mClassic

[Teletron1]

Look out Retro console gamers some prayers may be answered to get some old games to look better, if all goes well for this startup project it will allow for an external GPU in the form of an HDMI stick to boost and clean those aging 3d graphics by simple plug N play with it's on the fly rerendering (don't expect miracles but hopefully it does a good job smoothing textures and brightening up games) some of it's capabilities will be Anti-aliasing, 4K Up-scaling, Depth of Field, Image Sharpening while providing No Latency (less than 1ms) during the conversion process

https://twitter.com/MarseilleInc

https://www.marseilleinc.com/

 

[Veho]

I mean okay I guess but for $160 that this thing costs I could get a better emulator machine that can run those filters on the go, instead of buying a cheapass device and then "enhancing" the output with an image processing HDMI cable. Eh, to each his own.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

I mean okay I guess but for $160 that this thing costs I could get a better emulator machine that can run those filters on the go, instead of buying a cheapass device and then "enhancing" the output with an image processing HDMI cable. Eh, to each his own.

I think the main appeal is applying those filters to the 360/PS3/Wii U gen of consoles, which aren't easily emulated yet, and not retro consoles. Which does make sense, because a lot of 360/PS3 games look like ass now and there's nothing you can do about it really. I recently bought a 360, and it's super apparent how jaggy and low quality a lot of the games can look on modern displays nowadays.

Could also be used to properly upscale potato Switch games to 4k, assuming the supposed "enhancement" claims they make are at all accurate.

And if the upscaler used is actually decent quality, the price point would actually be relatively "cheap" since similar devices, like the OSSC or Framemeister, are about the same price or more (though they're more for retro consoles and not stuff this would be used for.)

Not to say I think it's worth it myself, but if you like to jerk it to SUPER 4K HD 50000000 BILLION PIXELS X578132 ANTIALIASING GLORIOUS FILTERS, it might be a useful device.

 

[Teletron1]

I think the main appeal is applying those filters to the 360/PS3/Wii U gen of consoles, which aren't easily emulated yet, and not retro consoles. Which does make sense, because a lot of 360/PS3 games look like ass now and there's nothing you can do about it really. I recently bought a 360, and it's super apparent how jaggy and low quality a lot of the games can look on modern displays nowadays.

Could also be used to properly upscale potato Switch games to 4k, assuming the supposed "enhancement" claims they make are at all accurate.

And if the upscalar used is actually decent quality, the price point would actually be relatively "cheap" since similar devices, like the OSSC or Framemeister, are about the same price or more (though they're more for retro consoles and not stuff this would be used for.)

Not to say I think it's worth it myself, but if you like to jerk it to SUPER 4K HD 50000000 BILLION PIXELS X578132 ANTIALIASING GLORIOUS FILTERS, it might be a useful device.

HDMI converters have been the trend for older consoles (add that plus this) so your talking anything really N64 PSX PS2 Gamcube Wii Wii U PS3 360 even XB1 PS4 and Switch, also could be used to enhance DVD/Bluray players

But clearly they are targeting people that like to still play on their consoles and not get caught up in emulators

 

[LucasM3]

These devices keep coming out and the prices are kind of sky high. These things should be going for $20 at most, $10 is a good price.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

HDMI converters have been the trend for older consoles (add that plus this) so your talking anything really N64 PSX PS2 Gamcube Wii Wii U PS3 360 even XB1 PS4 and Switch, also could be used to enhance DVD/Bluray players

But clearly they are targeting people that like to still play on their consoles and not get caught up in emulators

Sure, but to be perfectly honest I kind of doubt someone would be willing to throw $160 on top of whatever HDMI mod they might use for slightly better quality vs emulation on retro consoles. I mean, the UltraHDMI for the N64 alone costs $160, the GC one costs $150. PS1 and PS2 have a cheapo cable, sure, but quite frankly I doubt there are a whole lot of people playing PS1 games on a PS1 anymore, and PS2 is a maybe, but even then I don't think these particular enhancements would be enough for someone to drop a whole $160 on these days.

Hence why I said the main audience would be 360/PS3/Wii U, they're really the only consoles that, at this point, could really benefit from an external device that could enhance their visual quality that can't already be done with emulation (that also wouldn't cost an arm and a leg for an HDMI solution along with it.)

PS4/Xbone are laughable, quite frankly that's just marketing BS to trick the clueless into buying their device. The "enhancements" this could conceivably apply would probably be incredibly minor to the point of being indistinguishable to the average person. The Switch is the only thing this gen that would really benefit from this, since it's a potato compared to the other consoles.

Also, DVD and bluray players? wut? Nobody in their right mind is going to spend $160 to minimally increase the quality of their movies I mean, Bluray players already have built-in upscalers in them (that are better than shitty TV upscalers), throwing some basic filters at them in addition isn't going to be worth a $160 device to the average person who actually still watches media on physical content (which is dwindling incredibly fast, because of streaming services).

 

[Teletron1]

Sure, but to be perfectly honest I kind of doubt someone would be willing to throw $160 on top of whatever HDMI mod they might use for slightly better quality vs emulation on retro consoles. I mean, the UltraHDMI for the N64 alone costs $160, the GC one costs $150. PS1 and PS2 have a cheapo cable, sure, but quite frankly I doubt there are a whole lot of people playing PS1 games on a PS1 anymore, and PS2 is a maybe, but even then I don't think these particular enhancements would be enough for someone to drop a whole $160 on these days.

Hence why I said the main audience would be 360/PS3/Wii U, they're really the only consoles that, at this point, could really benefit from an external device that could enhance their visual quality that can't already be done with emulation (that also wouldn't cost an arm and a leg for an HDMI solution along with it.)

