• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Marseille mCable HDMI Cable with inline anti-aliasing

My cable finally showed up today. I tried it with a bunch of Switch games starting with Pokken Tournament DX since that game has the worst IQ in my collection. I have to say that while the tech is interesting it's kind of hit or miss how effective it is from game to game. With Pokken it helped smooth edges on the fighters but the backgrounds still looked badly aliased. BotW strangely looked worse to me with the cable, as if something it was doing was breaking the atmosphere of the game. MK8 seemed to benefit the most out of all the games that I tried, it really seemed to do a good job o cleaning up the worst of the jaggies and shimmering that you'd pick up in the game especially at the starting line.

I'm not sure if I'd recommend the cable to anyone other than a videophile with cash to burn but I'm really interested in seeing a breakdown on exactly what the cable is doing since it's pretty difficult to tell without a side by side comparison.
 

Paragon

Member
BotW strangely looked worse to me with the cable, as if something it was doing was breaking the atmosphere of the game.
Breath of the Wild renders at a sub-native resolution and uses dynamic resolution scaling. That's exactly what they said would not work with this cable. It needs the native rendering resolution to match the output; i.e. 1080p native, not ≤900p like Zelda.
 
Breath of the Wild renders at a sub-native resolution and uses dynamic resolution scaling. That's exactly what they said would not work with this cable. It needs the native rendering resolution to match the output; i.e. 1080p native, not ≤900p like Zelda.

Ah OK thanks, I missed that. I'll need to check the games I have then to see which are native res.
 

cube001

Member
So I got the cable today and I know that you guys wanna see it in action for Nintendo Switch, so I quickly took a comparison shot for Mario Kart 8 and here are the results:

Without mCable:
8cK0kbi.jpg


With mCable:
mkiqSch.jpg


The difference is significant in my opinion but still doesn’t justify the price tag. What do you think Gaf?

I’m also open to requests, if you wanna see a specific game just post the name and I’ll try to get a comparison shot for that game, if I own it that is.

Edit: FYI the images are off-screen photos of a Sony X850C 4K TV taken with an iPhone 7.
 
My cable finally showed up today. I tried it with a bunch of Switch games starting with Pokken Tournament DX since that game has the worst IQ in my collection. I have to say that while the tech is interesting it's kind of hit or miss how effective it is from game to game. With Pokken it helped smooth edges on the fighters but the backgrounds still looked badly aliased. BotW strangely looked worse to me with the cable, as if something it was doing was breaking the atmosphere of the game. MK8 seemed to benefit the most out of all the games that I tried, it really seemed to do a good job o cleaning up the worst of the jaggies and shimmering that you'd pick up in the game especially at the starting line.

I'm not sure if I'd recommend the cable to anyone other than a videophile with cash to burn but I'm really interested in seeing a breakdown on exactly what the cable is doing since it's pretty difficult to tell without a side by side comparison.
The Linus video I watched had him say high resolutions benefit less then lower and you need to have the game running at the same Res as the TV, so if the switch is set to 1080p and a game runs at lower Res it's going to fail to work as well.

Try running the switch docked at 720p it might show some cool improvements to Zelda, maybe.
 

EmiPrime

Member
The difference is significant in my opinion but still doesn’t justify the price tag. What do you think Gaf?

I’m also open to requests, if you wanna see a specific game just post the name and I’ll try to get a comparison shot for that game, if I own it that is.

Looks pretty good.

F-Zero GX on Wii U please if you can.
 

Peterthumpa

Member
So I got the cable today and I know that you guys wanna see it in action for Nintendo Switch, so I quickly took a comparison shot for Mario Kart 8 and here are the results:

Without mCable:
8cK0kbi.jpg


With mCable:
mkiqSch.jpg


The difference is significant in my opinion but still doesn’t justify the price tag. What do you think Gaf?

I’m also open to requests, if you wanna see a specific game just post the name and I’ll try to get a comparison shot for that game, if I own it that is.

