CyberLab Death To Pixels Shader Preset Packs

PU786 · 19 January 2025 15:22

I see it this way: Games like Link To The Past or Super Mario World 2 should be displayed in 4:3 because that’s what we got in Japan/US - that’s how those games were played, the normal way they looked.

Games like The Lion King, The Lost Vikings, or Zombies Ate My Neighbors that you played on the Sega Genesis without being stretched? Play those in 8:7 so they’re not stretched either. (though out of the three I listed, you should really only be playing Zombies Ate My Neighbors on the Super NES since they’re better on the … Sega Genesis)

Cyber · 21 January 2025 19:15

Some more from my latest miniLED preset pack…

Cyber · 26 January 2025 07:51

CyberLab Megatron miniLED @1080p!

Vogelson · 3 February 2025 23:24

Hi @Cyber,

First of all, let me say that I really enjoy your shaders. I do have some questions though! I’m currently using the Computer-Monitor-Sharp shader. I’m playing on an OLED nLG C2 TV and I’ve noticed that the games can’t go completely black. I’m guessing you are emulating the glow of an CRT, but I’m wondering if that is something that I can change in the parameters without butchering the overall image. I’ve taken a screenshot of what I mean:

As you can see, the game’s image is much more gray than the black borders around it (I’ve disabled the bezel). It feels like I might not be taking full advantage of my OLED tv because of it. I’m wondering if you can provide some insight!

Cyber · 5 February 2025 01:27

It looks completely black on my miniLED TV under bright lighting but I was able to see very very slightly raised black on my AMOLED phone but only after zooming in, raising the brightness and looking very carefully.

Perhaps your TV’s Black Level is set to Auto instead of Low? LG is always playing around with Black Levels between firmware updates.

Other than that, are you sure you’re using Mega Bezel Reflection Shader v1.14.0?

Not necessarily the glow but CRT’s didn’t have true black levels like an OLED TV.

Your OLED TV’s job is to accurately display the content fed into it. I wouldn’t say that you may not be taking full advantage of it because it’s not displaying something in the way that you like but rather is displaying it accurately to the source.

With that said, I probably haven’t used those particular presets in a very very long time. So I’ll load it up and take a look at the output as well as any parameters which may affect black levels just to make sure.

I reiterate though, be sure that you’re using Mega Bezel Reflection Shader v1.14.0 with version 1.14.0 of my CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Shader Preset Pack not version 1.17.2.

I also invite and encourage you to try many other presets and preset packs I have created, for example my Mega Bezel HDR Ready Presets and also, my CyberLab Neo-GX presets, then there are my Uborder, Sony Megatron and miniLED preset packs.

You’re missing out on a lot if you don’t sample the variety and especially the new stuff

miniLED or W420M doesn’t mean you need miniLED TV to enjoy and appreciate the preset. They just refer to what type of display they were created on not necessarily exclusively for.

Incorrect Mega Bezel 1.17.2 output:

Correct Mega Bezel Reflection Shader v1.14.0 output:

From the first post as well as the readme.txt:

Cyber · 9 February 2025 07:17

Yes, but you’re going to have to work with me especially since I don’t really use my presets on my cellphone that much so not much testing has been or is being done in that regard.

I have 4 shader preset packs which use the Sony Megatron Color Video Monitor shader so it might help if you also state which preset pack you got which shader preset pack from and use the entire filename for ease of identification.

CyberLab Megatron NX Death To Pixels 4K HDR Shader Preset Pack
CyberLab Megatron NX W420M Death To Pixels 4K Shader Preset Pack
CyberLab Megatron miniLED Death To Pixels 4K HDR Shader Preset Pack
CyberLab Megatron Death To Pixels 4K HDR Shader Preset Pack

For mobile I currently only use my first CyberLab Megatron Death To Pixels 4K HDR Shader Preset Pack as the presets in that one tend to be lighter on resources which make them more suitable for my device. The NES_N64_Saturn presets are only 3 passes so they’re very light on resources.

