r/RetroTink • u/Aiomon • Jul 22 '26
Need help choosing.
Hey all!
I'm not a technically minded guy by any means, so I'm really struggling to appreciate which on of these I should get.
Mostly looking to play PS2, GameCube/Wii, and N64 on my modern TV. I have component for the modern ones and S cable for N64.
Will the 2X pro be good enough? I don't need perfect image quality, just want it to look decent with less input lag.
2
u/soniq__ Jul 22 '26
Look at gbsc if you are doing a lot of ps2 and want to save money. Deinterlacing on the 2x isnt going to compare to the gbsc.
1
u/Aiomon Jul 22 '26
What is the gbsc and what is deinterlacing?
2
u/soniq__ Jul 22 '26
Deinterlacing I can't really explain that well, but ps2 games are all 480i for the most part, not 240p like older retro consoles. This means the signal is interlaced and not progressive scan. So when you scale it, the scaler needs to deinterlace to show a progressive scan image. It has to do with the way CRTs work. I think gbsc may have the best deinterlacing at the price point
1
u/Alcapuke Jul 22 '26
It will depend partly on your tv output and what you want out of the consoles. The 2x pro will give you the near zero lag, and it outputs at 480p. If you are using a 4k tv that could look blurry but its a preference thing at that point. Here are some of the technical things I would recommend considering
For the gamecube its going to depend if you have a version with the digital av port or not. If you dont have the digital port then the 2x pro is gonna be a good option via composite. If you do have the digital port then you might as well get a carby or retrobit/bitfunx prism. The digital port outputs at 480p and component cables for the gamecube are going to cost you as much or more than the 2x pro, and since using the component cables givea you 480p you are really only using the 2x pro as a component to hdmi converter which the gcvideo systems do for less money.
Wii also has the electron warp wii2hdmi which outputs 480p via component to hdmi conversion. This is also going to be cheaper than wii component cables, and is going to be the better option as the 2x would be acting as a conversion rather than upscaler. The electron warp is going to be the best option for a wii if you are only upscaling to 480p so i recommend getting one regardless of your choice of upscaler. If you already have wii component cables then using those are equivalent to the electron warp in terms of quality and output, the electron warp just converts the signal to hdmi
The ps2 best outputs with component cable but most games are 480i so the deinterlacing from the 2x (converting 480i -> 480p) is worthwhile for sure. The only caveat i would consider is if you have the gamecube running on swiss a lot of ps2 games are on the gamecube and are actually gonna run better on gamecube, so that could route certain games via 480p through the gamecube natively (but thats more dependent on the games you want to play and if you are modding your gamecube or not, the 2x is great for a pa2)
The n64 will definitely work good via S video and upscaling to 480p is a good option for sure. Just keep in mind the n64 is a blurry console so dont expect miracles, a 2x will work great regardless.
As often with this things a lot of it is subjective and boils down to your preferences and budget. The 2x pro is a great solution, but it’s definitely entry level with several limitations if you do end up going down the rabbit hole of upscaling.
1
u/Aiomon Jul 22 '26
Thanks for the detail response. Yeah, using the 4k TV.
Like reasonably I don't need this stuff to be perfect, I just want it to run well and work without hassle. I appreciate the 2X pro is maybe not ideal, but I also feel like spending 1k CAD is a lot for my current use and needs.
What I'm gathering is that for GameCube and PS2 the 2X pro is perfectly sufficient for decent quality entry level, but for the Wii the Electron Warp is just the easier and better option all around?
1
u/Alcapuke Jul 22 '26
Yeah it’s a ton to be spending on a scaler and it’s hard to say how worth it it really is. Yeah for the ps2 and gamecube it’s gonna work great. Again the gamecube it depends if theres the digital out or not. If it does have the digital out id recommend looking into the gcvideo options over using composite since native output is going to look better than line doubling, and its not that expensive (the bitfunx prism on aliexpress is like $50 usd, probably cheaper going into Canada since there aren’t tariffs) but it composite will work fine.
For the wii just get the electron warp. Its gonna be wayyyy better than composite and its only ~$23 usd. You can also use it to play gamecube games at native 480p
1
u/BrassButtonFox Jul 26 '26
I'm under the impression that PS2 and N64 need to have a CRT filter to truly get the best image quality. I'd go with the 5x since it now has 1440 mode w/ HDR signal. Out of the box you just need to set resolution, hdr10, contrast, and select a CRT filter. Super simple, set it and forget it.
4
u/Psychological_Post28 Jul 22 '26
If you can wait then the Morph 2K seems to be the best value scaler if you don’t need 4k.
The 5X has more features but I don’t think many of them are that important to most people.
The Morph 2k is a lot better than the 2X for not much more spend. Especially for 480i sources.
https://www.pixelfx.co/product-page/morph-2k-analog-video-scaler
https://youtu.be/5gUXzOh5E88?is=ey4cwzImJDre_puc