4K Gamer Pro Review: Sharp-Scale 1080p to 4K

The 4K Gamer Pro is a device that sharp-scales 1080p to 4K, using their custom scaling technique (not nearest-neighbor). It’s basically the opposite of an mCable, as it’s sharp-scaling instead of soft-scaling…but unlike the mCable, this outputs 4K60. Check out the video for a full analysis!
4K Gamer Pro Kickstarter: bit.ly/3P3lkCr
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00:00 Opening
00:38 Unboxing
01:38 Lag Testing
04:08 Framerate & Color
06:11 Analysis
09:44 Examples
14:27 Suggestions
16:57 Conclusion
MiSTer Users: You may need to set a custom modeline for this device to be compatible. Update your MiSTer via your favorite script, then after it's complete edit the "video_mode" line in the MiSTer.ini file to this:
video_mode=1920,88,44,148,1080,3,5,37,148500,+hsync,+vsync
This should work fine, however some people have reported issues with the analog output when this mode is set. If that's the case, you can assign an alternate .ini file that you can activate any time the 4K Gamer Pro is in use.

[@RetroRGB]

Sadly, many people are misunderstanding the point of this video. This is NOT the same as turning the sharpness up on your TV. The effects I showed zoomed 1200x are NOT how it looks at normal viewing distance. Hopefully this clears things up for people: www.retrorgb.com/4k-gamer-pro-lossless-captures.html

[@RetroRGB]

Sigh. I'm tired of arguing with you. Muted.

[@ShankMods]

Seems like a pretty cool device. Having a nearest neighbor option would make it next level

[@hhectorlector]

Thanks Bob! I got one and let them know it’s cuz of this video and gave them the same suggestion about adding a nearest neighbor mode. I 100% agree with your evaluation of the mCable and was happy to hear you liked it at least in Virtua Racer :)

[@dekky3908]

Just backed one due to your recommendation, looking forward to adding this to my retro collection.

[@wobblingpixels3921]

Great Review Bob! I definitly prefer the upscaled image of the 4K Gamer than Mclassic.Unchanged colors, no smoothing, just upscaling and sharpening. PS: If some people knew that a 20min review costs days to make. I appreciate your work!

[@RetroRGB]

Thanks very much!

[@SnakebitSTI]

I got excited seeing the lag and color tests, but I want a scaler with nearest-neighbor for older games and smoothing options for newer games. If I wanted ringing artifacts, I’d just increase the sharpness setting on my TV…

[@mansenclockworx8215]

Thank you Bob for your work here 🙌🏼

[@PurifiedShino]

What an amazing video. The effort that went into is extraordinary. Well done.

[@RetroRGB]

Thank you! I always try to be as thorough as possible.

[@spence2]

this review is actually op I just subbed :)

[@sonicpelaaja]

I agree. Nearest neighbor mode would make this an instabuy for me. Great in depth review as always!

[@rjames7380]

Your Intro & presentation told me that if I should trust anyone. It was you. 😎✌️

[@MrHentaiLord]

Awesome info I definitely backed this product and can't wait to get

[@Septer_Sever]

Great work, as always. The future is...sharp!

[@Totschlagen1799]

Awesome video Bob :D.

[@gamertoon8230]

Sweet video, you completely changed my perspective on this device, while I do prefer letting my 4K tv scale scale the image, I see this as a nice alternative

[@ffylin]

Thank you for the informative video Bob. For retro games, the sharp scaling is indeed useful. As for Switch games, mCable's anti-alias feature sometimes may be preferred. Did you try daisy chaining the mCable and 4K Gamer Pro?

[@earlier6977]

Thanks for video been trying to find something that would work with my c2 for the switch

[@vaugna1620]

tbh don't like the look of this, the ringing artifacts are a dealbreaker for me. I'd love a device that just nearest neighbor scales 720p and 1080p to 4K with no extra processing.

[@brkbtjunkie]

Why nearest neighbor instead of integer scaled?

[@vaugna1620]

@@brkbtjunkie 720p and 1080p integer scale into 2160p cleanly anyways

[@brkbtjunkie]

@@vaugna1620 right, so why then nearest neighbor? What’s the difference? I always thought integer scaled produced the cleanest image because of it being scaled 1:4, 1:9 1:16 etc.

[@RetroRGB]

@@brkbtjunkie Integer scaling and nearest neighbor are the same thing.