I don’t have much experience dealing with those uneven scanlines at 1080p but what I’ve observed from my testing at 4K is that custom integer scaling/aspect ratio can work wonders.

For each combination of console/emulator core, CRT Mask Type, TVL and possibly scanline settings there are vertical scaling settings that work best and other that look less than perfect.

I’ve not been able to use all of the scaling settings on the older version of RetroArch I was using before and I’ve now switched over to a newer one and still trying to get familiar with it, but definitely try to adjust the scaling either upward or downward slightly and see if it makes a difference.

For 1080p Aperture Grille presets might be the most flexible.

If you provide more information about the preset used so I can test it, I’ll be happy to share my findings but my device might choke with those presets though.

WoundedBum · 9 February 2025 17:08

OK, so I’m using the Death to Pixels 4K HDR shader, the bottom one in that list without NX on it.

The preset I’m using specifically is: CyberLab Megatron 4K HDR Game SNES Sharp Fine.slangp. The only changes I make when configuring it is switching HDR off, and setting it to 1080p. Everything else is stock.

I have also used Cyberlab Megatron 4K HDR Game NES Composite Slot Mask.slangp, again with the only above settings changed. This is the result that it gives me.

So far none of the shaders themselves have given me any performance issues, at least.

Cyber · 10 February 2025 00:54

Thanks for the added detail. What core are you using?

I see it looks like there’s a bit of black border on the top and bottom.

Some Cores have auto aspect ratio. You can experiment with it on or off and also the overscan settings in the Settings–»Video–»Scaling Menu but what should ultimately resolve this is finding the Integer Scaling/Aspect Ratio sweet spot for this preset. So just make sure Integer Scaling is set to On and also set integer scale Overscale to X + Y and you can experiment with Smart, Overscale or underscale and it might give you the results you’re looking for automatically or you can manually set a Custom Aspect ratio and adjust the X and Y values until the uneven scanlines disappear. You can try positive values first and if that doesn’t work or you run out of space to scale upward, then try lower values.

You can let me know if it works, other than that you can try a different CRT Mask Type and/or a higher TVL.

WoundedBum · 9 February 2025 21:48

The is Snes9x, haven’t tried any others.

For aspect ratio I have been using 8:7 with integer, I’ve been using underscale as I didn’t want to crop any of the image if I can avoid it. I may have been being an idiot though. Will X+Y make a difference? I’ve only been running it off Y, or whatever the default is…

Cyber · 10 February 2025 01:12

Don’t use 8:7 with SNES please. Although the system technically outputs an 8:7 resolution, on a real CRT that image is always stretched horizontally to 4:3 producing non-square pixels.

I doubt that.

X+Y can help things to be better aligned in the horizontal direction as well, for example the CRT Mask. Particularly the Shadow Mask Presets, they sometimes benefit from horizontal integer scaling, producing less moiré patterns.

Since my W420M Presets where I experimented heavily with Custom Aspect Ratios to get the Shadow Mask Presets looking good, I’ve stuck with some of the things I learned.

This may be the only way to maintain the proper aspect ratio when adjusting the vertical scale to arbitrary levels but I just stick with integer scale on X + Y and try to get it as close as possible. At least that’s what I’m doing these days.

I play on a large screen but I’ve noticed that bigger isn’t always better when it comes to image quality and all elements of the CRT emulation aligning and coming together,

Certain scale factors will look better than others, and those sweet spots are a joy to experience. Take a look at the presets where I’ve included recommended CAR values and you’ll see what I’m talking about or just do some experimentation on your own.

WoundedBum · 10 February 2025 04:37

I know that 8:7 is not how it’s supposed to look on a CRT I just find certain games looks so stretched when played at 4:3…well at least I find something like Chrono Trigger does, I know not all games are affected in that way.

I need to investigate more into this X and Y scaling. Only scaling on Y might have been the cause of my troubles.

Can I ask, when testing more generic shaders (I appreciate that many of yours included a specific option for OLED) there is the option of BGR or RGB, will those shaders even display correctly? My RP5 uses the same pixel layout I believed as most AMOLED phones of this era.

