Lut pngs are placed in the shaders/guest/advanced/lut folder.
Just copy your custom lut file over there and rename it with the same name as one the existing lut pngs.
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New Release Version (2024-02-14-r1):
Notable changes:
- Rainbowing effect simplification and artifacts mitigation.
- Number of ntsc taps can be set now.
- Ntsc chroma fall-off implemented.
Download link:
https://mega.nz/file/4lhgDDzC#ov6a8RZ7wddMxbsnDyMez02I9cdX2JdlKJsjx7LIXrE
13 Likes
Ok so right off the bat after firing this update up I notice those weird artifacts I was telling you about in this post are completely GONE (thank goodness).
Now I can use the rainbow setting and have clear clouds again in Sonic:
The second thing I noticed is that my fps takes a hit now loading up any of my ntsc presets, goes as far down to 53fps on my setup but then gradually increases back to full speed. Not sure why that is but it’s something I noticed.
The new rainbow/ntsc settings are coming along good, I can even crank chroma scaling back up to 4.00 again:
I do notice that with the rainbow setting turned up to 1.0 or -1.0 the vertical line dithering in the waterfall doesn’t fully “blend” as well as when it’s off:
I guess that has to do with how that rainbow setting is interacting with the other ntsc settings, maybe I’m just not dialing it in right I don’t know. Other than that though everything looks good.
Edit: @guest.r playing around a bit more, yeah these dips in fps are tampering my enjoyment, not sure why it’s happening but I was getting a constant 60fps on the last release, now it either stays around 53fps or sometimes it increases up. This is only for the ntsc shader btw, the only other one I also use is HD and that one has no issues at all.
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This is probably a special issue indeed. What really matters is the shader performance under the fast-forward mode without frame skipping.
But there are some things you could try out. First is to decrease the number of NTSC Taps (like sub 24), see if it helps. Maybe, just in case, you could try to clear the system shader cache.
The ntsc shader got a bit more complex, but it shouldn’t matter much on discrete gpus. The only imaginable culprit is that the 2-phase loop in pass 2 isn’t unrolled, but so isn’t the 3-phase (like always) and reducing the number of taps for 2-phase makes them same performance.
3 Likes
Yeah it could be that your shader has gotten to a point where my hardware is the issue, maybe my gpu can’t handle it anymore the more complex your shader gets. If that’s the case it might be time for me to upgrade on my end.
It’s funny you mentioned that, I literally have that setting ON 24 lol, I noticed it further cleared up some minor other artifacts on the screen bringing it down . Maybe bringing it down by one could clear up this whole issue, I’ll give it a try later and see thanks for the suggestion.
Speaking of the new “NTSC Taps” setting, what exactly is that and what is its function/use for?
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2nd ntsc pass makes 2xTAPS + 1 texture lookups for final color assembly, also going in width left and right as it does so.
Default for 2-phase is 32 TAPS and 24 for 3-phase (3-phase max. taps is always 24, so no worries). Reducing the number of taps can have a nice effect on performance and coloring, especially with pre-scalers and increased internal resolution.
A special case where this really helps is the SMB “aura” etc.
3 Likes
Interesting. All my answers might be in that Taps setting. I’ll play around with this in the lab later thank you for the explanation and for constantly improving this amazing shader.
In the emulation community you and this shader will go down in history as one of the greatest to ever do it if it’s not there already, you single handedly helped enhance the enjoyment of playing games from decades ago on modern hardware and I’m (and I’m sure everyone else that uses your shader are) forever grateful.
6 Likes
New Release Version (2024-02-15-r1):
Notable changes:
- Rainbowing effect simplification and artifacts mitigation.
- Number of ntsc taps can be set now.
- Ntsc chroma fall-off implemented.
- Update: ntsc pass 2 register usage optimizations, mixed mode speedup.
Download link:
https://mega.nz/file/EowjXBgI#N6u_-PHExoDaZ2b0faz25MR-xpJo2kzuE07IDaPVBpo
14 Likes
Potential feature suggestion: separate “NTSC Chroma Scaling / Bleeding” settings for 2 phase and 3 phase “NTSC Phase”.
I have found that setting Chroma Scaling to 2.55 makes 2 phase a good match for 3 phase with Chroma Scaling at the default 1.00.
For games/systems with fixed resolutions, that is simple enough, but for games/systems that switch resolution, a compromise setting of one sort or another is currently required. It would be very nice to be able to use Auto NTSC Phase and have it automatically switch to my preferred Chroma Scaling settings for each.
5 Likes
I could reproduce it with some of your presets. If I change the FPS display setting interval from default 256 frames to let’s say 15 frames (RA settings), the problem goes away. It has something to do with a single low FPS moment when the shader is loaded.
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With your latest update my issue seems to have went away since I lowered the Taps setting down to about 19 (any lower on my presets and it then starts to break/sharpen the dithering effects) but just in case, which setting exactly did you touch? “FPS display setting interval”? Where do I find that? I updated to the latest RetroArch 1.17.0 version.
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This setting is under Settings -> On-Screen Display -> On-Screen Notifications -> Notification Visibility.
Then select Framerate Update Interval (in frames).
My thoughts on this is that it’s a “false positive”, basing on a single initial shader loading frame drop, nothing to worry about. I’m certain, it’s a frame rate report issue involved. My guess is that it roots in a bit longer shader compile time because some loops need to be unrolled etc.
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Ah ok. I was looking in the video settings section getting lost lol. Ok then everything is looking good to go, I’m off to the lab to work on my next update pack, should be ready soon.
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New Release Version (2024-02-17-r1):
Notable changes:
- Major ntsc pass 2 reformation and performance improvements (especially 2-phase and high-res content).
- Ntsc chroma scaling has now separate parameters for 2-phase and 3-phase modes.
- Chroma taps fall-off now only works where needed (2-phase).
- Feedback is welcome.
Download link:
https://mega.nz/file/p4ZgACiY#0hZZbw5EzaFMI3CUN4y1nKXNtaOwNMmjn-NMz5zpP48
15 Likes
I had a feeling this was coming right after I released my pack lol. I’ll take a look at it later, I have a feeling I’ll be back in the lab with this one.
1 Like
A little demonstration of the Chroma Taps Fall-Off feature. It’s very nice to clear the “weak color auras” around objects without much hassle:
Default settings:
With Chroma Taps Fall-Off:
6 Likes
Beautiful work @guest.r with lots of insightful and useful input from the community. What used to be an artform in trying to find the sweetspots will have to give way to much easier automagic out of the box higher quality settings and hopefully more realism as well as you’ve given more power to the masses, much more power.
Basically everything that I’ve wished for in the NTSC shader has been implemented and even more!! This should solve the issues I was telling you about with using Mixed (phase) Mode for Turbo Duo games where some of the high res text ended up blurry when using settings designed to blend the dithering in many turbo games!
I was happily camped out on the older versions for a while now but this is the moment that I might end up making the jump to the newer versions.
I did this very willfully and deliberately however, challenging myself to squeeze the most out of the older shader before jumping on the bandwagon.
I was thinking that if I can get things to an almost perfect (for me) level using that one, I can only imagine what would happen to my presets when the new levels are switched on!
This is game changing stuff!
Thanks again!
5 Likes
Which Turbo games have this issue? As much as I love the Turbo I don’t think I’ve played enough games to have noticed this before.
@guest.r so I gave this new update a spin, first thing I noticed right away was the speed. Don’t know what you did but everything is back to full speed again and I don’t get any kind of slow down when first loading up any of my ntsc presets anymore, it’s even full speed with the “ntsc taps” setting set to default which was previously giving me slow downs so that area is now perfect again.
Second thing I noticed was the separation of the chroma scaling for 2phase and 3phase, that’s a sexy feature for those who want a certain amount of bleeding/scaling for either phase. Me personally I need both of those settings maxed out for more vibrant colors and a sharper image. All in all good stuff in that department.
Third thing I noticed (this is just from my personal tweaking I was doing yesterday) was that there were weird faint barely noticeable thin almost transparent-like vertical lines that were in the background on games that I noticed in your previous pack that have completely dissapeared in this pack. I previously chalked it up to that have been either part of the composite experience or maybe something crazy I was doing in my tweaking. Now I have a completely clear composite image in this update.
Finally and this is just based on my presets alone, I think I maxed out how sharp I can get composite to look with your ntsc shader settings, bringing the ntsc taps down anything below 24-23 I notice the Sonic waterfall dithering starts to break apart. My ideal setting would be to bring that taps setting down to about 9.00 which really make 2phase games colors POP but then I lose the dithering effects and that’s a no-no lol. Same goes for the “chroma taps fall off” setting, raising that up pass .05 or .10 vertical line dithering starts to break a bit (checkerboard dithering doesn’t seem to be effected) so I may settle on just leaving chroma taps at 24 which I believe I already had it at which will make updating my pack not too much of a hassle.
The final verdict is that this release is a sexy one indeed, everything is working as intended from what I see.
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Thanks, @Cyber and @sonkun, for the nice words. The shaders needed a bit of refactoring, I also like the new features. Hopefully I won’t notice something or get ideas again too soon… 
I needed to optimize texture lookups in the 2-phase loop, along with some optimizations. I’m very glad it worked out in the end.
Yeah, it’s connected with the number of taps, which basically enhance the chroma scaling feature quite a lot. With 16 “taps” and chroma scaling at 4.0 it’s the same as 8.0 with 32 “taps”. But the performance is also better, especially if you try scalefx presets in the future.
Anyway, hopefully the last release can get a good rest for a while, if you folks notice something, just mention it. 
2 Likes
I feel the same way. I just released version 2 of my preset pack to go along with your latest release and I plan on letting my current pack make its rounds unless you drop another release with juicy new features. Maybe I can kick back and do a little gaming for a bit.
1 Like