First I'll start again by stating how grateful we are for kind support we have received from the community for our products. Your support has enabled us to re-design our products, develop new ones and invest in building up inventory. We're very proud to introduce the new 2X-Pro and 2X-SCART, COMP2RGB for 2020 as well as restocks of our 2X-Classic and COMP2RGB.
You can purchase all products at our store as well as find links to local resellers:
The 2X-Pro takes everything from the original device and improves upon it. We really tried hard to make this a professional product, with an injection molded enclosure, a full-size Digital Video port and better build quality. Under the hood, we're now using a high quality 4-layer PCB as well as multiple independently regulated and filtered power supplies.
The 2X-Pro adds scanline generation, in addition to the smoothing, as optional filter modes. Different color-encoding formats (PAL-60, NTSC-443, SECAM) are now automatically detected. New firmware can be flashed via the USB port using a PC-based program without the need for special tools.
We really hope you enjoy what we think is the simplest, plug-and-play solution for connecting retro-consoles to modern TVs.
The 2X-SCART is the Pro's counterpart but for RGB SCART sources. Having RGB SCART inputs was one of the biggest requests ever since the launch of the original 2X in 2018 and we're happy to say that it's now a reality. Like the Pro, it offers smoothing and scan-line generation as well as a USB firmware upgrade capability.
Currently, the SCART is a limited availability item. As of this announcement, we have 100 units, with the special Greg Collins 3-D printed enclosures, in stock and ready for sale. We are working hard to build up additional inventory with an injection molded enclosure option in a few weeks.
Note: the 2X-SCART does not have a pass-thru mode. All signals are line-doubled to 480p/576p to make the device as simple and plug-and-play as possible.
We'll keep offering the original 2X, now rebranded as the 'Classic' for the time being. Thanks to manufacturing improvements, we were able to get our vendor to lower the price. This is still a great device, especially if you don't need the new features offered by the Pro.
Last year, we had a series of soft-launches for our RGB to component transcoder. We were really surprised, but honored, that the device received such positive feedback. Now we've built up enough inventory that the device should always be in stock. The RGB2COMP is offered in both an injection molded enclosure as well as a Greg Collins 3D printed enclosure.
Previously, we were struggling with some issues related to the LMH1251's glitch-out during fast HD to SD resolution switches. We're now happy to say that those problems are fixed and we're now confident that the COMP2RGB is a super reliable, high quality transcoder from component video to RGB. The COMP2RGB is offered only in the injection molded enclosure.
What's Next
We have a few other projects brewing in the background. One of the biggest requests we've heard is 480p pass-thru for the 2X. So far, this has not been possible since the video digitizer used in the 2X lines only accept standard definition inputs. We've probably spent over $5,000 evaluating alternative options and have never been satisfied from a quality, compatibility or price perspective.
Nevertheless, we will likely have a version of the 2X that supports 480p in the coming months. This will be an addition, not replacement, to the product line since it will definitely not have smoothing, possibly not scanlines and likely poorer compatibility with older off-spec consoles and certain less tolerant TVs/monitors. Instead, it will be oriented towards newer consoles such as the PS2, OG XBOX and Dreamcast that can operate in 480p but still need fast 480i/240p line doubling for certain games.
Not ready to comment on higher resolutions yet.
The other project we've been thinking about is a high quality Digital Video to analog video DAC, specifically optimized to produce composite and S-video. This would be a spiritual successor to the old Raspberry Pi hat but far more versatile.
Stay tuned and thank you again!