CyberLab Death To Pixels Shader Preset Packs

Cyber · 9 November 2024 01:36

Yes

When I did my first Sony Megatron Color Video Monitor Preset pack, I referenced the default installation folder for CRT-Guest-Advanced-NTSC. It’s basically what @GPDP1 and other users had used when the NTSC features were first decoupled from the rest of Guest’s shader.

So I just went with that.

By the time I was ready for my next preset pack, @Azurfel had published an updated version of the decoupled CRT-Guest-Advanced-NTSC section and I was able to understand enough to publish my own modification of it as well.

@Azurfel had altered the paths to install and reference the CRT-Guest-Advanced-NTSC shader in a separate, non-standard installation folder to avoid just the scenario when an Online Update overwrites the required version of the shader in the default folder.

I’m grateful that it works. Many highly integrated shader packages have internal copies of the shaders that they use, for example Mega Bezel Reflection Shader.

I thought about doing this but I don’t want to interfere with or infringe on anyone’s copyright. I eventually asked @guest.r if it was okay for me to include his shader in my preset pack so for my newer preset packs installation and maintenance is even simpler.

At some point I might update my first Megatron Preset to give it the same treatment but it will invalidate the installation instructions of one of the most popular shader preset pack installation videos around and possibly alienate new users who come to know about my Megatron Preset pack through that video.

You’re welcome.

Cyber · 18 November 2024 08:07

Zoom out until any artifacts disappear. I use a very bright screen. If these appear dark for you, you can try brightening your display.

CyberLab Megatron NX W420M 4K SDR Game Video Composite Shadow Mask Smooth Advanced.slangp

CyberLab Megatron miniLED W420M 4K SDR Game Video Composite Shadow Mask Smooth Ultra Advanced.slangp

Cyber · 20 November 2024 09:25

New toys!!

Special thanks to @Hyllian, @guest.r and all the other shader devs, artists and other contributors who made this possible!

tonysoprano · 22 November 2024 07:07

Back to try this again. Does anyone know where to start troubleshooting if my Retroarch settings text overlay pops in HDR and is bright, but my in-game is very dark? HDR enabled in Windows, LG G4. It’s almost like when I don’t have the overlay open then HDR is somehow off in-game.

Cyber · 22 November 2024 07:57

You’re going to have to be more interactive and multimedia in order to solve this one. Photos of the screen for example.

Did you read and understand the setup instructions over at the Sony Megatron Colour Video Monitor Thread?

List your TV settings when in HDR Game Mode.

When I used my OLED, my OLED Light was maxed out.

Power Saving Mode should also be off or set to minimum.

From there, you should be using the Vulkan video driver.

You can also use D3DXX but for that to work, you also need HDR Enabled in Windows.

Load up RetroArch. Then Load your favourite content. Then load an HDR Preset. Verify if HDR is enabled in Settings–>Video–>HDR.

If you’re using a Sony Megatron Preset then you need to go into Quick Menu–>Shaders–>Shader Parameters then scroll down to the Peak Luminance and Paper white Luminance Settings.

Enter you display’s Peak Luminance. You can get that from RTINGS reviews or just leave it as it is. Or try something like maybe 800 or 1,000.

Then turn up your Paper White Luminance until the image gets bright enough.

Don’t mind the number, pay attention to how it looks.

What are your current Peak Luminance and Paper White Luminance values?

Be sure you update your Shaders using the Online Updater in order to have the latest Sony Megatron Colour Video Monitor, which is supposed to be v5.7.

It is also very important to have the correct version of the CRT-Guest-Advanced-NTSC Shader installed in the correct folder.

The instructions for obtaining and installing those are right below the download links for the preset pack and also in the readme.txt file. More recent preset pack versions have these included.

All of this info can be found in the first post at the top of this thread.

Be sure to experiment with your TVs tonemapping settings. This could be darkening or overbrightening the image so you might want to see how things look with it on or off.

Also on the TV I used when making most of my Sony Megatron Presets HDR Bright was the brightest HDR Mode but I used HDR Game Mode. In HDR Bright mode I had to set my Paper White Luminance much lower than in HDR Game Mode where I had to really crank it up.

Hope this helps and I hope you can follow up with some experimentation of your own to see if you can get things functioning well on newer LG OLED TVs because they look and work great on the “old” ones.

By the way, make sure you have BFI disabled. Get everything working properly first before experimenting with that as that can kill brightness.

