How to get best image quality on a 1080 modern screen

[Tasio]

After a while using retropie I'm happy with my setup and I would like to share what in my point of view look best.
I'm also looking for improve it if anyone knows a better configuration.

General Settings
ONLY TESTED ON 1080 MODERN DISPLAY, NOT FOR CRT DISPLAYS

1. Disable overscan.
   If black bars are always present on display, you can fix it by disabling overscan, this way you would be able to use the full screen.
   Menu route to disable overscan: Raspi-config -> 7 Advanced options -> A1 Overscan -> No

2. Integer scale.
   Integer scaling is scaling by a factor of a whole number, such as 2x, 3x, 4x, etc. this will make the image smaller but will improve the quality.
   RetroArch menu route to set integer scale: Settings -> Video -> Integer scale -> ON

Game Boy Advance Settings
Works best with integer scale enabled.

Shader: 451 shaders_glsl/handheld/lcd-shader/lcd-shader.glslp
Resolution: 960x720 (emulator is too slow with 1080 and this shader)

Examples:

FinalBurn Alpha, Megadrive, Neo Geo, PC Engine and Super Nintendo
Works best with integer scale enabled.
FinalBurn Alpha has a decent amount of games which looks nice with this setup but not all of them

Shader: crt-pi-vertical.glslp (or any of the other crt-pi shaders)
Resolution: video output (only tested on 1080 display)

Examples:
Megadrive - Click the image for better quality

Neo Geo - Click the image for better quality

Feedback is welcome :-)

[edm203]

I actually prefer Supersai for all my games. Just looks more smoother to me. Not into the retro look w/ scan lines. I found this page that previews what everything does (scroll down to "the filters")

http://fantasyanime.com/emuhelp/snes9x

[dankcushions]

said in How to get best image quality on a 1080 modern screen:

Shader: crt-pi-vertical.glslp (or any of the other crt-pi shaders)

this should only be used for vertical games, btw :) check out this thread for some presets: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/4046/crt-pi-shader-users-reduce-scaling-artifacts-in-lr-mame2003-lr-fbalpha-horizontal-and-vertical-games

[Tasio]

@edm203 Thanks for the feedback, I don't like retro looking either, the "crt-pi-vertical.glslp" filter is not only scanlines, its helps with creating a sharp images without the blurring effect, this is an example of the filter I mentioned which is different from the one on the web you mention
Click for more quality

At the end this is just a personal preference, some games like Mega Drive Aladin looks really nice with Supersai or similar effects but other games looks quite bad on my personal opinion, this is a comparison of super-eagle and crt-pi-vertical on Super Nintendo F-Zero

Small squares like the ones from the starting line don't look any good and the circles from the border of the track also looks weird

[Tasio]

@dankcushions thanks for the feedback, I have already checked your post and it has some interesting information.
Using integer scale on 1080 screen looks nice but your solution is better for other screens resolutions or non integer scale, it is a more advanced option which requires a bit of work

To be honest I'm not sure what looks better but my feeling is that crt-pi-vertical looks slightly better, this is a comparison and size is 200%
Left side is crt-pi and right side is crt-pi-vertical

Looks almost the same but vertical crt seems only using horizontal lines, which I think is better, what do you think?

Thanks again for the feedback

[edm203]

Yeah, FZero looks a bit muddy vs. crt-pi, but I prefer the smoothness in my games. Again, it's all about personal taste.

[herb_fargus]

If I want a retro look I'll pull out a real CRT.

Otherwise give me the nice clean blocky pixels.

[dankcushions]

@Tasio said in How to get best image quality on a 1080 modern screen:

@dankcushions thanks for the feedback, I have already checked your post and it has some interesting information.
Using integer scale on 1080 screen looks nice but your solution is better for other screens resolutions or non integer scale, it is a more advanced option which requires a bit of work

i use it on a 1080p screen because i don't like top/bottom borders that you mostly get with full integer scaling. for me it's a good compromise.

To be honest I'm not sure what looks better but my feeling is that crt-pi-vertical looks slightly better, this is a comparison and size is 200%
Left side is crt-pi and right side is crt-pi-vertical

Looks almost the same but vertical crt seems only using horizontal lines, which I think is better, what do you think?

crt-pi has a shadow mask that goes vertically - this is the fainter line you can see. crt-pi-vertical has this shadow mask rotated 90 degrees so it goes left to right, effectively behind the regular scanlines. this gives an unwanted 'rainbow' effect on the regular scanlines.

if you play a vertical shooter like donpachi on mame, the arcade machine actually had a 4:3 CRT screen on its side, so the scanlines went vertically rather than horizontally. if you run crt-pi shader on a vertical game the scanlines go vertically fine, but the shadow mask stays vertical also (there's some reason why it doesn't automatically rotate like the scanlines that i don't understand!). this gives the unwanted rainbow effect. for this reason, crt-pi-vertical was created with a horizontal shadowmask, so it always looks right on vertical games.

