The RetroTINK 4K Video Scaler

Episode 384 - Playing retro games on modern displays can be tricky, but there are a few devices out there which can help. One of them is the RetroTINK 4K, looking to go on sale in late 2023.
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[@legbert123]

We need a compilation of Joes old home movies lol.

[@jam237]

Some are on the game sack blu rays

[@GameSack]

The price has been since announced to be $750. Also the Surround Sound issue that I describe in this video has already been fixed, before the unit's release. It will now pass through LPCM Stereo, DTS (5.1), Dolby Digital (5.1), LPCM 5.1, and LPCM 7.1. It doesn't pass through Atmos or DTS-X, but the oldest console that supports those is the OG XBox One... not likely something you'll be hooking up to the RetroTINK 4K. But for PlayStation 3 and it's 7.1 surround, this is golden!

[@jameslarham5936]

Amazing news!

[@Maikeru722]

Good! I wanted to hook my switch up to it, but didn't want to lose the surround sound.

[@JomasterTheSecond]

Finally, now I can have Craig Stadler in 4K! It's like he'll be right there in my living room!

[@Alreezy]

Think you can get it inside his?

[@TooBokoo]

Think you can get it inside his?

[@darrencurry4429]

"Do you think you can get it in mine?"

[@DamienCooley]

Oh he already is.

[@3dmarth]

Fixed it for you: "It's like he'll be right there inside mine!"

[@THEJapan]

I always appreciate the comedy bits at the end!

[@thepickles8833]

Craig Stadler, always watching over is like some retro gaming guardian angel

[@qmto]

He does so, menacingly.

[@lunitaproductions8290]

He's the channel's mascot

[@lutfimakarim8258]

​@@lunitaproductions8290I thought Green Dog was Game Sack's Mascot?

[@TooBokoo]

Edit: The 4k release has been officially confirmed. Lol! March 12, 2024. Speaking of True Lies, Joe. It was released on D-Theater VHS and the rip can be found on Torrents. It's a great high-def presentation. Obviously, an official Blu-ray release would be better, but it definitely scratches the itch and blows away the DVD.

[@GameSack]

Very interesting, I didn't know that!

[@damn5987]

There are 1080p WEB-DL's available [Edit] and it's on it's way to 4k Bluray

[@corngames8982]

Theres a region free bluray of True Lies from Spain.

[@greenkoopa]

​@@corngames8982does it have any extras?

[@Sergiovsousa]

Correct, I have that, brought from spanish Amazon

[@willkelmanpenapena3551]

The 3D chalkboard animation is really awesome

[@astrades2601]

After this fresh episode i completed my months long marathon of every Game Sack episode. I love the show, its formula and its style. And i probably learnt about some few hundreds interesting games to play. Thank you Joe for continue making of great gaming show for us.

[@IndecisiveDevice]

Thank you for covering your experiences with home video, VHS, and DVD with retrotink 4k. These results were what I was most curious about. 20:31

[@masterquake7]

Actually pretty excited for this thing. Just gotta explain to my wife why I need a $1000 retro upscaler.

[@aztarot]

Or maybe $100,000 dollars, we don't remember exactly...

[@lukasperuzovic1429]

Tell her its a thing for taxes

[@Richard.Linder]

@@lukasperuzovic1429 🤣

[@zwallop]

Your end-credit skits always crack me up!

[@gryphonofmight]

Always good to have a bonus Gamesack episode

[@idadru]

I hate surprises 😠

[@sgrodummy]

u meant to say gayness ballsack episode

[@pescadorazulado270]

Very nice to see that old footage, and younger versions of Joe and Dave

[@gfdggdfgdgf]

Gamesack has the highest quality retro game footage, other channels hardly come close

[@Boss-Bot]

Wasn't expecting that ending. Wanted to see Joe and Dave sit down to watch a family video VHS from yesteryear in 4k and then it just you to reenacting the fight scene with modern equipment.

[@jong2359]

That ending was 1 solid minute of wtf laughing... you never know what random bullcrap he is going to run a skit on, lol.

[@kommanderkronk]

The only creator I truly trust on subjects like this, lag and audio. Great work man.

