Multiple reasons it could be in the experimental folder tbh, BBB may still be messing with the preset itself, HSM “might” just be gauging interest in it, as he is maintaining everything (code wise) solo afaik.
If you’re concerned just make a copy of the preset somewhere, mainly so you can just “recreate” it via settings later if stuff changes later on somehow.
Here’s another shot of the Magnavox. It is pretty high resolution.
The discussion calls what looks like a mask in your shot, “Chroma Dots” and implies it is due to the connection type. (RCA vs DIN connector.) They talk about feeding it the luma from a component output for a perfect display. (Which is what we see here I think.)
They also explicitly state that it has no mask. 
Wow, so the real culprit here is the actual signal, not the display hardware. Looks like the ‘sharp’ monochrome comes from actual PCs good quality connection, while artifacts come up when used with old TV-consoles or bad connections.
Look at this Mario vs Duck Hunt: Mario loses!
Bonus: Mega Bezel Metroid
PS: quite an impressive pip-boy here!
I’d say it’s a combination. The HGC resolution was 720 x 348. With the luma component thing you could probably go SVGA. I think monochrome monitors were resolution independent.
Software was also probably a contributor.
The Tandy could display 16 colors on a 4 color CGA monitor.
Some scene intros on the Amiga managed 64k colors on a 256 color VGA.
CGA monitors are usually 16 colors capable, the Tandys just extended the capabilities of standard CGA similar to the PCjr.
One thing that’s also becoming evident when looking at screenshots ( I used to take a lot of them for databases) is that game content specifically was often not optimized for high resolution monochrome options (Hercules on PC, Atari ST high res 640x400 mode, to a lesser extent also true for early Macintosh). Graphics just were scaled and dithered, higher res mostly used for better fonts.
Also, you might be interested in this nerdlypleasures blog post about monochrome PC graphics, he’s describing e.g. some things about transfer from color to monochrome displays.
A really, really interesting lecture.
Btw, I feel so a privileged and lucky gamer: my first memories are a C64 hooked up to a b/w tv, later a c128D with a color tv, an Amiga500 with a c1084 monitor… straight on to a 486DX2 pc! Somewhat I feel like I played the best versions of many games, expecially in that time window Amiga had way better colors than early gaming PCs (Lucasarts games anyone?).
I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but we tend to create insane ‘sweet bounds’ to hardware limited games: today I fell really lucky to be able to control and simulate limitation to get ‘just a taste’, without being drowned by artifacts, getting the best version EVER of our beloved games… for free.
We’re basically making our homebrew enhanced editions, 20-30 years later. And this, my friends, it’s pure magic.
Im using the mega bezel with my sony HD crt sending an 1080i signal and it looks awesome to my eyes, i think im using guess dr venom shader, i love how it looks but in white parts of the image the scanlines are non existent, with other colors they can be seem but not too much, is there any option where i can emphasize the thickness of the scanlines or whe darkness of its color? i think if i can find that option i wont need to buy more crts.anymore. BTW Im adding pictures so you can see what i mean, ahh HSM Mega Bezel is running on a real 1080i/480p 4:3 crt! photo_2021-08-28_17-14-15|375x500
Hi there, this would really be a question about Guest-DrVenom settings. @guest.r might have some suggestions. Off the top of my head there are a couple things which could accentuate the scanlines:
Here is the default guest settings
Here’s scanline 2
Here’s the scanline shape center which adds more dark scanlines in bright areas
This is scanline vertical deconvergence which has a similar effect
Thank you so much, i’ll try those options
Just sharing my latest presets with the community. I’m quite satisfied with these settings for now. Pictures won’t tell the whole story as there’s a bit of subtle movement going on in there so feel free to try them out.
I recommend using Arcade - Sharp for arcade games, Composite - Pure for NES and similar systems and Composite - Sharp for the 16-bit era systems and everything else except games that rely on dithering to generate additional colours and transparency effects that aren’t being handled well enough by the Composite - Sharp preset. For those cases, I recommend using my Blending and Transparency Edition preset.
With that said, for the best viewing experience of these screenshots I suggest you right click on the image then click, “Open link in new tab”, “Open link in new window” or “Open image in new tab”.
Then click on the new window or tab and press the F11 key for a fullscreen view.
This also works when viewing the albums on imgur.
[Updated 10/11/21]
Presets are updated. Screenshots and video clips are not.
CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels (Composite - Sharp)
Note: Please download and loop video clips when playing for optimal viewing quality and experience.
CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Composite Sharp.slangp
#reference ":/shaders/shaders_slang/bezel/Mega_Bezel/Presets/Base_CRT_Presets/MBZ__2__STD__GDV.slangp" g_cntrst = "0.500000" GDV_AFTERGLOW_THRESHOLD = "7.5" // BP = "16" glow = "0.050000" SIZEH = "7.000000" SIGMA_H = "2.300000" halation = "0.250000" h_sharp = "1.000003" shadowMask = "6.000000" maskstr = "0.4" maskDark = "1.000000" GDV_DECONVERGENCE_ON = "1.000000" deconrr = "1.000000" deconrb = "-1.000000" deconrry = "1.000000" deconrby = "-1.000000" beam_min = "1.000000" beam_size = "0.000000" vertmask = "1.000000" HSM_INTERLACE_TRIGGER_RES = "600.000000" HSM_FAKE_SCANLINE_RES = "240.000000" MDAPT_MODE = "2.00000" HSM_CURVATURE_MODE = "-1.000000" HSM_FAKE_SCANLINE_OPACITY = "0.000000" HSM_FAKE_SCANLINE_ROLL = "0.000000" HSM_CORE_RES_SAMPLING_MULT_SCANLINE_DIR = "1600.000000" HSM_DOWNSAMPLE_BLUR_SCANLINE_DIR = "70.000000" HSM_DOWNSAMPLE_BLUR_OPPOSITE_DIR = "60.000000" g_crtgamut = "1.000000" g_hue_degrees = "0.000000" HSM_SCALEFX_ON = "1.000000" SHARPEN_ON = "1.000000" SHARPEN = "0.250000" CONTR = "0.090000" g_sat = "0.000000" GTU_ON = "1.000000" compositeConnection = "1.000000" signalResolutionI = "304.000000" signalResolutionQ = "261.000000" spike = "2.000000" gamma_c = "1.640000" deconsmooth = "1.000000" addnoised = "0.140000"
Note: If you’re using Higan or BSNES, the resolution setting in the core options can influence how your final image looks in terms of sharpness and softness. In games that you might prefer a crisper, sharper look for example Super Mario World and Super Mario Kart, you can try switching it to 512 x 224. Conversely in games that use dithering to create extra colours for example U.N. Squadron and TMNT: Turtles In Time and Final Fight, 256 x 224 might be the better choice. You can save your choice in Quick Menu…Options…Manage Core Options and save per game.
The following 2 video clips show my CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels (Composite - Sharp) preset combined with the built-in Blargg NTSC Composite filter in the Genesis Plus GX core.
https://mega.nz/file/kYxySCKI#szeKGsQbg5YWFIJMooKw7WG5t-85uBhWxnQQUjNnoCo
https://mega.nz/file/ZUwUhAqL#G7JGAiWbhItVWvsU41peplF6ND-HIkMgswHo3n-BozA
This next one’s for the CRT purists like @Nesguy, @Brainbin74, @Duimon and even myself sometimes when I’m feeling for that extra bit of nostalgia.
Note: This preset needs the “CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Composite Sharp.slangp” preset to be in the same “…\Retroarch\Shaders” folder for it to work.
CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels (Composite - Pure)
Note: Please download and loop video clip for optimal viewing quality and experience.
CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Composite Pure.slangp
#reference "CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Composite Sharp.slangp" halation = "0.150000" h_sharp = "5.000000" HSM_SCALEFX_ON = "0.000000" HSM_DOWNSAMPLE_BLUR_SCANLINE_DIR = "0.000000" HSM_DOWNSAMPLE_BLUR_OPPOSITE_DIR = "0.000000" g_hue_degrees = "4.000000" signalResolutionI = "83.000000" signalResolutionQ = "145.000000" g_sat = "0.050000" addnoised = "0.200000"
If you’re also looking for the infamous " Rainbow effect" you can use my presets above and also enable Blargg’s NTSC Composite filter in the Genesis Plus GX Core Options. It might even work with my Composite - Pure preset as well but I haven’t tested it yet.
What I’ve noticed is that once the Blargg NTSC Composite Filter is enabled and used in conjunction with my Composite - Sharp preset, dithering based transparencies also work fine, whereas without the Blargg filter set to composite that particular preset didn’t do the transparency effects properly. So I went back to the drawing board and came up with this next preset. It’s not a one size fits all solution as it can cause some artifacts due to false positives in certain games but when it works, it works beautifully!
CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels (Blending and Transparency Edition)
CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Blending and Transparency Edition.slangp
#reference "CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Composite Sharp.slangp" MDAPT_MODE = "3.000000"
Note: This preset needs the “CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Composite Sharp.slangp” preset to be in the same “…\Retroarch\Shaders” folder for it to work.
So now you can get the best of both worlds. Extra colours, transparency effects and the rainbow effect without blurry graphics as if Vaseline was smeared all over the screen.
My next mission is to test this combination out with my Composite - Pure preset and also to test it with the global Blargg NTSC Filter in the main RetroArch settings to see if it works the same way!
CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels (Arcade - Sharp)
CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Arcade Sharp.slangp
#reference ":/shaders/shaders_slang/bezel/Mega_Bezel/Presets/Base_CRT_Presets/MBZ__2__STD__GDV.slangp" g_cntrst = "0.500000" GDV_AFTERGLOW_THRESHOLD = "7.5" // BP = "16" glow = "0.050000" SIZEH = "7.000000" SIGMA_H = "2.300000" halation = "0.200000" h_sharp = "3.000001" shadowMask = "6.000000" maskstr = "0.4" maskDark = "1.000000" GDV_DECONVERGENCE_ON = "1.000000" deconrr = "1.000000" deconrb = "-1.000000" deconrry = "1.000000" deconrby = "-1.000000" beam_min = "1.000000" beam_size = "0.000000" vertmask = "1.000000" HSM_INTERLACE_TRIGGER_RES = "600.000000" HSM_FAKE_SCANLINE_RES = "240.000000" MDAPT_MODE = "2.00000" HSM_SCALEFX_ON = "1.000000" HSM_CURVATURE_MODE = "-1.000000" HSM_FAKE_SCANLINE_OPACITY = "0.000000" HSM_FAKE_SCANLINE_ROLL = "0.000000" HSM_CORE_RES_SAMPLING_MULT_SCANLINE_DIR = "1600.000000" HSM_DOWNSAMPLE_BLUR_SCANLINE_DIR = "100.000000" HSM_DOWNSAMPLE_BLUR_OPPOSITE_DIR = "100.000000" g_hue_degrees = "4.000000" spike = "2.000000" gamma_c = "1.460000" deconsmooth = "1.000000" addnoised = "0.120000"
For lower end systems, you can replace the Base CRT Preset reference shader line with this:
#reference ":/shaders/shaders_slang/bezel/Mega_Bezel/Presets/Base_CRT_Presets/MBZ__3__BASIC-EXTRA-PASSES__GDV.slangp"
1080p and 1440p users can now enjoy presets that are optimized for those resolutions providing almost the same look and feel of my existing presets which were all designed, tested and targeted towards 4K display users!
Thanks again to all who made this possible!
Click the link below to download
CyberLab Mega Bezel Death To Pixels Shader Preset Pack 10-11-21.zip
Is this shader going to be available on next mega bezel’s versions?
He is using the existing Newpixie clone with custom parameters. Make a note of the parameters and you can make the changes yourself. Or copy and paste the included code into a preset.
For that matter most if not all of the presets in the variations folder use parameter adjustments. They don’t include new code.
Everyone is highly encouraged to play around with the shader parameters. This yields an end result that fits your personal taste.
This is one of the things that make the Mega Bezel, (And the RA shader system in general.) so awesome.
That’s right everything in the variations folder is only parameter adjustments and texture replacements 
What would it take for these presets to be included in the official HSM Mega Bezel Reflection Shader package for the “Death to Pixels.cgp” Analog Shader Pack 3.0 fans (and also the wider community) to have a nice plug and play starting point for this type of look?
Hi, usually I like to give these things a little ‘soak’ time to gauge interest, often putting them into the experimental area until I’m sure they should be a permanent part of the package.
For instance the BendBombBoom presets I think are ready to go into the standard package.
So for the moment perhaps we could see about bringing your 2 ‘Death to Pixels’ presets into the experimental area…
It would also be interesting to know if there are particular other analog shader pack shaders which are highly desired and could be replicated with GDV & the Mega Bezel
That would be a great honour and I would be really glad if others actually found them as useful and pleasing to the eyes and nostalgia receptors as I have.
Just updated my post. Really looking forward to seeing these reach the wider community. Composite - Sharp is really the look I was going for as the first one was a bit too soft. So if you have to leave out 1 then you can leave the original Composite preset out. Arcade - Sharp is really nice in my opinion and the text is very clear. Composite - Sharp can even work for arcade games if you feel the need to also not include the Arcade preset but the Arcade preset is actually more authentic and closer to the look I was going for for arcade games than the Arcade - Sharp preset due to the fact that I can notice some slight artifacts from the anti-aliasing filter which aren’t necessarily that bad but they do make it look a little less authentic in my opinion. However, due to it’s clarity I think I’ll be sticking with this over the Arcade preset as my daily driver (for arcade games) for some time to come. Feel free to include them all if you wish but if I only had 2 picks, they’d have to be Composite - Sharp (for home consoles) and Arcade - Sharp (for arcade games).
I’ve been looking at getting a Sinden light gun but don’t want to lose HSM. The Sinden creates a white border around the play space but it does it using overlays. I was wondering if a “Sinden boarder” could be added to the shader? I’m going to ask them if it HAS to be around the play space because that would ruin the reflection! Hopefully it can be placed around the monitor edge and an offset added in their settings.
