Testing the SNES auto-resolution mode for “smoother gameplay” with some games and HD version:
(featuring @sonkun’s shadow mask preset).
It’s realistically a 90% solution, but quite good IMO.
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New Release Version (2024-04-21-r1):
Notable changes:
- Hi-Res Auto mode added for some SNES games, also works very well with Amiga hires modes.
- Implemented with the NTSC and HD version.
- Ordinary presets can be used for these situations with no extra tweaking needed (except enabling the mode with parameter switch).
- Vertical resolution multiplier calculation adjusted, now uses 224px as resolution reference (smart scanline mode, see interlacing parameter section).
- NTSC preset changed, now it uses horizontal bloom and gaussian files from the HD folder. Previous presets still work, but update is needed for the new Smart Hi-Res mode.
Download link:
https://mega.nz/file/49I1VRyb#iZ3zD2mi5lFKKxJ2T9IYiOKtdu5WXagARXNfkUNQAcA
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That screenshot looks great @guest.r.
EDIT: This post previously asked why magic glow went up to 2, then I lurked moar.
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What about PCE/TurboGrafx-16/SuperGrafx and Sega MegaDrive/Genesis hires modes.
Can these new features benefit games on those systems? I remember showing some examples of some challenging scenarios being created on the Turbo where hi-res text was appearing blurry while other aspects of some games looked pretty sharp. Does this fix those instances and can more testing be done on the Turbo?
Just out of curiosity were you able to integrate or take any inspiration from @Azurfel’s contributions here?
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Works where ever there are two default horizontal resolutions, one about 200-400px wide, the other the double.
The idea is to optimize the shader for lower resolutions, turn the paramerer “on” and don’t really care or notice when resolution switches to hi-res.
If there is also a change in vertical resolution, then the “Internal Y-res” option can be set to 1.0 under interlacing options to always get the scanline mode.
Sure, Hi-Res Auto Mode was implemented (quite differently though, needs to be done on many levels), and with a switch. Dunno about the coloring part, as it’s already covered by grade.
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Works where ever there are two default horizontal resolutions, one about 200-400px wide, the other the double.
Saturn games that use 352 instead of 320 horizontal resolution then won’t work, right? Still have to individually set the aspect ratio in shader params and save the overrides I assume.
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352 x-res won’t trigger the hi-res mode. But you shouldn’t worry about this situation. Some games actually use the exact horizontal resolution doubling and the feature is designed to compensate when this is happening.
Still have to individually set the aspect ratio in shader params and save the overrides I assume.
It’s really not something to worry about. Shader filtering takes care of such situations quite efficiently. Aspect ratio is best set to “core provided” or fixed 4:3…
8 Likes
New Release Version (2024-05-18-r1):
Notable changes:
- Various optimizations and small code cleanups.
- Improved filtering with NTSC and HD versions.
- Corner function overhaul.
- Included grade contrast black screen fix (@sonkun).
Download link:
https://mega.nz/file/R4xzAKJK#AHvrWKwpBxly2pZxv8d-3egXkqqNEQtnu3_9-eXf1-o
22 Likes
Thanks for the update!
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Out of all the updates I missed this might be the most important one, wow you even fixed the black screen issue in grade? That’s amazing man. I would see and get comments from Linux users having that issue left and right not knowing what to do to fix it now that’s been rectified. Appreciate it for sure.
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Heey! @sonkun! Glad to see you back and also with nice updates!
The root of the issue (at least for me) of the grade black screen was the
cont = pow(cont - 1., 3.); (line 459 in regular grade)
line of code where contrast is a negative value. It’s easy to change to a multiplicative version. Some compilers are more tolerant or smarter as the others, so this really depends.
I also hope @Dogway makes a use of it, since it’s really not a biggie.
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Thank you @guest.r definitely glad to be back, yeah I’m experimenting with a slightly different look coming up. One of the biggest changes is lowering glow, or at least the glow distribution. I was so into “brightening things up” meanwhile all the extra added glow was making everything to bright so I decided to go a different direction in that area, I think it looks a bit better dialed in, still bright as hell in it’s own way but that’s a sonkun staple I guess lol.
So it was a simple matter huh. @Dogway how you missed this lol. In anycase that will help all Linux users going forward since they were the main ones having that issue. I still gotta go up and read some of the notes from your other last couple updates, looks like some things got added. The last one I remembered was when you redid the positive halation setting which I used just a little of along with just a little mask bloom combined for my sample pack I just posted.
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@guest.r It’s been a while we don’t get an official release on Retroarch. Feels like it would make sense to upload the latest version to Retroarch’s shader repo. Any thoughts on this? Tks for your amazing work!
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Hey! Yeah, I think it’s a good idea. Everything seems to be fine with the latest version. I left it some time for possible feedback about bugs etc., but it seems ok.
@hunterk usually helps me with the update. So I would politely ask him again for bringing the latest version to the repository. Thanks in advance. 
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Is there anyway we can get the Mask Stagger Back?
I’m not sure if I can get my exact -4.50 Shadow Mask using Mask 6, Size 3 at 4K using the current simplified parameters?
This is what I use for my CyberLab Neo-GX Shadow Mask presets.
Can you assist if it is actually possible?
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Just set the value to 0.5. Or, since the fractional part of 4.5 is 0.5, the preset is compatible with the newest version regarding “shadow masking”. I guess i won’t change things back to custom stagger values, since there were really no known phosphor layouts of this “hybrid” aperture&shadowmask sort.
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Can you check out this PR and make sure it looks good to you?
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@guest.r have you ever thought of making a PC CRT Monitor preset for both shader and reshade using shadowmask and 1080p+
all shaders are based on TV’s but none outside the Amiga ones are based on CRT PC Monitors, something of it for Dosbox and reshade would be nice seeing that staging is a thing and dosbox ECE is dead
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It’s very easy to do a PC VGA preset. Just use a shadow mask and VGA double-scan option.
- Mask 10 + shadowmask option is very good for 1080p and 1440p.
- Mask 4 is a very good option for 4k out-of-the-box.
This is a good start, but there are also many good options for mask mitigation using base full-strength masks.
4 Likes