Mega Bezel Reflection Shader! - Feedback and Updates

[p3st]

@HyperspaceMadness

This is a really good idea!

I’m thinking about turning this on automatically for all Sega consoles which are appropriate (which may be all of them)

thx i also thinking to make another thread OR collect CROP settings via pm

(guess first idea would be the best)

so nearly everything is setup automatic

so far i made an WILDCARD TV presets that loads/checks the following stuff

1. -SHADER (loads a basic  MBZ preset)
   

2.   -BASE (add my "base" preset changes)
   

3.    -VARIATIONS (choose between the normal or wooden overlay)
   

4.       -FIXES (SEGA brightness fix/ ps1 box blur etc.)
   

5.         -VIEW(ZOOM and TILT if used)
   

6.           -CROP PER CORE (like base crop for N64)
   

7.              -CROP PER GAME(additional per game cropping if needed)
   

8.                 -SINDEN LIGHTGUN FRAME (enables the frame depending on game name)
   

and for Arcade overlays it works like this

1. -SHADER (loads a basic  MBZ preset)
   

2.   -BASE (add my arcade or vektor preset changes)
   

3.   - ROTATION (looks for the Rotation )
   

4.      -ARTWORK (loads specefic Artwork and fitting settings per Game)
   

5.       -FIXES (SEGA brightness fix etc.)
   

6.         -VIEW(ZOOM and TILT if used )
   

7.              -CROP PER GAME(additional per game cropping if needed)
   

8.                 -SINDEN LIGHTGUN FRAME (enables the frame depending on game name)
   

i guess that would take over the most work

[hunterk]

Perf should be roughly similar between Windows and Linux. It all comes down to the GPU drivers, so unfortunately out of our hands and subject to change unexpectedly.

[Drybonz]

@HyperspaceMadness

I’m thinking about turning this on automatically for all Sega consoles which are appropriate (which may be all of them)

I started turning it on for all of them because 1) I didn’t know which ones it was supposed to be for 2) It looked better on each one I tried.

[RetroGames4K]

[RetroGames4K]

[HyperspaceMadness]

New thread to talk about shader wildcards

Shader Preset Wildcards

This thread is a place to discuss the wildcards feature which can be used in retroarch presets. Preset Wildcard Path replacement allows you to have fewer presets while addressing many scenarios by changing paths in response to the retroarch state when the preset is loaded. An example would be having one preset which could be used with the entire list of images from the Bezel Project. The doc for the wildcards is here: Shaders - Libretro Docs

[miibrito92]

So, does anyone knows how to solve this kinda 3:4 ratio? This kind of behavior is happening in the swanstation core, although it only stays like this in this game.

[HyperspaceMadness]

@miibrito92

So, does anyone knows how to solve this kinda 3:4 ratio?

Go into the shader parameters and set the aspect ratio orientation to horizontal.

Just FYI, I’m putting in something for the next release to force 4:3 and horizontal for the PS1 cores

[miibrito92]

Thanks mate! I was sailing into undiscovered waters here

[BiRaitBec]

Hey hyper,

I was looking at your ntsc smooth adv preset and tried to tweak it to my tastes.

I think it looks great but as for the ntsc options, why are all set to 0.33 specifically? is there a reason for it?

I tried to up the scaling and found that 39 looks better while still retaining the blending, is it more crt accurate at 0.33?

[HyperspaceMadness]

@BiRaitBec

I think it looks great but as for the ntsc options, why are all set to 0.33 specifically? is there a reason for it?

I tried to up the scaling and found that 39 looks better while still retaining the blending, is it more crt accurate at 0.33?

Yeah, it’s set to 33.3 because it is counteracting the 3x scale which happens in scalefx. Also in my testing it seems to match the amount of blurring which happens to the non-smoothed presets.

Do you find the 39 value matches the non smoothed preset better?

[Cyber]

@HyperspaceMadness

Yeah, it’s set to 33.3 because it is counteracting the 3x scale which happens in scalefx. Also in my testing it seems to match the amount of blurring which happens to the non-smoothed presets.