[@Stremon82]

@@brkbtjunkie integer scale multiply both vertical and (most of the time) horizontal resolution to an integer factor, so x2, x3, x4... It's super clean but often causes black bars and wrong aspect ratio (the games pixels not being displayed as square on CRTs). Nearest neighbors is used with any scaling, even non integer, but instead fills each display pixel with the content nearest neighbor pixel (hence the name). NN is a good technique to fix aspect ratio issues but also displays uneven pixel pixels size when not using an integer scaling, causing issues with scrolling especially.

[@nickglover]

As a device marketed toward Switch, which almost never has any anti-aliasing, I think I'd rather have the three modes be smooth/soft, "pure" which would just be nearest neighbor with no added smoothing or sharpening, and then sharp, which is maybe the medium setting they currently have. It'd be awesome to have this hooked up for Switch, PS3, and 360.

[@GordAllott]

It kinda just looks like if you whack the sharpness slider on your TV up to 100, I suppose if you like that effect it's nice but not for me. Would love a true 1080/720 to 4k scaler for ps3 some day...

[@FoxbatStargazer]

Yeah it just looks like bog standard sharpness, enhance contrasting edges while creating ringing artifacts. Only difference vs standard TVs is that it does a 2x integer scale first instead of interpolation.

[@bloomerb4162]

Just get a tv with good upscaling. I dont see the need for something like this.

[@brotherbodhi237]

@@bloomerb4162 is there a tv out there that doesn’t soft scale?

[@bloomerb4162]

@@brotherbodhi237 sonys have sharper upscaling, especially the 2021-22. I play my wii u on 55 in lg cx and it looks fine.

[@69metersbelow25]

Then wait for a switch pro lmao

[@EposVox]

Very interesting

[@JerryFlowersIII]

I'm internally crying that TVs don't offer nearest neighbor scaling. It's really the simplest way to scale anything and would make a world of difference for the niche that appreciates it. Great review. Your dedication to a thorough review is greatly felt.

[@trumpeter811]

Would love to see how this works along side the Mclassic if that is possible ! Seeing if in the chain of HDMI you put it HDMI cable -> Mclassic -> 4K Gamer Pro. So you get the smoothing first then sharpening . Would be really cool to see what happens !

[@RetroRGB]

That would completely defeat the purpose of either device. They'd cancel each other out and it would look terrible.

[@sourmilkandcereal]

@@RetroRGB Why would it look "terrible"? I would like to see the results on camera myself to decide that.

[@OwtDaftUK]

@@RetroRGB The Mclassic only goes up to 1440p (1080p for tvs that don't do 1440p, including mine) So i'd be curious as to how it would look when on the low setting with the mClassic.

[@digitalgehn]

@@RetroRGB There are videos posted with KZbinrs doing this. It looks fantastic, and makes me wanna get one to chain with my mClassic.

[@Griffith.hawk007]

It looks absolutely amazing wish I had a capture card to show but sadly I don't

[@mitchlovesgames7281]

I have to disagree with you Bob, there is a very noticable difference in picture between the mClassic and without on DC, GC, PS2, and Xbox a large portion of the jaggies are removed making for a much smoother picture. Not a shill

[@CollinKenny]

Thanks Bob!

[@jeremyharshe2337]

It’s great to finally see another device that’s not full of lag. Great video man, and have fun in Brazil!

[@kevfleth]

Awesome video as always. I would love to see a video overview on the Retrocastle's Mister FPGA you have featured at 15:03. How is the video quality of Saturn output differ from the usual VGA output? What do the settings look like? There aren't any videos on that version of Mister on youtube.

[@RetroRGB]

It's awesome. If you only need RGB SCART output, it's an excellent choice. You'd have to make a custom cable for YPbPr though, so I'd suggest the VGA version if you need that.

[@kevfleth]

@@RetroRGB Would a HD Retrovision or Retro Gaming Cable's Saturn component not work on the Retrocastle's Saturn output?

[@RetroRGB]

It should. That's a bit expensive though to get both.

[@veomax1937]

Cool video but does it help make the aspect ratio bigger like with Mcclassic connected to retro consoles?

[@frankbizzoco1954]

Did you try to add this doodad on the back of an AVR? I have my switch, and Retrotink 5x hooked directly into my receiver, and I am curious if it will do the same thing as if I hooked it directly onto those devices. Im also curious to see what it will do if it is daisy chained with an Mclassic. If I play gamecube, I go Carby+Mclassic retro mode and I really like the results. Curious if this will make it even better.

[@ButtholioTheGreat]

interesting, but would it work inline with an MClassic to get gamecube ( or any 480p signal) at 4K?

