Please show off what crt shaders can do!

[Cyber]

This can be improved by cutting back on things that blur the image and dilute the Mask. I’m talking about Halation, any type of Bloom, Glow and only after that you can fine tune your NTSC Resolution Scale, Chroma/Bleeding and Subtractive and/or Adaptive Sharpness and Horizontal Filtering settings to achieve a sharper look.

As @guest.r suggested if you posted your preset, it would be much easier to assist and troubleshoot.

You can also go back to the days and posts when I was trying to assist you in getting things sharper as you’ve gradually moved away from those types of settings over time.

[Cyber]

Sometimes looks a bit strange with the Slot Mask height in this screenshot. Not sure if it’s intentional.

[bactino]

Thanks for the advice, I’m going to leave it as it is on my first images for now. I’ll probably fine-tune the brightness or colors, depending on my mood, but for now, I like it as it is."

[guest.r]

Yes, it’s honoring the “original” preset. I used reduced slotmask height (1) regularly in my 1080p days.

[RetroGames4K]

Yes, I do. Maybe shouldn’t use it at all? I would love others opinion, I’m open to improve my settings, but I feel I’m stuck and I can’t advance. Maybe I have mania in some settings I must change.

[RetroGames4K]

@guest.r

More like this i guess:

Yes, well done! something similar I’m looking for. Any ideas? What do you think I’m missing? I think one of the reasons coult it be what @kokoko3k mentioned?, I use deconvergence X & Y 75, 75 and 2.00 intensity. Maybe I shouldn’t use it at all. Maybe that could be doing the squeeze blurry thing?..

[guest.r]

You can set Glow to 0.0, it can make a blurry impression. If using NTSC version, you can also play with the NTSC Sharpness Shape parameter. Ofc. cranking up NTSC Sharpness (Adaptive) is a must.

[RetroGames4K]

@guest.r

You can set Glow to 0.0, it can make a blurry impression

I use magic glow 2 default, mask glow -0.75 and Halation -0.03 I dont use any other settings.

[RetroGames4K]

@bactino

like this?

Yes, moreless similar to what @guest.r showed as well. I know there’s something I do not touch or I’m missing or I maybe do not change since the beginning and Imystuck with it…

[bactino]

I did a little with the CRT Guest Advanced, it’s really something crazy, but I have trouble adjusting the colors properly.

#reference "shaders_slang/crt/crt-guest-advanced.slangp"
PR = "0.300000"
PG = "0.300000"
PB = "0.300000"
AS = "0.250000"
sat = "0.450000"
CP = "4.000000"
TNTC = "1.000000"
WP = "5.000000"
wp_saturation = "1.000000"
contr = "0.800000"
BP = "-5.000000"
vigstr = "0.100000"
vigdef = "1.000000"
lsmooth = "0.650000"
gamma_out = "2.399999"
inter = "800.000000"
iscan = "0.250000"
m_glow_cutoff = "0.100000"
m_glow_low = "0.300000"
m_glow_high = "4.000001"
m_glow_dist = "0.900000"
SIZEH = "5.000000"
SIGMA_H = "1.000000"
SIZEV = "5.000000"
SIGMA_V = "1.100000"
SIZEHB = "2.000000"
SIGMA_HB = "0.600000"
SIZEVB = "2.000000"
SIGMA_VB = "0.500000"
bloom = "0.050000"
bmask1 = "-0.000000"
hmask1 = "0.400000"
gamma_c = "1.200000"
brightboost = "1.300000"
brightboost1 = "1.000000"
scans = "0.500000"
spike = "1.000000"
h_sharp = "4.500000"
s_sharp = "0.400000"
ei_limit = "0.200000"
sth = "0.300000"
BLOOM = "1.000000"
warpX = "0.050000"
warpY = "0.050000"
c_shape = "0.200000"
csize = "0.020000"
bsize1 = "0.100000"
barspeed = "40.000000"
barintensity = "0.010000"
shadowMask = "1.000000"
maskboost = "1.100000"
maskDark = "0.400000"
maskLight = "1.300000"
mask_gamma = "2.300000"
deconrry = "0.250000"
deconrgy = "-0.250000"
deconrby = "0.250000"

[Cyber]

Maybe you can aim to get your Mask and phosphors looking something like this first, then add little hints of Halation, Glow and Bloom afterwards in order to blend and smoothen things more “naturally”:

I already mentioned the parameters you can use to achieve this.

CyberLab Death To Pixels Shader Preset Packs

Just posting these so that anyone interested can get an idea of what I see when I view my presets on my good old Toshiba Regza 40XV645U rear CCFL backlit LCD TV. There are some aspects of my presets that look better on this TV than on my 4K IPS Edge-lit LED TV. For starters this TV uses a Samsung VA panel and it’s in RGB 4:4:4 mode as opposed to the YCbCr 4:2:0 mode at 4K of my 4K TV. While the image is excellent on my 4K IPS and I have few complaints, the colours on the Toshiba seem to emit a …

[bactino]

thanks I will look at that

[Cyber]

@bactino

Most of my suggestions and replies were directed at @RetroGames4K due to the issues he was having.

I hope you don’t let my advice confuse you as to your presets.

[bactino]

here is a little progress with the guest advanced shader for my arcade project if you have any advice or others I am interested![

Link shader:https://www.mediafire.com/file/24nyq0exesujgxl/Arcade_Geust_Advanced.slangp/file

[RetroGames4K]

At last I managed to make the characters closer to the screen , now is time to work to make things brighter. Thanks all for the tips as always. Also Merry Christmas.

[Cyber]

Wow! What was the missing link? Do you have an HDR display? You can try the hybrid approach of using the HDR built-into RetroArch.

[RetroGames4K]

@Cyber

Do you have an HDR display?

Yes, I have. But is an LG HDR10 monitor but is not that powerful, but I can do an HDR version after when I finish these settings that it will be very soon now I’m sure. I will keep in touch so I can start with your help a HDR version if you want. One of the missing point was that I raised by accident afterglow setting, one of the first ones on top that made me rise contrast so I lost detail. Also I tweaked little bit colour saturation and lowered a bit ntsc gamma too.

[Cyber]

@RetroGames4K

But is an LG HDR10 monitor but is not that powerful

Once it can get brighter in HDR Mode than SDR mode then you can use that extra brightness to enhance and improve your presets without having to resort to things like pushing Gamma, Bright Boost, Bloom, Halation and glow too much (or as much) or lowering Mask and Scanline Gap Strength to get things brighter.

Most of those settings tend to stray from the look of an actual CRT when pushed too far. There might be side effects such as blurring, halos, dilution of the CRT Mask e.t.c.

By utilizing any additional available brightness from the display you can keep the Mask and Scanlines Gaps stronger and the edges sharper.

[RetroGames4K]

@Cyber

Once it can get brighter in HDR Mode than SDR mode then you can use that extra brightness to enhance and improve your presets without having to resort to things like pushing Gamma, Bright Boost, Bloom, Halation and glow too much (or as much) or lowering Mask and Scanline Gap Strength to get things brighter.

I soon will post these settings new I have, and I promise you you are going to be impressed, I’m going to Rock every socks off. It’s goint to be the most reallistic, stunning I ever made so far. You will have all a Christmas gift. I will post some screen shots, I can say I’m finally finished with the Philips Settings on 1080p. After this we can work on HDR mode. Stay tuned

[kokoko3k]

@RetroGames4K

I’m going to Rock every socks off. It’s goint to be the most reallistic, stunning I ever made so far. You will have all a Christmas gift.

Well said pal, WELL SAID!