Wii and Retrotink 2xPro-Multiformat, image loss playing interlaced games

[hugox64]

I’ve got a RetroTink2xPro-Multiformat and using it with my Wii but I tend to get image loss playing interlaced games over component cable. 576i/50Hz interlaced causes the main problem and I don’t think I’ve got any games to work using this signal over component even in PassThru mode without some level of image/frame loss. 480i/60Hz isn’t always perfect but does seem correctable with a power cycle. Sometimes the image loss is bad and can get black screen several frames a second and the game is totally unplayable, other times it’s less frequent and may just loose a frame a minute. Interlaced over composite is fine however but the image quality isn’t as good and I don’t want to swap cable just for interlaced games.

The RetroTink works great with 480p input (and that was the main reason I bought the device) but PAL GameCube games and some Wii games aren’t available in progressive. If you softmod the Wii you can get the NTSC Gamecube titles which are mostly 480p. But I don’t always want to do bother finding and downloading NTSC ROMs if I’ve already got the PAL disc waiting to play.

my setup is:
Wii (PAL) + component out cables + Wii/NGC game (PAL, 576i/50Hz) # i’ve tested SoulCaliburII, F-zeroGX, CoD3, SSBMelee and get very similar results
RetroTink2xProM (input: component official cables, comb_filter: auto/retro, output: 2x/PassThru, FirmWare: 1.7) # similar results regardless of lineDoubled or PassThru mode
HDMI to TV (or monitor)

I tried a bit of trouble shooting by using a different screen and using a variety of games (both ROMs and disc, both PAL and NTSC) but not figured out the problem yet. Switching the comb filter between Retro and Auto mid game can sometimes induce flickering. Also sometimes the signal can appear great for 10-15min but then gradually get worse as if something has gradually lost sync. I’ve tried power cylce but it doesn’t solve the issue for 576i/50Hz signals.

So I was wondering If anyone else had experienced issues like this playing interlaced games on a Wii over component cables using the RetroTink2xProM.

cheers,

[BuckoA51]

Flicker is possibly a bad choice of words here, you mean the image is lost for a second or two? Because all interlace content through RetroTINK will have some level of flicker.

[hugox64]

yeah it’s not like flickering up/down from bob deinterlacing (or however the TINK deinterlaces). It’s the entire image which is lost and just get black screen for a few frames. I changed the title and post description.

[hugox64]

was reading this info on the 2xPro-M from RetroTINK website, https://www.retrotink.com/post/introducing-the-retrotink-2x-pro-multi-format

says “zero-lag line-doubling 240p/288p/480i/576i component, S-Video and composite inputs.”
but further down says “The 2X-M also supports PAL and PAL-60 over composite and S-Video.”
but doesn’t mention PAL over component which seems a bit weird…?

[BuckoA51]

I don’t think it’s had as much testing but it should work just fine.

Have you tried a different TV/Monitor?

[CHA0SHACKER]

I have a very similar problem with my PAL PS2 using the RetroTink 2x-Pro M. It’s usually fine for like 15 minutes but it gets gradualy worse. Sometimes it helps to restart the retrotink a few times but sometimes nothing helps.

[hugox64]

cheers for the reply. It’s interesting someone else has a similar issue but not on Wii. I also get problems that start after like 15min, they are the most annoying haha. It’s almost like it goes out of sync but just takes a while to manifest. I wish I knew enough about video signals to know what’s happening. It’s not a massive problem for me because I can play most games at 480p but I’m still curious whether there’s a fix for this. I might try some older version of firmware just to see if there’s a difference.

I tried this on both a tv Panasonic TX-32LZD80 and a monitor LG Flatron W2442PA-BF and got very similar image loss. I’ll upload a video somewhere so you can see what I mean and people can compare. I’ll try it on a different TV and different Wii soon but with lockdown it’s difficult to get access.

I normally play using the 480p passthru which works just fine. Although I did find if I hook it up to my Elgato HD60s hdmi capture card with 480p game content then the capture card doesn’t work if I have the 2xPro-M when set on the line doubling setting. I think there is something subtly different with the 480p output when the 2xPro-M is set on line doubling versus passthru. The LED shines purple in both these scenarios.

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