[@RetroRGB]

If you mean the mClassic in blue (retro) mode, maybe...it would depend if the mClassic tried to output 1440p or 1080p. You'd have to use an EDID spoofer to be sure.

[@steppinonastoop677]

this will work very nicely with a ps3 and original Xbox. gotta get one of these.

[@djm9937]

Not having a MiSTer or retrotink 5x I think a scanline generator would be a nice addition too?

[@MrDusuke]

I want to see that being used to the Steam Deck with pc games. Maybe we can use FSR to transform a low resolution 800p (or even less) to 1080p and then the 4k PRO to upscale it to 4K.... how's that sound? would be nice to see you testing that! thanks for the great video.

[@McGreish]

My exact thought. Something I want to try and think it might turn around to having a good usage for this. I imagine docked you could likely have it set to 1080p resolution but it would likely hinder the performance maybe? If not honestly no clue if FSR would make the end result bad in 4K when the 4K Gamer Pro steps in but guess we'll have to wait a few months to see when someone with both tries it.

[@ericochoa4034]

I have that retrocastle mister it's cool but one quirk is that although it has a power button it doesn't really turn off power completely as the USB ports still have power. so if you plug anything in with leds those won't turn off!

[@cemsengul16]

I just bought the Mclassic and I am returning it. I purchased the Mclassic to use on my PS3 Slim but I did not like the unnatural image at all because it looks like I rubbed Vaseline on the screen. Call me crazy but I think the PS3 looks better without the Mclassic processing. I will just wait for a 4K Retrotink.

[@FairyKid64]

Hey Bob. Great content. I'm seriously considering getting this product. By the way, any timeframe for the Extron VCS 500 video?

[@RetroRGB]

Thank you! The VCS is still sitting next to me. I think I'll just do a livestream of it...it'll get less views, but I'll at least have time to do it.

[@FairyKid64]

@@RetroRGB cool, thanks man. Yeah, I know you're busy. Thanks for the great content!

[@Deltax5]

Looks cool. If it's reccemended by the community why not. IDK if it's any better then a high quality TV scalier. If it is ill pick it up for sure. Looking forward with the retrotink 4k. Hope the OSSC pro can do something similar because up scaling to TV's native will always be beneficial. with lag and image quality.

[@petemalogne5219]

and…. theyre now face stock issues lol.. good luck to em, hats off to the team.. soooo much opportunity for anything thats done right. You will sell em all imo.

[@TheCoolDave]

Neat..... I wonder how it works with the classic Framemeister.... It would be nice to go right out of it and directly to 4K with out needing the TV to do anything (and that could add some possable lag)

[@Alyxandr]

If this device nearest neighbor upscaled 1080p to 2160p without further changing the image, I'd be really into this device. 720p and 1440p support would have been really useful too.

[@rfmerrill]

I agree but it's worth pointing out that nearest-neighbor scaling 1440p to 2160p is hard to make look good since it's a 1.5x scale. Integer scales, or non-integer scales at a higher factor (e.g. 4.5x) are much easier to please people with. There isn't a straightforward way to turn every 2 pixels into 3 pixels sharply (or, really, every 2x2 square into a 3x3 square).

[@Alyxandr]

@@rfmerrill That's fine. Other scaling methods can be used for non-1080p resolutions.

[@ryugohan]

I was interested in this device before the kickstarter launched so I wanted to get as I could, unfortunately it doesn’t ship to where I live so I have no way of getting it. 😔

[@morewarren]

Thanks!

[@RetroRGB]

Thanks very much!!!

[@mindscan420]

I’m wondering could it do anything with 1080i? Or would Bob-deinterlaced 1080i look any good on it?

[@bookshelffury]

Dear RetroRGB, are there any no lag scalers out there that take a 720p signal and make it 4k? my tv has kinda high input lag with 720p, but if i feed it a 4k signal the input lag is good. Hate to buy a new tv just to have less input lag with 720p playstation 3 games. thanks!

[@RetroRGB]

The upcoming RetroTINK 4K (2023 release?) is the only gaming scaler that can do that at the moment. But I don't think your TV has lag with a 720p signal...it might just feel like it's laggy, cause the motion blur is more noticeable?: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHvdf5KPfb-YsLs

[@rafadono]

So, if a game has a dynamic resolution (ps4, switch, etc) it won't work a lot of time, it would be nice to add support for other resolutions, for example, 720p to 1440p or 900p to 1800p. I still think is a good product though.

