CyberLab Death To Pixels Shader Preset Packs

[Cyber]

There are many different parameters which affect brightness. I use a combination of them. Too much of any one setting might not look good. Too much CRT brightness results in a harsh washed out and burnt look when the whites and brighter colours start to clip. You can use the 240p test suite to calibrate your colours and brightness levels.

I like to use several different games.

I do things in a very unorthodox and unscientific way. I trust my eyes, memory and my taste to get things dialed in the way I want them to look.

Perhaps @Nesguy, @Duimon, @HyperspaceMadness, @guest.r or @sonkun might be able to give you some additional insight as to how they go about getting things setup the way they want.

[DDB]

Thanks Cyber, how exactly do you use the 240p test suite and can I use it with a N64 core or is it for older systems.

[Cyber]

Well the first thing is to download it and load it into your favourite emulator core. It consists of ROM images for various consoles. N64 isn’t one of them though. I never looked at any guide but I’m sure they exist. There are built in tutorials and detailed instructions in the suite itself.

[DDB]

Thanks you, I tried messing about with it today and followed the instructions which kind of helped but I don’t understand the pluge pattern, Is it supposed to be set to NTSC 7.5 IRE or should I use RGB full.

[Nesguy]

You should really just need the greyscale pattern for adjusting brightness and such.

@DDB

[Cyber]

How a TV Works in Slow Motion - The Slow Mo Guys

Panasonic CT-27D11E CRT TV Retro Gaming Review

Just paying my respects to the original inspiration for all of this.

[Cyber]

Here’s what you can do with my latest shader preset pack!

Be sure to load full resolution and zoom in enough until they look right.

[Arilando]

Is there any way to use these shaders without the bezels? I’m interested in the shader presets but not the bezels.

[Cyber]

@Arilando

Is there any way to use these shaders without the bezels? I’m interested in the shader presets but not the bezels.

CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Shader Preset Pack

This is the way. Let people see the beauty! [image] [image] [image] [image] [image] [image] [image] Be sure to use the presets in the MBZ_2_Performance_No_Reflec…

There’s another simple method to disable the Bezel and Background Graphics:

Set Opacity to 0 for “Bezel General”, “Frame” and “Background”.

[Arilando]

I did the following:

Set Global Graphics Brightness to 0. Then under CRT Screen Scaling set Int. Scale Mode to 0 and Non-Integer Scale % to 100.

This leaves black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. Is there any way to get of those? Or did i do something wrong?

[Cyber]

@Arilando

This leaves black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. Is there any way to get of those? Or did i do something wrong?

Those black bars could be coming from the Core or game. You can probably use crop settings or adjust the Non-Integer Scale or Viewport Zoom upwards until they disappear.

Be sure to use the presets in the MBZ_2_Performance_No_Reflections folder.

You can even try setting Integer Scale to On and enabling Integer Scale Overscale and setting your Aspect Ratio to 4:3 or Core Provided in the main RetroArch settings (counter to HSM Mega Bezel Reflection Shader Setup Options).

If trying the last suggestion, you might have to set HSM Mega Bezel’s internal aspect ratio to Full so it would follow what is provided by the RetroArch Settings.

CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Shader Preset Pack

I never got to the end of the list, but I think I found another way to do it. Just changing this value to 6.00 [RetroArch Screenshot 2022.02.15 - 21.33.43.78]

CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Shader Preset Pack

Keeping the RA video aspect to “Core Provide” or PAR, and using “Full” in the shader is actually a pretty good solution. I’ll have to keep that one for future reference. I had no idea it would work that way since it is contrary to the Mega Bezel installation instructions. (So I never tried it.)

[Arilando]

I’ve figured out the problem. I changed the base integrer scale max height instead of the non-integrer scale %.

[Cyber]

@Arilando

I’ve figured out the problem. I changed the base integrer scale max height instead of the non-integrer scale %.

