CyberLab Death To Pixels Shader Preset Packs

[Cyber]

@Digitech

with the pvm edition?, i think that would make those screenshots look almost perfect

Oops, my bad. I thought you might have tried my 1440p optimized presets seeing that you were using a custom resolution of 1920 x 1440 however I only just realised that I didn’t finish making my full complement of 1440p PVM Edition presets, including the RGB - Sharp 1440p PVM Edition. That one should look a bit more defined at 1440p than the standard presets since they are optimized for 4K. So let me add those so you can try them and tell me if they improve things. There are also other ways in which you can adjust the scanline thickness and darkness but try these new 1440p PVM Edition presets first. The only one I added so far was the Blending and Transparency 1440p PVM Edition, which is based on the Composite Sharp 1440p PVM Edition.

By the way, I recommend the Blending and Transparency PVM Edition for Sonic The Hedgehog and there is a 1440p version in the Shader Pack. It’s based on the Composite - Sharp PVM Edition though and not the RGB - Sharp PVM Edition.

I just posted the link to the latest version of my Shader Preset Pack which includes additional 1440p PVM Edition presets and an updated Blending and Transparency 1440p PVM Edition Preset with additional scanline tweaks. You can download it and try it and let me know if these new 1440p presets work better for you.

And yes, there are ways to make the horizontal scanlines thicker and just a tad bit darker. Settings like scanline1, scanline2, beam_min, beam_max and maskstr are some that I’ve already adjusted to this effect. I’ll post the friendly names when I get a chance.

[Digitech]

Awesome Cyber, i just download and overwrite the ones i already have right? BTW could you make a rgb pvm edition with enhanced scanlines, i dont know if its too much of a hassle but im a scanlines freak, or maybe tell us what setings to touch to make them thicker and darker. Im going to try your new 1440 rbg sharp preset. The thing i didnt tell you its that my hd crt had to take it to the repair shop because yesterday it didnt turn on, damn awesome tech but kind of old too.Im testing your presets with a 1080p lcd 42 inches tv right now, and the standard rgb sharp pvm edition looks georgeous but i think it can be almost perfect with those additions, maybe im wrong. Thanks a lot for your excellent work and the hsm mega bezel.

[Cyber]

Hmmm, that’s unfortunate about your CRT TV. I had a similar situation with my 4K OLED about 2 weeks ago. At least you can find someone hopefully competent enough to repair yours properly for you.

It’s a very subjective thing as well as a delicate balancing act to arrive at these final settings. I don’t play around with too many settings at once but instead learn the different sections as time goes by and that’s how my presets have evolved to this point. I wasn’t in front my computer to tell you the friendly names of the settings to adjust but I did give you the names of the settings that you would find in the shader preset file.

@Cyber

And yes, there are ways to make the horizontal scanlines thicker and just a tad bit darker. Settings like scanline1, scanline2, beam_min, beam_max and maskstr are some that I’ve already adjusted to this effect. I’ll post the friendly names when I get a chance.

Scanline1 and Scanline2 correspond to the Scanline Shape. Setting 1 is the Center and 2 is for the Edges. Beam_min and Beam_max are for the size of the beam (or it could also be for the darkness of the beam). Right in that section you’ll also see the 2 settings to adjust the darker pixels and lighter pixels. Then next one is Mask Strength. Will verify when I get a chance.

@Digitech

BTW could you make a rgb pvm edition with enhanced scanlines,

If you want to try this you can simply, make a copy of or open my new RGB - Sharp 1440p PVM Edition Preset I made and save as a different name then delete (or add // followed by a space to the beginning of) the first 2 settings below the #reference. Those should be the CRT Mask Type = 7 and the CRT Mask Size = 2.

That should give you the same preset with a mask type and size that are suitable for 1080p or 4K screens. Of course you’ll be the first to test these settings out so don’t be surprised if something doesn’t look quite right but they just might!

@Digitech

Awesome Cyber, i just download and overwrite the ones i already have right?

Yes, that is the correct way to update my presets.

[Digitech]

Thanks for all the info, on my 1080p lcd i have come to choose the 4k versions of your presets, they seem the best to my eyes and balanced, when i choose 1080p they seem blurry and when i choose 1440p in my screen almost look like a lcd grid with too many squares (actually thats the one i use with the handhellds cores

) this one is the rbg sharp 1440 enhanced scanlines

this is the same but with curvature in 0,

and this last one is the 4k version curded with 0 and the one im using the most in almost all systems

[Digitech]

@Cyber

Scanline1 and Scanline2 correspond to the Scanline Shape. Setting 1 is the Center and 2 is for the Edges. Beam_min and Beam_max are for the size of the beam (or it could also be for the darkness of the beam). Right in that section you’ll also see the 2 settings to adjust the darker pixels and lighter pixels. Then next one is Mask Strength.

Im going to mess with those settings, beam min and beam max when they are not 1.00 both give me too many distracting halos when i use cirved in 0, guess my only option to play with is scanline 1 and scanline 2, im just a perfectionist, the 4k rgb pvm version looks the best i have ever seen in a shader. Thanks a lot.

