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Comment by willis936 | Hacker News Reader

The Pocket is a unique product here. Analogue spent effort characterizing and reproducing the color and LCD response profile matrices of the target systems. Having 10x integer scaling allows for very detailed sub-pixel simulation. It's 2022 and we're getting sub-pixels in our sub-pixels.

Big whoop, right? My 500 W PC with a 40" OLED panel can do that with ease. Well this can do it in a handheld with 7+ hours of battery.

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> Analogue spent effort characterizing and reproducing the color and LCD response profile matrices of the target systems

Watch the linus tech tips video, the failed completely in this regard.

I watched the DF video. I don't watch LTT because, while the topics are often interesting and the resources and effort is usually there, the technical chops are not. Linus never developed a culture of putting heads down and making sure it's right with a thorough technical understanding. There are too many options for me to waste time on creators not creating well enough.

The LTT video[1] is also from their ShortCircuit channel, their unboxing/ first-impressions channel and should not be confused with their review content.

I personally watched the 54 minute in-depth overview from My Life in Gaming[2], and it was clear that LTT/ShortCircuit overlooked or were incorrect in some parts of their initial impressions.

EDIT: Specially in regards to the display, they spent no time at all to experiment with the 3 built-in GBA display modes; if they used the modes that replicated the original GBA or GBA SP (AGS-101) screens, they would've had a more color-equivalent appearance. MLiG in their video spent 10+ minutes on display modes alone.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6l5fAbcim0

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro9QQrTOnT0

I watched the MLIG and MVG videos as well. It seems clear that care and engineering was put into the display logic.

> EDIT: Specially in regards to the display, they spent no time at all to experiment with the 3 built-in GBA display modes; if they used the modes that replicated the original GBA or GBA SP (AGS-101) screens, they would've had a more color-equivalent appearance.

They did use the GBA SP mode in the comparison: https://youtu.be/h6l5fAbcim0?t=619

But the broader point that the channel is specifically unboxing/first-impressions and not a review is definitely accurate.

> They did use the GBA SP mode in the comparison: https://youtu.be/h6l5fAbcim0?t=619

Apologies, missed that for sure. There could still be a multitude of other factors at play (backlight brightness, saturation setting, sharpness setting, etc.)

> But the broader point that the channel is specifically unboxing/first-impressions and not a review is definitely accurate.

Agreed!

I didn't really see that in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6l5fAbcim0, FWIW.

I find the Anbernic RG351P is excellent and it is not a 500W PC, nor does it have a bad battery life.

That won't be running sub-pixel simulating shaders.

It won't... but with a screen size that small how much does that matter??? I own a RG351P and it's an excellent device for the money.

Not saying it doesn't matter at all, just that smaller screens seems to make that kind of thing less obvious.

To each their own though.

It's a long path to go down. Retro gaming is a boutique cottage industry. It's not at all like audio because it isn't snake oil. People perceive differences in CRTs, sound chips, analog video and audio drivers, etc. Does any of it matter? Does anything matter?

I like to tinker and I'm a display junkie. Playing retro games revitalizes me by bringing my headspace back to when I was young. Little me loves these toys. It would be trivial for me to fall down a cynical nihilistic cliff any moment of any day. If a utilitarian wants an explanation, they can have that one.

People perceive differences in the audio equipment too, right up until you try a double-blind test.

The blind tests aren't even the end-all here. The science of human perception limits and characterizing the error are the two fronts to look at. We've long passed recreating what a human ear can hear. We have targets for frequency range, dynamic range, and group delay. Hit those targets and you've won. There is more on the art side of things to advance, namely in simulating directionality, but that isn't what the Tweeter salesman is usually selling you.

The imperfections of the audio chips in old consoles are easily audible to humans. If the goal is accurate recreation then assuming the audio chips and driving circuitry is perfect is insufficient.

Video recreation is still far below what the Human Visual System can detect. We are not masters of the universe yet.

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