[@RyanBGSTL]

Have you ever considered selling certifications these products can print on the box?

[@RetroRGB]

I would love to, because it wouldn't be "Bob Approved", it would be "Community Approved". Might cause more headache's then it's worth though. I'll definitely look into it.

[@fwannmacher]

Is that me or there are no comparisons in the sonic segment. It looks like we are looking just the image from the TV's scaler

[@RetroRGB]

That's KZbin :( When I watch the original file, the difference is clear. I totally forgot to put the on-screen note there though...sorry!

[@4h0w1e6]

I 'd be interested to try it on 1080p video content.

[@RetroRGB]

Sharp scaling video content never looks good. I've tried many times :) This is for video games only.

[@ABOhiccups]

Great video! Can you do another test video by having games running in it's native resolution (480p and 720p) with mClassic and 4K Gamer Pro combined?

[@bobbynick5358]

Yeah it be nice if there's a upscaler for a decent price, maybe like 60 bucks or so, a mix of mclassic and something else like this device, that can add in anti-aliasing or a smooth blend filter or a lite sharp filter, or gdapt shader but as a choice and able to have 1 or a of mix 2 together or have all on at once.

[@jacobbaranowski]

That is good to know, that it doesn't suck

[@Anna_Rae]

It’s cool that it handles 1080p to 4K, but I’ll stick with my mClassic for my Switch, PS3, etc hooked up to my LG C1

[@69metersbelow25]

The m classic for switch on LG C1 doesn't do anything.You need to have a 1440p TV.Otherwise it doesn't do anything for switch.The other old systems it takes full advantage of making a sharper image

[@AlexTheSoutherner]

@@69metersbelow25 My tv can't do 1440p but it still smoothes the edges very nicely and handles the colors better.

[@bavarianconsolegamer]

When I try to capture gameplay with the elgato 4k60 s+, using the gamer+ gives me a totally oversaturated image in the recording, although on screen it looks great. Anybody know a solution for this?

[@McGreish]

I've been very on the fence about this device. You've went really in depth and that's absolutely amazing. Problem is a lot of other videos seem to show 1080p content output by the switch as very blurry, even the official KZbin of the device does this. Is that due to their capture card? Thing is, I was so confused by this and having owned and backed a MClassic I compared on my TV (EU Samsung QN95A) the default 1080p, MClassic 1440p and well, they were VERY close in fact, the blur in those other videos is non existent for me. Though my TV is likely doing a good job at upscaling techniques it may use behind the scenes I'm guessing? I found much better use of my mClassic on a mid range TV though it definitely gave less blur to even the UI on my Nintendo Switch and I was a lot more impressed in how obvious it was opposed to my now high end TV. I can see your comparisons they look a lot closer at least but I will have to look over this a few times on my TV to try get a better idea. I'm just uncertain really, with what videos existed before yours I was very much leaning towards not backing this but with your video there is a glimmer of hope this is actually a considerable device. Hopefully you can fill me in on my questions I'd really appreciate that especially from somebody who knows their stuff could help me decipher between these.

[@RetroRGB]

Excellent question and good observation. While I can't speak for exactly how everyone else created their video, I have some guesses: - KZbin compression ruins things. If you don't render your video exactly the right way, things can look much different than what you saw when creating the video. Heck, this can happen even if you do everything right! - It could be that you're viewing a compressed 1080p image that's now being stretched to 4K on your TV. This is one of the many reasons I wanted to include video on a TV, instead of just captures, as it can often be a better representation. - People could have poor capture setups. I mean no disrespect by that - It took me YEARS to get into "good enough" territory and I still have a long way to go. But if someone used basic capture software and a USB device to capture the Switch, it's going to look a LOT worse than on your TV. If you'd like to experiment more, please check out the pinned post: You can see some high quality 1080p vs 4K Gamer Pro examples and as long as you view them in full screen on the display you'll be gaming on, it should be REALLY close to what you'd see with the real thing.

[@McGreish]

@@RetroRGB Thank you so much for your response, I'm not entirely convinced by how bad the native 1080p shown is compared to the 4k gamer Pro videos which tbh on their video closely resembles how it looks natively on my TV, though you are entirely right about compression, etc coming into play. You could see these mentioned videos yourself by searching 4k gamer Pro the manufacturers channel comes up. I will definitely have a look at your pinned post, thanks again really useful insight and definitely after looking back over your KZbin video on my TV the 4k gamer Pro does look very defined and sharper!

