What was the bug, high level if you can?
I also noticed you took away the svideo present.
A small graphical glitch that may happen when the coords assume the exact value in the middle between two pixels and the math inside the shader canāt decide exactly which one it should use. Adding some residual value can fix that sometimes. It happens often in some shaders.
Yes, I couldnāt find a point in keeping svideo when you have rgb. S-video doesnāt blend pixels like composite, and is just slightly worse than RGB in colors. So, it just doesnāt bring anything worth to the table. Only composite and rgb are really important.
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New release: hspack - 24-01-24-r1
Whatās new:
- Fixed a minor color problem that happens in rare games;
- Added crt-hyllian-composite-sharp preset.
Screens from crt-hyllian-composite-sharp:
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Great job, the new composite sharp looks great!
I especially like all the āhyllianā presets, the color rendition is very pleasing and different from most preset around here!
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Thanks! Iāll have to work on a version where ntsc works in linear color space. On these just released only the crt portion is in linear gamma. It may improve IQ.
For now I prefer ntsc shaders in color gamma, because when I try it in linear gamma it creates an amazing amount of ringing.
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A Rainbow effect Iām working with chroma scaling:
A version of the pack with two presets for rainbow effect:
hspack-24-01-25-r1 (I had to include tweaked ntsc-adaptive shaders.) Effect can be toned down. Itās set to RF artifacting level. Itās strong as a POC.
BTW, I have a feeling that linearization of ntsc passes arenāt a real thing. Proof? Look how the fonts ins some games arenāt dilated in real screenshots:
https://www.reddit.com/r/crtgaming/comments/wrscbm/proof_that_composite_isnt_always_bad/
https://www.reddit.com/r/crtgaming/comments/uxlwqt/composite_really_isnt_so_bad/
Look how the desk is visible in this famous screen. If linearized, the desk becomes almost invisible and transparency is dimmed a lot: https://twitter.com/CRTpixels/status/1380227917481918466
Offscreen from real genesis composite:
This is ntsc with rainbow fixed non-linearized:
This is ntsc with rainbow fixed and linearized:
EDIT: Now looks like this subject is more controversial than I thought. An example I found showing just the contrary proof, 
Offscreen from a real crt using composite:
And this is what Iām getting linearizing ntsc passes:
So, Iām now more confused than before! At least Chroma Artifact Phase is now correct.
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That composite sharp rainbow preset is sexy. Thatās the look Iāve been trying to achieve with the mame ntsc shader but just couldnāt get it right. Amazing work there man.
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You can see what I changed on ntsc-pass1.slang in the last pack (I had to include ntsc shaders as I donāt know if the repo will receive these changes). Itās just a small change in chroma_phase to modulate it.
I chose to just double the artifact chroma period so that the rainbow got enlarged to the desired size. Iām still thinking if I broke something else and if this change should be ON/OFF (as itās now) or a slide for the user to modulate the rainbow size at will. You can even invert the colors of the rainbow by decreasing the variable to less than 1.0, though I think the only accurate value is 2.0. On another note, by using the 2.0 value, you need to increase Artifacting Cost (good values are in the range 0.50-1.00). Also, fringing artifact change the rainbow colors too, when I use 0.50 the colors aproximate the most from that real crt sonic waterfall screen.
BTW, the rainbow manifests in some other games too:
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Iāll take a look.
On another note just going through the different folders and seeing how you got everything set up I see your packs becoming legendary the more it expands, Iām having fun trying out the different presets and experiencing the various looks each one has. 2024 is looking good for crt shaders indeed. Gonna have to get Retro Crisis to do a video on your packs soon enough.
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Maybe itās because of the hardware, thereās some variance on both ends, i.e. the consoles have different encoders, the crts differ in their handling of the signal. Yesterday, I was stumbling over a post where somebody was demonstrating how the palm trees in Sonic 2 differ because of different comb filters.
On the Atari 7800, the colors are supposed to change depending on the temperature of the consoleā¦
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Oh cmon!!
No joking!
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Some more comparisons: Source
Configuration using: fringing=0.50, artifacting=0.50, rainbow=1.0, chroma scaling=4.0. I think the fringing can be set between 0.00 and 0.50. In some screens itās better at 0.00. For playing, itās much better setting fringing to 0.00.