[davej]

@Tasio said in How to get best image quality on a 1080 modern screen:

Left side is crt-pi and right side is crt-pi-vertical

Looks almost the same but vertical crt seems only using horizontal lines, which I think is better, what do you think?

As dankcushions said, the vertical lines are the shadow mask emulation. If you want to remove the shadow mask the best way is to disable it by changing the mask type in the crt-pi.glsl file. e.g.

#define MASK_TYPE 0

Just using the vertical variant of the shader means you have shadow mask emulation running horizontally, although it's somewhat hidden by the scan lines.

[mrbwa1]

I know it's hinted at, but I wanted t make it clear for new folks: rt-pi / crt-pi-vertical is designed for a 1080P screen. Te defaults o not look good on other screen reolutions.

I have made my own custom CT-pi-vrtical shader for my 720P TV, though I'm not using integer scaling, so can't guarantee that it would look good on all 720P screens.

I have been a big fan of crt- for a while, but I have always had to make a copy and tweak it for my TV I really should back it up so I don't lose it... again....).

[tekn0]

You guys should change linear to nearest when using crt-pi. Linear is blurry.

I also find some of the Sony BVM/PVM overlays look better then crt-pi. I will make a video tonight.

[caver01]

@mrbwa1 said in How to get best image quality on a 1080 modern screen:

I know it's hinted at, but I wanted t make it clear for new folks: rt-pi / crt-pi-vertical is designed for a 1080P screen.

This just isn't true. The CRT shaders affect the image scaled at any resolution. They are not designed for a specific screen size. I use them effectively on a 5:4 LCD running 1280x1024. The higher resolution you go, non-integer scaling effects will become less noticeable which is why integer scaling makes a big difference, but that isn't because the shader was designed for certain display size. It is because the display rarely runs at an exact integer magnification. In other words, retro game resolution rarely divides equally into the native resolution of any modern display.

New folks: Go ahead and try the CRT-PI shaders. They are the reason I use libretro core emulators! Just be prepared to invest some effort into understanding how they work because it is possible to apply additional knowledge to squeeze a little more quality out of the experience customized to your hardware.

[Rion]

@tekn0 You could make a video with comparison of Crt-pi/curvate Crt-pi vertical/curvate with linear vs nearest.

[davej]

@tekn0 said in How to get best image quality on a 1080 modern screen:

You guys should change linear to nearest when using crt-pi. Linear is blurry.

I also find some of the Sony BVM/PVM overlays look better then crt-pi. I will make a video tonight.

I added the SHARPER setting to crt-pi for those who find the default too blurry. It looks more PVM/BVM like than nearest.

See this post for details and examples of the differences.

[Capt_MorganCreek]

@Tasio GBA Looks really good!
I tried setting up my GBA with the same shader, but I couldn't select it in the Configuration menu. Do I need to install it first?

[Tasio]

@Capt_MorganCreek thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you like this configuration. I haven't install any additional shaders, I think an up to date Retropie should have it.
This is the path where I have set it up:
RetroPie -> Configure basic libretro emulator options -> configure additional options for gba -> video shader file -> 451 shaders_glsl/handheld/lcd-shader/lcd-shader.glslp

Alternatively you can select this shader from the retroarch menu following this path:
Load shader preset -> shaders_glsl -> handheld -> lcd-shader -> lcd-shader.glslp

[Zeke]

Thanks for the suggestions folks! I have settled on the CRT shader as the optimal option for 8-bit/16-bit, but will need to fiddle with these extra variables (integer scaling).

[Capt_MorganCreek]

@Tasio Thanks! It seems this shaders_glsl is missing in my install, but I tried some other shaders and found the LCD grid (just lines) works nice for me. Also tried the nds shader, but it makes the picture to soft for my taste.

[deepthaw]

Back when I did all my retrogaming on my PC, I avoided scanlines and stuff like the devil, but now that I'm playing on an HDTV I actually find the picture and contrast to be almost painfully bright if I don't use the crt-pi shaders. Maybe it's my age?

[Rion]

@tonytoon You are not alone. 😀