[@danlah1303]

I was disappointed with what happened to my n64 picture quality after upgrading to 85” 4K from a 1080p 55” plasma. I’m wondering if I need to put retrotink2x output thru this?

[@RetroRGB]

This requires a 1080p input signal, so that won't work. Maybe try buying a RetroTINK 5x? It's a MASSIVE upgrade from the 2x.

[@TheDesecrator]

I really want to use this and my Mcable together. Sharpen up that already wonderful anti-aliased image and bump it up from 1080p to 4k. Man, I can't wait until August.

[@RetroRGB]

That's counter-productive - It would be exactly like dulling the blade of a knife, just to sharpen it again. Please don't get sucked into mCable's shady marketing...they'd love you to believe their adapter is magic.

[@TheDesecrator]

@@RetroRGB Well, I tried it for myself and my games have literally never looked better. And frankly, you sound like a nut.

[@flamehiro]

Seems like both mcable amd 4k gamer pro have their use cases

[@drac6838]

Can you test this with PS3? They answered a question and said the PS3 is not compatible - but I thought PS3 native resolution was 720p but internally upscaled and outputted to 1080p? So theoretically it should work just like RT5X and Ps2?

[@RetroRGB]

It might be PS3's weird HDCP issue. I'll try for a follow-up video. Please keep an eye on retrorgb.com for more info.

[@jagoca2846]

Which one screen used for comparisons ????

[@itchyisvegeta]

Here is what I am most excited about on something like this. Don't most TVs have less input lag when displaying native 4K content, compared to 1080p or 720p content, due to less processing power needed? If so, this would help further improve input lag on modern TVs.

[@RetroRGB]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHvdf5KPfb-YsLs

[@rentoptional1524]

Hmm. Maybe I'll use this for my analogue super NT or Mega sg

[@RMwashere]

Can you use this with the RetroTink 5x for 4K, or would it be redundant?

[@RetroRGB]

I show this in the video. If your TV does a really soft scale, this is a huge improvement.

[@infinitewarriorproduction6278]

Bro does this work well for the ps3 to upsclae to 4k led tv

[@RexBuyeo]

Do you know how I can use this with 480p or 1440p content? Maybe you should try an Xbox 360 set to 720p upscaled to 1440p downscaled to 1080p then upscaled to 4k. This product just frustrates me. It should be able to accept any resolution and upscale to 4k. The product page specifically states ps3 and xbox set to 1080p but the native resolution of those games are 720p or less (some games output sub 720p and upscale to 720p).

[@samuraispiritsx]

Seems pretty cool. I would like to try this out with PS3 and 360 games.

[@RetroRGB]

Wobbling Pixels showed some cool examples of those: www.retrorgb.com/4k-gamer-pro-wobbling-pixels-comparison.html

[@BluntedBob-Omb]

Have you tried using this on a WiiU? Looking for a good upscaler for Wii U play.

[@RetroRGB]

It'll work well for any games that would look better sharp-scaled, but remember it has to be set to 1080p output. It's not nearly as good as the RT4K...but both of those price points match the features, so it's fair.

[@ThatOldSchoolMagic]

@8:48 It’s not too bad if you’re playing PS1/2 games on a PS3 while the System is set to output 480P. I’m pretty sure it’s useless for 1080P content though since it’s not doing much.

[@st1ka]

Bob is about to do what we call a Pro Game move 😏

[@mindscan420]

So how do I get this working with MiSTer exactly? What setting needs to be adjusted in the .ini to change HDMI polarity? I just got mine and it won’t work with MiSTer. I tested it with some things so far, and I didn’t really like what it did with Xbox and Gamecube after upscaling those to 1080p with RetroTink5x, but I do like it a lot for Switch as I always hated the Switch’s soft ass output to my LG OLED This thing woulda been so much more useful to me if it worked on 720p sources though, PSTV and PS3 could use it

[@RetroRGB]

Can you try replacing the "video_mode" line in the MiSTer.ini file with this?: video_mode=1920,88,44,148,1080,3,5,37,148500,+hsync,+vsync Please let me know if that's the fix.

[@mindscan420]

@@RetroRGB hey Bob, thanks for the quick response as always, that did indeed work :)

[@mindscan420]

@@RetroRGB this fix however seems to break MiSTer's Analog output for me, I no longer get component out if I have that typed into the video mode. If I change it back to video_mode = 8, component works again.. oh well. I'll just change them on the fly if i need to i guess. I mostly just plan to use this thing with Switch, but it did make MiSTer a bit sharper at a farther viewing distance :)

[@RetroRGB]

Wow, that's so weird! I'll update the post with all that info. And thanks for testing the production version!