[@skins4thewin]

Joe indeed knows his stuff. My Life in Gaming is another one I highly suggest you check out.

[@Richard.Linder]

@@skins4thewin Was going to say.. and them too

[@skootdiggity1301]

This video made me feel comfortable keeping my Retrotink 5x.

[@braddahl2098]

Dang, I told myself I could just keep using the 5x in 6x mode, but having profiles available to share (other people doing the work) sure is enticing!

[@brandnewman9870]

Great vid! I hadn't realized your love for stop motion videos came from your teenage years. You were already very good at this by the time, and these homemade movies felt very comfy. ❤

[@redacted2275]

Chalk animation is smooth af

[@steel5897]

That's an insane piece of tech. First time I've seen real hardware match the kind of image processing emulators have been able to do in Retroarch, particularly the CRT stuff is super nice. It's very much outside my financial means though!

[@newgameaaaa]

Cool basement. I have a cool basement growing up too. Thumbs up for people had a cool basement growing up. You put your gaming setup down there, CRT with a nes, wood paneling walls, tile floor, parents have a bar down there. Yes, I know I am very lucky and grateful.

[@QuestionBlockGaming]

I just want you to know that getting the notification for this video was the only thing that's broken me out of my Starfield hyperfixation in days. I watched it immediately on my 4K tv for the full effect!

[@Paulight]

Owning that thing seems like homework

[@Fuggettabouttitt]

That's the biggest deterrence. I just wanna play games.

[@GameSack]

@@Fuggettabouttitt I understand that for sure. I'm positive there will be other 4K scalers in the near future that will let you play but with fewer frills and also cheaper.

[@DenkyManner]

you aren't the target audience, don't lose any sleep about it

[@ryballs4569]

Some crazy videophiles actually enjoy doing all that tweaking of settings (like me) 😅

[@bigtimeart85]

He's not wrong. I wouldn't mind creating my own custom profiles and the fact that you can finally store a ton of them is a huge improvement for devices like this but it doesn't look like it detects progressive resolution switching. Sure it didn't skip a beat going between progressive and interlaced but show me a product that can optimally scale Golden Axe or Castlevania Bloodlines on the Genesis without having to manually switch profiles mid game and I will be impressed.

[@jfbrg]

First time I watch this channel, the content is awesome! ❤ Your ability to explain simply complex parameters is impressive. 😲👍

[@Godsgood111]

If you liked this, wait till you dip into the backlog. Welcome home friend.

[@Jesse__H]

Bruh. Welcome to the best retro vg channel on all of YT. You're gonna like it here.

[@DarkReturns1]

Game Sack is the best Sack there is!

[@mastropieros]

It's your lucky day as every video from this channel is awesome (I just read my own words with Joe's voice and laughed)

[@cardfightersclash]

"Craig Stadler? What are you doing inside my RetroTink 4K?" "Think you can get it inside mine?"

[@IcePakOG]

Thank you for introducing me to the Gate of Thunder soundtrack, Joe. I've been listening to it for the last half hour and absolutely love it. Cheers.

[@SharifSourour]

Being able to do high end scan lines that actually look good on modern pixel art games is impressive!

[@SharifSourour]

Converting low resolution interlaced video into true progressive output on the fly is bad ass!

[@TacticalPower88]

100K?!!! Thats like at least $99900 more than this is really worth!

[@Subfightr]

Wtf KZbin?! You never notified me of 3 episodes. I had to get worried about Joe, only to be happily rewarded with 3 episodes and Joe still being alive, at least as of whenever he filmed and edited these.

[@TheCrazyStudent]

The first batch RT4K of around 1930 units was released and available for purchase yesterday. They all sold out within 28 minutes, and they would probably have been gone even faster if it wasn’t for the fact that many people in the US had problems completing the purchase due to some issues with the homepage. I find it surprising that so many people wanted to get one even despite it being quite pricey for an upscaler ($750 + shipping + import taxes). They are now out of stock, but hopefully Mike Chi will be doing a second batch early 2024.

[@GameSack]

He definitely will do a second batch ASAP, likely within a month or two. There was more demand for this then when the Retrotink 5x came out.