Holy shit, that looks really great. Care to test Zelda?
 

daninthemix

Member
So I got the cable today and I know that you guys wanna see it in action for Nintendo Switch, so I quickly took a comparison shot for Mario Kart 8 and here are the results:

Without mCable:
8cK0kbi.jpg


With mCable:
mkiqSch.jpg


The difference is significant in my opinion but still doesn’t justify the price tag. What do you think Gaf?

I’m also open to requests, if you wanna see a specific game just post the name and I’ll try to get a comparison shot for that game, if I own it that is.

That looks dramatically better to me.
 

cube001

Member
Looks pretty good.

F-Zero GX on Wii U please if you can.

Sorry I don’t have it on Wii U, I have it on the gamecube though, but all of my old stuff are at my parents’ , and I only have composite cable for gamecube so it wouldn’t help anyways.
 

cube001

Member
Holy shit, that looks really great. Care to test Zelda?

Sure, I’ll update this post with the shots later today.

Update:

Here are the shots,

Without:
xC2U40D.jpg


With:
W70JeSS.jpg


So the anti-aliasing is definitely less noticeable than in MK8 which is probably due to the non-native resolution rendering used in BOTW, but the overall image quality is a tad better in my opinion.
 

_Ryo_

Member
I wonder of this will work on older consoles? Like will it work with Dreamcast/PS2 HDMI adapter or would that not work since it would have to pass through another HDMI input?

If it does work it would be a game changer for retro games.

Edit; so it would work. Awesome. But i cant afford it. :(

Imagine playing DQ8, and Rogue Galaxy, or Persona 3 and 4 with this...
 
So there are two versions. Gaming version and Cinema version. I've also read you must buy from the manufacturer to get the new version, it's black. The older models are on eBay and Amazon, grey in color. I'm tempted, I have an hd crt, and would love to test it out on ps3 games.

The ultimate test would be on ps2 games. This could be done by 480p native, 480p bootdisk, or 480p up to 1080p with the GSM software, which simply tricks the ps2 gpu into scaling (formatting I should say not really scaling). You could run GSM in 1080i/1080p ps2 to component/hdmi converter to Marseille cable to the tv. Only real lag would be from component to hdmi.

Sigh: I guess I could do it myself and see what happens. I'll post findings here in a few weeks unless someone beats me to it.
 

Koren

Member
Sorry I don’t have it on Wii U, I have it on the gamecube though, but all of my old stuff are at my parents’ , and I only have composite cable for gamecube so it wouldn’t help anyways.
Unless I really missed something, it's a begging port joke. K doubt anyone has F Zero GX on Wii U.

I would welcome it too...
 

Cleve

Member
Unless I really missed something, it's a begging port joke. K doubt anyone has F Zero GX on Wii U.

I would welcome it too...

You can definitely play gamecube games on wii-u, google nintendon't. It's not for everyone, but think of it like a homebrew channel to open up the wii mode's gamecube mode. That would let you use this hdmi cable to play GC games.

Those MK8 shots alone almost have me sold.
 
I forgot that Breath of the Wild was dynamic resolution when docked. That would be a huge one for me in terms of the appeal of this cable. I’d have to wait and see how final code of Super Mario Odyssey is, as well.

I do like the results on WiiU and Switch, just a shame that they might not work on certain games due to dynamic resolution.
 

cube001

Member
Unless I really missed something, it's a begging port joke. K doubt anyone has F Zero GX on Wii U.

I would welcome it too...

Yeah that’s what I thought at first but I wasn’t really up to date with the Wii U news so I assumed that they may have released a port of it on eshop or something, guess that’s not the case.

I can technically modify the Wii U to play gamecube games, but it’s too much of hassle to be honest.
 

Peterthumpa

Member
Sure, I’ll update this post with the shots later today.

Update:

Here are the shots,

Without:
xC2U40D.jpg


With:
W70JeSS.jpg


So the anti-aliasing is definitely less noticeable than in MK8 which is probably due to the non-native resolution rendering used in BOTW, but the overall image quality is a tad better in my opinion.

