Didnt know it was a thing - until I fell in love with it. I bought an OSSC recently, just to play with it, and also decided, that for some reason the first old console, that I'd move back in from storage (I used emulation for everything else exclusively for years) should be a PS2 - so its the first console I'm experiencing the OSSC with, and boy what a stunner.
The short synopsis is, that many (/most) consoles prior to the N64 in some form or fashion used 240p-263p (could also be 270p dont know, just havent seen the resolution yet) natively, when calculating the image - and then used the characteristics of CRTs, to display an empty black line every other line (what we now sometimes try to simulate using scanlines) and thereby ended up outputting at a vertical resolution of 480 (interlaced). (Something in that explanation is not quite right, as interlaced is line altering - have to think it through once more.. ).
Regardless, the point is, that the entire image information is stored in 240 (263 (PAL), ...) lines, that can be scaled 5x to get a pretty decent 1080p image, with 3:2 aspect ratio (top and bottom cut off a bit probably - still have to doublecheck), thats not that impacted by your TVs scaling - in fact, this is what the OSSC does (although not perfectly, see tearing issue in the other thread, the tearing issue could probably be solved, by outputing 1920x1200 to my LG OLED, and then stretching the bars away (in the TVs options (stretch to all sides, with manual adjustments)) - although this will impact image quality - in 1920x1200, the tearing does not occur, but black bars are introduced.) That 240p image, integer scaled to 1080p - looks money. Its crisp, its sharp, its vibrant (OSSC takes YCbCr (limited dynamic range), and outputs full dynamic range, and does the rec601 conversion to rec709 correctly) - depending on the game I sometimes even use dynamic range set to limited on my TV crushing near blacks in the signal - but boy do some games look good doing this...
As the resulting image is a little too sharp (jaggies, compression artefacts), we introduce fake scanlines using the OSSC - and boy, if that image (at 18% to 50% scanline intensity (I most often use 25%, but then thats with the black crush dynamic range mismatch, mentioned above. If I set it correctly, scanlines closer to 50% would be appropriate) doesnt look gorgeous, I dont know what else would.
Example:
https://streamable.com/jplgch
The game in the example is ICO, which renders at 240p natively. Its one of the few PS2 games that do. Most of them actually render in 480i - which using the OSSC cant be 5x scaled, and therefore is less impressive looking on current TVs. (That said, my OLED doesnt accept the 3x scaled signal from 480i or 576i (Normally lower, I forgot the number I actually see all the time 525i I believe - (will edit, when checked)), so I only can see 2x and sometimes 4x - which look significantly less impressive. (4x (the higher starting resolution of 480i deinterlaced) on an LG OLED produces a resolution that lets the TV switch into a "PC mode" (much like 1920x1200) where you have to reapply image settings (calibration settings) once more, btw, because they are handled (grouped) separately from "TV resolution" on that device.). But thats not all.
Using PopStation we have access to quite a few titles of the PSX library running in full speed, most of which also render in 240p (or 263p) those also can be integer scaled 5x.
Using Emulators we have access to SNES and Genesis, up to Sega CD games - also running in 240p (263p).
Sega CD is where the PS2 struggles to keep up emulation wise. It could be the USB 1.0 ports on the PS2 that are the limiting factor, havent looked into that yet.
Regardless, the emulator to use is PicoDrive Standalone ( https://mundowiihack.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/picodrive-ps2/#more-466 ), and the CD images have to be prepared a little to be able to play them - the following video tells you how: Its in russian though, and since neither me nor probably most of you are speaking it, and the person explaining makes the entire process more complicated than it needs to be - here is the way I ended up preparing my images:
Software thats needed is Isobuster and any software that can convert .wav files into .mp3. Open the Sega CD image in Isobuster, go into Isobuster settings, uncheck "automatically just use .iso over bin". Rightclick on CD once the image is loaded, then extract content, both as raw bin, and as an iso. The Iso run will give you the data partition of the CD as an iso file, which you can delete, but will also extract audio tracks as .wav which you need. The .bin extraction run will give you all of the data segments on the CD as .bin files, of which we only keep the first (data partition). We rename .bin and .wav files according to their naming scheme in the .cue , that lists one data partition (.bin), and several other .bins with a music designation (starttime, length, and chapter markers). Those bins are still designated as BINARY in the .cue file, we replace BINARY with MP3 in all but the first instance (where it refers to the data partition), and then replace the file endings of all other entries with .mp3. The .cue sheet example under "Compressed audio tracks" in this wiki is what we are aiming for structurally: https://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Cuesheet (just not with .ogg, but with .mp3)) Then we have to convert our .wav files into .mp3 (128k/bit max as quality, otherwise the USB connection on the PS2 becomes the bottleneck again.. Probably (have to double check).), and place them in the same folder. In PicoDrive we then just have to load the .cue file (with the setting "use .mp3" enabled.). Use 16 bit accurate emulation and 44100Hz, whenever possible). Games might stutter once in a while, but in general are playable - and also PicoDrive has a setting to output in 240p. Yay.
