Homebrew Is DS emulation really that much worse?

[Waygeek]

I've read in a few threads that DS games on 3DS is not advised because the image quality takes a hit. Is this true for cfw/TWilight? Surely there are a myriad of video options available? Anyone got any comparison shots showing why it's a bad idea? Usually I play games stretched to fit at the same aspect ratio, with all filtering off, but I don't know if that's the best thing to do here. I have a CFW DSi and n3ds, but ideally would like to sell the DSi on if possible.

 

[Reploid]

It does get a minor hit, but not because something's wrong with emulation, but because screen resolution is different (interpolation do they call it?)
It give slight blur on the image, but if you worried by this so much just launch a game while holding SELECT+START to launch in cropped mode, without any interpolation, but not fullscreen

 

[Pickle_Rick]

I've read in a few threads that DS games on 3DS is not advised because the image quality takes a hit. Is this true for cfw/TWilight? Surely there are a myriad of video options available? Anyone got any comparison shots showing why it's a bad idea? Usually I play games stretched to fit at the same aspect ratio, with all filtering off, but I don't know if that's the best thing to do here. I have a CFW DSi and n3ds, but ideally would like to sell the DSi on if possible.

The 3DS has the DSi hardware in it. It’s not emulation.

 

[GBADWB]

image quality takes a hit because of the resolutions. the DS resolution is 256x192, the 3ds resolution is 400x240(without 3d). Since there is no integer that scales a 192 vertical pixel count image to a 240 pixel count (so 192 is 1x, 384 is 2x) some pixels are doubled and others arent creating a distorted image effect. This effect is pretty bad at lower resolutions/ppi because each pixel plays a more significant part to the entire image compared to high pixel images.

 

[Waygeek]

The 3DS has the DSi hardware in it. It’s not emulation.

Whatever you want to call it, doesn't really answer my question does it.

image quality takes a hit because of the resolutions. the DS resolution is 256x192, the 3ds resolution is 400x240(without 3d). Since there is no integer that scales a 192 vertical pixel count image to a 240 pixel count (so 192 is 1x, 384 is 2x) some pixels are doubled and others arent creating a distorted image effect. This effect is pretty bad at lower resolutions/ppi because each pixel plays a more significant part to the entire image compared to high pixel images.

Hmm. Thanks. That doesn't sound great. But the resolution difference doesn't sound too large, maybe I can play it at native output without the image being laughably small...

 

[kirbymaster101]

hold select/start to play in native resolution. if the small image bothers you then buy a used ds lite/dsi/dsi xl on ebay. i'd recommend that.

 

[Waygeek]

if the small image bothers you then buy a used ds lite/dsi/dsi xl on ebay. i'd recommend that.

C'mon man the op is like four lines long.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Whatever you want to call it, doesn't really answer my question does it.



Hmm. Thanks. That doesn't sound great. But the resolution difference doesn't sound too large, maybe I can play it at native output without the image being laughably small...

What they do to get around that weird scaling is use bilinear filtering which makes the image slightly blurry. It's better than not using any filtering as otherwise diagonal lines would look jagged and uneven and any time you moved around there would be very noticeable distortion (especially in 2D games) as the pixels that are doubled are always in the same location while everything moves around them.

You get used to the slight blurriness, and it's far less of an issue in 3D games, but let's face it, 2D games are where its at on the DS. 3D games always looked kind of crappy.

If you have an XL console and you hold Select/Start to disable the scaling, the screens end up about the same size as an original DS phat/lite, which isn't that bad. On an original 2DS/3DS games end up looking pretty small, so I don't recommend disabling scaling on those. But if you don't play DS games that often, the slight blurriness is not a big issue. If you do, I would probably just play on an emulator or an original DS instead. It's nice to have DS support for those occasional times i feel like whipping out a DS game such as Mario Party DS (still better than any of the 3DS mario parties) or Ouendan/EBA but I probably wouldn't use it for playing through Pokemon or anything long that doesn't rely heavily on the touchscreen, for that I would just use an emulator or if the game is touch heavy, maybe my phone. 3D games also look way better on an emulator.

 

[Waygeek]

Yeah I tested it out, and the slight bluriness is definitely noticeable. Servicable though, definitely. Can the placement of the pixel perfect perfect screens be modified? Pretty distracting having them right at the edge there. They are a bit smaller than DS screens, which is unfortunate (I'm on a New 3DS non-XL, gotta have my white+ SNES buttons) Weird how there's no middle ground...

Was also pretty shocked to see the difference in colour. The DS screens are noticeably more vibrant, the colours are far nicer. 3DS screen was at full brightness and with auto brightness turned off too.

 

[isoboy]

Pixel perfect or get the ffffff. Hold start. I use my DS lite though.

 

[Waygeek]

I would tend to agree with that sentiment, prefer the unfiltered look over whatever blurry solution handheld emulation offers. Might avail of the filtering on 3DS for the likes of DQ IX though, that cel shaded outline looks rough on DS.

 

[SamuraiOndo]

Instead of using a dsi just use the newly release TWLPatcher. You can find it on the front page of this website