emulators on PC/MAC have solved it.