Also, for the installation for these packs, like the original Megatron 4K HDR pack, not the NX one, will it work properly with the most up to date version of guest shaders, or does it still need to be the ones specifically linked in the post?

Cyber · 10 February 2025 05:38

Okay.

Probably, or it’s probably even simpler than you think. Since performance isn’t an issue, feel free to try out my latest Megatron miniLED Preset Pack.

That’s not what it is you know. Those are really just notes to reference and remember which TV the presets were designed on. I can understand the confusion but I was hoping users would have at least read the readme. So presets which were designed on a WRGB OLED TV would have OLED in the filename as well as which picture mode was used. If a user is using a similar or identical display, that might be advantageous but that doesn’t mean those settings won’t work or look good on other displays. In any case users are supposed to be setting their Peak and Paper White Luminance for their individual displays as well as the Display’s Subpixel Layout/Mask Layout and Display’s Resolution and Resolution (TVL) parameters.

There’s no precise matching subpixel layout in CRT shaders for AMOLED or QDOLED displays so any subpixel setting selected might be equally wrong. With that said, the display is still going to try it’s best so you can just use RGB or whichever one looks best to you.

A lot has changed in CRT-Guest-Advanced-NTSC to allow things to be easier to achieve which I personally don’t feel a need for yet so the presets which use some features which have changed may not look as intended with different version of the shader.

This should only affect presets which use NTSC effects though.

For my W420M Preset Pack onward, the requisite CRT-Guest-Advanced-NTSC shader version is included in the pack. from my NX version onwards, the CRT-Guest-Advanced-NTSC Shader has to be installed in it’s own standalone folder so it wouldn’t be affected by the Online Updater.

This can be done with my 1st Megatron HDR preset pack as well but I don’t really want to make RetroCrisis’ Installation video redundant.

Anyway, you probably don’t need to be playing around with the scaling settings of shader passes. All of my previous scaling tips concern the Settings–>Video–>Scaling and most should work fine with just Integer Scale set to On and Aspect Ratio set to Core Provided or 4:3.

So I went ahead and loaded up my latest SNES preset as well as the “old” one you were playing around with at 1080p desktop resolution and took some screenshots.

hunterk · 10 February 2025 23:17

7 posts were split to a new topic: Aspect ratio

kanjieater · 18 February 2025 02:52

Any good way to get thicker black lines in retroarch? I’m particularly trying to get pc98 emulation working with this - i say this to point out most of the things that force 4:3 ratios wont work.

Extra details:

I’m using the megatron shader with reshade on my pc, but wanted to try to get something close to that in retroarch on android. Can’t seem to get anything that really looks quite as sharp on on my 4k hdr phone display (or tv) inside of retroarch using internal shaders.

I really like the reshade method since I can set it once and it works with all my cores dynamically, no tinkering or per core shaders needed, but can’t quite recreate this inside of retroarch either.

Cyber · 18 February 2025 05:24

Having shaders per core is a choice not a requirement.

I need to see what you’re talking about. Post screenshots and/CRT photos showing what you want in Re-Shade and what you’re been able to achieve in RetroArch and I can see if I can assist you in bridging the gap.

What are your Shader paramaters in both Re-Shade and RetroArch?

kanjieater · 18 February 2025 13:25

Thanks for the help, I ended up tinkering and found just using the megatron shader by itself in retroarch (standard 3 pass hdr one) & that gave me the look I wanted. I had posted some screenshots before but since I linked to other sites Imgur deleted my post - wont be using them anymore! Sorry, i’ll need to upload them again somewhere else.

I’m one of the weird people that likes CRT shaders on everything <720p. I’m not sure if you’ve experimented with getting shaders like this working with NDS, but it seems like the hybrid view in something like MelonDS DS doesn’t work with any of the shaders I’ve tried out due to the dual screens and one being larger than the other. It’s a real bummer because one screen with shaders full screen looks great, but the effect disappears if you have the secondary screen showing to, and they aren’t the same size

PU786 · 18 February 2025 15:33

You can just copy/paste pics into messages as you write them here like on Github. Also I love your name, we eat kanji every morning around here and sometimes those spices are just banging!