[@wingedhussar1453]

In terms of motion u can tell they include some lil blur not as nice in motion

[@butterman2409]

I hate the 1080p requirement. I want this for the ps3 but majority of those games only push 720p

[@ZeroUm_]

I preferred the soft look of mCable in Link's Awakening, and the low-med level sharp ones in BotW. Hopefully we can get more super customizable 4k scalers in the future. A MiSTer 4k tho, would be a dream.

[@dcashley303]

This may sound like sacrilege but I prefer the look of the mCable in those particular comparisons. The 4K Gamer Pro looks too artifically sharpened and full of halo-ing to my eyes. Prefer the Direct or mCable but I'm sure in person it'll be different.

[@RetroRGB]

There is no wrong answer, it's whatever your eyes prefer :)

[@bojangles6444]

I think it’s hard to tell from KZbin this format seems to force compression and look lower resolution than it says. Streaming is not ideal to observe graphical fidelity. Not the content maker’s fault obviously. MCable butchers aspect ratios. I think it only looks good on the switch. I prefer an extron device fudoh recommended for taking 480p-1080p. It’s not a gaming specific device though so I wouldn’t recommend it I can’t speak for how it impacts lag etc. There are 4k professional devices but they cost too much still- thousands.

[@dcashley303]

@@bojangles6444 Oh really, I didn't know that the MCable messed with aspect ratios, will have to look into that thanks. Yeah, KZbin compression isn't great. But it least in these instances I preferred the look of the other two options.

[@bojangles6444]

@@dcashley303 yeah MCable blows up everything to full screen. The 4:3 ratio is only good for 240p content which I wouldn’t use it for bc I like original hardware. That’s why I found it was only good for stuff already in full screen like the switch. Also it seemed to create graphical problems in older consoles- I don’t know exactly what but to me it made it unusable. There is an out of production extron device recommended on Fudoh’s page that I think is generally more reliable for 480p to 1080p upscaling. Depended on console and game mcable it was very hit or miss. And I also believe Mclassic is the latest version not mcable- it’s all poorly explained. I ended up returning the mcable for mclassic it seemed to be dramatically improved. I don’t know why MCable is still sold for more. I think it’s great for switch and otherwise useless.

[@kazaakas]

Make it do integer scaling, eg 2x integer scale 1080p to 4K, and make it support 720p (with 3x integer scaling to 4K), and I'd happily pay the (imo) crazy price for it.

[@isaax961]

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuude, Will we finally get a scaler for the xbox 360 and ps3? I really hope this scaler will be the answer

[@lplumptree]

Unfortunately it’s not, the 360 and PS3 mainly render games at 720p so if you’re using the 1080p output modes, the game is 720p improperly scaled to 1080p, then to my eyes scaled with a sharpening filter to 4K

[@RetroRGB]

@@lplumptree That statement only applies to games with 2D graphics. Check the pinned post and see the footage for yourself.

[@lplumptree]

@@RetroRGB Thank you very much for uploading that extra video, it really does look better when not super zoomed in. I still have to say that I personally am not a fan of the edge enhancement that is applied, and am hoping they release an update that allows for just a straight nearest neighbour upscale. 720p support would also be amazing & open it up to 360, PS3, and WiiU.

[@NerdyShawn]

doh! Kickstarter snag this morning "This is a message from Kickstarter’s Trust and Safety team. We're writing to inform you that a project you backed, 4K Gamer Pro: Instantly Upgrade Your Game Console to 4k, is the subject of an intellectual property dispute." :/

[@NerdyShawn]

Thanks Bob, just pre-ordered one + 5’ hdmi 2.0a cable addon. I don’t even own a 4K TV, lol!

[@Debu_Ranger]

Same! I don't even own a 4K tv but one day I might!

[@NerdyShawn]

@@Debu_Ranger yeah wasn't that excited about 4K but hooking my Retrotink 5x to this sounds like reason to buy one when it ships in the fall.

[@NerdyShawn]

doh! "This is a message from Kickstarter’s Trust and Safety team. We're writing to inform you that a project you backed, 4K Gamer Pro: Instantly Upgrade Your Game Console to 4k, is the subject of an intellectual property dispute."

[@Debu_Ranger]

@@NerdyShawn I heard it was about the video content that show Nintendo games or something like that.

[@abrahamthomas32]

Hi. Does it upscale 1080p 60 hz to 4k?

