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Author Topic: Disappointed with LDK Landscape  (Read 851 times)

edd_jedi (OP)

  • Posts: 62
Disappointed with LDK Landscape
« on: April 03, 2020, 05:34:07 pm »
I recently picked up a clear LDK Landscape. I have had a JXD S7800B since 2015, and although it's a great console it's just too big and heavy to be 'portable' so I haven't used it much recently. I had a Dingoo A320 about 10 years ago and wanted something of a similar size, so after reading lots of online reviews and watching Youtube videos I decided on the LDK for various reasons (it's available now unlike some of the newer consoles on pre-order, it was cheap at ?35, no screen tearing unlike the Pocket Go.)

I'll start with the positives - the screen is great, and the d-pad and buttons are a lot nicer than I remember the A320 being. I also really like the RetroFW OS, I flashed the latest 2.1 firmware. It plays SMS/Game Gear, NES, GameBoy, PC Engine, and most late 80s consoles perfectly. I was expecting it not to play PS1 at an acceptable frame rate as per most reviews.

BUT I am really disappointed with the performance of SNES, MegaDrive/CD, Arcade, NEO GEO, GBA, basically the 16 bit consoles. Most reviews I have read said that all these systems play either perfectly or at an acceptable frame rate, but that is simply not the case. PocketSNES barely hits 25 FPS on most games, and although the frame rate of PicoDrive isn't too bad, the audio really lags and stutters, making it unpleasant to play.

What really surprises me is that this console is 10 years newer than my old A320 (which I no longer have) but I'm sure it played all of the above better than this does. Obviously my quad core JXD plays them all flawlessly, but even that is 5 years old now so I was hoping the LDK would be on a par. Sadly, apart from the 8 bit consoles, it is nowhere near as good.

Is this just because the emulators have not been optimised well? Or is the hardware not up to it? For ?35 I'm not complaining as I'll get lots of value out of it playing SMS/GB/NES etc, but as above I'm really disappointed that 10 years of hardware/software progress has not produced something that can beat the old A320.

I might consider getting the Pocket Go V2 or RG350 instead if the performance of the above consoles doesn't improve. Or perhaps people can recommend ways to optimise these systems? I've obviously tried auto frame rate, native resolution etc.
« Last Edit: April 03, 2020, 05:40:35 pm by edd_jedi »
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Dr_Bunsen

  • Posts: 160
Re: Disappointed with LDK Landscape
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2020, 06:39:23 pm »
Unfortunately you picked up the weaker of the two LDK handhelds. The landscape has the JZ4760 whereas the portrait has the JZ4760B. The B chipset can be overclocked higher. My own landscape is unstable beyond 636MHz.

Having said that, I actually sold my portrait and kept the landscape as I found the portrait too uncomfortable to use, and I'm happy with my device taking into account its limitations.

Regarding performance, I'm still running RetroFW 1, so I don't get some of the improvements from the newer CFW, and yet performance is acceptable in the most part on the 16bit consoles. I think your problems might be down to settings and maybe even emulators used and would need to be tackled individually to optimise based on the performance of specific games. What games are you unhappy with?

FYI, if you want a big upgrade, it's worth considering the Odroid Go Advance. Performance is full speed on every console you mention and more with the OGA. This is currently my favorite device. I also have an RG-350 and that's a nice machine too, but cannot run SNES super-fx games at full fps, so you'll still be chasing performance. I don't have a Pocket Go V2, but many people seem to have problems with that handheld.

« Last Edit: April 03, 2020, 06:41:09 pm by Dr_Bunsen »
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My Portable Devices: Sega Game Gear, PSP 3000, PS Vita, Nvidia Shield Portable, GPD Win, GPD XD+, Bitboy V1, Coolboy RS-97, PAP KIII Plus, LDK Landscape, 1Up-Pix Portable Landscape (RPi 3B+), Anbernic RG-350.

Surkow

  • * Administrator
  • Posts: 678
Re: Disappointed with LDK Landscape
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2020, 07:38:30 pm »
Quote from: edd_jedi on April 03, 2020, 05:34:07 pm
[...]

BUT I am really disappointed with the performance of SNES, MegaDrive/CD, Arcade, NEO GEO, GBA, basically the 16 bit consoles. Most reviews I have read said that all these systems play either perfectly or at an acceptable frame rate, but that is simply not the case. PocketSNES barely hits 25 FPS on most games, and although the frame rate of PicoDrive isn't too bad, the audio really lags and stutters, making it unpleasant to play.

What really surprises me is that this console is 10 years newer than my old A320 (which I no longer have) but I'm sure it played all of the above better than this does. Obviously my quad core JXD plays them all flawlessly, but even that is 5 years old now so I was hoping the LDK would be on a par. Sadly, apart from the 8 bit consoles, it is nowhere near as good.

[...]
Most consumers cannot accurately gauge accuracy, speed and latency of emulated games. I remember people telling me the PSP ran GBA and SNES full speed a decade ago.

The age of a console tells you very little. You should instead research the SoC that is included in the device. For example, the RS-90, a device released relatively recently, is comparable to a Dingoo A320 in terms of speed of emulated games. JZ4770 based devices (GCW Zero and clones like the RG350 and the Pocket Go V2 for example) run quite a bit better than the aforementioned devices.
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edd_jedi (OP)

  • Posts: 62
Re: Disappointed with LDK Landscape
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2020, 12:01:06 pm »
Quote from: Dr_Bunsen on April 03, 2020, 06:39:23 pm
Unfortunately you picked up the weaker of the two LDK handhelds. The landscape has the JZ4760 whereas the portrait has the JZ4760B. The B chipset can be overclocked higher. My own landscape is unstable beyond 636MHz.

Having said that, I actually sold my portrait and kept the landscape as I found the portrait too uncomfortable to use, and I'm happy with my device taking into account its limitations.

Regarding performance, I'm still running RetroFW 1, so I don't get some of the improvements from the newer CFW, and yet performance is acceptable in the most part on the 16bit consoles. I think your problems might be down to settings and maybe even emulators used and would need to be tackled individually to optimise based on the performance of specific games. What games are you unhappy with?

FYI, if you want a big upgrade, it's worth considering the Odroid Go Advance. Performance is full speed on every console you mention and more with the OGA. This is currently my favorite device. I also have an RG-350 and that's a nice machine too, but cannot run SNES super-fx games at full fps, so you'll still be chasing performance. I don't have a Pocket Go V2, but many people seem to have problems with that handheld.

Yeah that's exactly why I went for the Landscape, better form factor. It's also why I didn't get the popular RG350, I can't fathom why on a retro gaming console they put the d-pad in the bottom corner in favour of the analog stick which is only useful for a couple of later consoles, a mistake they seem to have rectified on the new metal version. The Odroid does look good, will bear that in mind if I give up on this.

Quote from: Surkow on April 03, 2020, 07:38:30 pm
Most consumers cannot accurately gauge accuracy, speed and latency of emulated games. I remember people telling me the PSP ran GBA and SNES full speed a decade ago.

The age of a console tells you very little. You should instead research the SoC that is included in the device. For example, the RS-90, a device released relatively recently, is comparable to a Dingoo A320 in terms of speed of emulated games. JZ4770 based devices (GCW Zero and clones like the RG350 and the Pocket Go V2 for example) run quite a bit better than the aforementioned devices.

According to the wiki, the A320's JZ4732 ran at 336MHz, so I'm really surprised that the performance of my LDK is not considerably better.

Having used it for a couple of weeks now I'm actually really pleased with it, I'm disappointed with the performance of some consoles but for GB, GG and PCE games it runs really smoothly and is a joy to use. Can't complain for the price.
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