[Digitech]

Scanline1 on 8 and Scanline2 on 10, gave me the result i was looking for, it looks between a pvm and a sony fv310 to my eyes. I´m happy now . Thanks for your awesome work. Now to find how to add and configure my own side bezels. Im thinking about selling my crts now, lol.

[KetaniaVahltae]

It was confusing at first and a bit tedious to adjust the crop for games individually, but I also figured out how to mess with the bezel as well and it all works beautifully now! Thank you for the nostalgia trip!

[Cyber]

@Digitech

Thanks for all the info, on my 1080p lcd i have come to choose the 4k versions of your presets, they seem the best to my eyes and balanced, when i choose 1080p they seem blurry and when i choose 1440p in my screen almost look like a lcd grid with too many squares (actually thats the one i use with the handhellds cores

You’re welcome! You know all that you have mentioned here is expected behaviour. It’s even in the readme.txt file (somewhere). The original presets were designed and tested on a 4K TV. Based on feedback I started doing optimized versions for 1080p and 1440p screens. Then I recently created my PVM Edition presets and I realized that the 1440p resolution screens could benefit from optimized settings. In my testing of 1080p resolution I realized that the standard (4K tested) presets worked fine and that no further optimization was necessary. So as far as the PVM Edition presets are concerned. The non resolution specific ones can be used on 4K and 1080p screens, while the 1440p optimized versions are for 1440p screens. I didn’t want to create additional 1080p specific PVM Edition presets that were identical to the standard 4K optimized ones to add to the already growing list of presets so I made a note in the readme file instead.

@Digitech

Scanline1 on 8 and Scanline2 on 10, gave me the result i was looking for, it looks between a pvm and a sony fv310 to my eyes. I´m happy now . Thanks for your awesome work. Now to find how to add and configure my own side bezels. Im thinking about selling my crts now, lol.

Wow! I’m glad you reached to this point! You’re welcome. Just spread the word and share the joy of these presets with others. As for the side bezels, it shouldn’t be to hard and has been documented in other threads. You can probably do a search or ask @Duimon, @TheNamec, @Orionsangel, @soqueroeu or @HyperspaceMadness to point you in the right direction. I guess it’s time that easy to follow video tutorials be made easily accessible for all of these main usage scenarios and setup steps. Things like cropping, installing custom bezels and updating the presets and doing minor adjustments to the scanlines for advanced users like yourself.

Sell the CRTs?! Lol Perhaps when you get a 4K QLED or OLED TV with 120Hz BFI. That Dual Cell or Mini LED (with lots of dimming zones) technology might also do well. My presets will really shine on something like those!

I get a truly satisfying experience from using these presets. It just makes me feel to play over all of my games! Can’t wait to fix my OLED.

@Digitech

im just a perfectionist, the 4k rgb pvm version looks the best i have ever seen in a shader. Thanks a lot.

I’m truly humbled and honored by this. Did you try using my scanline settings from my new RGB - Sharp 1440p PVM Edition preset minus the CRT Mask Type = 7 and Mask Size = 2? On my TV at 1440p the scanlines and mask look crisper and darker than Scanline 1 on 8 and Scanline 2 on 10 with beam min and max at 1.00.

I haven’t tested any of these scanline enhancements at 1080p yet though.

After some extensive tweaking and testing I just updated my shader preset pack with some 1080p PVM Edition presets for you to try! I suggest you start with the Arcade - Sharp 1080p PVM Edition preset.

[turnupthetaste]

I’ve been playing Chrono Cross and messing a lot with the presets. They do definetly look amazing even on my old 1080p LCD and specially good on my VGA CRT monitor running at 1440x1080. Can’t wait to try this when I finally upgrade to a 4K display. I will try to post some screenshots/pictures later!

[Cyber]

@turnupthetaste

I’ve been playing Chrono Cross and messing a lot with the presets. They do definetly look amazing even on my old 1080p LCD and specially good on my VGA CRT monitor running at 1440x1080. Can’t wait to try this when I finally upgrade to a 4K display. I will try to post some screenshots/pictures later!

Thank you very much! I’m glad you like them! I don’t know if you noticed but I updated the preset pack this morning with some brand new 1080p PVM Edition presets! You can give them a try if you haven’t already. I’m look forward to seeing those screenshots and pictures!

[Digitech]

@Cyber

I’m truly humbled and honored by this. Did you try using my scanline settings from my new RGB - Sharp 1440p PVM Edition preset minus the CRT Mask Type = 7 and Mask Size = 2? On my TV at 1440p the scanlines and mask look crisper and darker than Scanline 1 on 8 and Scanline 2 on 10 with beam min and max at 1.00.

Yes i did, actually is my favorite preset for handhelds, for all other consoles i love the 4k pvm rgb sharp with the added numbers in scanline 1 and 2 on my 1080p, my hd crt its going to be a very long time until its fixed.

[Digitech]

Cyber, for PS1 3D games, do you think the duckstation core works in upscaling (for better polygon definition) and then downscale to original resolution so your presets can be used? Its a lazy question because i haven´t tried myself.