[@braillynn4903]

Really glad you covered VHS compatibility.

[@Gerenocidiac]

Was glad to hear you were testing this on a C1 OLED, I have the G1, essentially the same, so this hardware will be perfect to pair with.

[@frankbizzoco1954]

I am also with the G1. I am excited to use this doodad with my Switch, upscale to 4k and inject HDR. I already enjoy the game mode on the G1. I also use the "secret menu" sometimes to turn on HLG. It will be nice to just press a button instead.

[@CaptSpeirsB744]

Love your touch of sarcasm with this review. I have enough hobbies, I don't need to add video engineer to list. I'll keep my 5X and have lotsa time to just play games. Cracks me up how most of the comments are complimenting Game Sack's content on the shows and not the retrotink, nobody seems to care about the 4K.

[@mjaerkens]

Well, if you're not going to do it, I'll have to do it myself... TAAAAATTTTEEEE MOOOODDDDEEEEEE!!!!!!!

[@mattshuey1]

Love the lengths Joe will go to to have the best retro gaming channels. The A/V interest you have is above and beyond and really is more than what you have to do but I'll never complain. Except about the lack of SoundSack uploads.

[@AB0BA_69]

I can't wait to play my 16 bit games from my 240p console in 4K HDTV. Awesome!!! 😅

[@GuyManley]

This thing looks incredible. If only I didn't ditch my entire VHS collection 10 years ago, I could watch them on a 4K display today at 24p with scanline filters and HDR. Stupid past me.

[@justinblackwood5816]

I'm in agreement with a lot of the comments, you need to post some of your old home movies! Great video, lots of stuff I didn't understand but you make it entertaining. I wonder how some of the pixel cartoons like what Lowbrow does would look with some of the filters on it.

[@piccolo1976]

I love scanlines from 100 years ago!

[@zenodyssey]

Thank you for reviewing this upscaler hardware. Looks amazing just like on a crt tv! Regarding to pc-engine/turbo grafx, there is an adaptor you can get that can attach to console, it outputs component signal and also rgb signal through m2 scart cable. you can then hook up output (component cable) to your retrotink 4k box.

[@MarcoSoprani]

LOVE LOVE LOVE that song from Gates Of Thunder that you used! Been a favourite of mine since the first time I played with my Turbo Duo! Grazie from Italy!

[@Michael-im5mq]

First time I ever went "wow" when viewing footage of a retro upscaler. Very impressive

[@IVIaster]

The dirty floor in the shots was hilarious. I love your videos so much. Always hilarious.

[@RobertPLWitek]

I connecting my few consoles by SCART RGB to CRT TV. It`s 29" Panasonic Quintrix (rather budget model). Picture quality is great, no need fake scanlines or other tricks. There some great TV with all known connections and massive picture options you can buy that stuff very cheap awoiding "retro" sellers.

[@Godsgood111]

Those home movies are awesome. And the chalk board animation first person view of the arrow was genuis. But the snowball to the asshole will make me laugh forever😂😂

[@legbert123]

Thanks for making videos Joe.

[@videostash413]

Can't wait to get a 5X, this 4K is not for me, but God bless Mike for all his work!

[@kenhughes-pt9tb]

I'm definitely getting one. The RetroTINK 4K will help give me a Switch Pro LOL

[@dbnpoldermans4120]

thank you for including that golf dude! I cried

[@leonippon]

Me watching it on a 768p laptop: Wow, games look really good in 4K.

[@thomasgebert6119]

It doesn't piss me off, and I am glad that people are working on devices like this, but it definitely makes me eternally grateful for the work being done on emulators.

[@jameslarham5936]

Hey Joe, you can manually set modern Denon receivers to process stereo as Dolby Pro logic using the “surround mode” buttons at the bottom of the remote. Just press “movie” repeatedly to cycle through the different formats until you get to “Dolby Surround” which is full backwards compatible with Pro logic. Works like a charm with the RT5X so would be very surprised if it doesn’t with the RT4k.

[@GameSack]

Thanks for the tip! Does this interfere with anything else? For example right now Dolby 5.1 or 7.1 will upmix for 11.1, and DTS stuff will upmix to Neural X. But RT4K is stereo only on the same input. I don't have have it hooked up to the receiver currently but I will try it next time.