Cyber · 24 November 2024 04:56

For a long time I’ve been asked if my new shader presets could be combined with reflective bezels and overlays and I’ve also heard that my CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Shader Preset Pack needed beefy hardware in order to run.

While Koko-aio definitely answers some of those questions I unfortunately never got the opportunity to really get into it or use it much.

Today we have another alternative.

CyberLab Uborder miniLED Death To Pixels 4K HDR Ready Shader Preset Pack

Click the link below to download

CyberLab_Uborder_miniLED_Death_To_Pixels_4K_HDR_Ready_Shader_Preset_Pack _21-11-24

Installation:

To install these presets copy the “Shaders” folder into your “…\Retroarch” folder (or whatever your Retroarch Root Folder is called).

You have to follow the Uborder shaders setup instructions properly for these presets to look as intended.

See here for further info:

Usage:

Quick Menu–>Shaders–>Load–>.slangp

Recommended:

HDR is not required for these presets to work however they were configured and calibrated with HDR enabled on a bright miniLED Display with BFI On. Windows was calibrated for HDR using the Windows 11 HDR Calibration tool.

Peak Luminance and Paper White Luminance were set to 630 and 270 respectively, While Contrast was set to 5.00x and Expand Gamut was turned On.

Settings–>Video–>HDR

HDR Enable - On

Settings–>Video–>Scaling

Integer Scale - Off
Aspect Ratio - Full
Crop Overscan (Restart Required) - On

Optional but recommended:

Quick Menu–>Shaders–>Save–>Save Core Preset

Optional:

Quick Menu–>Overrides–>Save Core Override

Special thanks to @Hyllian, @Guest.r and all the other shader creators who made this all possible.

tonysoprano · 24 November 2024 01:18

What’s the risk of OLED burn-in with the TV bezel and surrounding border being displayed for long periods of time?

Cyber · 26 November 2024 23:08

Don’t quote me on this but the risk would be high for burn-in with displaying any static content for long periods.

I never noticed any burn-in when I used to use Mega Bezel in SDR though.

I used to vary my usage quite a bit as well. However, when I switched to HDR, I was a bit concerned but I just chose to “use” my TV.

I found myself getting even more into retro gaming and mixed my usage even less. I left stuff on for long periods like sound modes and stuff like that but I hadn’t noticed any burn-in.

However, when I started sitting to closer to the screen, I noticed YouTube videos with what looked like scanlines in them!

I observed and investigated over a period of time and I realized that there were scanlines burnt into my display and only in the 4:3 area in the center of the screen.

I didn’t like knowing it was there and it didn’t really affect normal viewing that much but the main reason it went unnoticed was because of my previous viewing distance.

I tried multiple pixel refreshes but nothing seemed to help fix it.

I think the only thing that might have helped is a special shader that @hunterk made which alternated the viewport up and down by one Scanline.

That would have had the effect of wearing out the less used half of the viewport which was probably the actual root issue at hand.

The shader can also automatically shift the image up and down by one pixel.

If this is implemented early enough, it might be able to prevent similar ueven wear of the OLED pixels due to scanlines.

This has been my experience with a 2016 OLED TV. I’ve read that newer ones are even less prone to burn-in.

tonysoprano · 24 November 2024 07:23

Even after setting my peak nits/white settings according to rtings suggestions, my HDR shaders are very dark. I’ve taken some screenshots in JXR format. I feel like when I use SDR shaders, like CRT Royale or others, they are much brighter in comparison. I really don’t understand what I’m doing wrong.

HDR is on in Windows 11. Peak luminance 1300, it’s an LG G4. I’ve tried setting it higher, too. Paper white even on 1300 to match, the image still looks dark. TV brightness is cranked max (100). Everything else in Windows comparatively is very bright. Using Vulkan in Retroarch, latest Retroarch stable build. Verified HDR enabled in RA. TV input is set to “PC”, game mode enabled.

Attached are screenshots of CRT Royale and Megatron HDR SNES, respectively;

https://mega.nz/file/gUFWCLSS#AddH1ac9a0OLg_G-KqOQRPb3FZlkuT4F8_zx-VnH-aE

Cyber · 24 November 2024 09:54

I would prefer to see actual photos of the screen than screenshots taken at the GPU level the screenshots wouldn’t really be any different from what is in the preset and these settings are not necessarily transferable from display to display. The camera (with the right settings) would be the closest thing to being in the room next to you, once you can get shots which are close to what you’re seeing.

