Presenting the old school analog TV pack...version 2!

RetroArch Additions Shaders
#1

Figure i’d start a new thread. Forgive me this will be light on screenshots as i’m dead tired but here is a comparison shot of the various options to choose from. If you guys would like to test and contribute that would be nice. No need to muck with anything, just select the corresponding .cgp file in the folder of the pack and get to enjoying some CRT-esque goodness.

Bear in mind you’ll need the latest retroarch that supports a higher number of shader stacks, although I managed to keep the resource level down, I have a 4 year-old Dell XPS and everything runs smooth on my end, obviously YMMV. It should be a nice alternative to CRT-royale which my machine has trouble keeping up with when combined with other shaders

1756×3170

The versions you can choose from are:

480p: Nice shader suitable for 480p content like Dreamcast games Component: High-quality signal look but not overly sharp like RGB B&W TV: Pretty self explanatory Vintage TV: This looks really good with low-res pixel games on systems like the Atari 2600 Vintage LCD: Looks like an early gen LCD screen complete with ghosting Composite: Simulating a typical cheap CRT using composite cables S-video: Much the same but better quality video signal RGB-Shadowmask: This is more akin to a high quality CRT with RGB/SCART cables RGB-Scanlines: Like the previous but with thick bold scanlines like you’d find on a Sony PVM or other broadcast quality monitor, nice and bright :slight_smile:

As a sidenote i’m not including any overlays, there were some issues last time with people with different sized screens and resolution and now that retroarch supports overlays in the menu that you can adjust manually, people can select their own from the various ones out there. If there is a demand though i’ll include the old one I was using.

Here is the link to the files

https://mega.nz/#!Qk1RVCJC!KAC127iD5wNw9GvLqKtnzJRcixDDzgb7UcjBQVIlDrY

Mirror: http://www.megafileupload.com/a9ga/Analog_Shader_Pack_1-23-16.zip

Thanks to everyone whose shaders made this possible, particularly hunterk he’s been real helpful.

3 Likes
#2

Just brilliant, brilliant work.

#3

Just tried Super Metroid and it’s perfect. It’s exactly how I remember running the game 20 years ago. Can I just ask. I take it I don’t need to enable the Blargg shaders any longer with other cores?

#4

[QUOTE=Spaceman;28206]Just tried Super Metroid and it’s perfect. It’s exactly how I remember running the game 20 years ago. Can I just ask. I take it I don’t need to enable the Blargg shaders any longer with other cores?[/QUOTE]

Nope, not at all :slight_smile:

#5

You did mention it but I am looking for a nice TV overlay that matches the curvature of the shaders. As this looks to me an Interger scale shader I would prefere one over a black background. If you would be so kind as to upload what you were using. I have used your overlay out of the previous shader pack and it sort of works but the curve is a little extreme.

#6

[QUOTE=Spaceman;28216]You did mention it but I am looking for a nice TV overlay that matches the curvature of the shaders. As this looks to me an Interger scale shader I would prefere one over a black background. If you would be so kind as to upload what you were using. I have used your overlay out of the previous shader pack and it sort of works but the curve is a little extreme.[/QUOTE]

The only one I have is the one from my previous pack. I’ll see if I can mock something else up soon though.

#7

These look awesome :slight_smile: Does this need integer scaling? Cheers.

#8

Man, these look fantastic. I think it looks exactly how I remember it.

I tried it on my machine but I get a white screen. Any idea? I tested with stable 1.2.2 and the latest nightly but I get the same result.

Edit: RGB-Shadowmask gives a white screen, others a black screen. Maybe because I have an intel card? I will try on an nVidia tonight

#9

[QUOTE=daty2k1;28235]Man, these look fantastic. I think it looks exactly how I remember it.

I tried it on my machine but I get a white screen. Any idea? I tested with stable 1.2.2 and the latest nightly but I get the same result.

Edit: RGB-Shadowmask gives a white screen, others a black screen. Maybe because I have an intel card? I will try on an nVidia tonight[/QUOTE]

Weird I have a nvidia card so yes try it with that and let us know the results. Unfortunately I didn’t have any other machines to test on.

As for integer scaling, I use it personally but it still looks pleasing even off if you desire a bigger view.

#10

This does look real good, only issue i have is using RGB Scanline mode, the scanline on bright areas looks super thin when compared to dark colours, looking at Super Mario 3 world map is a good example, the scanlines over the sand areas are super thin yet where the moat around the castle is they are nice and bold…

TNtI7Uw.jpg2560×1440

Is there anyway to make the scanline more noticeable on brighter areas?