Thanks. It's still really impressive. Maybe a comparison outside, looking at the horizon to compare distant objects? Regardless, thanks for your time. Is it noticeable (especially in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) from a "couch distance"?

I'm almost pulling the trigger, although shipping to Australia will take weeks.
 

cube001

Member
Thanks. It's still really impressive. Maybe a comparison outside, looking at the horizon to compare distant objects? Regardless, thanks for your time. Is it noticeable (especially in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) from a "couch distance"?

I'm almost pulling the trigger, although shipping to Australia will take weeks.

You're welcome, I'd say it is noticeable but I also have to tell you that I'm picky with these things and have trouble tolerating aliasing.

As for an outside comparison shot, I tried getting one but was annoyed quickly as the time and weather kept on changing, not to mention the dust filter that is everywhere which makes it difficult to get an identical environment for a comparison shot. Having said that, if you have a place in mind that you'd like to see, just tell me and I will be happy to deliver.
 

EmiPrime

Member
Unless I really missed something, it's a begging port joke. K doubt anyone has F Zero GX on Wii U.

I would welcome it too...

The Wii U can play Gamecube games natively. Given they are 480p and for the most part have horrible aliasing issues this cable would be potentially great for them.

Otherwise some Wii shots would be interesting too.
 
is it just me or does the cable seem to mess with gamma/colors?
Some comparisons in that linus video didn't even look close to the orginal image

The AA effect for smaller resolutions is nice though
 

Peterthumpa

Member
You're welcome, I'd say it is noticeable but I also have to tell you that I'm picky with these things and have trouble tolerating aliasing.

As for an outside comparison shot, I tried getting one but was annoyed quickly as the time and weather kept on changing, not to mention the dust filter that is everywhere which makes it difficult to get an identical environment for a comparison shot. Having said that, if you have a place in mind that you'd like to see, just tell me and I will be happy to deliver.
Thanks. For the outside shots, just press the home button to suspend the game while you switch cables, that should work to get the timing easier.

I'm also picky as hell, to the point of playing in 30 FPS if IQ is better. I think I'll really like this cable.
 

cube001

Member
Thanks. For the outside shots, just press the home button to suspend the game while you switch cables, that should work to get the timing easier.

I'm also picky as hell, to the point of playing in 30 FPS if IQ is better. I think I'll really like this cable.

I feel stupid now... Will do it when I get back home tonight.
 
The Wii U can play Gamecube games natively. Given they are 480p and for the most part have horrible aliasing issues this cable would be potentially great for them.

Otherwise some Wii shots would be interesting too.

Dirty secret re: Wii U. Everything in Wii mode, including Nintendon't, is slightly scaled and softened no matter what resolution and overscan settting you choose. It's a bad design.

An OG Wii run through an OSSC is better. This setup could be chained into this cable.
 

AnnTiPa

Member
You're welcome, I'd say it is noticeable but I also have to tell you that I'm picky with these things and have trouble tolerating aliasing.

As for an outside comparison shot, I tried getting one but was annoyed quickly as the time and weather kept on changing, not to mention the dust filter that is everywhere which makes it difficult to get an identical environment for a comparison shot. Having said that, if you have a place in mind that you'd like to see, just tell me and I will be happy to deliver.

Any chance you could record a small video clip to compare? I'd really love to see it in motion to see if it helps with the edges crawling all over the place.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Dirty secret re: Wii U. Everything in Wii mode, including Nintendon't, is slightly scaled and softened no matter what resolution and overscan settting you choose. It's a bad design.

An OG Wii run through an OSSC is better. This setup could be chained into this cable.

With the N64, NES, and SNES emulation complaints adding now Wii mode being borked really paints a nasty picture of how they shipped Wii U as...
 

Paragon

Member
The anti-aliasing looks pretty good in that Mario Kart shot.
It doesn't really show in your photos, but it's the other processing that it appears to do which concerns me. If all it did was anti-aliasing, I might be considering one.

