Raspberry Pi Resolution settings advice

[Fudoh]

Didn't know you are a fan of integer scaling over correct AR.

On the Pi the option just isn't there due to Emulation Station not offering it and hardly anybody configures RA on its own. In RA you get identical integer scaling factors if you set the AR to pixel aspect ratio, but you don't get different factors this way. Of course you can still set the pixel width by hand....

[Xyga]

Didn't know you are a fan of integer scaling over correct AR.

It all depends if I use smoothing/shader or not and the source (and the display's resolution of course). There's always a combination that's close enough or exact 4:3 which is no less logical to use than an unique factor with forced AR since you most often get either borders or cut-outs too anyway, and since in his case it seems to use PAR of course it won't work with cps games. Were separate integer settings available the fix would have been quick and no need to bother setting the size by hand.

Anyway it's odd that this unique integer factor available wouldn't be appliable to only vertical and combinable with forced 4:3 picture aspect.
Or I don't get it but something convenient is missing here.

[Fudoh]

OK, I tried DMT 35 (1280x1024) as the ingame resolution. Behaves like expected for me, but I don't have any arcade stuff installed except NEOGEO. The windowed scale factor is what usually ready 3x in the RA menu. That's not the integer factor. As far I can tell, the integer factor is set automatically unless you set AR to custom. It defaults to the integer factor that gives you the biggest game resolution within the defined specs (4x when runnin 1024p). When you toggle the "integer" option in RA you can see how the screen get bigger (upon disabling) and smaller again (when enabling).

In terms of performance: 1024p is hard. Caligari won't run at 60fps. CRT-Pi can, but it tends to create a bit of a jailbar like effect on certain background patterns. Still looks ok though. I have a simple bilinear filter (after integer prescale) which I often use, that one's running fine as well.

Might - after all - really be something CPS1/2 specific due to it's wide native resolution. Can you test anthing else just to confirm if the problem exists ? Maybe NES once again like above. Don't use the "custom" setting for aspect ratio. Set it 4:3 instead and leavethe "integer" option further down enabled (see your screenshot above).

[Skykid]

Ok writing back and toyed with this a little more.

With the integer on, 4:1 is the best fit, filling the screen to the edges perfectly. 4:3 leaves it slightly short on the vertical margins.

Sadly CRT-PI is slightly broken in this aspect. At first glance it seems ok, but the scan line banding is a touch off, leaving more obvious single lines at about every 10 pixels in width.

Using 4:1 I combine bsnes gamma ramp with pixellate, turned bilinear filtering on, and then applied a scanline overlay (as these shaders produce none - as least on my screen). The overlay is wrong, it's for 800x600 and I'll need to find a correct sized png tomorrow, but at 120 scale it's even, if the lines are slightly wide.

Like this at least I'm coming closer to something satisfactory, if not entirely correct. Using 4:1 doesn't offer the proper dimensions for say, the SFC, but it's still a better compromise than the missing screen I get using Custom x3 integer (or x2 widescreen!)

One thing I forgot to note: the theme UI is broken again in this one. I wonder if there's a way for me to tweak font sizes I may be able to make the unreadable sections readable again.

[Fudoh]

I have no idea whatsoever how a AR setting of 4:1 can possibly work out for you

You can use this one http://pms.hazard-city.de/Sharp-Bilinear-Shader.zip instead of Pixellate for a little less CPU usage.

[Skykid]

Really? Whoever has removed the ability to set both H and V integers separately in that RA build clearly wasn't aware of how essential it is.

Couldn't agree with this more.

So this is where I managed to get to after weeks of messing around: a total hack job with no rhyme or reason behind it.

With 3x Custom Integer scale unusable because it blows the image off the screen, I switched to 2x scale which would then make it too small. With the Integer applied I tried looking for a different and more palatable alternative. 4:3 works on some consoles and systems, while on others (CPS1) it creates a widescreen effect - for that 4:1 works better. But at 4:1 the dimensions are still inaccurate even with the integer applied and neither shaders or overlays apply properly at 1280x1024 5:4, leaving me chasing my tail in terms of adjustments and image quality.

So instead I reduced the image to around 15" on a 19" display and introduced an overlay bezel. Although the Integer is on, the image is obviously still dimensionally inaccurate especially at what I'm currently on: an 8:7 aspect ratio.

Here are the settings I ended up with applied to Mega Drive - 8:7 aspect, 2 shader configurations, Bilinear Filtering on and Integer On + a bezel overlay to fill empty space:





There is no seemingly no way to generate decent scanlines at 1280x1024 5:4 with either an overlay or a shader - or at least nothing that comes out right. So after messing around (a lot) I ended up with:

CRT-PI VERTICAL / NEAREST / x2 SCALE
+
SHARP BILINEAR SIMPLE / DON'T CARE SETTINGS

This produces a picture that seems to have the closest scalene effect, while keeping the image crisp but not too crisp, with bilinear simple as a backup to enhance. It's far from perfect.

Here is the display using approx 15" screen space. The SEGA bezel overlay is applied around the outside:



Here is the picture:







On darker colour tones the lines and crosshatch generated by Pi-Vertical are passable for me because I have no alternative option. But in lighter areas, like on the pink hues of the clouds, you can see obvious colour banding if you look closely.



Other consoles differ and need a slightly different setup. Some consoles refuse to play ball at all, such as SNES, where almost nothing works. The best I can get for that is:

CRT-PI / NEAREST / x2 SCALE
+
SHARP BILINEAR SIMPLE / DON'T CARE SETTINGS

If I use the MD shader setup (CRT-PI VERTICAL) the SNES has moire artefacts and shimmering during motion. Only regular CRT-PI works to improve the image quality, but there are no visible scanline effects. In fact, if there were any scanlines, they appear to travel vertically (which makes me feel like the two CRT-PI shaders need to have the names reversed). It looks like this:






I realise this is of absolutely no use to anyone and it's probably to do with some strange monitor parameters or something, but this is the conclusion to my very frustrating tinkering. I haven't set all the consoles yet, but I assume they will all be variants on this theme.

EDIT:

Although I'm settled on shaders for now, I decided to photoshop the screen bezel to 5:4 to try and get a little more game real estate. I've adjusted the image about 7 times now, testing each time to try and get it settled properly around a larger Integer, and it's looking better so far (although I'm not done yet).