[@RetroRGB]

Yes. I cover this in the video. Please give it a watch.

[@Dark_Jaguar]

This device implements something I've wanted to see for a few years, and that's a subtle "color blending" right at the edge of hard pixels in retro gaming. It's a digital equivalent of the analog blending that occurred naturally on CRTs and went a long way to hide more obvious blanked scan lines. I'd love to see how it worked with scanline blanking turned to full black. We're getting closer and closer to fully replicating all the wonderful little effects of old CRT gaming with every one of these devices. I do have to hold off since that compatibility issue worries me, but here's hoping they get that ironed out and further that we see it implemented in the next generation of OSSC type devices. If we can simulate "dot chasing" style scan lines, not only will we also bust modern display blur for retro games, we'll have finally reached light gun compatibility. That'll be when we finally reach 1000FPS displays though... Some way off. For the record, I adore the look of dithering patterns even at full sharpness. I think the pattern itself is pretty to look at, but then again I've been looking at those patterns since old DOS games were using them in full RGB clarity, and coming from growing up with both PCs and consoles I grew to like them. They still provide that illusion of higher color even when you can make out the pattern. My one exception to this rule is when the blending was meant to produce transparency effects, like the waterfall in Sonic or the water bubbles in Nights into Dreams. In those cases, composite signaling is really the only way to see those as intended and the only way they look anything close to good.

[@brkbtjunkie]

Your last comment, why composite signaling and not component?

[@Dark_Jaguar]

@@brkbtjunkie Composite is messy enough to blend the pixels and make those things look transparent. Anything with better signaling would keep the pixels unblended and there will be no transparency.

[@brkbtjunkie]

@@Dark_Jaguar interesting thought process. Make it look worse so it can look better?

[@rescuecomplex5115]

Hi. Can it upscale 720p or 576p, or is it just 1080p, please?

[@RetroRGB]

As stated in the video, only 1080p

[@rescuecomplex5115]

Ok, thanks. I only saw it later. Thank you!@@RetroRGB

[@gametourny4ever627]

It sounds like the image has to be 1080p for it to scale. That is cool but also a bummer. This device I was more interested in for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii U, and Switch but not all the games on these systems run at 1080P.

[@nightwinn]

The Xbox 360 gpu should scale 720p to 1080p output. At least my TV does not show a resolution change. I originally thought the ANA/HANA chips scaled the image, but later it was proven that the GPU actually does the scaling. Not sure for the PS3. The Wii U should still scale to 1080p. Can't speak to the quality of the built-in scaler for U games, but I can say that vWii games look terrible with the Wii U's scaler. For those, I leave at 480p and let my TV process it.

[@nightwinn]

@@captainthunderbolt7541 It would be a decent money pit, but couldn't someone use the mClassic in either processed/not mode to upscale 480p/720p to 1080p and then run that through this to upscale to 4k? Not sure how well that would look for 480p content. I would love to see Nvidia release an in-line AI DLSS processor (preferably lag

[@MOS6582]

Someone just build a box that pure integer scales 1080 and 720 to 2160 please. No menu, no other functions, just HDMI in and HDMI out. Pixels will be so happy that someone finally gets them.

[@Totschlagen1799]

Does it work if you chain a tink5x set to 1080p?

[@RetroRGB]

That's how I captured some of this footage :)

[@Totschlagen1799]

@@RetroRGB okay, Awesome, I couldn't recall you saying you used it and the tink, just the mister :D

[@melaninking199]

Will this 4K Gamer work with my original N64?

[@RetroRGB]

You’d need to first scale your N64 to 1080p, then use this. If you need 4K, it would be better to get the RetroTINK 4K, which is coming out by the end of the year.

[@fedeterra42]

Fantastic video, but i would love to see some ps3 Tests.

[@gregjarvis1232]

I'm amazed where at 5 plus years into the Nintendo switch lifespan 3 different switches yet not 1 has been made native 4k I did like the look of the oled but no 4k was a deal breaker 4 me

[@jagoca2846]

On that screen running

[@FritzCopyCat]

Man, this thing looks like garbage. It seems to be just upping the sharpness and contrast of the image (and adding artefacts along the way). We all know TVs and monitors have sharpness and contrast controls, right? Has anybody done a teardown of this thing? I wouldn't be surprised if it's just some bog-standard scaler in a fancy case.

[@josedanielrodriguezbia5951]

What about using this device in PS3/XBOX 360?