Did you disable Tonemapping? Ensure your HDMI input is labelled PC, you are in RGB 4:4:4 Full colour mode, and HDMI Deep Colour is enabled on your TV?

You shouldn’t have to turn TV’s brightness all the way up if using HDR mode as the Shader is supposed to take care of that and many of those settings are disabled when in HDR mode.

If using the shader in SDR Mode, you would have to manually crank up the brightness.

If using the Shader in SDR mode, you would need to also switch the Shader Preset to SDR Mode.

What presets are you attempting to use?

You can try the Sony Megatron Color Video Monitor Default Presets located in the Shaders/Shaders_Slang/HDR folder and see if they work any better for you.

If you’re cranking the Peak and Paper White Luminance values up then the brightness is supposed to correspondingly increase.

Feel free to try my newest miniLED presets as well.

Are you actually seeing the image getting brighter when you turn up the Peak and Paper White Luminance?

Remember for Sony Megatron Color Video Monitor these values are set in the Shader Parameters and not in the Settings–»Video–»HDR menu.

I also made some HDR Ready Mega Bezel presets and some newer ones for Uborder. If using those you can use the Peak Luminance and Paper White Luminance Values in the RetroArch Settings–»Video–»HDR menu.

All of the .jxr images you sent me look very bright in HDR Mode on my current miniLED display.

I accidentally loaded them in SDR mode initially and they all looked over-brightened and clipped.

I took these photos at extremely low ISO (50) to demonstrate how bright they look.

Some were taken with shutter speed at 1/30 while the others were at 1/60.

Feel free to share some photos or video clips of your TVs settings. Maybe I can try to get a little more familiar with it.

You seem to be having some success using mine or other CRT-Royale Presets in HDR Mode,

Here are some of my recommendations when using my SDR CRT-Royale and Mega Bezel Presets in HDR Mode.

I eventually went as far as creating an HDR Ready Folder with a subset of my Mega Bezel presets which already have my SDR to HDR tweaks applied.

ROBMARK85 · 24 November 2024 17:12

just one word: THANK YOU !!!

CyberLab__Computer-Monitor-Smooth__1080p__ADV

PS: for those like me who only travel at 1080, even the “PVM_Edition” presets are pure gold!

soqueroeu · 25 November 2024 02:45

I was supposed to use 4K presets with my Samsung Q70A (4K TV). But I was curious to try some 1440p presets and the results are incredible, especially for SNES games. Maybe it’s related to the internal resolution of the core, and obviously the size of the mask, but it shouldn’t be just that. Maybe @Cyber can discover the pattern and intentionally create presets that achieve this visual quality for all systems. See these pics in full screen

CyberLab__Composite_IV_OLED__PVM-Edition__ADV

CyberLab__Blending-And-Transparency__1440p__PVM-Edition__ADV

Cyber · 25 November 2024 11:04

This has been done already and is what is contained in the Le’Sarsh_4K_Optimized_Presets folder.

It’s basically just the same presets as in the 1440p folder.

Whether or not they look good or better depends on different factors, for example personal taste, screen size and viewing distance.

They are just higher TVL (Resolution) Masks. Be sure to select the correct Mask Layout.

Those are not my only presets which have that type of treatment though. Be sure to check out the Console Specific, Neo-GX and 4K HDR folder. If you see a preset which has “Fine” or “Near Field” in the name that means it’s of a higher TVL or just a little softer.

tonysoprano · 26 November 2024 14:57

lg g4, peak luminance 1600, paperwhite 1030. using cyberlab megatron nx 4k hdr game genesis slot mask for cyberlab blargg genesis s-video II filter.slangp

here’s a comparison using an SDR shader, as you can see the colors are no longer washed out;

HDR on in windows and in RA. to me it seems like retroarch vulkan on my lg g4 from my 3070 simply isn’t rendering in HDR mode on the television, hence the washed out colors. i had this same issue with an older lg c2 on this same computer. other pc games like hunt showdown seem to work fine with their native hdr implementation.

Cyber · 26 November 2024 23:15

Okay great, thanks for sharing.

First thing first…

Have you loaded the corresponding Blargg_NTSC_Genesis_S-Video_CyberLab_Special_Edition_II.filt video filter preset?

This is available in my CyberLab_Custom_Blargg_NTSC_Video_Filter_Presets_03-09-23.zip in the first post of this thread.

