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    How to get best image quality on a 1080 modern screen

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General Discussion and Gaming
    guideshadersresolution
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    • davejD
      davej @Tasio
      last edited by

      @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
      0_1486045751959_crt vs crt vertical.jpg
      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.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • M
        mrbwa1
        last edited by

        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....).

        caver01C 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • T
          tekn0
          last edited by 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.

          RionR davejD 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • caver01C
            caver01 @mrbwa1
            last edited by

            @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.

            My 4-player cocktail style cabinet built as a custom "roadcase"

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            • RionR
              Rion @tekn0
              last edited by

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

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              • davejD
                davej @tekn0
                last edited by

                @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.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                • Capt_MorganCreekC
                  Capt_MorganCreek @Tasio
                  last edited by

                  @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?

                  RetroPie64 - My Nintendo 64 conversion: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/post/55927

                  T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • T
                    Tasio @Capt_MorganCreek
                    last edited by

                    @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

                    Capt_MorganCreekC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • Z
                      Zeke
                      last edited by 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).

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • Capt_MorganCreekC
                        Capt_MorganCreek @Tasio
                        last edited by

                        @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.

                        RetroPie64 - My Nintendo 64 conversion: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/post/55927

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • deepthawD
                          deepthaw
                          last edited by

                          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?

                          RionR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • RionR
                            Rion @deepthaw
                            last edited by

                            @tonytoon You are not alone. 😀

                            FBNeo rom filtering
                            Mame2003 Arcade Bezels
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                            • T
                              tekn0
                              last edited by

                              For me scanlines are almost like "anti aliasing" for strong pixel style games.

                              P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • Capt_MorganCreekC
                                Capt_MorganCreek
                                last edited by

                                Did somebody manage to get a nice image out of mupen64plus+Glide?

                                lr-Glupen (sadly it's dead) looks good, but mupen looks somewhat blurry and the aspect ratio seems off, as I described here.

                                RetroPie64 - My Nintendo 64 conversion: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/post/55927

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • P
                                  PetroRie @tekn0
                                  last edited by

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

                                  For me scanlines are almost like "anti aliasing" for strong pixel style games.

                                  Have you ever tried the video smooth option? If you haven't then you really should give it a try. The games will look way better on a HD TV. Go to the main retroarch.cfg file and enable video_smooth and set it on true. I'm surprised no one mentioned this because if you combine this with a shader it will look amazing.

                                  T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • T
                                    Tasio @PetroRie
                                    last edited by

                                    @PetroRie It won't affect shaders, which control this setting independently.
                                    source: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Shaders-and-Smoothing/

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