Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

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copy
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by copy »

borti4938 wrote:The code includes:
- 240p/480i detection for deactivating the deblur feature in 480i
Just curious, and apologies if this is a dumb question, but what is the disadvantage of using deblur with 480i? Why deactivate it?
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bobrocks95
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by bobrocks95 »

I don't believe 480i games actually use the horizontal blur. If I'm right, with the de-blur on you'd be removing picture information.
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mvsfan
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by mvsfan »

The N64 stock is awful. I never owned one until rather recently because of how blurry it was.

now im kind of interested in an updated version of the N64RGB that might get designed with de blur in mind.
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by mikejmoffitt »

bobrocks95 wrote:I don't believe 480i games actually use the horizontal blur. If I'm right, with the de-blur on you'd be removing picture information.
When I detect 480i I disable the de-blur because I believe all 480i games use a 640x480 buffer without the blurring.
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andykara2003
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by andykara2003 »

Would it be possible to post a couple of full screen comparison images of the filter on and off on a CRT?
borti4938

Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by borti4938 »

copy wrote:
borti4938 wrote:The code includes:
- 240p/480i detection for deactivating the deblur feature in 480i
Just curious, and apologies if this is a dumb question, but what is the disadvantage of using deblur with 480i? Why deactivate it?
As mentioned above, in 480i you will lose information.
The N64 initially outputs 320x240 pixels in 240p mode, which is filled up to 640x240 pixels with the blur effect. In 480i you will have 640x480 pixel resolution where one would remove horizontal information with the de-blur feature activated.
andykara2003 wrote:Would it be possible to post a couple of full screen comparison images of the filter on and off on a CRT?
Not full screen but at least a very good comparison: click here
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by andykara2003 »

Thanks for that borti. Looks promising - and preferable to the GS AA removal from what I can see...
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by BuckoA51 »

I can't see much difference at all between those pictures?
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by bobrocks95 »

I notice a difference between say the very top and the very bottom images. I just don't really know what each corresponda to.
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by CobraKing »

BuckoA51 wrote:I can't see much difference at all between those pictures?
In the post that Borti linked too, each set of images just looked brighter to me. But if you scroll up on that same German thread there are some additional pictures and you can see that some images are 'clearer' than others. Not sure if they are testing the same feature as I can't read German but what they're doing looks promising.

Some of the GameShark users were claiming slight increases in frame-rate with the Aliasing turned off. MikeJ or Borti did you'll notice the same too?
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by bobrocks95 »

CobraKing wrote:Some of the GameShark users were claiming slight increases in frame-rate with the Aliasing turned off. MikeJ or Borti did you'll notice the same too?
This isn't deactivating the blur filter, just removing its effects. So it wouldn't lead to a framerate increase like turning off the AA.
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by viletim »

I received a lot of emails about the N64RGB recently! It will be back in the shop in a few days, with the anti-blur feature added (switchable). All versions of N64RGB hardware have the same programming header as the NESRGB so the anti-blur feature can be added with a software update if you have the Byte Blaster programmer.

This should have been ready a couple of weeks ago, but I got a bit distracted by another project. At a my previous job I used to mostly write software with the occasional bit of hardware design. Now I mostly work on hardware and when I do write software, it's usually some fairly simple program on a microcontroller. Recently I started to do some work on the (open source) software tools that I use to design PCBs. I didn't realise how much I missed working on a large software project. Two weeks and a new release of software went by before I could put it away. (it live at http://www.pcbelegance.org/ in case anybody is interested)

Anyway, I have the new version of N64RGB hardware ready. It's basically the same as the old one with some extra solder pads. Inspired by the flex-cable from the Ultra-HDMI, I thought I'd have a go at making a flex adapter board to mate with the fine pitch DAC chip.

Image

It turned out very well indeed. There's some double sided tape on the back. Just stick it down, solder to the DAC pins, then solder a standard 1.27mm ribbon cable to it. It's ten times easier than the previous method.
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CkRtech
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by CkRtech »

Awesome, Tim!
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by andykara2003 »

Brilliant, thanks Tim - will be ordering some asap :)
borti4938

Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by borti4938 »

BuckoA51 wrote:I can't see much difference at all between those pictures?
I'm sorry - I should not have given the link without any explonation ;) So here it is (from top to bottom):
  1. buffered with de-blur
  2. unbuffered with de-blur
  3. buffered without de-blur
  4. unbuffered without de-blur
  5. VDC-NUS with RGB Amp
Notice that the Sync-, R-, G- and B-information are outputted in a serial manner. Unbuffered means that the information is given directly to the R2R-ladder. So one can see a slight discolering at edges (can be best seen at the "A" - left edge red/yellow, right edge cyan/blue).
Buffered means that the information is 'collected' before outputting everything together to the R2R ladder.