The reason for this is because when I designed the preset, I hadn’t realized that I had the video filter still enabled so that contributed significantly to it’s final appearance.

It looks pretty awesome in my opinion so it was a good mistake, which is why I kept it.

I suspect that you could be experiencing an issue with the tonemapping. I’m not going to “blame” the TV because there are always a number of different factors at play especially with HDR shader implementations which need to be adjusted in order for things to “fit”.

In my experience with this shader, once it is confirmed that HDR is enabled things can look a bit off if the Paper White Luminance values are too low. For example reds looking brownish or orange as opposed to just being s bit pale or lighter in shade.

However, as you increase the Paperwhite Luminance the saturation decreases.

You can try increasing the Paper White Brightness and see if the colours start to look more " HDRish" and less sepia toned. If details start to disappear in the whites or the whites start to look unnatural that means you’re going too far.

You should decrease the Menu Opacity to 0 in order to view these settings changes in real-time.

The next thing you can try is to go down to the Saturation parameter - the one above the Gamma near the bottom of the Parameters list and try increasing it.

You can let me know if that improves things. .

You can also try different presets, like my Near Field presets or my other Preset Packs.

For example, my Mega Bezel Preset Pack has a 4K HDR Ready folder, I’m sure you’ll like the presets as well.

From the looks of your Photos though, they just look slightly unsaturated to me.

You can also try my miniLED and W420M preset packs.

See if they look any better to you.

I don’t want to confuse you but if you’re up to it, you can try setting any White Point or Colour Temperature parameters by pressing Start on the controller.

You can also reset any Phosphor settings.

Make sure the Phosphor setting near the bottom of the screen is set to 0 - none and try the different phosphor settings near the top of the list.

They can vary immensely in terms of Saturation.

The colourspace setting right below it can also have a profound effect.

You can set that to sRGB which is the default.

Before you do any of this, try to find your TV’s Dynamic Tonemapping setting and play around with it first.

Let me know how it goes.

By the way, I just loaded the preset and filter on my miniLED TV and it looks very good, even with the default Peak and Paper White Luminance values. So that’s an indication that the preset shouldn’t be that off at least colour wise.

I’d check that Dynamic Tonemapping in the TV’s settings.

Do you know where to find it?

https://www.reddit.com/r/LGOLED/s/hgkd5Gnra3

https://www.reddit.com/r/LGOLED/s/2xaIto1DRR

https://www.reddit.com/r/LGOLED/s/EpN6qVLhvq

soqueroeu · 27 November 2024 00:17

Hey guys,

Is it really necessary to adjust luminance and paper in both Retroarch HDR configs and shader preset?

Cyber · 27 November 2024 05:45

The Peak and Paper White Luminance value adjustments in the Shader Parameters override any adjustments in the Settings–»Video–»HDR menu.

The only shader that I know of which has these parameters included is Sony Megatron Color Video Monitor. You don’t need to adjust those settings in the Settings–»Video–»HDR menu if you’re using Sony Megatron Color Video Monitor.

However, if you’re using another shader and you wanted to do so in HDR mode, for example Mega Bezel Reflection Shader (besides the Sony Megatron base presets), CRT-Royale, CRT-Guest Advance, Uborder or any other shader, then you can use those settings in the Settings–»Video–»HDR menu in order to calibrate the Shader and shader preset to suit your display in HDR mode.

Those shaders don’t have any options in the Shader Parameters to do that.

Hope that’s clear enough.

In addition to that, there are other ways outside of RetroArch to enhance the brightness of Shaders/Presets using HDR.

You can use ReShade along with the AutoHDR and different tonemapping plugins as well as Windows’ Auto HDR.

Cyber · 28 November 2024 06:29

Pro tip:

I’ve been trying out some of my older Sony Megatron Color Video Monitor Presets which were designed on an OLED TV, on a miniLED LCD TV and these are some of the settings which I’ve noticed seem to bring things back in line, especially when it comes to colour.

Mask Accurate/Colour Accurate - 1

Display’s Subpixel Layout: RGB | RWBG (OLED) | BGR - 2 (My display is a BGR display, you should set this to match your particular display)

HDR: Display’s Paper White Luminance - 200 or 210. (Or whatever looks best to you)

The moral is, depending on your display, you might need to tweak things a bit for Sony Megatron Color Video Monitor presets to look good on it. Presets designed for one particular display or display type might look very different initially on another display.