Screenshot captured from Genesis Model 1 through composite:
Screenshot from RA using ntsc-adaptive (the new one updated in repo). Look at the ENEMY bar: Rainbow happens there. The red bars at PLAYER are uneven (this only happens if fringing > 0.00):
Screenshot captured from Genesis Model 1 through composite:
Screenshot from RA using ntsc-adaptive (the new one updated in repo). See the rainbow over the coconut tree leaves. It uses fringing=0.50 too.
Screenshot captured from Genesis Model 1 through composite:
Screenshot from RA using ntsc-adaptive (the new one updated in repo). This is an example where fringing must be set to 0.00 to get the most accurate rainbow:
Additional note: On genesis games of resolution 256x224 (Phase 3 games, the same as most snes games), the composite doesnāt show any fringing artifacts nor chroma. So they behave almost like snes through composite.
Look at this screen captured from genesis model 1 composite. See the dithering intact at the floor and at the frame. You need to set fringing and artifacting to 0.00 to get this visual:
Additional note 2: See this video comparing Genesis and 32x through composite at the Sonic famous Watterfall: video comparison. Look how the rainbow is identical to the new rainbow effect in ntsc-adaptive set to 1.0 and artifacting at 0.50 (fringing is free to use between 0.00 and 0.50). The 32x example doesnāt show any of these artifacts through composite.
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I freaking need this sexy juicy rainbow effect for my md rainbow presets, Iām being teased lol.
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Repo was already updated. You can use the ntsc-adaptive with that params.
BTW, new release: hspack-24-01-27-r2
- Updated rainbow params for more sane values;
- Now presets point to ntsc folder again.
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New release: hspack-24-01-30-r2
- hyllian presets updated and simplified. Got rid of some redundant presets;
- composite sharp shaders updated;
- some hyllian params updated.
EDIT: I had to tone down sharpness a bit. It fixes some artifacts.
Screens from composite-sharp and/or composite-sharp-rainbow-effect:
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Hereās a simple-composite shader I made for potato systems.
Itās equivalent to Tv Mode (CVBS) in Kega Fusion. Itās a very simple shader and you can tweak some parameters like blend level, for example.
Append any crt shaders and you get a good composite quality. Not so perfect as the ntsc shaders, though.
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And hereās a lighter version of ntsc-adaptive using only 15-taps (instead 33) for 2-phase games: ntsc-adaptive-lite
Itās basically identical to ntsc-adaptive, but faster on 2-phase games and halves the number of lookup textures. Maybe it can run well on potato systems too.
Other than that, I have normalized all coefficients for luma and chroma 2 and 3 phases.
New release: hspack - 24-02-07-r1
Whatās new:
- Added crt-hyllian-sinc (multipass too) and updated it to include composite configurations. There are two presets for genesis and snes composite.
- Added custom sharpness and radius to horizontal filtering in sinc presets. So, you can tweak it to get smooth or sharper visuals;
- Fixed crt-royale-ntsc gamma;
- All ntsc presets are now pointing to ntsc-adaptive-lite (included in this pack). Itās fast and offer identical visuals to standard ntsc-adaptive.
As Iām obsessed to get a sharp composite configuration, Iāve managed to get something really good using sinc in four taps. The two sinc composite included presets donāt use the ntsc shaders, they use their own filtering and get the sharpest composite Iāve ever seen.
Screens from crt-hyllian-sinc-composite-genesis preset:
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New release: hspack-24-02-13-r1
Still focusing the work on crt-hyllian-sinc and variantsā¦
Whatās new:
- Added curvature code to all crt-hyllian shaders;
- Anti-ringing code improved;
- Minor preset tweaks;
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New release: hspack-24-02-18-r1
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Ntsc-adaptive-lite updated with code to mitigate checkerboard interaction when rainbow effect is active. Should fix problems like Streets of Rage 2 yellow lights when Rainbow Effect is activated;
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It fix a Chroma Scale bug that appear when using a value above 3.0 and Rainbow Effect is active.
5 Likes