By comparing with and without de-blur (i.e. picture 1 with (3 and 5)) one can see that the letters and the red heat of Mario are sharper with the de-blur feature.
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by bobrocks95 »

Amazing work Tim! The flex cable will be a humongous benefit- when I was looking at doing it for my newer N64 I saw that even modders selling their services didn't want to install an N64RGB on the finer pitch chip. Even I should be able to handle it now!

There doesn't happen to be a US distributor for the N64RGB, is there?
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by Einzelherz »

Is it strange that I want to RGB mod an N64 even though I have no affinity for the system, don't own one, and don't really care for many of its games?
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by andykara2003 »

Not at all - might be a chance to catch up with a few classics. I'd suggest Conker's bad fur day for starters ;)
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by bobrocks95 »

I would recommend CBFD if it wasn't so damn expensive these days. Maybe start with Banjo-Kazooie to make sure you'd like it first :wink:
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by mvsfan »

I feel the same way Einzelherz. I never really liked the n64. Mostly because of how blurry it is. In the 90s I bought a Saturn instead and have always been a Saturn guy.

But now, With this board with the De-blur, I also Find myself wanting to Install one.
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by LDigital »

So is it available? Sounds like it's available from what you are saying. How do I order?
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by bobrocks95 »

LDigital wrote:So is it available? Sounds like it's available from what you are saying. How do I order?
viletim wrote:I received a lot of emails about the N64RGB recently! It will be back in the shop in a few days,
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LDigital
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by LDigital »

Thanks. What is the link for the shop so I can keep checking?

Cheers
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by bobrocks95 »

I was on my phone, but yeah I should have included that as well.

Here's a direct link to the N64RGB page, though the address might change with the update: http://etim.net.au/shop/shop.php?crn=20 ... how_detail
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by Shoryukev »

That new revision looks awesome! Sounds like it might finally be time to get my N64 modded.
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by Einzelherz »

mvsfan wrote:I feel the same way Einzelherz. I never really liked the n64. Mostly because of how blurry it is. In the 90s I bought a Saturn instead and have always been a Saturn guy.

But now, With this board with the De-blur, I also Find myself wanting to Install one.
I feel like I'd buy two or three games for it and never really play it. I just like tinkering.

Then if someone who really liked it came over, I'd be all, "you wanna see how AMAZING Beetle Adventure Racing can look!?"
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by RetroFixes »

I love this.
:D
Will make the installs much more fun.
viletim wrote:I received a lot of emails about the N64RGB recently! It will be back in the shop in a few days, with the anti-blur feature added (switchable). All versions of N64RGB hardware have the same programming header as the NESRGB so the anti-blur feature can be added with a software update if you have the Byte Blaster programmer.

This should have been ready a couple of weeks ago, but I got a bit distracted by another project. At a my previous job I used to mostly write software with the occasional bit of hardware design. Now I mostly work on hardware and when I do write software, it's usually some fairly simple program on a microcontroller. Recently I started to do some work on the (open source) software tools that I use to design PCBs. I didn't realise how much I missed working on a large software project. Two weeks and a new release of software went by before I could put it away. (it live at http://www.pcbelegance.org/ in case anybody is interested)

Anyway, I have the new version of N64RGB hardware ready. It's basically the same as the old one with some extra solder pads. Inspired by the flex-cable from the Ultra-HDMI, I thought I'd have a go at making a flex adapter board to mate with the fine pitch DAC chip.

Image

It turned out very well indeed. There's some double sided tape on the back. Just stick it down, solder to the DAC pins, then solder a standard 1.27mm ribbon cable to it. It's ten times easier than the previous method.
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bobrocks95
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by bobrocks95 »

The suspense is killing me Tim, have mercy!
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by yxkalle »

My favourite 90's console. I own around 30 games. Will definetly do this mod at some point.
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Re: Nintendo 64 RGB Blur fixing

Post by BuckoA51 »

I received a lot of emails about the N64RGB recently! It will be back in the shop in a few days, with the anti-blur feature added (switchable). All versions of N64RGB hardware have the same programming header as the NESRGB so the anti-blur feature can be added with a software update if you have the Byte Blaster programmer.
Will it be switchable using a key combination on the controller or is it something you basically have to choose on or off when you install the mod?
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