I’m glad you did. It’s better to use Integer Scale where possible when using my presets. So you can try the option I gave you above with setting Mega Bezel Aspect Ratio to 6 (Full) and setting Integer Scale and Integer Scale Overscan to On and Aspect Ratio to Core Provided or 4:3 in RetroArch Main Settings.

[Cyber]

Some more photos of the screen featuring CyberLab Composite Pure! Zoom in to see the “phosphors”.

Note: I left GDV noise on for these photos. I tried using 1/30 Shutter speed to capture multiple phases of the noise generation cycle. I don’t know the exact frequency at which the noise algorithm operates but I do suspect that if I took a picture at 1/60 some of the visual information would be missing.

I’m seeing thin horizontal white lines in the center of some of the the “phosphors” (mostly in the white lines and text). I’m not sure if it’s the GDV noise or bloom settings causing this or maybe something completely different. It doesn’t bother me in the least in practice though since this is the first time I’m noticing it like this.

[Cyber]

This is a little something I’ve been working on lately.

Be sure to load full resolution and zoom in enough until they look right.

[Nesguy]

These closeups still don’t look as natural or perfect as the shots posted by @MajorPainTheCactus. I can’t quite put my finger on it, I think it’s a combination of things including the camera. I can’t remember why you said you were scaling the mask but have you tried using a subpixel-respecting mask that gives you the same TVL you’re going for? Or are you avoiding that because you want it to be compatible on more displays?

[Cyber]

They look great to me and I enjoy playing my games with them, especially on my TV and at the viewing distance I play at. They’re doing what I need them to do to the pixels and I don’t want to go too in depth because my presets are constantly evolving as I experiment and try new things.

As for comparisons to the Sony Megatron Color Video Monitor, they aren’t really necessary in my opinion because just as there are very different brands and models of TVs which don’t look identical so too are there different shader presets that don’t necessarily need to look or strive to look exactly the same or match the same reference.

They certainly aren’t perfect or the most realistic/accurate possible - I just noticed the white horizontal lines when using bloom for example, but do they really need to be especially when you don’t necessarily notice those things at normal viewing distances?

These are the types of questions I will be asking myself as I go forward with my preset development.

[Nesguy]

Yeah I’m not necessarily talking about matching any particular reference though so much as looking like a “generic” CRT. To put it another way, there are certain things that you would only see on a digital display and certain things that you always see on an analogue display.

Scaling the mask IMO always looks somewhat artificial and I think you can notice it at normal viewing distances, but not everyone is as sensitive to such things. Absolutely do whatever works for you.

[Cyber]

It could just be a legacy side effect of my earlier experimentation. It’s possible that that was the only mask size and combination that would give me RGB triads on my particular screen before CRT-Guest-Advance implemented the mask layout parameter. I’m not interested in magenta-green or RYCM, RGBX or even B&W masks. I would also prefer RGB to BGR triads as well.

I’m sure I would have tried all the various mask combinations since then and I probably just still prefer the “chunky pixels”. Maybe I’ll try it again sometime but remember, I play on a 55" screen from a distance of about 8 feet away.

Also in those particular examples you commented on, deconvergence is turned off. I had planned on revisting that in the future.

Right now I’m working on integrating my presets with Blargg’s NTSC filters including with my custom filter presets. I’m seeing some positive results fine tuning the sharpness settings of the shader presets but I have to balance sharpness against unwanted artifacts that can be introduced.

Megatron doesn’t even work properly on my TV due to the 4:2:0 issue, while I don’t have any problems getting GDV and Mega Bezel to look great. I do recommend Megatron as well as your shaders to those who would like more accuracy focused shader presets than mine and Megatron is a great option for those who want something that looks great but it very lightweight.

[ynnad4]

I’m looking into it as always my friend. Always having a nice looking the Sonic games with your composite looking addition alongside the other effects. Do you know if there’s some current way to add the Rainbow effect along with the composite looking into your preset ?