I think the line-doubling feature of the RetroTink specifically means doubling the 240p signal used by classic gaming consoles to 480p that can be better interpreted by modern TVs. I was strongly considering a Tink for capturing my visuals but the Mini has been out of stock for a while. And the 2xPro is like $150+. More in-depth videos mentioned that the de-interlacing isn’t really the best for either. I’m also pretty sure both only output 480p max, and you’d have to get the crazy expensive 5xPro for 1080p.
I ended up buying a used Gefen GTV-COMPSVID-2-HDMISN Scaler for $100 on eBay (~$300 retail). It seems to be a broadcast-quality 1080p ADC/scaler with a powerful on-screen menu. Also supports S-Video. I’ll be using it in conjunction with a pretty decent 1080p Magewell capture card. Also got a used GTV-HDMI-2-COMPSVIDSN ($130) to convert in the other direction.
I’ll report on my results when I get it in the mail.
@wednesdayayay or whoever else might know - how are your experiences with the composite to microSD device that was listed above (or similar boxes from DIGITNOW, etc)? The video seems a bit de-saturated, but not terribly so. Have you found yourself continuing to use it? Any other major issues?
I’m also curious. I cannot see any indication about whether this box supports 576p or it’s limited to 480p (like the cheaper one by Renkforce: Amazon.de). This one by Grabstar claims to support up to 576p: Amazon.de
I have been messing around with the intensity shuttle trying to figure out the optimum options for capture. My question relates to video compression. In the example photos, one is the raw video capture, and the other is a compressed version of the same capture. I guess my question is, what do you even call this type of “artifact” if thats even the right term, and what can be done to prevent it? What would also be great is if anyone can point me in the right direction to further learn about the topic of video compression in general.
I am very new to the topic, and I find the subject to be very esoteric. This was captured from a DVD to 8bit AVI, and then compressed to an H.264 MP4 file using shotcut. I’m not particularly interested in capturing DVDs, its just what I was using to play around with and dial in the intensity shuttle.
im looking to upgrade my capture gear. currently i’m capturing s-video signal from the wj-ave5 into one of those cheapo usb composite capture devices. i’ve been looking at the extron rgb-hdmi 300a, but i’ll first have to convert s-video to RGB…
edit: i somehow glanced over the DVS 304 which allows me to go S-video into RGB, so my new question now is, would going from the DVS 304 into the RGB-HMDI 300A give me even better picture quality? or would that extra device be overkill?
ultimately it would depend pretty heavily on how you are capturing the upscaled HDMI signal. the extron gear would most likely be above average quality digitization of analog signals but wouldn’t really make a huge difference if the HDMI capture was low quality. is probably a good rule of thumb to avoid capture chains that involve a lot of moving parts. partially to just prevent multiple points of potential failure, and partially to avoid having a final capture signal that has been through multiple re-encodings and has multiple levels of baked in artefacting
thanks for that! i definitely agree, i’d like to keep my capture chain as simple as possible while maximizing the output. for now i’m going to stick with the DVS and capture RGB, currently on the hunt for a bmd shuttle as well. thanks!
it will be a lot more difficult to find a capture card that handles RGB signals than composite/svideo/component, would recommend against that if you are just getting started
The camera I used for rescans for a long time was stolen in November, so I’ve quickly adjusted to capturing video directly — not sure why I didn’t make the change sooner, to be honest! So easy to boot up OBS and record.
All of my equipment runs into an Extron ISS506 seamless switcher, and I run its VGA output into an Analog Way upscaler. Then a passive DVI-D to HDMI converter into a cheap HDMI capture card. Have experimented with more expensive capture cards and don’t notice any difference, even when inspecting very closely.
