Does your player output anything that an OSSC can take as input? I.e. component, SCART or VGA.

Yeah, it has component, scart, and s-video out.

Vast majority of VHS and S-VHS machines do not output RGB over the SCART, that includes all the DVD+VHS combo units I have seen. In the combo things I have had access to, DVD output can use RGB but the VHS side only outputs composhit or maybe S-video at best. OSSC only works off RGB and component and isn't gouing to be useful for the VHS side of things.

It depends on the source material, DVDs can be both 480i and 480p. I have a Sony BluRay player than can upscale to 4K and it does a really good job with 480i content.

I'd recommend going with the RetroTink, the 5X can deinterlace, but I'm not sure if it does everything the 4K can. If you don't have the equipment yet. The 4K along with enabling some of the filters can give incredible VHS playback if that's important to you.

Thanks for the suggestions! Yea, DVD playback quality is of my primary concern, but VHS upscaling would be nice as well!

revolstar wrote on 2024-12-31, 16:24:

Thanks for the suggestions! Yea, DVD playback quality is of my primary concern, but VHS upscaling would be nice as well!

Here's a video that goes into configuring the two RetroTinks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br6YRkOM9jA

The base OSSC isn't what you want to do, the OSSC Pro might be able to match what this does. But at the price of the Pro just get a RetroTink 5x.

But even the 5x is expensive at $325, if you are going to use it for other things, great. But for just DVD playback, maybe try hunting around eBay for a Sony 4K up-scaling BluRay player, not a UHD player. Go with a U6## or U7## series for $30-50 and see if that looks better to you. I'm very happy with mine and some cheap 480i TV DVD box sets. Modern UHD BluRay and 4K TVs are tuned to people watching 4K and 1080p content, so their support for up-scaling of SD content is lacking. Older equipment when SD playback still mattered will excel over what modern stuff does. But the RetroTinks are top tier at scaling, especially when you throw in a CRT filter which makes that VHS tape look just like it on a CRT TV. But that comes at a large price. But if you really need/want it, the RetroTinks beat out professional video scalers that cost in the thousands of dollars.

SScorpio wrote on 2024-12-31, 17:19:

But even the 5x is expensive at $325, if you are going to use it for other things, great. (...) But the RetroTinks are top tier at scaling, especially when you throw in a CRT filter which makes that VHS tape look just like it on a CRT TV. But that comes at a large price. But if you really need/want it, the RetroTinks beat out professional video scalers that cost in the thousands of dollars.

Aye, I looked into the topic of upscalers over the past few days, but sadly all of the coverage I could find on youtube concerns retro consoles and computers, apart maybe from that RetroRGB video that you've referenced as well. From what I've gathered, the Retrotink 4k would be the perfect solution for me, although it's also way overkill for what I'd use it for. Ideally, I'd want somthing simple and cheap, like the OSSC or the Mcbazel ODV-GBS-C, but with added 4k upscaling and crt/scanline-like filters (from what I've read, the GBS-C offers the scanline effect, but only for 240p content). Unfortunately no such product seems to exist 😉 Oh, there's a slightly cheaper, cut-down version of the Retrotink 4k on the way, so there's hope! https://www.retrorgb.com/retrotink-4k-ce-announced.html

Also, I whonder how these upscalers would handle PAL DVDs, as I'm in PAL territory.

revolstar wrote on 2025-01-02, 10:28:

Aye, I looked into the topic of upscalers over the past few days, but sadly all of the coverage I could find on youtube concerns retro consoles and computers, apart maybe from that RetroRGB video that you've referenced as well. From what I've gathered, the Retrotink 4k would be the perfect solution for me, although it's also way overkill for what I'd use it for. Ideally, I'd want somthing simple and cheap, like the OSSC or the Mcbazel ODV-GBS-C, but with added 4k upscaling and crt/scanline-like filters (from what I've read, the GBS-C offers the scanline effect, but only for 240p content). Unfortunately no such product seems to exist 😉 Oh, there's a slightly cheaper, cut-down version of the Retrotink 4k on the way, so there's hope! https://www.retrorgb.com/retrotink-4k-ce-announced.html

Also, I whonder how these upscalers would handle PAL DVDs, as I'm in PAL territory.

The cut down version of the RetroTink 4K will still be $470 USD. There's also the Morph 4K, but right now it's HDMI input only. An analog input card is supposedly under development, but we'll see if it ever comes out. That will likely push it into the $450-500 price range.

4K upscaling is new tech, less expensive solutions will come. You could also just try ripping one of the DVDs and playing it from a media server and see how the final image looks to you. You'd have much more controls of the filters being applied. That's why most scaler reviews are about realtime things like consoles and computers. With recorded media you can also capture it and enhance it via other options. But an older upscaling Bluray player is probably still the cheapest and easiest solution.

revolstar wrote on 2024-12-31, 11:16:

So I'm not entirely satisfied with the way my Panasonic 4k BluRay player handles DVDs. It says on the box it upscales both DVD and BluRay movies to 4k... but the DVD playback looks awful, at least compared to my VHS/DVD combo hooked up to my CRT TV.

Would it be possible (and viable) to hook up my VHS/DVD combo to a 4k TV via a device such as the RetroTink or OSSC? Will there be any improvement in DVD video output compared to my BluRay player's built-in upscaler?

Hello,

Did you try a RetroTink 4K for upscaling your DVD’s?

NelsonDog wrote on 2025-05-05, 13:17:

revolstar wrote on 2024-12-31, 11:16:

So I'm not entirely satisfied with the way my Panasonic 4k BluRay player handles DVDs. It says on the box it upscales both DVD and BluRay movies to 4k... but the DVD playback looks awful, at least compared to my VHS/DVD combo hooked up to my CRT TV.

Would it be possible (and viable) to hook up my VHS/DVD combo to a 4k TV via a device such as the RetroTink or OSSC? Will there be any improvement in DVD video output compared to my BluRay player's built-in upscaler?

Hello,

Did you try a RetroTink 4K for upscaling your DVD’s?

Howdy! Not yet. I've screwed around with the settings on my 4k TV some more and obtained some mostly passable results.

Here's an update: I got myself a GBS-C, cuz yeah it's the cheapest solution for my scenario, f00k RetroTink 😜
I've tried it today with the RGB output of my Playstation 2 and can confirm that the dvd video playback quality of such a setup is way better than what my bluray player or my flat panel TV can produce on their own!

revolstar wrote on 2025-06-16, 19:59:

Here's an update: I got myself a GBS-C, cuz yeah it's the cheapest solution for my scenario, f00k RetroTink 😜
I've tried it today with the RGB output of my Playstation 2 and can confirm that the dvd video playback quality of such a setup is way better than what my bluray player or my flat panel TV can produce on their own!

I recommend also checking out the Sony BDP-S6500 or BDP-S6700 BluRay players. They can upscale DVDs to 4K. It's done a very good job with some questionable quality 480i DVDs I own. When I disable the upscale to just pass native it's horrible. But with upscale it works some magic and looks really nice. They are all over eBay in the US for $30-40.