RetroTINK 6x / 4K CRT Curvature & Bezels

Mike Chi has released some firmware updates that add CRT curvature, bezel options and the ability to emulate composite video with all 15KHz sources; The screenshot above is an HDR example of all those options at once. And while not as exciting as the CRT stuff, Mike also implemented a few things that are a big help for tinkerers like me: Screenshots (both input and output), as well as an OSD scaling engine that lets the menu stay the exact same size, regardless of output resolution and refresh rate. More info and screenshots below the links:

Latest Firmware: https://retrotink-llc.github.io/firmware/4k-experimental.html
Purchase RetroTINK Products: https://retrorgb.com/retrotink.html

A few things to note about the new CRT options: First, E-Con scanlines aren’t supported with curvature, as they can’t “bend”, since they’re already variable. And you’ll need to enable HDR for the bezel glow to work properly. Other than that, just load up your favorite CRT mask profile, change the scanlines to something other than ECon and start playing with the new Advanced CRT menu.

I actually watched an entire episode of The A-Team this way and loved it. To be clear, the difference between the Blu-ray direct on my OLED, versus through the TINK with its CRT mask emulation cutting through the messy film grain was a massive difference. Adding the bezel was a much smaller difference, but I think when set up to be subtle, it definitely added to the experience of 4:3 content on a 16:9 TV. I think the overall effect was similar as when using my Philips Hue lighting, tricking my brain into “feeling” like it was a “retro experience”, the same way the Hue (which was off for this experiment) can help make movies on an OLED feel more like you’re at a movie theater.

Another concern of mine was burn-in, but after watching for the full 45 minute episode, I experienced no image retention whatsoever. My guess is that burn-in won’t be a major concern, as this isn’t a static image: Think of it more like a “border of light” that’s constantly changing as the video content changes and not just a picture being displayed. At the moment, I think its safe to assume there’s no more or less risk of burn-in than just playing any video game with a HUD, or watching TV content with a “news bar” at the bottom – If only used for that content, burn-in might be an issue, but as long as you change up the content, it should be fine.

Here’s some examples and please note that these (and this post’s thumbnail) are HDR captures, so they’re going to look “washed out” unless you view them in HDR. That said, they should be totally fine for the examples I’m trying to make in this post.

The top screenshot here is a CRT mask applied on a 1440p6x scale of SNES via RGB SCART. The middle is the same exact thing, just with curvature applied. And the bottom simply adds a bezel on top of that (click all pics in this post for full-sized):

I specifically chose 1440p for those examples, as something like the 6x CE works great with 1440p displays at 60Hz and both the 4K CE and Pro can handle 1440p120. BUT, the one thing that always drives me crazy about 1440p6x with 240p sources, is you’ll always end up with black bars on all sides of the image with an even scale (which is required for proper CRT masks). Heck, even most consoles that output 480p have some space on the top and bottom (which I’ve demonstrated quite a bit in previous videos), also resulting in black bars with a 480p3x scale to 1440p. With these bezels, you can fill that space, while also (in my opinion) adding to the experience. Mike’s planning a “bezel thickness” option in a future update as well, which should help dial in (out?) those last remaining black pixels.

The one downside, is while the curvature is cool I really like the look of E-Conserve scanlines. Plus, I don’t really have nostalgia for a curved image – The one thing modern flat-panels do light years better than CRT’s is geometry. While I love the imperfections of real CRT’s, if I’m gaming on an OLED I’d like to take advantage of it’s strengths (at least for now, who knows what advances will come next). You can still use a bezel with a flat image and E-Con scanlines though! Here’s an example based off of Wobbling Pixel’s “NES & SFC – R4KPRO – CRT – Blend Medium” profile, with a few tweaks that make it closer to what looks good on my C4 OLED, scaled 9x to leave enough room to see the bezel. I think I’d personally prefer 10x scaling and no bezel, but if Mike implements a curved bezel/flat tube option, I might like it for the reasons explained above…especially if there’s bezel thickness options so I can have no black space on the top and bottom and adjust “overscan” to my liking:

