Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

[bobrocks95]

Hey borti, just curious, has your de-blur heuristic been updated in a while?

Or has it been tested pretty thoroughly at this point? Haven't heard a lot of people talking about it really.

It has been updated a few times. Last one I believe early July (due to a pixel shift in some games).

I remember the update when people found the Super Mario 64 intro acting weird. I don't remember reading about other problems that were found though (maybe a wrestling game?).

[CobraKing]

Hey borti, just curious, has your de-blur heuristic been updated in a while?

Or has it been tested pretty thoroughly at this point? Haven't heard a lot of people talking about it really.

It has been updated a few times. Last one I believe early July (due to a pixel shift in some games).

I remember the update when people found the Super Mario 64 intro acting weird. I don't remember reading about other problems that were found though (maybe a wrestling game?).

@borti4938 updated his firmware to correct an issue with the AKI games and also provided 2 versions of the IGR (in-game routines) so that games that used the D-Pad and shoulder buttons would not accidentally trigger a soft reset.

If you're looking to update your firmware I highly recommend his '#1' firmware as both Z + Start have to be pressed in order to activate any IGR commands.

https://github.com/borti4938/n64rgb/tre ... w_builds/1

[borti4938]

Hey borti, just curious, has your de-blur heuristic been updated in a while?

Or has it been tested pretty thoroughly at this point? Haven't heard a lot of people talking about it really.

Latest update regarding the heuristic was on May 18th. Since then the algorithm hasn't changed. Some other mentionable updates are:
- June 28th: removing pixel shift between deblur on and off (output phase shift by 180 degree (half of a pixel) of the sync signal)
- Juli 10th and 11th: parameterization of the IGR button combinations by (hopefully easy) self editing the source as well as the first alternative button combinations

What I have found so far is that the heuristic may fail if the image content is quite dark and deblur has to be off. One example is 007 Goldeneye in level Silo, where the heuristic tends to switch on the deblur.

[Ikaruga11]

Why does the UltraHDMI give more vibrant colors than the N64RGB Board?

Also, can the UltraHDMI output at it's native 320x240p resolution?

[tjstogy]

Dude, no offense, but do you ever actually read the topic postings before you post? Every time I see your posts, they are questions which have already been answered in that same exact thread.

There's a gamma boost option on the UltraHDMI- Borti is making his own board which will incorporate this.

Why does the UltraHDMI give more vibrant colors than the N64RGB Board?

[Thamiel]

Dude, no offense, but do you ever actually read the topic postings before you post?

Nope.



Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Ikaruga11]

Dude, no offense, but do you ever actually read the topic postings before you post? Every time I see your posts, they are questions which have already been answered in that same exact thread.

There's a gamma boost option on the UltraHDMI- Borti is making his own board which will incorporate this.

Why does the UltraHDMI give more vibrant colors than the N64RGB Board?

Dude, no offense, but why can't you quote someone correctly?

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Link83]

Regarding the DAC curve:
Well I do have an implementation ready. I.e. firmware portion has been written. But I had to change the FPGA as the very small Max10 doesn't support the implementation. A new prototype is already in production. I hope to get it in a few weeks ready.

If I look at the UltraHDMI feature set and especially the "gamma boost" as it is called there looks good. So I will see how it goes

Wow Which FPGA does the new prototype advanced board use now? and are there any other new features planned?

Also has it been confirmed that the original Nintendo DAC/Video Encoders feature a non-linear gamme curve? Or is it just a case of many people enjoying the 'Gamma Boost' option on the UltraHDMI, even if its not accurate to original hardware?

[borti4938]

Wow Which FPGA does the new prototype advanced board use now? and are there any other new features planned?

I want to use a Cyclone 10 LP, which is very new on the market and low-cost optimised. I still wait for my mouser order to be shipped, which should be within the next two/three days (hopefully).
More precisely, I ordered a 10CL010YE144C8G. However, the board is also able to carry also the slightly smaller 10CL006YE144 and also the Cyclone IV FPGAs EP4CE6E22 and EP4CE10E22 (these FPGAs cost twice as much as the Cyclone 10 equivalents). Just FYI: each FPGA needs a separate firmware build...

My current work on it with my 'old' prototype:

• I'm happy that I have a working implementation for 480i bob de-interlace.
• Edit: issue resolved (Sometimes there a line glitch in the buffer, where I don't know where it comes from. Maybe I can make a picture of t once I back from holiday.)
• Edit: issue resolved (In 480i bob de-interlace VSYNC sometime jitters by +/- 1 line and I don't know why and when this occurs.)

My plan for further features:

• Gamma correction (of course)
• OSD

[Ikaruga11]

You're the man, Borti! Seriously, I can't thank you enough.

[andykara2003]

Agreed! Really appreciate your work Borti & very much looking forward to this.

[borti4938]

I still wait for the FPGAs to be in stock at Mouser :/ So no important update here.
Nevertheless, I recently tested an add-on for my project with a THS7368 (video amp with selectable filters on three channels). This is for the case somebody has a ADC-device without pre-filter element in it's chain, e.g. as I read it from some capture cards.

Spoiler

And by the way: a picture of the actual PCBs which are waiting to be assembled

Spoiler

[andykara2003]

That looks so professionally done. Really looking forward to this - although it means having to buy yet another N64!

