RealNC wrote: ↑27 Jul 2024, 08:29
Did you know the Retrotink 4K costs $750?
While expensive compared to many things...
A literal bargain, if you're familiar with the history of video processors. In 2000-2004, I worked on video processors that had a MSRP of $4999. Faroudja was a big name back in those days.
Back in 1996, a Faroudja line quadrupler device capable of upconverting LaserDisc to HDTV resolutions,
cost five figures for less of the functions that Retrotink 4K does, when used with early graphics CRT projectors of the time.
Now, equivalent functions are built into commoditized chips built into many TVs.
However, specialization costs a fair bit of money.
It also happens to be the world's only hardware-based BFI injector box capable of all settings that
www.testufo.com/blackframes#easteregg=1 can muster. It's THAT configurable -- you want a 150Hz ModeLine with a PAL two-thirds motion-blur-reducer BFI? Done. Try that even with one of the more expensive video processor boxes sold to movie theaters and conference rooms.
Also, as far as I know, nothing on the market under $1500 exists that does this. - None can accept VHS/DVD/television/LaserDisc analog video input, deinterlace the movie frames, and output 1080p24/48/72/96/120 (custom Hz your pick), fully dejuddered. Google "High end video processors", and you begin to realize that the Retrotink 4K does some of the functions that these higher end boxes are doing, such as 3:2 deinterlace.
Just try it. Can you find cheaper analog-3:2-interlaced input, 24/48/72/96/120 digital scaled output (Even without CRT filters), at new price? These are priorities that a home theater "24p" fan (topic title!!!) often generally looks for, often people who visits AVSCIENCE Forums. Even the cheaper PixelFX Morph 4K (yoohoo, hire me!) product failed to deliver on this lineitem, and it also doesn't provide nearly as much BFI configurability.
It's an expensive box for a retro fan, but pretty cheap by home-theater-enthusiast standards (of Faroudja/Runco fame).
Can you reply with a cheaper alternative of topic title fame, RealNC?
I tried. Couldn't find any at this price class. Not even on Alibaba/Aliexpress.
With some boxes, yes -- you'll get more features like better resolution (4K, 10bit HDR etc). You'll do some lineitems better than Retrotink 4K. But the full frontal 24p flexibility combined with the full frontal BFI configurability? Just try. No other product exists. (yet!)
Now... you can jerryrig a bunch of HTPC stuff, like an Elgato and a PC-based video processor, but those PC parts will generally total more than $750 too. And you have to spend a lot of time configuring and gluing together (or programming your own) software to do the features. For things that Retrotink 4K essentially does out of the box (even without getting to do a ModeLine yet). I was the moderator of the AVSFORUM Home Theater Computers forum in 1999, before NVIDIA released their first GeForce256 GPU.