📰 New article from RetroRGB
Reflex Prism Tested – Great, Full-Featured DAC
https://retrorgb.com/reflex-prism-tested-great-full-featured-dac.html
Reflex Prism DAC: A Power User’s Dream (With a Few Quirks)
If you’re feeding an HDMI signal into a CRT—especially for retro gaming or FPGA setups—the Reflex Prism is one of the most versatile DACs on the market. It converts HDMI to VGA (RGB, RGBHV, or YPbPr) and Sega Saturn-style MiniDIN (RGB/S-Video + audio) with zero lag and no scaling. That means your source must output the exact resolution and refresh rate your CRT expects—no downscaling here. Good news: devices like MiSTer, Raspberry Pi + RePlayOS, or a downscaler’s HDMI-out handle this seamlessly.
What makes the Prism stand out? Flexibility. Need RGB via VGA or S-Video over Saturn-style DIN? Done. Want to tweak sync modes or NTSC/PAL settings? Flip internal DIP switches (or edit `MiSTer.ini`). It played nice with everything tested—even niche modes like 480p72 for smooth CRT video playback.
But it’s not perfect.
- 🛠️ Hardware tweaks require opening the unit—a bit of a pain for frequent adjustments.
- 📺 Composite video over MiniDIN is unsupported (and looks awful)—though the product page clearly warns against this, it’s still a missed opportunity.
In short: If you want just HDMI→VGA, go cheaper. But if you need multi-output versatility, pro-level configurability, and rock-solid signal quality? The Reflex Prism delivers—just be ready to dig under the hood (or tweak a config file).