RetroTInk 2x Pro & Commodore 64 – white line left hand side of image

[djc6]

Hello, I received RetroTink 2x Pro today and have a concern. When I view my Commodore 64 via s-video or composite on the RetroTink, there is a distracting white line down the left side of the display. I’ve tried a couple different monitors, same thing. Curiously, I don’t see this when Commodore 64 is connected to my TV – even though TV is in 4:3 mode so picture is bordered with wide black bars on both sides of image. Any idea what is occurring here? Thanks!

[BuckoA51]

That’s totally normal for the C64, you don’t see it with a CRT usually as the image is slightly overscanned so you never notice.

[djc6]

I have a Panasonic TC-P50G15 50″ HD Plasma TV with S-Video input and that line does not appear. Also have an Samsung LN40A530 LCD TV with S-video – no white line. I’ve only seen this when using RetroTink. Its quite distracting, there is no solution?

[BuckoA51]

Those devices are then overscanning the image slightly. Try using your monitors adjustment controls to nudge the line off the screen, should only need to go a couple pixels.

[djc6]

I tried three monitors – all display white line, none will let me adjust horizontal/vertical when connected digitally which is only output on RetroTink.

Dell 1905FP – horizontal/vertical adjustments only available when using VGA, the settings are locked out when using DVI
HP ZR24w – same, horizontal/vertical adjustments only when using VGA, unavailable when connected via DVI
LG 27UD58P-B – no horizontal/vertical at all that I can tell. Monitor only has displayport and HDMI.

[BuckoA51]

You would need to go OSSC + Koryuu then if it bugs you that much. OSSC has a mask feature that lets you mask off pixels at the side of the screen.

[djc6]

I find it troubling enough that I greatly prefer image when not using RetroTink, without having this giant bright spot on the screen all the time. I don’t have any other composite/s-video devices to test the retrotink with, just the c64. Sounds fantastic for retro consoles connected to TVs, but not ideal for C64s connected to monitors which is how I hoped to use it.

[BuckoA51]

Try comparing games when there’s actually something happening not just a static screen, the deinterlacer in most TVs completely mangles the image adding a weird combing effect on sprites. That’s if your display even has S-video in to start with.

RetroTINK is scaling the image pixel perfectly for you, preserving it exactly. The white line is part of the C64s image, honestly it just doesn’t bother most folks. Some people have complained because the NES does the same thing too – https://videogameperfection.com/forums/topic/harsh-white-column-of-pixels-at-left-of-screen/

Once you start playing a game you won’t notice it as you will be focused on the gameplay.

[TinkerAround]

Same here…

Once you start playing a game you won’t notice it as you will be focused on the gameplay

🙂

I thought its a “Pro”, simple converters for $15 are able to filter this white line, and the “Pro” device not?
It’s very easy to filter this line, and yes, the white line is very annoying, it’s directly in your face.

As long as all Tink devices cannot delete this white line, it is not worth buying a $129 device 😉

[djc6]

I ended up going with component video mod: https://videogameperfection.com/products/commodore-component-video/

And an OSSC. Expensive solution for sure, I also had to invest in all the tools to install the mod – but it was fun, I learned something, and the video output quality is superb. Also, I’ve been using the OSSC for other devices – it works great for the Commodore 128 80-column mode as well! I posted a summary here: https://videogameperfection.com/forums/topic/commodore-128-cga2rgbv2/#post-41265

[BuckoA51]

simple converters for $15 are able to filter this white line, and the “Pro” device not?

Because the simple converters are not scaling or converting the image accurately, not a great trade off.

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