[@RetroRGB]

My friend will be covering those consoles and the 4K Gamer Pro here in a week or so: kzbin.info/door/7cKyiyU7IK9cLZXxSA0sPg

[@Dafub21]

If only it did 1440p 120hz to 4k 120hz. I have a LG C9 but only A RX 5700XT which does not have HDMI 2.1 out would be cool way to get a native feed to the screen

[@MegaSegawa]

I would love to see PS3 720p games with it

[@Spaghettaboutit]

It can only receive 1080p, so you'll have to upscale the 720p to 1080p.....unless the PS3 can output those games as 1080p....

[@thanksbetotap]

I just want to say that Bob is awesome and does great work, and that Intec is a deplorable and awful company.

[@HYDRAdude]

I would have liked to see some xbox 1080i games with this thing.

[@RetroRGB]

It only supports 1080p

[@mindscan420]

Damn shame it only supports 1080p, if this could also upscale 1440 I would be interested. This is mainly because my tv doesn’t support 1440p, and I can’t find a reason to pay that much money to scale 1080p just to sharpen it a bit. One of the things I wanted to do was line double ps3/PSTV and the such via RetroTink5x to 1440 then to 4k to use on my tv, but I guess this thing can’t do that.

[@RetroRGB]

1440 isn't an integer of 4K. Even if it did support that resolution, you'd get much better results feeding this device 1080p.

[@mindscan420]

@@RetroRGB true. And yeah this would be cool for everything else for sure, but I guess there’s no good way to upscale 720p stuff then. Retrotink outputting 720p inputs in 1080p doesn’t look so great so that wouldn’t work either. Waiting on Retrotink4k I guess for that 🫠

[@jaxh4x]

if this supported 720p it would be a no brainer.

[@maegnificant]

Can it do 1440p as well?

[@RetroRGB]

No, only 1080p to 4K

[@AlessandroSchiassi]

Would it work with a Steam Deck?

[@100Bucks]

If the stream deck can push out a 1080p resolution, it will work. That's all the requirements it needs, 1080p. I'm using this with a PC. The device will except a 720p signal and your TV will say 3840x2160 but the quality will still look bad. 1080p is a must. You can get away using 720p with 2d games only. 3d games won't cut it. 1080p is required.

[@ericko777]

I love this device but I am getting a loss signal error on my TV every 20 min or so. Any one else?

[@RetroRGB]

Weird! Are you running it through a switch, splitter or AVR? Or direct into your TV? Also, are you using high speed HDMI cables rated for 4K? I had cables that worked perfectly for 5 years, then I'd randomly get dropouts. Nothing was bumped or moved, the cable just "wore out". It was really disappointing...

[@ericko777]

@@RetroRGB Thank you for responding! I am running it through a splitter. I'm currently using it with the n64 digital via mini hdmi although i did have some signal drops when connected to the ossc as well. My next step is to change the USB power source as I'm using an old cellphone adapter and removing the splitter via a coupler (since the n64 digital uses mini hdmi).

[@RetroRGB]

Good troubleshooting steps. You can also try going directly into the TV to see if that helps.

[@ericko777]

Turns out it's not the awesome 4k gamer pro. It's the n64 digital N64 I spent $700 on ebay for. :/ Gonna try to get a refund since that's not a fun way to play N64 at all

[@SeaSlug]

Can I use this to make my ps5 output 4k to my lg 4k 42 inch monitor. It has two 4k 60 hdmi ports but the pst doesn't seem to recognize them as 4k.

[@nightwinn]

This looks like a great option until Nvidia decides to create an in-line DLSS scaler. At least it can pass through lower/higher than 1080p resolutions. It would really hurt usability if it couldn't.

[@nightwinn]

@@captainthunderbolt7541 That makes sense. I figured it was a pipe dream. I was just thinking about what the Nvidia Shield could do for videos. It looks like the product in this video is the closest we will get.

[@nightwinn]

@@captainthunderbolt7541 Would you recommend purchasing a newer Shield in 2022? I have a Chromecast with Google TV that works great, but the 4k AI upscale and faster hardware sounds appealing. That said, being based on 2015 (?) hardware, I'm a bit hesitant to invest in hardware that is approaching becoming obsolete. Hopefully Nvidia will release a newer model based on a 4k Tegra chip or better.

[@nightwinn]

@@captainthunderbolt7541 Really hoping Nvidia does a new chip shield and the 4k switch. I'm glad you like the apple tv. Never bought one, but I always thought they had a great looking interface. I'm hoping android tv has better support for xbox cloud and parsec gaming. Both are great on Android phones, but not on android tv.