Obsolete · 18 February 2025 17:34

Hey there. Same boat as you. I’ve tweaked a preset for DS games in hybrid display using whkrmrgks0. You can test it : https://mega.nz/file/WAB2nBzJ#IFF1kpvAn1htU8bAH2Fqsu5PbkoC85B34Sk426p-3x4

It’s for 1080p but you can tweak the mask “phosper size” for 4K (). The other key parameter for me was “number of scnaline” I had to set to 193 (DS being 192p, and I guess there’s one line of overscan). There’s still small glitched line on the right but I ddnt look on how to crop that. And IIRC hybrid size must be set to 3 in the core options otherwise it’ll break (but this setting lets you get full height for your main screen in 16:9).

Cyber · 18 February 2025 19:23

I would consider that a workaround. Feel free to post the comparison images and I can try to show you how to better harness the power of the shader to tune to your preference. It could be as simple as increasing the TVL or decreasing the Gamma or NTSC Gamma Compensation.

Imgbb is better for sharing things like this because it preserves the quality of the images while imgur greatly reduces it.

You can also use a tool like IrfanView to compress your images to within a particular file size then just upload them here.

kanjieater · 18 February 2025 23:16

Shots from retroarch w/ external reshade megatron PSX core

PPSSPP core

PCSX2 w/ Reshade

Artemis Streaming to psx core w/ reshade

Inside android retroarch psx core w/ megatron internally. HDR gets washed out in screenshot but colors are good. Scan lines aren’t quite as convincing or pronounced compared to streamed version.

Inside android retroarch PPSSPP core w/ megatron internally.

Streaming PPSSPP core; Image is darker due to reshade configuration being optimized for LG G4 Oled screen

Testing Obsolete’s shader (thank you!). Performance on my s25 ultra crawled when using it on the hybrid view (difficult and impressive to do on this device ha). I tried tinkering with the phosphor and slot mask style but couldn’t get one to look better than your default. I found it muddied up the picture a bit too much for my liking which is more like an slot mask than an aperture grill from what I was seeing.

My version which only uses the Megatron shader oversaturates (which i’d like to fix) but otherwise gives a very clean BVM 1000TVL look. It does absolutely nothing useful in the hybrid mode besides distorting the color a bit. I think it needs to activate based on input pixel instead of trying to do something based on the hybrid pixel count. But I don’t see a parameter option for such a thing

Conclusion:

It’s really difficult to capture how any of this looks in person. Basically Apollo/Artimis HDR streaming looks great on phone or TV, but internal retroarch leaves a bit more to be desired. The scan lines are way thicker w/o being too exaggerated from my gaming PC streaming server (even on my phone), but very thin when running natively on the phone.

LG G4 TV via shield Artemis w/ Reshade Megatron: 10/10

Android s25 Ultra Retroarch w/ Megatron Shader

PPSSPP: 1/10

DS: 7/10 (need to fix saturation & figure out a better hybrid mode option)

SNES,PSX: 8.5/10

Streaming to phone: PPSSPP core (and other cores): 6/10 (Too dark! Need to figure out if i can do cli based launch configurations for reshade)

Unfortunately I thought the CyberLabs ones that I tried were a bit too noisy in artifacts, like a real consumer set, but I’m trying to create, well, a fictional megatron BVM. I welcome any feedback though or how I can try to get things tuned better inside of retroarch. I feel like I got the reshade preset tuned really nicely for my main display, but the retroarch stuff is still rougher.

The Obsolete one added a bit too much noise from the mask style with that shader & wasn’t HDR (?) i think, so didn’t look quite as vibrant. Unfortunately I didn’t see a way to fix the performance burden either when it goes to hybrid.

Some bonus shots from my actual CRTs’. I gave up on owning a BVM after I got the reshade stuff running on my LG G4 as it looks incredible in person. These are from my consumer set. I also have a PC CRT. Both are Trinitrons 19" A440 PC CRT & kv-27fs12 27" set. I mostly use these for PC games and old anime respectively.