What Shader To Simulate Arcade Video Output?

For consoles I like to add the ntsc-256 and ntsc-320 shaders. What shader could be used to simulate the arcade video output.

Thanks!

Lottes specifically emulates the different masks used in arcade RGB monitors (and a few others too). Make sure to tead the documentation and set the parameters accordingly though as it doesn’t look very good with the default settings but once it’s set up correctly it’s fantastic.

But is Lottes suitable for even vertical games?

What parameters do you modify?

Thanks.

where is the documentation found?

I think he’s referring to masks 3 and 4, but idk.

@lfan What exactly do mean vertical games? I understand the concept, but are you running retroarch to flip the game 90 degrees or are you just running it as tall as you screen will allow?

The answer to which dotmask to use, is use mask 3 or 4. Both are supposed to be the same-ish type of mask and it’s what is referenced for a arcade monitor in the code specifically mask 3 but mask 4 is a (cleaner?) version of 3.

EDIT: oops, I was thinking of the “dotmask” shader, my mistake. Disregard…

Actually, I would stick with mask 2 or 3.

1 is a coarse faux-shadowmask that is a lower TVL than any consumer or arcade CRT would have been.

2 is aperture grille, 3 is rotated shadowmask. Both are around 300-400 TVL (for reference, a 20" TV from the early 90s was around 300 TVL)

4 is a coarse dotmask. Like mask 1, it’s too rough to accurately represent an arcade CRT, unless you’re using resolutions higher than 1080p. It’s also hard/impossible to make scanlines look right with mask 4.

1 Like

I’m going by what lottes actual crt shader says in the shader code. I’m pretty sure I was wrong about mask 4 though, lol.

Late reply sorry: I confused lottes with easymode my apologies - in the easymode shader there is some valuable information for setting it up to look like a specific shadow mask. Use easymode if you can’t handle lottes, it doesn’t look as good but it’s the next best thing.

Easymode info:

CRT Shader by EasyMode License: GPL

A flat CRT shader ideally for 1080p or higher displays.

Recommended Settings:

Video
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Integer Scale: Off

Shader
- Filter: Nearest
- Scale: Don't Care

Example RGB Mask Parameter Settings:

Aperture Grille (Default)
- Dot Width: 1
- Dot Height: 1
- Stagger: 0

Lottes' Shadow Mask
- Dot Width: 2
- Dot Height: 1
- Stagger: 3

I still recommend lottes if your GPU can handle. The things i change personally in Lottes are:

Hardscan = Scanline Strength

Hardpix = Amount of blur

Warp x/y = I set these to 0 get rid of the curvature

Shadowmask = I have this set to 1 or 3. YMMV depending on what you want. 0 = no mask emulation at all. I do not believe 2 is an aperture grille, there is clearly a mask of some sort being displayed. 0 would be aperture grille Sony style.

Bloom Amount = Self explanatory, i lower this a little coz by default I think it’s a bit much.

2 Likes

I running the game as tall as my screen allows (960 x 1080).

Now I prefer the crt-guest-dr-venom and my overlay.

1 Like

If you’re wanting to run lottes masks, I’d run with mask 2 or 3. Those are my personal preferences, for arcade I lean towards 3, because I normally run mask 2 for console games and I like the difference between games.

1 Like

Directly from crt-lottes-multipass’s.glsl

// This is more along the style of a really good CGA arcade monitor.

// With RGB inputs instead of NTSC.

crt-lottes uses mask 3 by default, mask 3 says it’s a stretched VGA style shadow mask, where as mask 4 says it’s a VGA shadow mask(I’m assuming non-stretched). I much prefer 3, I really don’t like how mask 4 has looked on anything I’ve test it with.

1 Like

Shadowmask = I have this set to 1 or 3. YMMV depending on what you want. 0 = no mask emulation at all. I do not believe 2 is an aperture grille, there is clearly a mask of some sort being displayed. 0 would be aperture grille Sony style.

Do mean 0 is no mask at all or it’s a apeture grille Sony style? Or are you saying a Sony style apeture grille is basically no mask?

Sorry this confused me.

You’re right, I was thinking of the “dotmask” shader. My mistake.

I also found this confusing.

1 Like

I use mask 3 in crt-guest-dr-venom.

2 Likes

“Crt-guest.r-Dr.Venom” is pretty close if you tweak it a little bit.

2 Likes

Mask 3 in lottes is the same as Mask 3 crt-guest-dr-venom.

Sorry on the delayed response, that’s the same mask I personally use for most of my arcade stuff, though some games I’ll run Mask 2.

2 Likes