We are pleased to announce that the RT2X-MINIs are in stock and ready to ship immediately. We hope that this will be a simple, affordable yet high quality option for those of you who only need composite and S-Video. To make things really simple, we've included a S-Video cable for Nintendo SNES and N64 consoles (yes, it works for PAL too) so that you're ready to play out of the box.
Introduction by RetroRGB
The introductory price for the 2020 season is $69.99 via our webshop and $89.99 on Amazon. We were able to achieve this price point by investing in a large production run. Initial colors are clear and purple, with more color options coming online later on.
The 2X-MINI Package
Initial colors are purple and clear with more colors available later this year.
One Device, One Cable, All Regions (PAL face intentional).
Important Information
*The MINIs are slightly less sharp than the Pro, but it is almost certainly not noticeable for most S-Video sources, and certainly not on consoles like the N64 that are already soft.
*The first production runs of the MINI have USB firmware upgrade capability but it is likely this will be removed later on to save cost, after no new bugs fixes/features are needed.
*The MINI incorporates a special analog front-end to allow S-Video capable PAL N64s to use the bundled NTSC cable. However, PAL encoding may generate chroma dot artifacts. If you see this, please set the 'COMB' switch to 'Auto'.
*The MINI is not recommended for Genesis and NTSC PSOne systems. Genesis has no stock S-Video and its composite output is so far off-spec that it will not produce the correct colors. Certain PSOne models also appear to have an off-spec signal resulting in loss of color.
For Genesis, we recommend a RGB/Component cable with the 2X-Pro or SCART.
For PSOne, you can use a PS2 console over composite or S-Video with the MINI. Or better yet, use a 2X-Pro or 2X-M with component video cables.
What Lies Beyond?
The 'MINI' concludes the 2X family of products. Thank you everyone for making all of this possible. I could have never imagined that a side hobby could have turned into a real business. And more than that, it gave me opportunity to help fellow gamers reconnect with their cherished childhood systems. In all honesty, this has been the most rewarding and fulfilling part of my career as an engineer.
We're now deep into a next generation product with working prototypes. We're not ready to comment on details yet, except that I underwent a 3-week crash course in FPGA development (largely thanks to Woozle64) and that the device will utilize some new digital signal processing techniques that I'm calling "regenerative sampling."
Here are some teaser pictures of what this device is capable of using its built in S-Video and composite inputs:
NES -> RCA Cables -> TINK "NEXT GEN"
SNES -> S-Video Cable -> TINK "NEXT GEN"
N64-> S-Video Cable -> TINK "NEXT GEN"
No release date, except that it will be well into late-2021. Pricing is TBD, but will obviously have to be significantly more than the current line due the higher cost of parts. There is still a huge amount of work, as this design is much much more complex than the current 2X product line. Moreover, it appears that cloners and other unethical parties continue to be a problem in this space, making legitimate developers devote (waste?) significant time and resources to implementing anti-piracy methods.
Unfortunately, this is such a small industry that the only viable method for creators to is to set their project timelines back, spend time and money into these security methods - and of course - rely on the goodwill of the community. I can say on behalf of everyone doing original work, we are eternally grateful that the community has never failed to step up and call out these bad actors. It is because of your support that this development continues to be possible.
In any case, expect another update in a few months and until then, take care and be well!