[borti4938]

I bought five or six N64 since I startet with this project (PAL and NTSC units to test several setups).

[andykara2003]

Ha! Well I hope the project pays you back!

[borti4938]

I pushed my "N64 Advanced" project into public yesterday. It can be found on GitHub (PCB and source) and OSHPark (PCB).

https://github.com/borti4938/n64rgb/tre ... ncedRGBmod
https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/YetTVjdd

I will open up another thread next week regarding this (or anyone else does) for further discussion. It moved out of the topic this thread was initially about.

Nice weekend to everyone

[BuckoA51]

Great work Borti, I'd definitely be interested in a prototype board with a view to offering installs of this.

[andykara2003]

Looks amazing Borti! I didn't realise all these other features were coming. Have you experimented with gamma boost at all? And if so, was it effective in giving better colours/whites?

[Voultar]

I pushed my "N64 Advanced" project into public yesterday. It can be found on GitHub (PCB and source) and OSHPark (PCB).

https://github.com/borti4938/n64rgb/tre ... ncedRGBmod
https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/YetTVjdd

I will open up another thread next week regarding this (or anyone else does) for further discussion. It moved out of the topic this thread was initially about.

Nice weekend to everyone

Very nice job. Well done!

[GeekMan1222]

I like what i see here good job man

[borti4938]

Have you experimented with gamma boost at all? And if so, was it effective in giving better colours/whites?

I have experimented during the past days a bit. It looks quite promising with a gamme slightly below 1 especially in the combination with hybrid scan lines.

I also made a comparision between the R2R ladder and the ADV7125. I have the feeling that the color saturation slightly suffers from the R2R ladder as used on the 'simple' N64 RGB mod. But that's just a feeling.

Someone will borrow me his capture card. Then I can take some useful pictures.

I'd definitely be interested in a prototype board with a view to offering installs of this.

I'll write you an email

Great work Borti

Looks amazing Borti!

Very nice job. Well done!

I like what i see here good job man

Thanks to all of you for the lovely words This motivates me to keep up working on it.

[andykara2003]

I have experimented during the past days a bit. It looks quite promising with a gamme slightly below 1 especially in the combination with hybrid scan lines.

Nice one :) Have you tried it straight to a 15Khz CRT with no added scanlines/effects apart from increased gamma? That's what I'm most interested in personally - I'm really curious to see it it can give 'cleaner' (whiter) whites without the colours looking a little washed out.

[borti4938]

No, I don't own a CRT.

I tested a few days ago the console on Ikari_01s BVM, which is modded to cope with both 15kHz and 31kHz signals. The 'standard' 240p signal looked good and also the 480p (also with scan lines injection).

At home I only have my OSSC - TV combination. As written, I will compare the 15kHz signal out of the R2R ladder with the 15kHz signal out of the ADV7125 over the OSSC right into the capture card. If I found out that the picture looks better with the ADV7125 then I will redesign the old CPLD board to replace the R2R ladder with an ADV7125. This should be interesting for everyone who is not interested in the advanced stuff like line doubling and YPbPr.

[andykara2003]

No, I don't own a CRT.

No worries at all :) Hopefully someone will put up some photo comparisons when it's out..

[andykara2003]

Can anyone confirm something for me? I think I'm right in saying that Tim's board uses the the7374 chip - if so, is the low pass filter turned off? And is it turned off on your new design Borti? I hate the idea of losing sharpness at any point in the signal chain. In fact I'm having to upgrade my Gscart 3.0 to a lite for that reason..

[zeruel85]

Can anyone confirm something for me? I think I'm right in saying that Tim's board uses the the7374 chip - if so, is the low pass filter turned off? And is it turned off on your new design Borti? I hate the idea of losing sharpness at any point in the signal chain. In fact I'm having to upgrade my Gscart 3.0 to a lite for that reason..

LPF on Tim's board is on by default. However, you can easily turn it off by bridging J4.

Also the gscartsw can be modified with LPF off. It's not such a big deal.

[andykara2003]

Thanks for that - I may go with the Gsart lite anyway as MLIG mentioned that the older model gives a loss in brightness.

Regarding bridging J4 on Tim's board, would you mind elaborating further? I have no knowledge of electronics.

[zeruel85]

Thanks for that - I may go with the Gsart lite anyway as MLIG mentioned that the older model gives a loss in brightness.

Regarding bridging J4 on Tim's board, would you mind elaborating further? I have no knowledge of electronics.

Loss in brightness? This is new to me.

BTW, for the N64RGB: you simply have to locate J4 and put some tin on it, and that's it.

[ChuChu Flamingo]

Thanks for that - I may go with the Gsart lite anyway as MLIG mentioned that the older model gives a loss in brightness.

Regarding bridging J4 on Tim's board, would you mind elaborating further? I have no knowledge of electronics.

Loss in brightness? This is new to me.

BTW, for the N64RGB: you simply have to locate J4 and put some tin on it, and that's it.

isn't the brightness loss due to the low pass filter?

[andykara2003]

Not sure - MLIG has some screen comparisons though - apparently the Gscart lite solves everything & is perfect.

EDIT: they tested Gscart 1.4 & 3.2 as having a slight loss in brightness.