I think this might be spot on here as I needed to use I think a NTSC Resolution Scaling value of 0.3333333 in order to get the waterfall in Sonic The Hedgehog to blend properly as well as have the rainbow artifacts in their correct orientation. Whereas with the other NTSC presets which didn’t use ScaleFX, a value of 1.000000 did the same.

[RetroGames4K]

Which is wich?

[Cyber]

Are you sure I’m eligible to participate? Lol

They look really close as in extremely close. Great work! I think I can confidently tell which is which though.

You might need to have both pictures slightly out of focus to “fool” the more discerning eyes but without zooming I’m not so sure if I could pick either one out.

I think you can have some fun with the folks over at r/crtgaming with these comparisons.

Many of them might actually appreciate such a close and accurate rendition of a CRT like image.

Then there’ll always be the zealots who might emerge out of the darkness, pitchfork in hand shouting, “Yeah, but how is it in motion?”

[RetroGames4K]

Wait. I will post some in full screen. Both taken from the camera… Hold my beer

[RetroGames4K]

@Cyber

you might need to have both pictures slightly out of focus to “fool” the more discerning eyes but without zooming I’m not so sure if I could pick either one out.

[Cyber]

Well the phosphors in this pair are definitely better in the focus trickery department but besides the slight differences in saturation and colour temperature which could go either way, the huge giveaway to me is the unrealistic perspective and excessive warping due to the use of (“fake”) 2D Curvature. On the real CRT the curvature and warping would vary depending on our viewing position/angle or the perspective of the camera.

Other than that (and that’s a huge giveaway by the way), it looks almost perfect to me

[RetroGames4K]

@Cyber

the huge giveaway to me is the unrealistic perspective and excessive warping due to the use of (“fake”) 2D Curvature.

Well I made the curvature on purpose for the foto. Although the real CRT has more curvature on the photo.

[DevonCM]

I like setting HSM_CRT_CURVATURE_SCALE = "50.000000" to flatten it out a bit and to have the corners cropped, I think it makes it look more natural that way. (I also set HSM_CURVATURE_MODE = "3.000000" and HSM_CURVATURE_3D_RADIUS = "300.000000" but not sure if that matters as much)

Definitely try playing with the curvature scale to find a good balance.

[Cyber]

@RetroGames4K

Well I made the curvature on purpose for the foto. Although the real CRT has more curvature on the photo.

This was my initial assessment of the above pair of photos.

Potential Spoiler Alert

"I’m confident that the real CRT is the photo on top because of the curvature. The curvature in the four corners looks equal, if looking at a real CRT spot on, center, the curvature and warping will be at its minimum so you’ll hardly see any warping or bending of the horizontal lines. This is because in the real world, the screen curves in the z-axis. Using 2D Curvature, the screen curves in the X and Y axes unfortunately.

I think the only time you’ll notice that kind of curvature on a real CRT would be if you’re viewing from an angle that’s not dead center and level with the screen and in a case like that the curvature will be more pronounced near the side that’s closest to your eyes or the camera while appearing less curved in the more distant plane.

I may not be 100% accurate or scientific in my assessment or my terminology but what I’m basically trying to say is that for me 2D Curvature usually results in an inaccurate perspective as well as inaccurate warping of the horizontal and vertical lines on the screen, not to mention the warping of the mask itself or if the mask isn’t being warped, a mismatch between the mask and the warped graphics and it’s something that I can notice and there are even worse artifacts when motion comes into play."

However on taking a deeper look, I’ve realized that I was actually wrong and the CRT is definitely the second picture.

This is because on further investigation, I’m seeing some elements that would only be present on a real CRT.

In terms of the above “essay” on 2D Curvature and perspective, I still think there’s a lot that’s valid there. It could just be that @RetroGames4K skillfully adjusted his perspective either inadvertently or deliberately and that is reflected in the first photo. This is because perspective is also at play because this is a photograph we’re talking about. Perspective warping is not exclusive to CRT’s or curved screen. Good Job “fooling” me initially @RetroGames4K but the CRT is the picture below.

I’d be happy to tell you what gave it away if you would like to know.

They’re extremely close though. Almost too close to call.