[@jameslarham5936]

How are you sharing inputs? HDMI switch? I don’t think it would affect the up mixing for those other formats but I only ever had the RT5X on its on HDMI input so you’d have to experiment. I’ve since switched to directly connecting the RT5X to the TV to avoid dropouts on resolution changes and it works perfectly through eArc too. I used the surround sound test in one of the Rogue Squadron games on the GameCube to test it.

[@trexistar5987]

Although I have no interest for this device, I just like watching your contents. You're so fun and entertaining, like the cool teacher who makes classes awesome 🙂

[@SteveWellsNZ]

Man, I _really_ hope this thing has a comprehensive instruction manual to explain what all the things do! Looks incredible.

[@jong2359]

Spoiler alert, it probably won't. The community will definitely fill most of the gaps though, as is evidenced here.

[@wrenboy2726]

This thing is wild. I don’t even play “retro” games and now I kinda want one just to tinker with.

[@mistkeyblade]

That feeling when you think you’re heading to bed but Joe surprises you with a bonus episode of Game Sack

[@SwitchRetroGaming]

Love the homemade videos, you really should show them off more.

[@boredbastardbullshit]

Probably the hardest I've ever laughed at a Gamesack ending skit. Well done, Joe.... well done.

[@ninjapirate47]

All this stuff goes way over my head but I still enjoy it and it's an impressive piece of kit.

[@videostash413]

Ick, I don't want to go back to the way CRTs handled pixel graphics! Give me sharp clear pixels with no scanlines every time!

[@B8GViews]

I love these tech videos, even though I sit here nodding like a dummy and acting like I know more than .5% of what's being discussed 😂 Loved your old videos for this segment, it's great you never lost your passion for production. That end skit made me uncomfortable, tho 🥴🤣

[@angryretrogamer7313]

Game Sack is my all time favorite video game channel, even without Dave but you lost me with the technical jargon in the first 5min. Im very thankful for guys like you Joe for figuring this stuff out for dummies like me.

[@MixologistMilo]

If mike can implement Dolby pro logic II that would cover older game libraries, and do a respectful job with more modern Dolby digital variations

[@goldenheartOh]

19:30 Black Frame Insertion. Hell yeah!!! I'll consider buying it for this feature alone! I had a 1080p monitor with awesome BFI for 8yrs. I can read moving text on it. I upgraded to a 4k 144Hz monitor & the text is too blurry to read during motion, which means the effective resolution drops to well below 1080p when things move!!! It messes with my eyes cuz they're trying to get things back in focus. I'm a single player kind of guy, so a little lag wont kill me... much. Besides, its meant for gaming, so lag cant be too bad.

[@williamoverton7775]

the photography in this episode is pretty good. a little different from the other RT demo videos.

[@asydia5026]

Im sure glad my go to tissue brand will give me less splinters now, such a relief

[@RadicalRickEntertainment]

I TINK this looks like a stellar product!

[@GameSack]

I see what you did there

[@salmakesthings]

I cannot wait for this thing.

[@williamoverton7775]

wow playing with one of these looks just as fun as playing video games.

[@warchild9381]

Thank you Joe for your hard work with Game Sack!

[@Quimbyrbg]

I'll pass on the video filter machine, but I am definitely interested in those tissues. People don't know how important having fewer splinters is, but it's worth the asking price. I once had a big splinter shoot up into brain and brain up into there. Very fallafal.

[@K3zster]

Hugely appreciate this video. It can't have been easy trying to working around the limitations of streaming platforms and show off what this device can really do! You've come up with some really creative solutions here. Thorough, informative and great quality as ever. Thanks!

[@vava85]

Best part of the video is the old home videos. And the skit.

[@Randhrick]

Holy shit, $1000?! Price is based of the resolution or something? Can't wait for Retrotink 8k, only $2000!

[@kennethd4958]

The only upside of falling asleep early on a Saturday night is that I woke up to a new Gamesack episode.