Don’t give up and you will be certainly in for a treat.

For my W420M presets:

All of the above except

Gamma 1.25

Saturation - 0.41

Paper White Luminance - 230

SDR | HDR - 1

CRT Beam Red - 1.00

CRT Beam Green - 1.00

CRT Beam Blue - 1.00

White Point - 7104

Phosphor - 1

DiegoBRRSPF · 29 November 2024 14:02

Hi @Cyber!

First of all, thank you so much for your prompt and complete response.

Just another simple question, and maybe it’s a dumb one

I have a 4K OLED LG C3 TV and love specially two groups of your presets: the “Megatron NX Death To Pixels 4K HDR” and the “Neo GX” presets (SDR). (By the way: I’ve configured the NX HDR - peak brightness, white paper etc. It’s all set).

I noticed, and maybe it’s just my impression, that the Neo GX shows images with more “fidelity” to a CRT, with less edges and better scanlines (like the images are more “well rounded”). Please note that I don’t even know how to describe the feeling, so please forgive me if I’m not making myself exactly clear.

For instance, I played Samurai Shodown 2 (FB Neo) and it’s really clear to me that the image, considering the effects applied by the shaders, has “less edges” than the NX 4K HDR (that looks fantastic but with a more “pixelated” image in some elements - as the fighter in that case).

It’s that right? It’s really expected that maybe due to the “darkened” effects on the Neo GX that the imagem appears “clearer” (not the brightness, I mean the pixels rendered in the screen).

Thanks a lot!!

Cyber · 2 December 2024 22:59

You’re welcome.

Nah, I doubt that.

This is very good. Maybe you can share your Peak and Paper White Luminance values as well as some of your TV settings because based on the feedback, it seems as though some users with newer LG OLED TVs seem to be struggling to get things bright or saturated enough.

It’s definitely not going to look the same. I don’t really go around deliberately trying to copy my previous work when making new preset packs. It’s more like a new or another journey that I set out on.

Things are also a lot different for me from when I started out making my Mega Bezel Presets Pack. I have much less time to devote to these things.

Another factor is if you load my Mega Bezel Presets, you’ll see around 50 Shader Passes, while if you load one of my Sony Megatron Color Video Monitor Presets you’ll see maybe around 20 at most.

That’s more than double the number of tools available at my disposal. Then it uses different shaders. The extremely versatile and flexible CRT-Guest-Advanced-NTSC vs the extremely efficient, accurate but much simpler Sony Megatron Color Video Monitor.

It’s a completely different process to achieve similar looks with both shaders. Each new mask type that I was able to get to a state which I found acceptable and usable on my display felt like an accomplishment.

If you look carefully, you’ll notice that each of my Sony Megatron Color Video Monitor Preset packs features a different CRT Mask Type.

I will try to summarize by saying that viewing distance plays a huge part in the final look and design process of the presets. So if things are looking a bit harsher, perhaps you might be viewing from closer distances.

You can try my “Near Field” presets as well as my W420M presets with custom scale factors.

With the W420M Advanced presets you would have to switch the presets to HDR manually in the Shader parameters.

You can also try my miniLED Advanced presets. You would just have to adjust the Display’s Subpixel Layout to RWBG (WOLED) and readjust your Peak and Paper White Luminance values.

Lastly, you can try tweaking the NTSC Resolution Scale by lowering it by maybe 1 or 2 notches at a time.

You can also play around with the Adaptive Sharpness, increasing the value slightly (if it’s on the Negative side).

You can reset the Horizontal Filter Range and Subtractive Sharpness to default.

If you’re sitting closer, especially with that particular preset pack you’re referring to, things can be a little oversaturated leading to s harsh, burnt, posterized look.

You can lower the Saturation and regain some fine detail and shading.

You can also try lower Paper White Luminance values and you might see things looking more natural with smoother gradations. It’s all a great balancing act.

Have you tried my Mega Bezel 4K HDR Ready Presets? They’re mostly based on my Neo-GX presets.

You can also smooth things out by paring some of the Shader presets with a CyberLab Custom Blargg NTSC Video Filter preset.

One of the Composite, Bad Composite or RF presets might be a good place to start.

They say a picture paints a thousand words so perhaps some jxr, png or jpg screenshots shared via imgbb.com might be a little helpful in conveying exactly what you’re trying to describe.

Take a look at this: