Can we use an external graphics processor to improve the visual effect of the console (modern or retro)? Marseille ’s mClassic is a new and improved version of the mCable Gaming Edition that we introduced a few years ago. As an external graphics card for advertising, this product has caused a lot of controversy, especially on social media, we have seen that the product has been described as a 4K upconverter, 1440p upconverter, an Method, even Switch is upgraded like a professional. These are all requirements for testing.
In detail, mClassic is an HDMI dongle that can be connected to the back of any console to manage later effects, adjustments, and scaling. It relies on a micro USB cable to power it and consumes only 1W of power at peak to drive the onboard ASIC processor. From there, it can explain every flat 2D frame arriving from the console, add contextual anti-aliasing, color enhancement, intelligent sharpening, and then zoom in on the result. All of this is achieved without significant input delays-in my experience, this is correct. But at a price of $ 100, is the visual upgrade really worth the modern gaming outlay? Especially for Switch?
There are three pieces in the box; the mClassic dongle itself, the USB cable and HDMI extender used to power it. You need to track the USB power adapter, but any PC, TV or console will provide enough power for it. The HDMI extender is a way to support the Switch when docked, because the large M shape on the mClassic shell prevents it from plugging into the back. Plug it into the Switch, Xbox One or even OSSC, you can easily complete all these operations. The mClassic device itself also has a stylish surface treatment, with a red protruding handle and a gold surface treatment on the rear-of course, there is a new function on the side: a processing mode switching key that is not available on mCable.
So what's new? Well, we promise to improve the algorithm and be able to upgrade 720p60 and 1080p60 content to a maximum resolution of 1440p-the peak value of mCable is only 1080p. The physical dial on the side is an important upgrade in itself, which solves the main disadvantage of mCable-it cannot be turned off without disconnecting the cable. The new switch provides you with three modes to solve this problem, the first is through straight-through, so that the signal is completely unaffected. Next, the middle notch enables mClassic processing and the LED lights green. Finally, the last gear has a dedicated retro mode that turns the LED into blue. This is tailored for older 480p content, forcing the output to a 4: 3 aspect ratio-meanwhile, if a PC monitor is connected, it can be extended to 1440p. Otherwise, you will get 1080p output on most TVs.
Compared with conventional HDMI signals, mClassic has a complete fault-switch and retro mixers such as Dreamcast, which attracted much attention.
mClassic is an HDMI 1.4 device, so there are many restrictions to consider. First of all, it is worth emphasizing that after enabling processing, you will lose the HDR function of PS4 or Xbox One. It is not a factor in the algorithm, but on the bright side, since the audio signal is not affected regardless of the mode, you retain features such as Dolby Atmos-it can be straight through. Another trap is the way to handle 4K content: mClassic as long as
So what does mClassic actually provide? We focus on Switch because this is the goal of most marketing activities in Marseille. First of all, it is a pity that there is no actual 4K upgrade. In view of the rise of UHD TVs, it was originally useful, but at least in the case of m1080 peak output, the other advantages of mClassic can indeed be shown. Side-by-side display of subtle adjustments in color depth and sharpening of character outlines. With the help of context sharpening, a clearer effect is presented in all directions, although the effect is still subtle at 1080p peak output. For most sharpening filters, the disadvantage is common: ringing artifacts. These images appear as a faint white halo effect near high-contrast points, although it is not too striking.
The cable also provides anti-aliasing, and its effect seems to vary depending on the content and resolution. The call of "Juarez": Gunslinger does not use AA when it leaves the factory. In fact, it even has a stylized cartoon beauty, highlighting the style of the ladder. Adding mClassic to the equation will have an effect; although the pixels crawl and flicker on the grass, the anti-aliasing effect will pass through the jagged edges on the outline of the tree. This is a reliable example of edge detection, but like the previous mCable, 1080p output games will not actively trigger it because of the lower resolution. Pokemon Sword and Shield has a dynamic 1080p setting, and there is no anti-aliasing function out of the box, and the gain on mClassic is also limited. The most obvious upgrade we have seen is to sharpen those edges (if any), rather than making the appearance smoother. Surprisingly, one of the cases that did take effect was the re-release of Virtua Racing on the Switch. Again, this is a 1080p game, but with such an edge defined, mClassic will eventually deal with some issues.
Overall, anti-aliasing and sharpening are the main advantages-at least for 1080p playback. Even more complicated is that dynamic resolution is widely used in system games. This includes first-party works such as Mario Odyssey, ranging from 900p to 720p, and the numbers in the middle will make the image difficult to interpret. Other signals such as Rocket League ’s images below 720p can be set to output 720p signals from the system to provide a more straightforward signal for mClassic at a smaller zoom ratio-but even then, droplets will appear below. As with previous mCables, the rule of thumb is that the algorithm prefers lower resolutions-this is a challenge because in most games, the Switch ’s more practical setting is 1080p. This is not a bold reform. The overall result is a subtle but fine-tuned upgrade on the Switch-just add more definitions and pop the operation.