[@nastybedazzler]

I saw Digital Foundry talk about this briefly on one of their Direct streams. It seems pretty cool but I think the average consumer don't know what the hell to do with it. I've got a retrotink 5x I'm fairly certain that does enough for me but who knows what I'll end up doing in the future once this is released. Awesome video as always. This was really well done, Joe brought his AAA game for this one.

[@jimbocalamity]

Looks like a lot of care is going into it. It may not be for everyone but this is great for us who love our retro gaming! Thanks Gamesack, great review, always appreciate all your hard work!

[@Locomamonk]

mannnn I didn't know you could adjust scanlines to perfection! This is a great episode, so much to learn from!

[@syxx573]

I own a retrotink device that I use with an NES and a PS2. I love it! Well worth the money.

[@deftones8717]

Yeah, I’m too dumb to keep up with any of this computer/software/programming/gaming jargon.. but I’ll still sit here and nod in agreement, because I love you Joe. You pair so well with my morning cup of Joe.

[@tatecheddar]

Wow. I watched a couple other videos on this and they didn't go into as much detail especially with the downscaling HD content to add proper scanlines. That alone for me is worth a purchase. This thing is pretty amazing.

[@sixtyfps]

I love your sense of humor lately, Joe. Your videos are the perfect blend of informative and entertaining.

[@mario-mario822]

Love the retro chalk zone footage 👌👏

[@johnathanashleyOCSO]

Yay listening to stadler " think you can get it inside mine " in 4k ........ creepiness in 4k🤣

[@trmchenry]

I meant to comment on this forever ago but if this could end up doing line/frame based TBC it would be amazing for VHS and other analog tape capture. My whole workflow for that is like 3 ancient failing devices in front of a 25 year old ati aiw capture card in a temperamental win xp build. It would be glorious to go from VCR to RT4K to modern HDMI capture without using old tech. Those old TBC unit prices are insane now and only going up.

[@kurtistharp2031]

Great sponsored coverage of the Retro tank, looks like an interesting piece of kit but still too expensive for a lot of folks. Also still looking forward to how you got ahold of that SNES ASCII pad

[@istrasci]

This stuff makes zero sense to me, but it's so interesting!

[@petemalogne5219]

Wow this looks incredible!! ..also, just wanna say that the YT compression does not ruin scanlines and filters when viewed at the resolution it was captured at.. You can show more fullscreen filter capture if you just tell people to view it at full glory. I just watched the GB Advance Castelvania gameplay at 4K 60, both on my PC monitor and cell phone, and you could see and distinguish all of the perfectly scaled filter action regardless of the screen lol.. were times I had to quickly pause to see the actual capture w filters on I wanted to see. Anyways, Great vid as always, offscreen shots are just as necessary too imo, and you always nail those! Greet Job!

[@crtgamer2355]

Best review on this product yet, Joe always putting in the extra GIGAPOWAAAAAAAA!!!

[@dyllburg]

The Retrotink 4K: the only upscaler approved by Craig Stadler 😎

[@sjftech]

This video only serves to make me want this device even more! Thanks Joe! Also, True Lies is available on 1080p Blu-ray.

[@GameSack]

Only in Spain, and it's probably a D-VHS transfer (1080i).

[@sjftech]

@@GameSack Ah okay, didn't realise it was Spain only. I did see that apparently it's coming to 4K this year alongside other JC movies.

[@EarthCitizen09]

Thank you, Joe. I've been waiting for your take on this.

[@UNOxDExELLOS]

I love starting my morning off with some Sack.

[@AgsmaJustAgsma]

A skit about paper tissues was the last thing that I'd expect to see in this channel, and I've been watching your stuff for almost a decade by now.

[@chexmixkitty]

I always want these things, but I'm always put off by the price. I know why they're expensive, but that's what keeping me from getting them lol.

[@mmmmigs]

fantastic work and a great resource for retrotink tweaking. looking forward to getting one of these

[@forrestredd2706]

I think we need a "Joe's old video tapes" Episode.

[@professors84]

I remember seeing Super Speedway in IMAX at a local museum

[@roytherocketparsons9096]

Oh Craig Statler. "Think you can get inside mine?" Stop propositioning me craig statler!!