RetroTink 5X firmware v4.0: HDR10, Quasi-4K and surprise backported 4K pipeline
No one saw it coming. Mike Chi, the creator of the RetroTink upscalers, has just surprised released firmware v4.0 for the RetroTink 5X - renamed "CRT Sim Edition". It backports much of the RetroTink 4K's pipeline to its little brother, making the 5X even more appealing to fans authentic CRT rendering.
What changes with v4.0
The central change is to the video processing pipeline. The 5X now uses the same 12bpc RGB 4:4:4 Linear Lightpipeline as the 4K. Concretely:
- HDR10/HLG true Rec.2020 - CRT effects are now brighter and chromatically correct than with year ian “injection” method
- Scanlines energy-normalizing - the brightness of the scanlines adjusts to maintain a brightness consistent overall
- Full RGB CRT masks for a more authentic visual presentation
- New modes Quasi -4K: 3880x960, 2880x1200, and 2880x1080, to preserve the full native horizontal resolution on 4K TVs
Is your 5X compatible?
It depends on your hardware revision:
- Rev A (launch units, first sales): capped at 1080p until the Gen Lock code is rewritten
- Rev B (before mid 2022): shaded mask quality degraded, needs to change to one. mono
- Rev Cmask type (the vast majority of units sold after mid-2022): no limitations, full support for all he new features
An important note
Chi specifies that this firmware branch is “hyper-focused on CRT simulation.” For users who game a lot in 480i and prefer the older edge-interpolated MADI deinterlacing, firmware 3.XX is still recommended. The two branches coexist and can be installed according to needs.
Free download at retrotink.com and in the official GitHub firmware repository. >Sources: Time Extension - RetroRGB - Official firmware repository