[Cyber]

Well neither have I really. I tried it once and it crashed. Never bothered again. My passion lies with the 8 and 16-bit era games and consoles mostly. I did try Beetle_SW with Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night and the title screen looked pretty awesome! I’ve seen some PS1 screenshots from @Tromzy and @Jodeth so I guess things should be looking good. I didn’t ask them what cores they used though.

The closer you stick to 224/240/256p internal resolution the better for my presets it seems. Higher internal resolutions introduce all sorts of unique scenarios and challenges. I know Duckststion downsamples to 240p so that might actually work out fine!

@Digitech

4k pvm rgb sharp with the added numbers in scanline 1 and 2 on my 1080p, my hd crt its going to be a very long time until its fixed.

Be sure to try my most recent update (02-12-21) which now includes 1080p optimized versions of all my PVM Edition presets. I spent quite a bit of time tweaking and testing and I must say the results are better than I expected.

Thanks for the little push because that little bit of feedback made me realize that I could squeeze out even more quality at 1080p from those new PVM Edition presets if I tweaked them a bit. Compared to using the 4K ones at 1080p, it’s like night and day!

@Digitech

Yes i did, actually is my favorite preset for handhelds

Don’t forget, @Duimon has some excellent handheld overlays with LCD dot matrix shader effects!

[Duimon]

@Digitech

and then downscale to original resolution

@Cyber

I know Duckststion downsamples to 240p

Unless you aren’t using the fake scanlines anymore, they should be independent from the internal resolution. In any case, the “Scan Resolution” parameter in the Fake Scanlines section should accommodate even a core that doesn’t downscale. My only concern is the crashing of Retroarch when internal res is above 2X. Some of these experiments may have to wait until the new Standard version is released without ScaleFX.

[Cyber]

@Duimon

Unless you aren’t using the fake scanlines anymore, they should be independent from the internal resolution. In any case, the “Scan Resolution” parameter in the Fake Scanlines section should accommodate even a core that doesn’t downscale

I’ve stopped using fake scanlines a while now (very soon after I uploaded all of those video clips which feature them. lol) and I doubt I can go back. When last have you taken my shader presets for a spin? Perhaps now might be a good time to give those 4K screens a fresh workout!

[Tromzy]

@Cyber

Well neither have I really. I tried it once and it crashed. Never bothered again. My passion lies with the 8 and 16-bit era games and consoles mostly. I did try Beetle_SW with Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night and the title screen looked pretty awesome! I’ve seen some PS1 screenshots from @Tromzy and @Jodeth so I guess things should be looking good. I didn’t ask them what cores they used though.

I use Beetle PSX for 2D PSX games, with native resolution (240p). I use Beetle PSX HW for 3D PSX games, with downscaling enabled so that the image gets rendered at high resolution then is downscaled to 240p, and the results are amazing.

[Digitech]

i didnt think beetle hw could do upscaling then downscaling, thats what i want to achieve, does it work with the hsm and cyber presets?

[Digitech]

@Cyber

Be sure to try my most recent update (02-12-21) which now includes 1080p optimized versions of all my PVM Edition presets. I spent quite a bit of time tweaking and testing and I must say the results are better than I expected.

Thanks for the little push because that little bit of feedback made me realize that I could squeeze out even more quality at 1080p from those new PVM Edition presets if I tweaked them a bit. Compared to using the 4K ones at 1080p, it’s like night and day!

Im about to try your new pvm 1080p presets right now, thanks to you man!

[Digitech]

@Cyber

Be sure to try my most recent update (02-12-21) which now includes 1080p optimized versions of all my PVM Edition presets. I spent quite a bit of time tweaking and testing and I must say the results are better than I expected.

Here are my screenshots of both 4k pvm vs the new 1080pvm edition, im seeing more detail in the new one, what do you think?

This is the 4K pvm rgb sharp on 1080p lcd

And this is the new 1080p pvm rgb sharp on 1080p lcd

[Cyber]

@Digitech

Here are my screenshots of both 4k pvm vs the new 1080pvm edition, im seeing more detail in the new one, what do you think?

Precisely! The difference should be pretty obvious if you switch back and forth between the 2. At least it was in my comparison of my Composite - Sharp (4K) PVM Edition vs my new Composite - Sharp 1080p PVM Edition presets both at 1080p desktop resolution.

These screenshots look very close on my cellphone though. Is the “4K pvm Rgb sharp on 1080p lcd” screenshot from my original 4K RGB - Sharp PVM Edition or from your modified one with the scanlines tweaks?

By the way, which SNES Emulator are you using? If using BSNES/Higan 512 x 224 can give you an even sharper look at the expense of less smoothing. For some games 256 x 224 looks much better with full smoothing and better blending of dither patterns, for example in U.N. Squadron while others like most of the Mario games might look nicer with the crisp appearance of using 512 x 224, but that’s all subjective.

I mention that in the readme as well as in the 1st post.

You can also try one of the “Raw” presets, which use no smoothing if you’re looking for a more accurate, true to the console look, however, those are my lowest priority for updates and resolution specific optimizations. The existing ones look good though.

Lastly if you want to fix the X next to the 5 you can change the MDAPT setting in the shader parameters to 0. You’ll lose some dedithering features though.