Supporter Q&A #332

Here's the Supporter-only Q&A from October 30th, 2024. All comments and questions are fielded through the supporter service Q&A page.

TIMESTAMPS (please assume all links are affiliate / paid links that pay RetroRGB a commission on each sale. Even if links are currently not affiliate, I may update them with one, should a partner list that item for sale in the future):

00:00 Welcome

00:11 Leave your SNES on 24/7?

04:55 Used vs New OLED?

[pippin]

11:20 That would explain why 720p linetripled to 4K looked weird, when the 4K image is decimated to 1080p, as rather than scaling, its line decimating to 1080p.

[ManFallsOffLog]

LGCX BFI on high has more motion clarity than the tink4k however that high setting is very dim

[itchyisvegeta]

As far as leaving the SNES on, that is essentially what we do with arcade hardware.

[rentoptional]

OLEDs are amazing. That said, my LG CX has dead pixels around the edges and corners. It's pretty common unfortunately. I did buy the extended Costco warranty and am looking forward to using that warranty before it expires late next year.

[itchyisvegeta]

11:24 - Is that a good device to downscale 1080p to 1080i by any chance?

[Cae_the_Kitsune]

I thought the Tink 4K could output up to 1440p at 120 Hz, not just up to 1080p. Or is the sticking point that the particular TVs in question don't accept 1440p120?

[duhmez]

I got 2 snes, glad to hear leavingon is probably ok. I ahve been doing that lateley, finally finished Contra 3 on original hardware first time since the game was new.

[JimProfit]

Regarding the OLED/BFI thing:
I'm the owner of a 55GX and 65GX. I would not buy a C2/G2 and newer, chiefly because the BFI/OLED Motion Pro is thoroughly downgraded. It no longer works at 100/120hz, and the 60hz mode only increases motion resolution to 120hz equivalent.
I'm not convinced by the RT4K BFI mode because, it does the same thing (120hz with every other refresh being a black frame) and, correct me if I'm wrong, it is limited to 1440p which may look off on a 4K panel.

The CX/GX is head and shoulder better for SDR content, because Motion Pro High gives you a 4 times boost (ie 240hz motion clarity equivalent for 60hz/fps content, 480hz motion clarity equivalent for 120hz/fps). Motion Pro Low and Medium only work at 100/120hz, and they give a +50% and +100% boost respectively.
The main problem is that, the brightness penalty being roughly equivalent to the increase in motion clarity, Motion Pro High yields a dim image even by SDR standards, and therefore I use every trick in the book to give it enough brightness, including going to the service menu to disable ABL. For pitch-black room use only.

The G1 with its EVO Panel, might be the best compromise yet for both HDR and SDR. The panel is slightly but noticeably brighter than the CX/GX, and Motion Pro High is less agressive, it only yields a 158hz motion clarity equivalent at 60hz/fps, and 316hz motion clarity equivalent at 120hz.
Again, Motion Pro Low and Medium are only available at 100/120hz with a more modest clarity boost and brightness penalty.
It is useful, if you want better motion in HDR games and you accept to make it more SDR-like due to the brightness penalty.

With that said, the future seems to go towards higher refresh displays and low-lag frame generation (DLSS4, Lossless Scaling utility, or even the low-lag interpolation mode on Samsung's newer OLEDs).
With frame gen, you can just max out your displays refresh rate and take no brightness penalty, albeit with some artifacting and probably a bit of lag.

In theory, with LCD tech, you could have super-short-strobe monitors (think ULMB) that have true CRT-level motion clarity, with enough brightness left to spare for more-than-SDR content, and if that LCD has a lot of dimming zones, you'd in theory retain enough contrast to at least compete with CRT/plasma.
No such display exists yet.
My 3D Vision monitor from 2018ish, the PG27VQ, is also a superb ULMB monitor, hacked via CRU to work at 60hz (natively only 85/100/120hz). At 120hz it is more clear than my FW900, with a much larger panel, but alas it's still just a 27" 1440p SDR with craptacular edge-lit TN panel with a gross matte coating, the black levels look terrible.

If I need both perfect motion and good contrast, my FW900 remains the only option but these cost a fortune and are very small, hence the never-ending hunt for a big screen compromise.

[DrLilo]

Re second hand TVs: If you have good credit, I would suggest getting a new TV on finance, rather than buying a second hand set. The sad thing about modern TVs is that they're not really built to last. I've had recent TVs that fell apart in a year.