CyberLab Death To Pixels Shader Preset Packs

This is what things look like after my latest update 18-05-22. I’ll update the videos in the previous post to show the improvements.

Jail bar de-dithering, (aka waterfall blending) & Sharp Sega Genesis Output at the same time.

CyberLab Genesis for Blargg + Blargg NTSC Genesis Composite CyberLab Special Edition video filter

CyberLab Turbo Duo

CyberLab SNES

CyberLab SNES (MDAPT Off)

CyberLab SNES Sharp

You have to load full resolution then zoom in or view fullscreen in order for these to look correct because of the mask and scanline settings.

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@Cyber i don’t know if it was asked here but what is the reason this shader+bezel pack exists

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The community is fond of tweaking the Guest etc, presets to emulate different hardware and work well with specific platforms.

@Cyber’s modifications are extremely popular.

Soon, new features in Retroarch will make it easy to use Cyber’s modifications within other works, such as @TheNamec’s, @soqueroeu’s, and mine.

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They also exist because, RetroArch stopped supporting .cg shaders and my Analog Shader Pack “Death To Pixels” CRT Shader preset (not my creation by the way) stopped working.

I combed the Libretro Forums looking for a solution and tried using modified versions of RetroArch in order to keep using the Analog Shader Pack. I even tried to compile RetroArch with CG support but failed.

I eventually came across some cool looking Shader Presets with reflective bezels from @HyperspaceMadness and I immediately began tweaking.

I was very satisfied with the results and I contined to delve deeper into shader preset development, trying to tweak my settings to my satisfaction. Things eventually evolved and grew into what you see today.

I was happy to share what I was working on with the rest of the community so that folks who had to give up Analog Shader Pack could have a decent alternative or at least be able to take advantage of what I use and have an easier starting point.

I hope that answers your question.

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Hello,

I just found out about shaders recently when trying to make some SNES games look more natural. I’m playing at 1440p and I’m currently bouncing back and forth between the Composite-Sharp_1440p and the 1080p SNES console specific shaders. Is there any disadvantages to using a 1080p shader at 1440p, and would it be worth it to lower my resolution to 1080p while playing if using it? Overall, both look amazing, I’m just being a bit nit-picky trying to get my perfect settings in order before I get too into the games.

Thank you

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I can’t answer that with certainty since I haven’t tested my console specific presets at 1440p (yet).

You can probably use whichever one looks best to you. If I were to make a 1440p version of my console specific presets there may not be any huge difference in terms of the overall sharpness of the presets themselves as they’re probably about as sharp as I can get them right now, which is what used to be the main differentiator between the various resolution optimizations in the past. I basically was trying to ensure that sharpness was more or less consistent when using different resolutions.

There were other things that I needed to tweak the presets for as well like the mask size and type. Mask types that might work well for 1080p and 4K displays may not be the best choice for 1440p displays.

At some point I was trying to have all of my presets to show the RGB triads when viewed up close. I wasn’t getting this to look right in my testing at 1440p so I ended up going with a completely different mask type as a result.

I have now learned that the final look of those RGB triads can vary considerably depending on the subpixel layout of the individual display and at the time I was trying to do all of my testing and development on a 4K screen. The result is that the way the presets would look at 1440p on my 4K screen may not match at all the way they might look on a native 1440p screen.

Since the main differentiator between the resolution optimizations is using the Mask Type, Size and Layout which I think looks best at any resolution, I would really want to be testing on a native 1440p screen going forward.

So what you can do is continue using my 1080p Console Specific Presets (or even my 4K Console Specific Presets) and experiment with the Mask Types, Sizes and Layout at 1440p and use the one that looks best to you. You don’t have to go below Mask 5, you can play around with Masks 5 through 1312. You can turn off Deconvergence first if you want to see exactly how each mask aligns with your display’s subpixels and be sure to try both layout 0 and layout 1 for each mask type.

You can either leave the Mask Size at 0 (Auto) or adjust it between 1 and 2 to match your taste depending on which Mask you have selected.

This is how you would get the console specific presets to match your display.

If you don’t find any settings to be satisfactory or have any confusion, you can just fall back to the Mask Size and Mask Type settings that are used in my Composite-Sharp__1440p__PVM-Edition preset.

Ever since the Guest-CRT-Advanced shader that’s one of the foundations of the HSM Mega Bezel Reflection Shader package got the ability to toggle (reverse) Mask Layouts, I’ve recommended that users experiment to see which Mask Layout looks best with their particular displays as I have set them to match my personal displays.

Try not to be too nit-picky, just use what looks good and if you enjoy my presets be sure to spread the word so that others may benefit!

I don’t recommend dropping down to 1080p resolution if you’re on a 1440p screen as that would result in uneven scaling. You can drop down to 1280 x 720p though if you need to get an additional performance boost.

So feel free to go ahead and experiment. Even though it may sound tedious to go through all those Mask Types, Sizes and Layouts, it’s not really that hard. The correct Mask Size and Layout should be pretty obvious at first glance so you can quickly move on to the next Mask Type.

Lastly, don’t forget to turn Deconvergence back on when you’re finished, then you can go back then Save the Preset as a Core Preset and also as a new custom preset with a new name.

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Basically you want to reverse the layout if you’re using a three color mask with a display that has RGB subpixels. BGR subpixels should use the default setting. Other subpixel layouts require some slight alteration of the code.

