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Retro console upscalers

BAcon

BAcon

BAcon

Soldato
Joined
7 Apr 2004
Posts
5,015
Location
near Bristol
Hi all,
I want to get all of my consoles from the loft and set up a retro gaming corner in my small office.

It would include PS1, PS2, PS3, original Xbox, 360, plus I'd want to add an N64 to it later if I can find a nice deal.

TV wise I have an old 40" Samsung 1080p LCD I can use, it's old, 2012, will check, but assume it will have a scart plus usual hdmi etc.

Which upscaler do you recommend?

I know a CRT will work better for the PS2 and older, but I don't have room for 2 TVs in this space!

Cheers
 
I recommend an OSSC such as this (first hit in Google, so not recommending any specific model or retailer). This will work with all your consoles and is far cheaper than getting individual HDMI adapters for each console.
videogameperfection.com

Open Source Scan Converter (OSSC) V1.8

The worlds best zero lag retro gaming upscaler and video converter is now even better.
videogameperfection.com videogameperfection.com
Loads of used options on Ebay too.

Then I would use a high quality scart block so all consoles can be plugged in at once - Note that this is 100% optional. I have an auto switching one from Otaku Games (website seems to be dead?) but it only detects RGB enabled consoles, so the NES and N64 were no good. Make sure you get yourself a decent scart cable to go between the scart block and the OSSC too. You can get away with £5 scart cables for each console to the scart block - Yes it is not as good, but at £25 per fancy scart cable the price gets silly.

Whatever you do, avoid a cheap upscalers as they are awful.
Also avoid cheap scart switches - They have poor picture quality and your speakers will really hiss.

Using an LCD/Plasma tele with consoles plugged into the scart socket is a big no. The picture will be appalling since the TV doesn't know what to do with it. I am pretty sure the OSSC can deinterlace too which helps the OG Xbox and PS2 since they typically outputted 480i. Your PS3 will be pretty much fine plugged right into the TV HDMI port. The OSSC is not cheap, but it will be great value. I don't have one myself as I use an old CRT tele, but >25" non-widescreen ones these days are rare and pricey. Keep in mind for light gun games you will need a CRT (no idea about the Wii though, never owned one).

As I am a massive retro nerd, keep an eye out for the whole NES/SNES/Megadrive/PS1/PS2/N64 PAL vs NTSC argument as often the PAL version was sluggish and the picture was squished vs NTSC. A common example is Sonic 1, but not all games can be forced into 60hz mode.

The OG Xbox, GC and Dreamcast would ask upon bootup if you wanted 50hz or 60hz, which meant the PAL vs NTSC argument was void, but the PS2 never seemed to.
There are lots of hard and soft mods to get a better picture or force 60hz on a range of consoles, but console modding chat is not for these forums :).

I have eddted this response more times than I can count!
Please post back with pictures of whatever route you pick :).
 
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Thank you, that really helps.

I do recall the PAL/NTSC 50/60hz discussion back when I was a young un!

Mainly around Japanese and American imports requiring NTSC and why I wouldn't be able to play them on my PAL kit!

I have looked over the last year at CRT prices and they are indeed a bit spendy! I could still go that route, but would need to set the PS3 a 360 on the pc monitor and then sort out the sound output. Might be easier tbf ...
 
Ha ha, still got my US SNES, remember the first day I got it, turned it on and the picture was in black and white. Had the wrong scart lead, waited another day for my RGB scart lead to turn up. Super Ghouls'n'Ghosts :)

Best/worst example of the NTSC debate was Street Fighter 2, that 17.5% speed difference made my mate swap his PAL UK SNES for a US one after he played it on my SNES :D
 
100% you want an OSSC if you're only going to 1080p, even if it has built in SCART, such a good bit of kit getting pretty much any console (PAL or NTSC) on a modern TV.

CRT's are cool but to be honest they're all on the last legs and things like coil wine from the components in them is horrible to hear now, same for the practical problem of actually storing the thing, without a good dedicated space you're a bit trapped moving it about a lot and possibly damaging it (my last one didn't survive a stint in storage and has some dry solder joints preventing the tube getting going).
 
