RetroTINK 4K and 6X firmware 1.94.0 adds true VRR output for every model

Mike Chi's experimental firmware for the RetroTINK 4K Pro, 4K CE and 6X CE now drives a VRR display frame by frame from the console's own timing, with ALLM and sharper automatic sampling.

AI-drafted from 2 sources. This story was written with AI from the outside reporting listed under Sources, and checked by automated tools before it went up. The originals have the full detail.

RetroTINK's Mike Chi has put out a run of experimental firmware for the RetroTINK 4K and 6X over the past fortnight, and the headline feature, true variable refresh rate output, reached version 1.94.0 on 4 October. The changelog calls it "the best of all worlds for supported displays: minimal lag, glitch-free resolution changes and a perfectly stable clock".

What true VRR does

Earlier firmware could only flag a VRR signal to the TV. The new mode, added in 1.92.0 on 30 September, changes the length of each output frame to follow the console, so the pixel clock never moves and "the momentary blip in video or audio on some less tolerant displays is completely avoided". It works on all three current models: the RT4K Pro, RT4K CE and RT6X CE. Black frame insertion was left out at first because it needed "a significant rework"; by 1.93.0 two days later it worked with true VRR too.

1.94.0 tidies up the menus. In the HDMI menu, "VRR" is now "VRR Format" (Off, FreeSync or VESA), and Sync Lock has a new VRR mode after Triple Buffer. Pick both to get true VRR. If you liked the old behaviour, set a VRR Format and keep your old Sync Lock choice, such as Gen Lock. If the display cannot do the chosen format, it falls back to adaptive triple buffering and the menu says why. 1.93.1 and 1.93.2 also turned on ALLM, the signal that tells a TV to switch to game mode, whenever the display reports support.

Chi also warns that "VRR implementations vary widely in quality and robustness between manufacturers and models," and switches or AV receivers in the chain can block it.

The rest of the fortnight

Builds 1.89.0 to 1.90.1 rewrote the automatic sample rate and phase detection, which RetroRGB says "should result in a sharper image overall" and reacts faster to resolution changes during fades. Rotation on the 4K Pro now accepts 720p, 480i and 576i sources, handy for vertical shoot 'em ups. RetroRGB also flags a new Lumacode decoder and an updated S-Video engine on the 4K Pro.

Wobbling Pixels' profile packs have been updated alongside, with single profiles that cover every Saturn resolution and N64 profiles that switch deblur on and off by themselves.

Chi labels these builds experimental, which RetroRGB explains as "not as thoroughly time-vetted as official firmwares". Your profiles and other settings live on the SD card and survive the update.

Sources

Image: RetroRGB

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