Homebrew Questions regarding color accuracy for VC games

[CobraStr1ke]

Are the NES games the only ones that really took a hit when it comes to looking too dark? I made a ton of my own custom Wii VC injects and noticed that for Mario and Punch Out!! for example, they were super dark on my 240p crt...I then tried those two games out on the latest retroarch Nestopia core and was amazed at how much brighter they looked!

One thing that stuck out to me was how bright the color blue looks in the title screen of Punch Out!! and from the ring. When I checked it out through a VC channel the color blue looks very dark.

I just loaded up my Sonic 2 VC game and I think it looks AMAZING. I then tried out Sonic 2 on the latest Gens core in retroarch and I do not believe I could tell a difference, looked just as good on the VC.


So I take it Genesis and SNES VC even were not affected in the color department (looking too dark like NES etc)...?

Also, is it me or does the VC emulation seem pretty rock solid when it comes to 16 bit? What I mean by that is it appears to me to be smoother, just click and play as opposed to any emulators I have used via the homebrew channel.

 

[Deleted User]

 

[Burnt Lasagna]

The NES (and older consoles) all displayed YIQ color space.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YIQ
Instead of the common RGB color space we use today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_mode

YIQ does not have a definite color palette like RGB, instead it leaves most of the color creation up to the composite signal on your CRT. Emulating this video output would be a nightmare, so most emulators make a definite color palette in an RGB space. The RGB colors you see in emulators are the results of someone eye balling the colors that a NES produces on a CRT and translating that into RGB values. AKA, it’s hardly an exact science and can never be perfect. Though with the above being said, I think the VC actually comes the closest to how I remember the NES looking on my TV.

16bit consoles onward all produced RGB colors before sending off to the composite signal. So there is no debate on what the true colors are for those systems and emulators don't need to do any guess work to display them.

 

[Deleted User]

The NES (and older consoles) all displayed YIQ color space.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YIQ
Instead of the common RGB color space we use today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_mode

YIQ does not have a definite color palette like RGB, instead it leaves most of the color creation up to the composite signal on your CRT. YIQ cannot be displayed on modern hardware, so emulators have to make a definite color palette in an RGB space. The RGB colors you see in emulators are the results of someone eye balling the colors that a NES produces on a CRT and translating that into RGB values. AKA, it’s hardly an exact science and can never be perfect. Though with the above being said, I think the VC actually comes the closest to how I remember the NES looking on my TV.

16bit consoles onward all produced RGB colors before sending off to the composite signal. So there is no debate on what the true colors are for those systems and emulators don't need to do any guess work to display them.

So what if a NES was plugged into a new TV, are you saying it wouldn't display?

 

[Burnt Lasagna]

Sorry, it does display on modern TVs, though color reproduction is not always the best.
I've edited my initial post to reflect this.

I know Nestopia on PC does have a "NTSC Color Emulation" option that attempts to emulate the output of the NES onto modern displays. Though most emulators just opt to convert the signal to RGB pallets because it is easier.

 

[soniccomcisbr]

I am using a nestopia core mod that uses the pallete from virtual console. Mod was made by @zerofalcon See more here http://gbatemp.net/threads/ripping-the-nes-virtual-console-palette.371706/

 

[Deleted User]

I am using a nestopia core mod that uses the pallete from virtual console. Mod was made by @zerofalcon See more here http://gbatemp.net/threads/ripping-the-nes-virtual-console-palette.371706/

Nice, I read that Nestopia is the better core on RA.