Homebrew SNES9xGx and FECUGx now have accurate pixel scaling

[themanuel]

Because the original resolution of SNES and FCEU games was lower than the Wii's output resolution, it used to be that you had to compromise when using these emulators.
You either:
1) used unfiltered graphics and saw disproportionate pixels on the screen
2) used filtered graphics to get the correct pixels shapes but a blurry image

Now, with the latest updates to SNES9xGX and FCEUGx, unfiltered graphics look the way they are supposed to. If you want to experience the effect of this improvement, before you update the emulator, load Castlevania for the NES. Look at Simon's life bar and you will notice that the life boxes are uneven in size when you use unfiltered graphics. Enable filtering and the bars will have a consistent size, though the screen is a bit blurry. Now update the emulator and try the same exercise. You will notice that now the bars with unfiltered graphics match the proportions of the filtered ones.

I used to just use filtered graphics to get accurate scaling and most people might not mind the blurring, but to me it was a compromise. Now I can get both, accurate scaling and sharp graphics at the same time.

Kudos to Tantric and eke-eke for one of the best improvements I've seen to these great emulators in a long time.

Now, it we can only get them to show covers...

 

[Coto]

Thanks! I'll be updating my SNES9XGX. I wonder how will non-filtered STARFOX 1 will look through component cables now

 

[the_randomizer]

So, does this mean that the unfiltered games won't look as bad as the Snes VC games look like on an HDTV (like a real Snes)? If so, then halle-frikin'-lujah.

 

[themanuel]

So, does this mean that the unfiltered games won't look as bad as the Snes VC games look like on an HDTV (like a real Snes)? If so, then halle-frikin'-lujah.

Unfortunately, no. The games will look more like the Virtual Console. I haven't done much testing, but on the VC games I had, I did not recall seeing any anomalies. I'll check tonight, just for fun.

The games will always look bad on HDTV, just due to the high dot pitch and lack of color bleed in modern TV's. Games designers leveraged these technical shortcomings of the displays of the time to hide the blocky nature of the graphics.

One alternative for you is the hq2x filter, but it drops the framerate of games, so I don't use it. Jerky motion annoys me more than blocky graphics. An ideal setup, however impractical, would be to have a CRT TV for pre-GCN games and an HDTV for 2000's and up. The old CRT would probable help GBA and GB games too.

 

[the_randomizer]

That's what I was afraid of, oh well, the filter (the non-hq2x one) is as close to a CRT filter as I can get on my HDTV. It's not a deal breaker, though. Heck, Snes9xGx's filtering is the primary reason I stopped using Snes VC games.

 

[PolloDiablo]

Now we only have to wait for the VBAGx update.... Im still using the bilinear filter

 

[themanuel]

Now we only have to wait for the VBAGx update.... Im still using the bilinear filter

Yes. That one really needs it too.
This fellow here figured out a way to get the scaling right, by adjusting the zoom levels.
However, if you use that method, you should set your 16:9 TV to 4:3 screen mode for to obtain the correct GBA screen aspect ratio of ~1.5; otherwise, everything will stretched horizontally. I tested the method with Metroid Zero Mission on a save room. There is a diagonal line of pixels that goes from the floor to the wall and the settings described in that website, make it look like a perfect pixel staircase. Any other combination of zoom levels make the pixels have uneven shapes. I was really impressed.
The settings for GB show the game at the correct proportions but the image fills the screen vertically. I don't particularly like that because GB is really low resolution and looks veeery blocky.

 

[Hielkenator]

SLG-3000 anyone?

 

[themanuel]

SLG-3000 anyone?

It might help but would not be visually faithful to the original experience, since Gameboy and its successors had LCD screens, so no scanlines to speak of.

 

[Hielkenator]

SLG-3000 anyone?

It might help but would not be visually faithful to the original experience, since Gameboy and its successors had LCD screens, so no scanlines to speak of.

I meant for FCEU and SNESGX actually...

 

[themanuel]

Oh, yeah. It would be nice to have such an option.

 

[adam_prime]

Sorry to bump this old thread!

I was just wondering with this new update, does this mean that the "most accurate" way to play SNES games on 9xGx is to play with no filtering and no scaling? I noticed that turning on a filter would slow down the frame rate.

 

[themanuel]

Yes. It would produce the most accurate proportion of the game's pixels, scaled from the game's original resolution to fill your screen. Of course, it won't look the same on modern screens as it did on CRT tubes running at the original low resolution.

Some people like the filtered look, but I don't because it blurs the image. However, I haven't noticed the frame rate drop, but I haven't tried all of the games. I just use the 16:9 mode and no filtering.

 

[the_randomizer]

This thing is only advantageous to those who don't have LCD HDTVs. If you don't have a CRT, you're out of luck.

 

[themanuel]

This thing is only advantageous to those who don't have LCD HDTVs. If you don't have a CRT, you're out of luck.

Not really. If you have a CRT you are better off with the 240p or "original" mode which the emus also support. This truly gives you the original experience. With a modern display (plasma, LCD, etc.), the benefit of accurate pixel scaling is that now all pixels are shown in the correct proportions whereas before, the scaling forced some pixels to odd sizes which made things like life bars not have uniform slots, and other anomalies. With filtering you would get the the correct proportions but you would have to endure the blurring.

 

[the_randomizer]

The blurring looks better than unfiltered IMHO. It looks like how the CRT handled Snes games (the color bleeding), but since my TV has no 240p support whatsoever, I stick with filtering. The unfiltered mode looks as bad as a VC game.

 

[b17bomber]

So since I have a CRT monitor, how do I make it look as close to the original as possible? Does that mean it should look just like the Virtual Console? Because I don't remember Mega Man 3 looking so dark.

 

[themanuel]

The blurring looks better than unfiltered IMHO. It looks like how the CRT handled Snes games (the color bleeding), but since my TV has no 240p support whatsoever, I stick with filtering. The unfiltered mode looks as bad as a VC game.

It does look like the VC, from what I've seen.

So since I have a CRT monitor, how do I make it look as close to the original as possible? Does that mean it should look just like the Virtual Console? Because I don't remember Mega Man 3 looking so dark.

If you connect to your CRT TV through composite, rather than component (most CRT TV's don't have component connections, though some do), you should be able to see the option for "original" or "native" output. I've never seen it myself because I've always been connected through component.

 

[wiismodrome]

So since I have a CRT monitor, how do I make it look as close to the original as possible? Does that mean it should look just like the Virtual Console? Because I don't remember Mega Man 3 looking so dark.

Select Original in the video options.

 

[abilaunken]

Original still give me some shimmering on a 240p and a crt only in horzontal resolution.
In retroarch i can manage a original 2x1 resolution better than snesgx and fecu.
The only way i see to avoid this is set to unfiltering but its a little blurry and i think change to 480i, i dont know... this make me sad.