Wow this thread made me buy 4
Why not one and a matrix switcher?
Probably costs less, and then you can toggle it on/off easily.
 

AXE

Member
Sure, I'll update this post with the shots later today.

Update:

Here are the shots,

Without:
xC2U40D.jpg


With:
W70JeSS.jpg


So the anti-aliasing is definitely less noticeable than in MK8 which is probably due to the non-native resolution rendering used in BOTW, but the overall image quality is a tad better in my opinion.

I believe this will calm the picture down a great deal. Think about the horizon now as you pan.

Look at that bottle or the books on the background. Now you don't get your eyes sliced with all them jaggies that frame the center pieces of each scene. Not entirely thrilled with the "dynamic coloring" it has going on what with deeper colours and steeper blacks.

I can't wait to go in-depth into this thing when it arrives.
 

Durante

Member
How did you go about it? Did you capture the game and use your GPU's control panel or something else to apply the AA to the capture card's live preview window?

I want to try this for myself.
I wrote a program that grabs the frames from a capture card, uploads them to the GPU, and runs (various configurable) ppAA algorithms on it.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
looks like it makes a difference but at that price i wouldn't be interested. games need better AA and the sooner 4K becomes more standard the better.
 

Qassim

Member
Linus seems to go way overboard in his surprise that this is possible, the only real difference here than what we could have done before is that it's packed inline in the cable itself, which is a cool novelty, of course - but I don't think it warrants that reaction.

The problem seems to be putting this thing in the context of the standard 'premium' HDMI cable marketing nonsense, which isn't right.
 

Paragon

Member
"And look at these cables"
https://i.imgur.com/Q2K5Wyg.png
Personally I'd take the original over the processed one in this example. The sharpening is too harsh, which exaggerates the jaggies.

This is exacerbated by the fact that LTT appear to have the input/capture levels set incorrectly, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided already applies an excessive sharpening filter itself.
I would prefer that the cable only applied anti-aliasing and left any sharpening, contrast enhancements, or other changes up to the display.
 

radewagon

Member
So, just got my cable in today. I'm trying to finish a review on the product, but I thought I'd post some photos of what it's capable of. Let me know if you want me to post a link to my review when it's done. I'm really really really new to Neogaf (longtime reader though) and don't want to step on any toes by asking people to go to my blog.

First impressions are mixed. It's definitely not a perfect solution, but for some games, the anti-aliasing really shines. For others, it looks really bad. For most, it's a marginal improvement once you get used to the odd watercolor effect that it adds.

Futurama (PS2) 480p over HDMI



Futurama (PS2) 1080p over mCable



Infamous (PS3) 720p over HDMI



Infamous (PS3) 1080p over mCable

 

TSM

Member
Futurama (PS2) 480p over HDMI

There's no point in trying to play PS2 games through this cable. It's only really effective with games outputting at their native resolutions, and PS2 games almost universally use odd frame buffer sizes that are neither 640x480 or 720x480. Also all PS2 games output by the PS3 are blurred by the PS3 unless you output at 480i. This blurring would defeat the edge detection of the cable.
 

radewagon

Member
There's no point in trying to play PS2 games through this cable. It's only really effective with games outputting at their native resolutions, and PS2 games almost universally use odd frame buffer sizes that are neither 640x480 or 720x480. Also all PS2 games output by the PS3 are blurred by the PS3 unless you output at 480i. This blurring would defeat the edge detection of the cable.

Well, it did clean up a lot of the aliasing in Futurama, so there' s definitely a use for it. As for the output format, the PS2 was fed via component to an OSSC that was set to output 480p w/ Bob deinterlacing. Curiously, when the OSSC was set to pass through the 480i signal untouched, the mCable seemed to refuse to add any post processing or scaling.
 

marc^o^

Nintendo's Pro Bono PR Firm
I just ordered one for the Switch: I want Super Mario Odyssey to look as good as it can, and FIFA 18 will benefit a lot from alisasing.

Can't wait :)
 
Top Bottom