#11

These are fantastic. Loving Composite.

If anyone uses TV overlays and is interested, I have uploaded 2 test TV overlays I worked on while waiting for these shaders. The 2 are based on my own old JVC CRT, with a simple background. They’re both 1080p only, and one has a glass reflection added - this was mainly to hide me in the reflection but I ended up quite liking it. I have made quite a few overlays, so if anyone is interested I will upload them all.

http://www.filefactory.com/file/7ijm8olkazcf/tv-overlays-1080p.zip

If like me you like using warp then try warp x - 7 warp y - 7 You may have to use negative overscan for a better fit, something like -1 for both x and y.

#12

[QUOTE=solid12345;28238]Weird I have a nvidia card so yes try it with that and let us know the results. Unfortunately I didn’t have any other machines to test on.

As for integer scaling, I use it personally but it still looks pleasing even off if you desire a bigger view.[/QUOTE]

OK, it’s working with my nVidia card. Good to know !

#13

[QUOTE=solid12345;28238]Weird I have a nvidia card so yes try it with that and let us know the results. Unfortunately I didn’t have any other machines to test on.

As for integer scaling, I use it personally but it still looks pleasing even off if you desire a bigger view.[/QUOTE]

I too have nvidia and it is fine. Check which driver retroarch is using. Mine is GL, the default.

As for Integer scale I’ve found it depends what core you are using. Super Nintendo is fine with most dark roms (Super Metroid, Donkey Kong) but bright ones like Mario World it doesn’t scale correct. Also you’l definatley need integer on for Nintendo 64. That really looks off without it. I’d settle for integer with a good overlay.

#14

[QUOTE=BlockABoots;28246]This does look real good, only issue i have is using RGB Scanline mode, the scanline on bright areas looks super thin when compared to dark colours, looking at Super Mario 3 world map is a good example, the scanlines over the sand areas are super thin yet where the moat around the castle is they are nice and bold…

Is there anyway to make the scanline more noticeable on brighter areas?[/QUOTE]

One thing you can do is go into the settings and change the scanline weight from I believe is .30 and go down. Personally I think it ends up darkening the picture too much but everyone has different tastes.

#15

Also I made a very slight edit to the pack and reuploaded it, I felt the s-video option was a bit too sharp and the contrast turned up it was blowing out the image.

#16

these don’t want to work on 1.2.2 in OSX for some reason, any particular location other than the Shaders dir they should be located? Thx

#17

Cool. Do you plan on adding them to the common shader repository?

#18

[QUOTE=John.Merrit;28248]These are fantastic. Loving Composite.

If anyone uses TV overlays and is interested, I have uploaded 2 test TV overlays I worked on while waiting for these shaders. The 2 are based on my own old JVC CRT, with a simple background. They’re both 1080p only, and one has a glass reflection added - this was mainly to hide me in the reflection but I ended up quite liking it. I have made quite a few overlays, so if anyone is interested I will upload them all.

http://www.filefactory.com/file/7ijm8olkazcf/tv-overlays-1080p.zip

If like me you like using warp then try warp x - 7 warp y - 7 You may have to use negative overscan for a better fit, something like -1 for both x and y.[/QUOTE]

These are great! Can you explain exactly how you warp and do the negative overscan?

#19

I tried this overlay with screen reflection coupled to the composite shader and it was the most authentic representation of emulation I’ve yet seen. The only downer is the low resolution of the overlay and the fact it used up quite the screen space.

#20

Thanks Bjomespha. Simply load your config, load one of these shaders then goto the shader’s Parameters and you should see “warp” for X and Y, as well as the overscan feature. Adjust these to suit your taste. Just to add. Use “Warp” for curving the screen for both Horizontal and Vertical. And use overscan to fit the curved picture to the TV overlay. Negative to squeeze the picture inwards, and Plus to widen the picture outwards towards the edge of the TV.

Spaceman, many thanks for the comments. The low resolution is due to me using a mobile phone camera and poor lighting. I intend to borrow a friend’s DSLR camera and do it again properly in many resolutions with a better reflection. I made these images in a couple of hours. The screen space is one main problem, giving priority to either overlay or screen is a tough one. I am open to any suggestions. I will open a new thread if there’s interest, so not to hijack solid12345’s thread.

As soon as I have the DSLR, I intend to hook up to the TV used in these overlays, real machines emulated by Retroarch such as NES/SNES/Megadrive and take high resolution photos of the real machines running. Upload them to the overlay forum, then we have some real shots to try and match with the emulated Retroarch shots. Be interested in how close one can get to the real thing.