New wiki page: displaying consoles like GB/GBA on a smaller screen size

suprjami

Some people like to have their gameplay on a smaller area in the middle of the screen, rather than blown up to the full display resolution of their TV.

This is especially true of handhelds like Game Boy and Game Boy Advance where the original resolution was so low that blowing these up to 1080p results in HUGE pixels.

This tutorial covers making the display of a RetroArch libretro emulator smaller and centred on the screen.

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Smaller-RetroArch-Screen

InsecureSpike

wow this looks great! thanks!

Zigurana

Nice work, maybe add some section (or refer to) on how to fill the border of the screen with a nice custom overlay?
I have no experience with it yet, but it seems a logical next step.

Concat

Should probably have called it viewport instead of screen, but kudos for the initiative. The wiki needs more like this.

PetroRie

@Zigurana said in New wiki page: displaying consoles like GB/GBA on a smaller screen size:

Nice work, maybe add some section (or refer to) on how to fill the border of the screen with a nice custom overlay?
I have no experience with it yet, but it seems a logical next step.

That was my thought too. Like a pic of the gameboy screen and the gameplay in the middle of it would be awesome.

Concat

@PetroRie said in New wiki page: displaying consoles like GB/GBA on a smaller screen size:

@Zigurana said in New wiki page: displaying consoles like GB/GBA on a smaller screen size:

Nice work, maybe add some section (or refer to) on how to fill the border of the screen with a nice custom overlay?
I have no experience with it yet, but it seems a logical next step.

That was my thought too. Like a pic of the gameboy screen and the gameplay in the middle of it would be awesome.

Feel free to add any of mine :) http://imgur.com/a/PISKY

suprjami

@Zigurana I do like this idea, but the problem is that many overlays are made for 16:9 screens, so they end up all stretchy on screens with other aspect ratios like 4:3 or 5:4.

I would welcome a different project which made and maintained overlays for common screen ratios like these. I believe they can even be bundled into shaders so they could be selected easily within the RetroArch RGUI, no config file required.

Floob

@suprjami Looks good!
Could be worth mentioning integer scaling as well.
Some general info here:
http://smartretro.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=52&p=8606

Its tempting to really expand this out for RetroPie and pre-build a load of screen configs, a bit like this but on steroids:
https://github.com/biscuits99/rp-video-manager

I've got loads of ideas for it, but little time. :)

But anyway, I'm sure lots of people will find that Wiki page useful.

suprjami

@Floob herb and I discussed Integer Scaling on Reddit, but it does not seem to work anymore in latest RetroArch? I set custom aspect but changing integer scale numbers the screen just blinks and does not scale the actual size up or down

I should probably mention to scale up or down by an integer, or at least multiple of 0.5, I'll do that

Floob

@suprjami
I've just tried a very quick test on a fairly vanilla RetroPie4 RC1 on a Pi3. Using RetroArch 1.3.6

Obviously the pics below arent ideal as you dont get the borders :) But making the single change of integer scaling on and off, there is definitely a difference, and you can tell by the res that the multiplier is working. On my TV the black bars are making a big difference

Or are we talking about different things here?

Integer Scale Off: https://mega.nz/#!qRJXzBgC!867g7hsP1mGLyaGxcuu-YWT1Mgzh2_cCbWP437bE3Ig
Integer Scale On: https://mega.nz/#!DMwCRDrQ!C-fWwbjOnybdWh8PF6c4YlqrozDLtFvPddy-YONj-Ho

suprjami

@Floob Different things :)

The letterboxing like you show does happen when toggling Integer Scale on and off.

However, if I change the Integer Scale Value to 1.0x or 2.0x or 3.0x the image does not change size. It remains at the size you demonstrate with Integer Scale On.

Here is a quick mockup of what I expect to happen with 1.0x 2.0x 3.0x but does not happen: http://i.imgur.com/dell8Z2.png

But manually setting the Custom Viewport value as described on this wiki page does allow that sort of sizing to happen.

(I also have no idea why people would want to play on a tiny little box in the middle of their TV screen, but enough people ask how to do it on Reddit, I figured I would write it up and save us some time answering them)

Floob

Ah - I see. I'll check that out tonight. The default output with no multiplier should be as per the images above and its the max the output will support.
I dont think I've tried capping that at a set multiplier, I usually either go integer-scaling on or use custom res.

Floob

Just looked through the settings, do you mean the "Windowed Scale" - I dont think that would kick in when running it on the Pi as its always in full screenmode? Unless it ran under X or something?

Your mockup is exactly what happens when running it (1.3.6) in windowed mode in MS Windows.

So yes, I think if people want a small video output they are best to use a custom viewport setting.