Other game consoles can be used, but due to the HDMI 1.4 bandwidth limitation, the 4K output of PS4 Pro and Xbox One X (which only supports 4: 2: 0 mode) is difficult to do. This is a trade-off, but it won't affect performance much. In this case, it is best to switch Pro or X to automatic mode for adjustment. The benefit is, of course, that all scaling to 4K is already handled by the console-but the image processing advantages brought by mClassic are not obvious at all. Choose the original Xbox 360 version of Mirror & # 39; s Edge (enhanced by the enhancement of X, you can push the native 3840×2160), giving a very concise example. You will get a lot of straight lines, and the colors around the roof are dotted with flour spots. Even with a 4x magnification here, there is no substantial improvement in the color of the edge definition. The same is true for restarted GRID; 1440p games with dynamic resolution on X, this algorithm has very limited impact on 4K output.
The retro mode switch is indeed where mClassic finds its location. Right now, everything is forced to an aspect ratio of 4: 3, which is useful in most cases-although if the game supports 16: 9, you can revert to normal processing mode. The key here is that the upgrade is much more obvious. As you can see in the video, I used the Power Stone on Dreamcast as a test case, using a Toro VGA box connected to OSSC to send 480p signals via HDMI-just pass 640×480 resolution to mClassic via HDMI. From there, the color saturation has been vividly improved compared to playback with disabled processing. This is a huge difference.
Power Stone's aliasing effect is also excellent. The Dreamcast title usually has no anti-aliasing at all-we only got the 480p original image-so it can easily be used as a console to design similar algorithms. Compared to modern games with different resolutions, AA methods and complex shaders, the parameters are easier to predict. In this case, most of the ladders have been dealt with, and games with mClassic enabled look easier. The appearance is softer, but the texture clarity will not be greatly affected-the sharpening pass will enhance the overall effect.
Not everyone will like the effect of mClassic. It may be nostalgic to see these pixels remain, but in my experience, the effect of its increase is far less than the decrease. Even if progressive scan support is limited to a small number of games, PS2 games will benefit from it. The shadow of the colossus is large. With 480p support, the huge game scale promoted the crucial image quality at the time. Even with the best output of PS2, it feels like a game limited by the times. Sweeping the landscape and high-rise buildings, there are dense details everywhere, even on a day's CRT, it may cause many pixels to crawl. Through OSSC routing through components, we can push the 480p feed to mClassic- via HDMI and clear the image to some extent. It is not as apt as the Dreamcast title: the image quality is not very clean from the beginning, but enabling processing does have a positive impact.
Marseille even advertises on older game consoles, dating back to the 32- and 16-bit eras-including images of older machines like Sega Saturn, so I think it is worth a try. It should be noted here that mClassic does not accept the popular 240p signal of this generation, so we must use something like OSSC or Framemeister again to convert the signal first. In this case, OSSC takes a 240p feed through a SCART cable and uses a 2x line multiplier to convert it to 480p. This is essential for us to see any images from Saturn, SNES, Mega Drive or higher consoles. The results of it? Well, it is definitely not as good as the Dreamcast game. In some cases, it does not match the content of the game, which is usually 2D.
2D sprite work is especially difficult. Taking OutRun as an example, Saturn ’s Sega Ages port has been engineered. Sharpening, smart focus and even anti-aliasing are applied to its 2D pixel map. It produces smudges at some corners, rounded corners, and at some points, the steps are flattened into a straight line. This is mClassic's job, but sadly it destroys the beauty of the game. These pixels are originally displayed. This is where the delivery mode comes in handy, but when mClassic is enabled, even 3D titles like Panzer Dragoon are not that attractive. The image is full of noise from scale to 1080p, and each segment is processed by AA for several frames at a time. It does not have the consistency that Dreamcast games have, and I suspect that feeding it the amplified 240p signal does not help. At the time, this was an interesting experiment, but given the large number of titles on Saturn that made 2D the center of attention, this was not an ideal choice.
Although according to the actual results we obtained from the device in the test, it is indeed a bit exaggerated to claim its function, but the overall goal of mClassic is still higher than mCable. The physical mode switching on the side makes it usually a more flexible device, and 1440p support is also welcome, especially for PC monitor users. However, this is not enough pressure, Dreamcast users-as well as anyone with Gamecube and HDMI adapter, will see a practical upgrade to use this product. Power Stone has never been displayed as cleanly as it is outside of simulation, and it has undergone an impressive calibration. Even so, for all retro equipment, users must still provide HDMI conversion first. In addition to that, it is regrettable that the benefits obtained on the Switch are not so extreme, but if you pass the anti-aliasing test, it can be said to be quite considerable, and the native 4K content is almost not in my test Show any upgrades. The main disadvantage is the lack of 4K upgrades from 60Hz sources. For 4K TV owners, this means that after receiving the mClassic signal, they need to carry out additional high-end operations-in earlier games, it has already upgraded its own from 480p or 720p.
The price of about $ 100 may be worth it, but it is not necessary for modern games. At the same time, retro gamers will find a convenient tool in the box; as long as you can manually close the processing of the game that is not suitable for it, you can try to use its functions, which will bring a lot of fun. For current machines, it is true that expectations must be managed. At least in the case of Nintendo Switch, games like Smash Bros Ultimate are significantly bolder and sharper. It may be a larger, higher-priced upgrade unit, and users can define more settings involved, thus filling the gap of a more refined 4K upgrader. Otherwise, mClassic will operate in the form of settings and remain discrete. For all users, this is not all, but when it works, the results may be impressive.
