This might all be moot for strideristhebest... it looks like the C8 OLEDs do have composite + analog audio inputs... it's just via a 3.5mm Mini-AV input with pigtail for yellow/red/white RCA. Looks like something like this is all he needs:

https://www.amazon.com/Replacement-Sams ... 07X9WMHVK/

Anyone using a RetroTink?

Only the US models have a composite input. It was removed from European models.

I mentioned CAV as so far it’s the only way I can pause an image that still displays on-screen.
I won’t be selling my TV as I’m pretty sure I can’t buy a LG CX for the £200-£300 that an upscaler might cost.
I never bought a laserdisc player to replace the 160 odd 4k films I own, I bought it to fulfil a selfish wish I had in the Nineties and could never achieve. If it was going to be my primary source of watching movies I would sell, but I’m not.

I bought one to compare Genesis composite to RGB via the OSSC (for dithered transparencies), and tried it with the LD player just to see. It works, I guess? Results aren't remarkable, and it's unlikely that every display/device/player you already have only has worse than a 2D comb filter. The default input setting when you turn it on I believe does transcoding only (no deinterlacing), and its deinterlace capabilities are limited to bob and bob with a smoothing filter, so don't expect it to be a deinterlacing solution.

Tl;dr: don't go out of your way for it on account of LD.

I would assume that retrotink doesn't really have anything focused on old film content. It seems like a good budget option for game content. Unlike Micomsoft stuff I haven't tried it personally though.

I have a Retrotink SCART version. I use it for when I play JAMMA boards on my 4K TV (which I never do, I vastly prefer my 19” CRT).

The video is phenomenally good looking but there are some issues. Motion is muddier than on the CRT. The fake scan lines are also very helpful...but due to the way LCDs work brightness is halved making my huge 4K TV dimmer than the CRT. And the lag...sucks.

I got it for free from a friend and I plan to use it when all my CRTs die. Until then, because I have both high quality CRTs in my house and high quality LCDs I can see very plainly with my eyes that for old games CRTs are better. Once you chuck all your CRTs you’ll forget what they looked like and will slowly brainwash yourselves into thinking the flat panel is better.

What I really miss and want is an old, simple SVGA CRT for DOS games. Non-square pixels are a b**ch to get right on flat-screens. Don't have the space for it right now, though.

Fake scanlines are hard to get right. The way I have it set on my OSSC (which really lets you fine-tune it) is 4x scaling (960p output), middle two lines at full brightness, top and bottom lines dimmed substantially, every other vertical output line dimmed slightly less for a sort of fools'-phosphors effect, and hybrid-mode on (bright lines affected less by scanline effect than dark lines). Also have to adjust brightness and to a lesser degree saturation to compensate for the subtracted light. Results vary depending on game. Think it usually works well with SNES, PS1, Genesis, etc. but it's not great with NES games that have large swaths of solid colors - those are harder on the eyes. The display's good at masking the non-integer scaling to 4K, seldom see patterns that really expose the small difference in scanline thickness.

Tl;dr: CRTs make all of this moot, and I wish I had a good spot for one in this apartment!

I've been following this thread since it started and am trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks to those of you out there who really understand video processing and for sharing your knowledge with guys like me who are trying to learn.

Aside from the obvious video processors everyone mentions (Lumagen, DVDO VP-series, etc.), does anyone know anything about the video processors from Hall Research? Specifically, the SC-CSV-HD processor:

https://halltechav.com/product/sc-csv-hd/

This only outputs HD and not 4k, and maybe it doesn't have the adjustments some of the other processors have. I can't find anything about what chipset it uses.

Where I get lost in this discussion is how an external scaler stacks up to scalers built in to modern TVs (assuming they have a composite jack to accept the LD signal).

Back on Page 1 of this thread I had posted (several years ago now) about how my Sony XBR 70X850B (which has a composite in) seemed to do a pretty good job of scaling LD. That set is now 6 years old and as I read posts here I can't help but wonder if adding a modern video processor would help my PQ a little bit.

I understand the limitations of an LD picture, but at the same time the video nerd in me wonders if I can make my LD PQ better or if the built-in Sony scaler in my set is on-par with anything I might add in front of it.

The Hall Research processor above runs around $550, which isn't terrible but I don't know how to judge whether it woudl help. If I used that to scale LD to 1080p, then sent that 1080p signal to the Sony which would upscale to 4k, do you think I woudl really notice? It all depends on how well the Hall Unit processes and scales the composite signal, right? So maybe what I am asking is really a "nobody really knows and you woudl just have to try it" question ... ?

Comparing the built in processing of TVs is very hard, made 10x harder here with a forum so small that few people own the same TV. There are 2-3 regular XBR960 fans here, but otherwise...totally random.

It’s likely that your Sony does an OK job already since most Sony TVs do. I have a selection of Bravia and Wega, roughly 2004 to 2017, and LD looks good to great with all of them. It could get better though, most likely.

Before spending any money though, darken the room and use Video Essentials to calibrate your set for LD. If you don’t have VE, get it. In the meanwhile take your brightness and contrast way way down from where it probably is. Watch LDs when the TV is the brightest light in the room. You may be surprised at how good LD looks if you remove competing light sources and stare straight into it.

Thanks for the reply. This is where I'm coming from. LD doesn't look bad by on my Sony by any means. I just read so much here about external processors and how it can make PQ better (and I get it's not making it 10x better) that I always wonder how much getting one would help....
Yep - have it covered. I bought VE way back in the 90s when I got my first player and have used it to calibrate my the sets I use with my LD ever since.

Honestly - I'm probably over-thinking it and have a little FOMO going on ...

I've found the manual for my player online so I'm going to have a tinker and see if I can improve how the image is outputting.
I'm getting a load of bands on a blue rolling background when the player boots up (image is fine when a film is on).
I think all the info I need is here. It's possible that I have it connected up but don't have the relevant things turned on.
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/11892 ... =87#manual

Edit - Well that's disappointing. Every time I try selecting the video options it says not available. Not sure what I've done wrong. I have pulled all the HDMI leads out the back of the amp and it's just the main lead from HDMI 1 going into the TV. The amp clearly allows you to tinker, but I can't work it out.

Is it possible to post a couple of clear pics showing us the rear of your av amp to give some idea as to how it’s all hooked up, also are you still getting an image from the LD player?

Will get some tomorrow.
Edit - my iphone can’t get around the 500k limit.

Is the DVD0 iscan ultra worth getting?

That’s a rather old device now and I used to have one many moons ago when I was running CRT projectors, tbh I doubt that the comb filter is up to much in those and I’m and sure it predates HDMI anyway so it doesn’t solve the connection to your LG tv problems really, so I personally wouldn’t recommend it.

If it is cheap enough then yes. I wouldn't pay more than $50 but I've already got a lot of gear.

Someone suggested using a dvdi to hdmi converter with it.
Should I hold out for a Duo?

Duo and Edge are considerably better. My Duo has been plugged in since the day I got it.

Yep, that's pretty much what I was thinking too gypsy, and if it's the same iscan ultra that I've seen on eBay uk the seller is looking for quite a bit more than $50, I think his reserve is £120!

Damn. I paid $220 with shipping for my Duo, not even that much more and much better. I would hold out.