Using the Apple ][+ with the RetroTink-5X

About four years ago (?!) I wrote a blog post called The Great Composite Comparison, where I compared a number of methods for upscaling composite video. At the time, I mentioned looking forward to the RetroTINK-5X upscaler, and later that year, I got my hands on one, writing a post on using it with the Pioneer LaserActive. I found it fit for purpose and my personal 5X has been paired with the LaserActive ever since, but I recently got a question: what about with the Apple ][, whose idiosyncratic video system is legendary.

Recap

The Great Composite Comparison is among my longest blog posts (the only one longer is What made the NES so interesting?), so let’s summarize the Apple ][ part. I’m going to assume you know what the Apple ][ is, and that it doesn’t matter that I’m using an Apple ][_plus.

The RetroTINK-2X MINI and the Micomsoft Framemeister, still excellent standards in retrogaming upscalers, suffer from a problem: they couldn’t work with the “color killer” circuit in the Apple ][. Pure-text mode’s suppressed color burst therefore results in a terrible wobbly color.

Now, on systems that have S-Video or component options (the Micomsoft Framemeister, but not the RetroTINK2X-MINI), you can plug the Apple ][ into the luma to get a nice clean monochrome text mode. And a monochrome graphics mode. Tradeoffs.

So this is what we want the RetroTINK-5X to be better at. Is it?

Results

Now, this is a “byte” post, so I’m not going to tune the image; it’s just “Generic 4:3”. In fact I had pretty low hopes when I first turned it on and got an odd, wobbly picture that flashed colors. My guess is that it took a bit to lock on to the sync, though, as after the screen blacked out while it was loading, it worked excellently. (Be careful when playing if you’re sensitive to very wobbly images, but it’s just a few seconds)

After that, I had no problems with the text mode’s color killer circuit; my only complaint is that Generic 4:3 is maybe a touch fuzzy for this system, but as I said, this may be tuneable, and it’s definitely readable. My Apple ][ spends most of its time hooked up to a CRT.

The color bars also look quite good, and didn’t have any of the weird color fading issues I saw with the Micomsoft Framemeister or the RetroTINK-2X MINI. The colors are maybe a bit more muted than I’m used to?

Finally, it is also worth noting that the 5X (assuming you use an RCA cable) uses the same input for composite video and for luma, so switching between them is just a menu option away, and as usual, is very crisp.

Note that when I went back to the BASIC prompt after going into diagnostics it worked perfectly, so I think that initial wobbliness was just a freak sync accident; you get used to it.

So that concludes today’s post. I hope you enjoyed looking at some pretty pictures!