Getting all misty eyed over my 24" Phillips CRT I had from an auction before I got my SNES, had to remove the Teletext module as I guess you would call it "screen burn" and interfered with the RGB scart socket.
 
BAcon said:
Hi all,
I want to get all of my consoles from the loft and set up a retro gaming corner in my small office.

It would include PS1, PS2, PS3, original Xbox, 360, plus I'd want to add an N64 to it later if I can find a nice deal.

TV wise I have an old 40" Samsung 1080p LCD I can use, it's old, 2012, will check, but assume it will have a scart plus usual hdmi etc.

Which upscaler do you recommend?

I know a CRT will work better for the PS2 and older, but I don't have room for 2 TVs in this space!

Cheers
Click to expand...
With PS3, I wouldn't bother using a 1080p scaler. The HDMI has HDCP and cannot be turnt off without an adapter. Using component wouldn't be worthwhile.

If you wanted something future proof, I'd consider looking at the OSSC Pro, Morph 2K/4K or the RetroTINK 4K CE.

The Morph 2K might be a good shout in terms of price and what you get from a modern scaler. What a lot of people tend to miss out when recommending the original OSSC is the device cutting out during resolution changes, it is jarring and can happen a lot PS1/2 and some other consoles around that time. 480i is also awful, Bob Deinterlacing isn't ideal and can cause image retention. Where as a lot of the modern scalers use motion adaptive which is a better option and easier on the eye.
 
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Gonna post and update on this, it would seem Mike Chi is cooking something. A few of the usual content creators have been teasing a new retrotink product which might be a spiritual successor to the retrotink 5x and at a nice low price point. Worth keeping an eye on :).
 
OpenToSuggestions said:
@JoeBoi I came here to share this:
Click to expand...
Thanks, I need to check out the video. I like to keep up with what is out there, but I doubt I will be picking one up, as I don't need another scaler but this seems like an excellent price point at £225 - Unsure on import or shipping though.

Someone on discord said the 5x does the following that the 6x ce doesn't.

Features the 5X Pro has the 6X CE doesnt:
1. Better MADI
2. IVTC 3:2 and 2:2 (video and ps2)
3. N64 320 mode (works on s-video, `i want to reiterate that this is a hack`)
4. consoles that do 240p -> 480i can be restored to 240p well and accurately with scanlines. None of the next gen scalers do this correctly with scanlines

if you are looking for a cheap scaler for videogames, the 6X CE is the way to go. If you have a 5X, it isn't automatically replaced by the 6X CE
Click to expand...

Strong contender over the Morph and OSSC Pro.

Edit: Apparently there will be a 6X Pro next year :D.
 
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JoeBoi said:
Thanks, I need to check out the video. I like to keep up with what is out there, but I doubt I will be picking one up, as I don't need another scaler but this seems like an excellent price point at £225 - Unsure on import or shipping though.
Click to expand...

It's £250. £225 + £25 shipping. Price includes pre-paid tax/duties, checkout explicitly says no extra charges.

My 5x was £270 all in in 2022 (multi region power supply, 5x and shipping), so that's not bad. Not going to upgrade, not looked too much, but doesn't seem worth it over the 5x. If I upgraded, it would have to be to the 4K.
 
I still don't have any upscaler. I use a CRT for retro and a 55" 4k LCD for HDMI based consoles. Using the 360 to run Burnout 3 felt wrong, but as scart can only do 480i I found the image too blurry to make out what was in the distance so I kept crashing! Running on the 360 will be an upscaled 480p I would think.

I will require an upscaler someday. CRTs won't last forever and they are so large.
 
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Due to my setup being a bit weird, I have a 5X which I used for a bunch of consoles, but then my Gamecube and whatever other console I have out at the time is connected to an OSSC on the other side of the room. I'm guessing this 6X would be a massive upgrade over the OSSC?
 
Vinno said:
Due to my setup being a bit weird, I have a 5X which I used for a bunch of consoles, but then my Gamecube and whatever other console I have out at the time is connected to an OSSC on the other side of the room. I'm guessing this 6X would be a massive upgrade over the OSSC?
Click to expand...
I'd have to watch the video with complete attention to note down the differences, but I have always been under the impression that the OSSC does a very good job and probably isn't worth upgrading.
 
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