1upRestorations installed the RGB Mod in my Sharp Twin Famicom. I would say it is totally worth it. I was blown away when I fired it up for the first time after the mod. I never knew how shitty composite was until then. I was fortunate enough to get the palette switch. I use it when I plug the SNES multi out composite cable to a CRT. I find that the FCEUX colors look way too bright on a CRT. The "natural" switch is perfect for a CRT. RGB board, HD Retrovision cables, and the Retrotink absolutely looks like an emulator. It has pixels that could cut glass. Nice review!
"looks like an emulator" is an anti-advertisement. If you go to lengths to make NES/Famicom look like emulator playing it on HD screen why not just not use emulator? With 120Hz you can get even better than native input lag and VRR helps with stuttering (also why input lag can match real hardware or be even lowerr) because screen syncs to emulator. To my eyes RGB NES only looks better in some games with bright contrasting graphics - SMB is perfect example and showcase of RGB NES and why everyone uses it. Some other games look quite a bit worse in RGB. RGB reduces number of visible colors and even resolution of in some games which use NTSC artifacting to great effect.
What I don't like about RGB NES is that you loose original Composite output and instead get re-encoded from RGB version which is not the same due to how NES graphics was made in games. Otherwise what it gives is something I can already get with MISTer FPGA + ability to play with Dendy timings and/or PAL games. As great as Everdrive N8 Pro is with its save states the NES core on MISTer can do the same and even use original gamepads so... RGB NES is kinda pointless expense. I cannot play original carts on MISTer but really if I would have game that wasn't dumped yet I should send it to someone who can dump NES games and not play it myself from rare original cart. Also imho "image quality purist" is not someone who just blindly replaces composite with RGB because pixels look sharper but can assess where and when image is better. To me especially NES games that use NTSC artifacting look just broken in RGB. Instead of having complex patterns that are supposed to simulate looks of something I see that sprite or tile has four colors and at which spot each color is used - this isnt high image quality. Also how can people post videos or images with poorly made Composite grabs and sell it as "this is how bad Composite looks!" with clear conscience. There is like dozen issues with capturing proper Composite and you are supposed to view the image on classic 15KHz CRT. So if anything do proper photo/video of the same CRT screen. Also instead of trying to sell people on the product at least try to be objective - just not pretend you do but actually do by finding examples which might be against your point - even if you think RGB is still better it then shows you are objective in being subjective. As it is you look like just blindly modding another system for the heck of it and being able to call yourself "picture quality snob". It might impress some people but won't impress true image quality nerds who are so nerdy they specifically use Composite and call out RGB lemmings out :) And to be clear: I do like RGB even in NES/Famicom. It just isn't as simple as sharper == better. In fact at places Composite has sharper pixels. Often these effects are unintended and just side-effect of how NES encodes colors but at times it is obvious game developer saw this effect and came up with how to change bug in to a feature. Then you display this game in RGB and given line is just solid color - does it look better? No, it does not and why RGB isn't always an improvement. Also and this is very important: you cannot really capture certain effects you see on CRT by grabbers. And with converting RGB to Composite (like RGB NES does) you can actually break original intent. "Just use composite from encoder chip because we already added it for S-Video output" and no effort comparing original Composite to the one from RGB NES mod does not instill confidence any care or attention was put in to it. Not to mention that you would at the very most need very specific palette and you still would not be able to get to original results. Yeah... this mod breaks original mage quality. I would not be too surprised if the supposed Composite captures were made from RGB NES output and not original - not to mention that if you just use grabber you are doing it wrong anyways.
I'm surprised you didn't go for an AV Famicom (the japanese top loader). You get the superior sound with no mod and the rgb video mod is cheaper (if you pay for the service) and simpler to perform (if you do it yourself). Not to mention a much more reliable and durable cartridge loading mechanism.
Interesting. I went with the regular NES because I loved the design of the system itself. I originally thought about switching to the Twin Famicom with the RGB Blaster but I didn't want to stack another converter cart to play my NES games. Some day I'll import one though
Yes I guess that's the one thing regular NES has for it : it's a lot more iconic for us North American gamers who were playing as kids in the 80s. But for the best gaming experience av famicom is the one to get. @@N8_THN
Yeah but you can’t play Castlevania 3, if you are brand new to the nes it’s a good option if you don’t care about that game or Jackal which both don’t work but if you’re old I think for most of us that’s a staple even with the option to play the Japanese release.
1upRestorations installed the RGB Mod in my Sharp Twin Famicom. I would say it is totally worth it. I was blown away when I fired it up for the first time after the mod. I never knew how shitty composite was until then. I was fortunate enough to get the palette switch. I use it when I plug the SNES multi out composite cable to a CRT. I find that the FCEUX colors look way too bright on a CRT. The "natural" switch is perfect for a CRT. RGB board, HD Retrovision cables, and the Retrotink absolutely looks like an emulator. It has pixels that could cut glass. Nice review!
