New CRT shader from Guest + CRT Guest Advanced updates

[RealNC]

For VGA, try advanced-hd instead with mask 13 and shift 3 Although this is optimized for 1440p (still suitable for 1080p), not 4K.

#reference "../../shaders/crt-guest-advanced/crt-guest-advanced-hd.slangp"
PR = "0.000000"
PG = "0.000000"
PB = "0.000000"
AS = "0.000000"
sat = "0.000000"
vigdef = "0.500000"
interm = "0.000000"
S_SHARP = "1.500000"
HSHARP = "2.000000"
HARNG = "0.000000"
VARNG = "0.000000"
bloom = "0.100000"
mask_bloom = "0.300000"
bloom_dist = "0.500000"
halation = "0.025000"
shadowMask = "13.000000"
maskstr = "0.400000"
mcut = "0.700000"
mshift = "3.000000"
mclip = "0.350000"
deconrg = "0.250000"
deconrb = "-0.250000"
deconrry = "-0.250000"
deconrgy = "-0.500000"
deconrby = "0.250000"
decons = "2.000001"
addnoised = "0.140000"
noiseresd = "1.000000"
noisetype = "1.000000"

Photo of real VGA CRT (from here):

The result with the HD version with above preset is pretty much spot-on (the colors are of course different since one is a photo of a screen and the other a direct screenshot):

Raw image without shaders:

More VGA porn with that preset:

[guest.r]

100k views in the thread, lol.

Thanks for participating, everything was better, easier and more fun with you guys.

[sonkun]

Next stop 500k then 1 million and more. I’m glad to have helped out here and there and still be apart of this shader journey and I’m sure all the guys feel the same. I plan on releasing another update hopefully later today, gonna tweak my ntsc presets so hopefully I’ll bring even more traffic to your thread when I release it lol.

[sonkun]

@guest.r This is a testament to the greatness of your shader, my guy Retro Crisis just made a THIRD video now about my presets. Long live “crt-guest-advanced” 🫡

Sonkun's CRT Shaders for RetroArch - Aperture Grill, Slot & Shadow Mask

[RealNC]

Yeah, it is a great shader. I first discovered it because the NTSC shader presets in the repo weren’t exactly what I wanted, and trying to coax other CRT shaders to work with NTSC-adaptive seemed like a lost battle. crt-guest-advanced-ntsc was pretty much exactly spot-on with what I wanted for NTSC-based consoles. Also, crt-guest-advanced-hd turned out to be just marvelous for VGA/SVGA-era PC games. And all the knobs and dials I ever wanted are there.

[guest.r]

New Release Version (2023-03-11-r1):

Notable changes:

• Slotmask Size changed to Slotmask Thickness, odd pixel widths are possible now with thickness 2.0… Presets which use increased slotmask size are affected, but should be a rare occurrence.
• HD version has now separate bloom and glow passes.
• Magic Glow added to the HD version.

Download link:

https://mega.nz/file/ohwWQI4Q#uERK0LS96BPUDe-2t2RWmupntH3lURjxzPhef8e9h-o

[sonkun]

Magic glow added to HD huh. I’m so invested in the standard version now even though HD was my favorite. Gonna be Interesting times ahead when I come home later and play with this update, curious about those Slot Mask size change as well. Thanks as always.

[guest.r]

Standard version is very fine with regular resolutions. You might consider the HD version with 'laced content, as an addition to existing presets or maybe with pre-scalers.

[Nesguy]

That was fast! Ask and ye shall receive. You rock.

[sonkun]

Ok. I’ll take a look at everything later, I don’t even know what’s the next move I’m gonna make at the moment. Either stay with standard or go back to hd, I’ll see after I update my RetroArch and your shaders.

[RealNC]

@guest.r

Magic Glow added to the HD version.

I want to have your baby!

[DevilSingh]

Looks like I chose the right time to return to these forums.

[RetroGames4K]

Wow! It’s been long I haven’t tried the HD version. This latest version is awesome

[sonkun]

@guest.r

Slotmask Size changed to Slotmask Thickness, odd pixel widths are possible now with thickness 2.0… Presets which use increased slotmask size are affected, but should be a rare occurrence.

Meant to ask the other day but now that I’ve started working on new settings I should ask now instead of later. With this change of Slot Mask Size settings to Slot Mask Thickness which number should be used for 1440p and 4k? I know 1 is good enough for 1080p.

[Nesguy]

I believe you’re still going to want to use thickness 1 even at 4k if you want to maintain realistic dimensions. Of course, anything goes if you’re going for an artistic interpretation, but if you want realistic dimensions than a thickness of 2 would require that each triad be 6 pixels tall. So 16x vertical scale for a mere 2 triads per scanline (which is very grainy, like a 9" TV or something, I dunno).

[guest.r]

@sonkun

Meant to ask the other day but now that I’ve started working on new settings I should ask now instead of later. With this change of Slot Mask Size settings to Slot Mask Thickness which number should be used for 1440p and 4k? I know 1 is good enough for 1080p.

If realism for most slotmask displays is important, then it’s thickness 1.0 all the way to 4k, while 4k has the most realistic proportions. But there are interpretations and special cases, minding the Commodore 1084…thickness of 2.0 might work even with 1080p, maybe not with full strength slot masks, but somewhat mitigated.

[Nesguy]

@guest.r

A slotmask width of 4 really only works well with 4 pixel masks (like RGBX, or Red-Yellow-Cyan-Blue). I don’t know if it would look good (probably not), but an additional 4 pixel max that just darkens every 4th pixel may also be a good option (so, mask 8 but darkening every 4th instead of every 3rd pixel)

[sonkun]

I see. So Slot Mask Thickness set to 1 for all resolution types (1080p, 1440p and 4k) like nesguy said. Ok got it, time to proceed and continue putting together my next update, when I get home later that is lol. Thank you to both of you.

[ProfessorBraun]

@guest.r

I wonder what will be the GPU requirements for your shader with higher resolution (8k), adding mask filtering and using ntsc passes on top of that?

The “accurate” emulation of masks comes at a price, is it really necessary to focus so much on masks while knowing that as soon as there is motion everything becomes blurry or are there other aspects/effects you would like to implement that you think are more important ?

In summary what is your opinion on the future of crt shaders ?

[guest.r]

@ProfessorBraun

In summary what is your opinion on the future of crt shaders ?

In a perfect world good crt emulation would require good and adequate display technology. I’m cheering for displays without sub pixels where independent pixels could have any color.

Resolution is another issue and i’m more fond of 6k displays as the next step then 8k. Reasons are simple, like required processing power would be quite lower, they could stay in reasonable pricing and physical size margins while still providing the ‘extra’ over 4k. Not to mention less signal bandwith problems and higher refresh rate.

Last but not least are good color reproduction, low lag and most importantly superior response times, which would eliminate the need for BFI.

With such superior displays existing shaders would have no trouble to look much better and more authentic.

What could also be important is the evolution of low level signal and connection type emulation, even i’m quite happy with the efforts made so far.

@ProfessorBraun

I wonder what will be the GPU requirements for your shader with higher resolution (8k), adding mask filtering and using ntsc passes on top of that?

8k is still years away, but i don’t like the idea of emulating a 14’’ display on a 80’’ home cinema TV and selling it as the best solution for emulation lol. Processing requrements would be high, i guess a RTX 2060 could manage vanilla guest-advanced, but looks bad even for incomming zen4 apu’s.