For PSX and Popstation, just use a tool named CUE2POPS_2_3.exe that creates .vcd files from .cue and .bin which are compatible with Popstation - those files have to contain one .bin only, before CUE2POPS_2_3.exe can convert them and for that we use Isobuster again (this time with create image and .bin as the option (right click on CD once loaded). This produces an image which exactly one .cue and one .bin, which we can load in CUE2POPS_2_3.exe, and thats basically it.
FMV games on PSX dont run well using this method, btw - X-Files is a stutterfest, but then , that also uses 320p native resolution, so far exceeding 240p (and 263p ) - but other demanding games like Chrono Cross, basically run flawlessly. No emulation settings available, btw, those games simply will output in their 240p (and 263p ) modes by default.
Long story short - with the right linedoubler (OSSC or a more expensive one ), and an option to be able to add scanlines in the linedoubler, 240p looks money, even on LCD and OLEDs. No CRT needed. All interlaced resolution outputs, look worse in my case, due to the scaling of the TV, but still worse if integer scaled by the OSSC (to a lesser than 5x multiple).
Policenauts 240p 5x Scaled with scanlines, I tell you... *Mmmoaaa* -- basically you get the feeling back of having played those games on a CRT, just bigger than your CRT ever was.
First time I have had that experience on a modern flat panel TV. And its all due to integer scaling 240p signals (bypassing the TVs internal scaler (up to 1080p at least) and adding scanlines. (Which normally I dont love - but in this case... they look great (and combat the aliasing.. ) Because the PS2 and earlier games didnt have any Anti Aliasing; and it shows.. ).
edit: For reference, other people having fallen in love with 240p.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/wii-240p-emulators.473191/
edit: Fixed the wrong link just above this sentence.
The short synopsis is, that many (/most) consoles prior to the N64 in some form or fashion used 240p-263p (could also be 270p dont know, just havent seen the resolution yet) natively, when calculating the image - and then used the characteristics of CRTs, to display an empty black line every other line (what we now sometimes try to simulate using scanlines) and thereby ended up outputting at a vertical resolution of 480 (interlaced). (Something in that explanation is not quite right, as interlaced is line altering - have to think it through once more.. ).
Regardless, the point is, that the entire image information is stored in 240 (263 (PAL), ...) lines, that can be scaled 5x to get a pretty decent 1080p image, with 3:2 aspect ratio (top and bottom cut off a bit probably - still have to doublecheck), thats not that impacted by your TVs scaling - in fact, this is what the OSSC does (although not perfectly, see tearing issue in the other thread, the tearing issue could probably be solved, by outputing 1920x1200 to my LG OLED, and then stretching the bars away (in the TVs options (stretch to all sides, with manual adjustments)) - although this will impact image quality - in 1920x1200, the tearing does not occur, but black bars are introduced.) That 240p image, integer scaled to 1080p - looks money. Its crisp, its sharp, its vibrant (OSSC takes YCbCr (limited dynamic range), and outputs full dynamic range, and does the rec601 conversion to rec709 correctly) - depending on the game I sometimes even use dynamic range set to limited on my TV crushing near blacks in the signal - but boy do some games look good doing this...
As the resulting image is a little too sharp (jaggies, compression artefacts), we introduce fake scanlines using the OSSC - and boy, if that image (at 18% to 50% scanline intensity (I most often use 25%, but then thats with the black crush dynamic range mismatch, mentioned above. If I set it correctly, scanlines closer to 50% would be appropriate) doesnt look gorgeous, I dont know what else would.