PS4/Xbone are laughable, quite frankly that's just marketing BS to trick the clueless into buying their device. The "enhancements" this could conceivably apply would probably be incredibly minor to the point of being indistinguishable to the average person. The Switch is the only thing this gen that would really benefit from this, since it's a potato compared to the other consoles.

Also, DVD and bluray players? wut? Nobody in their right mind is going to spend $160 to minimally increase the quality of their movies I mean, Bluray players already have built-in upscalers in them (that are better than shitty TV upscalers), throwing some basic filters at them in addition isn't going to be worth a $160 device to the average person who actually still watches media on physical content (which is dwindling incredibly fast, because of streaming services).

Not sure where people got the idea it's going to be $160 price once it hits retail will be $99 decent investment if it does it's job and nice that it will work for everything

As far as the dvd/bluray yeah thats a dead tech but at least it is multi functional

Its enhancing your display port, in a few years maybe tech like this can also add ray tracing

Their kick starter went live $79

https://www.marseilleinc.com/kickstarter/

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

These devices keep coming out and the prices are kind of sky high. These things should be going for $20 at most, $10 is a good price.

Whats another device that does this ?

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Not sure where people got the idea it's going to be $160 price once it hits retail will be $99 decent investment if it does it's job and nice that it will work for everything

As far as the dvd/bluray yeah thats a dead tech but at least it is multi functional

Its enhancing your display port, in a few years maybe tech like this can also add ray tracing

Their kick starter went live $79

https://www.marseilleinc.com/kickstarter/

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



Whats another device that does this ?

Ah I see, I simply saw Veho mention it as $160, didn't bother checking the Kickstarter.

Regardless, my point still stands. An extra $100 for basic enhancements is really only worth it for 7th gen consoles. That said, we may request a review unit of the thing if it can deliver on its promises (and if it actually gets backed), so perhaps I could see it first hand.

Also, you can't "add" ray-tracing to games. Ray-tracing isn't a filter that you can just add all willy nilly, it's a rendering technique that has to be implemented at the dev level as it requires access to the game's geometry to apply. Anything that claims to "add" ray tracing to anything that doesn't officially support it as a rendering method is either a hoax, or not real ray tracing.

 

[Veho]

Sorry I was watching that Linus Tech Tips review of the cable version and commenting on that. At the time of the review it was $150 (it's $130 now). I did say "image processing HDMI cable" in my post.

According to the website the upscaler is intended for current gen consoles, but also for "retro consoles"... examples of which are "PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Dreamcast [and many more!]"

Damn I'm old, when the previous gen is considered "retro gaming" ;O;



Anywhoo. Upscaling is tricky work and there is no one-size-fits-all approach, it always needs tweaking to adjust it to the particular source you're using. The safest bet with HD footage is to just blur the jaggy bits and sharpen the blurry bits and you get something passable, but with low-res sources the results vary from impressive to totally wonky. So I guess it's best suited to the ancient, antiquated retro stuff such as PS3 and Xbox 360.


(Yes I'm still bitter.)

 

[smf]

I have an issue with how they are selling it though

"It's not magic, it's science.

The mClassic is like adding an updated graphics card to a videogame console, "

It's not like adding an updated graphics card, it's an upscaler. I'm not even sure if it's the first tuned for video games.

It'd be kinda cool if some of these were supported

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel-art_scaling_algorithms

https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/84040-depixelizing-pixel-art-upscaling-retro-8bit-games

 

[invaderyoyo]

Now that many YouTubers have done videos on it, you can see just how little this thing actually does.

 

[Teletron1]

Now that many YouTubers have done videos on it, you can see just how little this thing actually does.

from what I've seen ,it filters the noise, helps the color, tightens the picture (it helps older systems)

 

[invaderyoyo]

from what I've seen ,it filters the noise, helps the color, tightens the picture (it helps older systems)

Nah, it just smooths out the picture and increases contrast causing it to crush blacks. It's a cheap trick. If you could turn that stuff off it might be useful for 960p since not all TV's accept it.

 

[LoggerMan]

Mine arrived today. My TV doesn't support 1440p it seems, so 1080p only. However, it does seem to work quite well. I'm looking at Luigi's Mansion on GameCube on Nintendont at 480p and it noticeably smooths jaggies. professor e.gadds glasses turn from a jagged stepped line into a smooth straight line. Shadows are smoothed off, everything is smoother. Still looks rogh, but it looks like it is running at a much higher internal resolution now. It may be a cheap trick, but when you're looking at a 480p image then I'll take all the smoothing I can get. And I do plan on using it only with ancient consoles like the gamecube. I'd wait for the 4k version tho.

 

[Deleted member 397813]

YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO ADD A FEDORA A HAVE IT SAY M'CLASSIC AND YOU RUINED IT. WHY.

But besides that, seems pretty cool.

 

[Teletron1]

Mine arrived today. My TV doesn't support 1440p it seems, so 1080p only. However, it does seem to work quite well. I'm looking at Luigi's Mansion on GameCube on Nintendont at 480p and it noticeably smooths jaggies. professor e.gadds glasses turn from a jagged stepped line into a smooth straight line. Shadows are smoothed off, everything is smoother. Still looks rogh, but it looks like it is running at a much higher internal resolution now. It may be a cheap trick, but when you're looking at a 480p image then I'll take all the smoothing I can get. And I do plan on using it only with ancient consoles like the gamecube. I'd wait for the 4k version tho.

thanks for the update