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Thank you for the in-depth reply, it is very much appreciated! I can’t wait to mess around with the settings over the weekend.

So feel free to go ahead and experiment. Even though it may sound tedious to go through all those Mask Types, Sizes and Layouts, it’s not really that hard.

Not tedious at all! I was overwhelmed with all the settings, but you have given me a good starting point

It’s a really cool project and you and some of the other posters here seem very passionate, and are very welcoming of everyone, so I am happy to spread the word when I can. Thanks again, I will probably be back with more questions at some point!!

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It might not be the right space for it but I have experienced that Guest’s RRGGBBx is amazing for CPS2 (cps1?) content. It does a great job of creating transparency effects. No other mask looks as good. Try it for yourself. Play Street Fighter Alpha 3/ Zero 3.

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I have tried it actually and while it is probably the best for 4K displays if you’re looking to have the most accurate presentation and proper mask and subpixel alignment, my current display isn’t compatible with it.

You need to be able to run 4K60Hz at RGB Full 4:4:4 Colour format for it to work properly.

I’ve included a tip in the first post of this thread for users who have compatible screens to use that instead of Mask 6.

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CyberLab Presents:

CyberLab Ultimate Virtual Slot Mask CRT-1P2RTA

CyberLab Ultimate Virtual SlotMask CRT - 1P2RTA - Video 1

CyberLab Ultimate Virtual SlotMask CRT - 1P2RTA - Video 2

CyberLab Ultimate Virtual SlotMask CRT - 1P2RTA - Video 3

You can use MPC-HC, MX Player or VLC Player to view the videos.

You have to load full resolution, then open in new tab or window, zoom in or view fullscreen in order for these to look correct because of the mask and scanline settings.

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With new presets come new recommendations. I’ve used friendly, abbreviated names and not the preset filenames in the list below. If you can’t figure out which friendly names correspond to which presets, feel free to ask.

NES - CyberLab NES for Blargg + Core Blargg S-Video Filter 

SNES - CyberLab Slot Mask, CyberLab SNES, CyberLab SNES Sharp 

Arcade/Neo Geo - CyberLab Slot Mask, CyberLab Arcade Sharp 
 
Atari - CyberLab Arcade Sharp, CyberLab Old TV, CyberLab Atari, CyberLab Atari Sharp 

C64 - CyberLab C64, CyberLab Computer Monitor Raw 
 
Sega Genesis/CD/32X - CyberLab Slot Mask for Blargg + CyberLab Genesis Blargg S-Video Filter, CyberLab Genesis for Blargg + CyberLab Genesis Blargg S-Video Filter 
 
Turbo Duo/PC-Engine/CD/SuperGrafx - CyberLab Slot Mask for Blargg + CyberLab Turbo Duo Blargg S-Video Filter, CyberLab Turbo Duo for Blargg + CyberLab Turbo Duo Blargg S-Video Filter 
 
N64 - CyberLab N64, Composite Pure 

PSX - CyberLab PSX, CyberLab Slot Mask

Dreamcast - CyberLab Slot Mask, CyberLab Computer Monitor Smooth

By the way, these recommendations are in order of my current preferences.

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@Cyber are you eventually doing all the systems or are you doing only specific systems?

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I don’t have plans to do all systems at the moment just the ones I focus on, play and test. As I try and test others, I might expand my recommendations and add additional presets.

In some cases my “console specific” presets are just shortcuts to my general presets that have been tested and seem to work well with said console.

In other cases they have additional tweaks to make them look better on different systems.

But they’re primarily there for users to have an easier time matching the right presets with the right systems in order to get the most out of my preset pack by setting things up following my recommendations.

If users don’t and just choose a random preset like one of the sharpening presets that are intended to be used with Blargg Video Filters they might be in for an unpleasant surprise.

This isn’t what I want for users, I want them to have at least the same magical and immersive experience that I enjoy!

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When I started using your shader presets I did go through each one to see what was best for the system I was playing. Putting the system name in the title has made it easier.

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I put recommendations in my first post to help users find the appropriate presets for the systems. That’s part of the reason why the first post is so long. It’s very comprehensive but it seems like many users like to jump right in.

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The mask is good, but where are the scanlines?

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Thanks. I actually kinda like the way it looks now. It strongly reminds me of the original “Death To Pixels” .cgp preset I used to use with Analog Shader Pack 3.0.

Scanline settings are mostly at the defaults except GSL Scanline Type, which is at -1.

This is my first Slot Mask preset so it might take me a while before I master how to control and balance everything, including scanline settings. I’m taking it in stages.

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Made some tweaks to my Blargg S-Video Filter Settings.

CyberLab Slot Mask for Blargg + CyberLab Genesis Blargg S-Video Filter

CyberLab Slot Mask for Blargg + CyberLab Genesis Blargg Composite Filter

You have to load full resolution, then open in new tab or window, zoom in or view fullscreen in order for these to look correct because of the mask and scanline settings.

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Right on the heels of CyberLab Ultimate Virtual Slot Mask CRT-1P2RTA, I now present to you CyberLab Slot Mask II.

You have to load full resolution, then open in new tab or window, zoom in or view fullscreen in order for these to look correct because of the mask and scanline settings.

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