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I don't know if this was already widely known or not I found a way to achieve perfect pixel sizes and bright graphics. Usually under low resolution like 640x480 and below if you look hard enough upclose you can see the natural hscanlines along all the pixels on the screen. And when you back away it makes the graphics look slightly dull. Nothing that's gunna get in the way or ruin quality but I discovered a higher quality...

A week or so ago I was playing around with an emulator and I noticed that the lower resolution I chose like 320x200 or 400x300 I could still see the black or grayish lines along all the pixels. As I went higher and higher suddenly the lines became smaller and smaller as did the display render in the emulator. So as I got larger I used options like stretch and 2X but those slowed down the emulation way too much. But finally I found that resolution 1024x768 not only has perfect square pixels but is so high that the scanlines aren't really visible. The graphics were just absolutely amazing. Perfectly clear, fullscreen, and bright. So then I got the brainwave, "I wonder what SMS looks like this??"

So I went to my favorite SMS emulator, SMSPlus (Sorry Meka), read it's nice help prompt and used...

-res 1024 768 -scale

Res sets the resolution to 1024x768, and since the SMS screen is 256 across and 192 down, when you use scale it perfectly fits on the screen. So stretch doesn't have to work so hard besides it's pixel ratio of 4:1 I think. No side window, no dull graphics...everything is bright and huge and it's wonderful. If you already knew I apologise for being off topic. If you didn't know then I still apologise but if you got a good video card and the SMSPlus emulator then try it. Or try it with other emulators if you like. Just remember to use 1024x768 as your resolution and see if there's an option for double, triple, quadrouple sizes or some sort of stretch option.

Chris :o)

At low resolutions, like 240 lines, there are two horizontal scanlines per pixel. Above that, there's one - it depends on your video card's maximum bandwidth and programming. So, the higher the resolution you use, the more lines fit into the same space, and the closer the lines get. That explains why the dark lines get less and less visible.

It also depends on your monitor's size and dot pitch. On my old 14 inch monitor with a lousy dot pitch, the effect is negligible, but on my newer 17 inch monitor with I think a 0.21 dot pitch, the effect is clear. Moire patterns are also linked to the same things, which is why I never had them on my old monitor.

Meka can happily run at 512x384 doubled, but doesn't do tripling or quadrupling. On my monitor, the black lines are not visible at that resolution when you're far enough from the monitor to see the whole screen at once.

On the other hand, emulator authors have to program in "scanlines" to please people who want them. Go figure, I believe the saying goes.

Maxim

Quote

> Meka can happily run at 512x384 doubled, but doesn't do tripling or quadrupling. On my monitor, the black lines are not visible at that resolution when you're far enough from the monitor to see the whole screen at once.

512x384 is a special case - your video card may or may not be scandoubling (ie what you mentioned with resolutions of X x 240 and below). sounds like in your case your card is doubling the scans so the card is actualy sending a 768 lines high image to the monitor and effectivly being identical to 1024x768 without the extra overhead.

programs like scitech display doctor can disable the doublescan for 512x384 (which i do because monitor doesnt like 768 high image) and the scanlines become obvious again.

I find that on KGen98, when I'm playing Shining Force (or any other game) the graphics that PS2 quality of 'jaggies'. By enabling scanlines, this effect is much less noticeable, and for some reason, it looks more authentic to me.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

~unfnknblvbl

Author	Message
Consolemu Guest	Good News (sorta) Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2001 5:56 pm
Consolemu Guest	I don't know if this was already widely known or not I found a way to achieve perfect pixel sizes and bright graphics. Usually under low resolution like 640x480 and below if you look hard enough upclose you can see the natural hscanlines along all the pixels on the screen. And when you back away it makes the graphics look slightly dull. Nothing that's gunna get in the way or ruin quality but I discovered a higher quality... A week or so ago I was playing around with an emulator and I noticed that the lower resolution I chose like 320x200 or 400x300 I could still see the black or grayish lines along all the pixels. As I went higher and higher suddenly the lines became smaller and smaller as did the display render in the emulator. So as I got larger I used options like stretch and 2X but those slowed down the emulation way too much. But finally I found that resolution 1024x768 not only has perfect square pixels but is so high that the scanlines aren't really visible. The graphics were just absolutely amazing. Perfectly clear, fullscreen, and bright. So then I got the brainwave, "I wonder what SMS looks like this??" So I went to my favorite SMS emulator, SMSPlus (Sorry Meka), read it's nice help prompt and used... -res 1024 768 -scale Res sets the resolution to 1024x768, and since the SMS screen is 256 across and 192 down, when you use scale it perfectly fits on the screen. So stretch doesn't have to work so hard besides it's pixel ratio of 4:1 I think. No side window, no dull graphics...everything is bright and huge and it's wonderful. If you already knew I apologise for being off topic. If you didn't know then I still apologise but if you got a good video card and the SMSPlus emulator then try it. Or try it with other emulators if you like. Just remember to use 1024x768 as your resolution and see if there's an option for double, triple, quadrouple sizes or some sort of stretch option. Chris :o)

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	An explanation of sorts Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2001 8:55 pm
	At low resolutions, like 240 lines, there are two horizontal scanlines per pixel. Above that, there's one - it depends on your video card's maximum bandwidth and programming. So, the higher the resolution you use, the more lines fit into the same space, and the closer the lines get. That explains why the dark lines get less and less visible. It also depends on your monitor's size and dot pitch. On my old 14 inch monitor with a lousy dot pitch, the effect is negligible, but on my newer 17 inch monitor with I think a 0.21 dot pitch, the effect is clear. Moire patterns are also linked to the same things, which is why I never had them on my old monitor. Meka can happily run at 512x384 doubled, but doesn't do tripling or quadrupling. On my monitor, the black lines are not visible at that resolution when you're far enough from the monitor to see the whole screen at once. On the other hand, emulator authors have to program in "scanlines" to please people who want them. Go figure, I believe the saying goes. Maxim

Limbs a Flyin' Guest	Re: An explanation of sorts Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2001 2:28 pm
Limbs a Flyin' Guest	Quote > Meka can happily run at 512x384 doubled, but doesn't do tripling or quadrupling. On my monitor, the black lines are not visible at that resolution when you're far enough from the monitor to see the whole screen at once. 512x384 is a special case - your video card may or may not be scandoubling (ie what you mentioned with resolutions of X x 240 and below). sounds like in your case your card is doubling the scans so the card is actualy sending a 768 lines high image to the monitor and effectivly being identical to 1024x768 without the extra overhead. programs like scitech display doctor can disable the doublescan for 512x384 (which i do because monitor doesnt like 768 high image) and the scanlines become obvious again.

unfnknblvbl Joined: 12 Jul 1999 Posts: 891	I actually like 'Scanlines'... Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2001 4:11 pm
unfnknblvbl Joined: 12 Jul 1999 Posts: 891	I find that on KGen98, when I'm playing Shining Force (or any other game) the graphics that PS2 quality of 'jaggies'. By enabling scanlines, this effect is much less noticeable, and for some reason, it looks more authentic to me. Anyway, that's my two cents. ~unfnknblvbl

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