Example:
https://streamable.com/jplgch
The game in the example is ICO, which renders at 240p natively. Its one of the few PS2 games that do. Most of them actually render in 480i - which using the OSSC cant be 5x scaled, and therefore is less impressive looking on current TVs. (That said, my OLED doesnt accept the 3x scaled signal from 480i or 576i (Normally lower, I forgot the number I actually see all the time 525i I believe - (will edit, when checked)), so I only can see 2x and sometimes 4x - which look significantly less impressive. (4x (the higher starting resolution of 480i deinterlaced) on an LG OLED produces a resolution that lets the TV switch into a "PC mode" (much like 1920x1200) where you have to reapply image settings (calibration settings) once more, btw, because they are handled (grouped) separately from "TV resolution" on that device.). But thats not all.
Using PopStation we have access to quite a few titles of the PSX library running in full speed, most of which also render in 240p (or 263p) those also can be integer scaled 5x.
Using Emulators we have access to SNES and Genesis, up to Sega CD games - also running in 240p (263p).
Sega CD is where the PS2 struggles to keep up emulation wise. It could be the USB 1.0 ports on the PS2 that are the limiting factor, havent looked into that yet.
Regardless, the emulator to use is PicoDrive Standalone ( https://mundowiihack.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/picodrive-ps2/#more-466 ), and the CD images have to be prepared a little to be able to play them - the following video tells you how: Its in russian though, and since neither me nor probably most of you are speaking it, and the person explaining makes the entire process more complicated than it needs to be - here is the way I ended up preparing my images:
Software thats needed is Isobuster and any software that can convert .wav files into .mp3. Open the Sega CD image in Isobuster, go into Isobuster settings, uncheck "automatically just use .iso over bin". Rightclick on CD once the image is loaded, then extract content, both as raw bin, and as an iso. The Iso run will give you the data partition of the CD as an iso file, which you can delete, but will also extract audio tracks as .wav which you need. The .bin extraction run will give you all of the data segments on the CD as .bin files, of which we only keep the first (data partition). We rename .bin and .wav files according to their naming scheme in the .cue , that lists one data partition (.bin), and several other .bins with a music designation (starttime, length, and chapter markers). Those bins are still designated as BINARY in the .cue file, we replace BINARY with MP3 in all but the first instance (where it refers to the data partition), and then replace the file endings of all other entries with .mp3. The .cue sheet example under "Compressed audio tracks" in this wiki is what we are aiming for structurally: https://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Cuesheet (just not with .ogg, but with .mp3)) Then we have to convert our .wav files into .mp3 (128k/bit max as quality, otherwise the USB connection on the PS2 becomes the bottleneck again.. Probably (have to double check).), and place them in the same folder. In PicoDrive we then just have to load the .cue file (with the setting "use .mp3" enabled.). Use 16 bit accurate emulation and 44100Hz, whenever possible). Games might stutter once in a while, but in general are playable - and also PicoDrive has a setting to output in 240p. Yay.
For PSX and Popstation, just use a tool named CUE2POPS_2_3.exe that creates .vcd files from .cue and .bin which are compatible with Popstation - those files have to contain one .bin only, before CUE2POPS_2_3.exe can convert them and for that we use Isobuster again (this time with create image and .bin as the option (right click on CD once loaded). This produces an image which exactly one .cue and one .bin, which we can load in CUE2POPS_2_3.exe, and thats basically it.
FMV games on PSX dont run well using this method, btw - X-Files is a stutterfest, but then , that also uses 320p native resolution, so far exceeding 240p (and 263p ) - but other demanding games like Chrono Cross, basically run flawlessly. No emulation settings available, btw, those games simply will output in their 240p (and 263p ) modes by default.
Long story short - with the right linedoubler (OSSC or a more expensive one ), and an option to be able to add scanlines in the linedoubler, 240p looks money, even on LCD and OLEDs. No CRT needed. All interlaced resolution outputs, look worse in my case, due to the scaling of the TV, but still worse if integer scaled by the OSSC (to a lesser than 5x multiple).
Policenauts 240p 5x Scaled with scanlines, I tell you... *Mmmoaaa* -- basically you get the feeling back of having played those games on a CRT, just bigger than your CRT ever was.
First time I have had that experience on a modern flat panel TV. And its all due to integer scaling 240p signals (bypassing the TVs internal scaler (up to 1080p at least) and adding scanlines. (Which normally I dont love - but in this case... they look great (and combat the aliasing.. ) Because the PS2 and earlier games didnt have any Anti Aliasing; and it shows.. ).
edit: For reference, other people having fallen in love with 240p.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/wii-240p-emulators.473191/
edit: Fixed the wrong link just above this sentence.
Last edited by notimp,