Speaking of captures, every single capture in this post is using the new screenshot feature (other than the thumbnail, since screenshots luckily don’t capture the menu)! Pressing AUX 5 on the remote captures the input signal, while pressing AUX 6 captures the output signal. Both are true lossless captures, including with HDR as seen above. Be warned that a 4K lossless PNG takes about a minute to save and the screen pauses while saving, so this is definitely more for people like me who need accurate screenshots. Check out this output example of SNES via RGB SCART, using a sharp SNES 10x profile. Please note this is SDR, so it won’t look “washed out” like the HDR shots above:

That said, input screenshots save to the SD card pretty quickly and are accurate to the signal the TINK is detecting. For example, check out SNES via RGB SCART – The top picture is demonstrating the TINK’s generic input, that over-samples horizontally to reduce phase and scaling issues. Below that is after selecting an SNES sharp profile, that’s been dialed in to accept the SNES’ signal exactly. I uploaded these untouched from what was saved to the TINK’s SD card, so you can see for yourself – Load either into image editing software like Krita or Photoshop, then scale them via nearest-neighbor. For the generic example, scale 4x vertically to match the oversampling and for the profile example just do a 10x NN scale:

Here’s all the changes and additions from the previous v1.99.1 firmware we covered, up until the most current at the time of this post v1.99.9:

• Added a serial command for burst I2C reads
• Non-4K Pro models use an alternative S/PDIF detection function to fix an issue where the menu incorrectly reports no signal
• OSD scaling engine implemented
• The menus, on-screen keyboard and info messages now keep the same size and shape at every output resolution and refresh rate (high refresh rate modes such as 1080p144 and 1440p120 are no longer stretched)
• Custom modelines with a wide pixel aspect ratio (e.g. 3840×1080) now show the menus at the correct proportions
• Restored LCD Blending on the 4K CE and RetroTINK 6X
• Added a serial command for burst I2C reads
• Non-4K Pro models use an alternative S/PDIF detection function to fix an issue where the menu incorrectly reports no signal
• New “Advanced CRT Effects” page on the 4K Pro, 4K CE and RetroTINK 6X
• Minor modifications to scaler to add tube curvature (spherical and cylindrical), glass glow / scatter, a bezel with reflections, tube sag / breathing and corner misconvergence
• 4K Pro also adds composite video simulation: encodes the picture to composite video and decodes it back using a virtual decoder (source must be 240p/480i/288p/576i)
• CRT effects work best with 240p and 480i sources using CRT Simulation
• 480p sources and Motion Adaptive deinterlaced 480i sources also work, with a more limited curvature range
• For CRT effects, use a linear light or HDR mode and regular scanlines (Energy Conservation does not support curvature)
• LCD Blending now also works at 480p and 576p on the RetroTINK 6X
• XBR is on hold for now on the 4K Pro
• Optimizations to bezel behavior: rounder outer corners, smoother corner reflections and a new bevel look
• Bezel Style is now On / Scatter (reflections only) / No Bezel, plus Off for the whole glass stage
• CRT effects can now run without the bezel: set Bezel Style to No Bezel
• New Bezel Zoom adjusts the bezel size, from -30 to +12 percent
• Reorganized the “Advanced CRT Effects” page into Tube, Bezel & Glass and Composite Video sections
• Lip Reflection is now Bezel Reflection, and the Status row is visible again on the 4K Pro
• Various bug fixes to the bezel and lighting: breathing no longer gets stuck in a loop, the lighting follows the picture with Int+ Vert. Pan, and the wavy pattern with positive crop values is gone
• The bezel’s top and bottom now follow a shorter picture, and the black inner border is slightly wider
• Bezel Zoom now steps in 1 percent increments
• Added screenshots: Capture Input saves the source picture and Capture Output saves the output picture, as a PNG in the screenshots folder on the SD card
  • Capture from the OSD/Firmware page, or with AUX 5 (input) and AUX 6 (output)
  • The image pauses during capture: saving at the input source resolution is fast, but full 4K uncompressed output images may take some time
  • HDR pictures keep their HDR tag

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