"looks like an emulator" is an anti-advertisement. If you go to lengths to make NES/Famicom look like emulator playing it on HD screen why not just not use emulator? With 120Hz you can get even better than native input lag and VRR helps with stuttering (also why input lag can match real hardware or be even lowerr) because screen syncs to emulator.
To my eyes RGB NES only looks better in some games with bright contrasting graphics - SMB is perfect example and showcase of RGB NES and why everyone uses it. Some other games look quite a bit worse in RGB. RGB reduces number of visible colors and even resolution of in some games which use NTSC artifacting to great effect.
*if want the best picture and stereo sound to play Mario 3 & Contra it's worth it!* ⭐️
It’s not just that, rgb will allow you to be able to play the games as they were released in the arcade with the garish/arcade pallet.
What I don't like about RGB NES is that you loose original Composite output and instead get re-encoded from RGB version which is not the same due to how NES graphics was made in games. Otherwise what it gives is something I can already get with MISTer FPGA + ability to play with Dendy timings and/or PAL games. As great as Everdrive N8 Pro is with its save states the NES core on MISTer can do the same and even use original gamepads so... RGB NES is kinda pointless expense. I cannot play original carts on MISTer but really if I would have game that wasn't dumped yet I should send it to someone who can dump NES games and not play it myself from rare original cart.
Also imho "image quality purist" is not someone who just blindly replaces composite with RGB because pixels look sharper but can assess where and when image is better. To me especially NES games that use NTSC artifacting look just broken in RGB. Instead of having complex patterns that are supposed to simulate looks of something I see that sprite or tile has four colors and at which spot each color is used - this isnt high image quality.
Also how can people post videos or images with poorly made Composite grabs and sell it as "this is how bad Composite looks!" with clear conscience. There is like dozen issues with capturing proper Composite and you are supposed to view the image on classic 15KHz CRT. So if anything do proper photo/video of the same CRT screen. Also instead of trying to sell people on the product at least try to be objective - just not pretend you do but actually do by finding examples which might be against your point - even if you think RGB is still better it then shows you are objective in being subjective.
As it is you look like just blindly modding another system for the heck of it and being able to call yourself "picture quality snob". It might impress some people but won't impress true image quality nerds who are so nerdy they specifically use Composite and call out RGB lemmings out :)
And to be clear: I do like RGB even in NES/Famicom. It just isn't as simple as sharper == better. In fact at places Composite has sharper pixels. Often these effects are unintended and just side-effect of how NES encodes colors but at times it is obvious game developer saw this effect and came up with how to change bug in to a feature. Then you display this game in RGB and given line is just solid color - does it look better? No, it does not and why RGB isn't always an improvement.
Also and this is very important: you cannot really capture certain effects you see on CRT by grabbers.
And with converting RGB to Composite (like RGB NES does) you can actually break original intent. "Just use composite from encoder chip because we already added it for S-Video output" and no effort comparing original Composite to the one from RGB NES mod does not instill confidence any care or attention was put in to it. Not to mention that you would at the very most need very specific palette and you still would not be able to get to original results. Yeah... this mod breaks original mage quality. I would not be too surprised if the supposed Composite captures were made from RGB NES output and not original - not to mention that if you just use grabber you are doing it wrong anyways.
I'm surprised you didn't go for an AV Famicom (the japanese top loader). You get the superior sound with no mod and the rgb video mod is cheaper (if you pay for the service) and simpler to perform (if you do it yourself). Not to mention a much more reliable and durable cartridge loading mechanism.
Interesting. I went with the regular NES because I loved the design of the system itself. I originally thought about switching to the Twin Famicom with the RGB Blaster but I didn't want to stack another converter cart to play my NES games. Some day I'll import one though
Yes I guess that's the one thing regular NES has for it : it's a lot more iconic for us North American gamers who were playing as kids in the 80s. But for the best gaming experience av famicom is the one to get. @@N8_THN
Yeah but you can’t play Castlevania 3, if you are brand new to the nes it’s a good option if you don’t care about that game or Jackal which both don’t work but if you’re old I think for most of us that’s a staple even with the option to play the Japanese release.
I can't stand replacement 72pin sockets.
*But they are new and last forever*
Hi, I'm planning on getting a rgb modded NES. Question, would a (Super nes) RGB scart packapunch pro cables be compatible? Thanks.
As long as it's wired for C Sync, you should be good to go!
@@N8_THN okay thanks.
Nate!