Anti-flicker smoothing

[ShutokouBattle]

I have a question regarding videogame systems that output 480i, such as the DC, PS2, GC, and Xbox. I remember reading somewhere that these systems usually use a type of smoothing to reduce flicker. I've been trying to figure out how it works, so maybe someone can help me.

Here's how it appears to me, but I may be wrong:
Each horizontal line (even or odd) actually has a slightly transparent version of the adjacent line overlaid on top of it. The resolution is maintained by the fact that there's an inequality in the opacity of the two fields being combined, e.g. one even line may have the adjacent odd line at 30% opacity while the even field itself will be at 70% opacity, or something like this. And the same thing would be true of the odd line: 70% of itself and 30% of the adjacent even line. This is how it would appear to me just from observing my monitor. Am I right?

I have no purpose in trying to understand this method. It's simply to satisfy my own curiousity.

[gray117]

Not at all. Console has little choice how monitor chooses to process the signal.

Perhaps certain monitors will attempt something similar to what you describe but again I doubt it.

More likely it's the speed the phosphors are reacting. You'll often notice a blur/fade on bright scrolling etc.

The effect might be said to be akin to motion blur helping to interpolate frames/movement, but it's a happy accident.

[bryan_c]

The console indeed has little choice in how the monitor chooses to process a 480i signal, but in knowing what the monitor is doing, the console can compensate to a degree...

The Gamecube and Wii support 480i deflickering, and it's up to the developer as to whether to deflicker; see http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php? ... ostcount=4. Most games are hardcoded to either use the feature or not (I'm not sure how many do or don't), however Super Smash Brothers Melee and Brawl give the user the option; see http://www.ssbwiki.com/Deflicker.

I'm not sure how the deflickering actually works... perhaps it's just a vertical blur so that it's less likely for a horizontal line to be present on one frame and missing the next. But I do know that the GC/WII Smash Bros. games flicker badly in 480i when deflickering is turned off, but look decent in 480i when deflickering is turned on.

[ShutokouBattle]

There's definitely something going on. I've noticed that in some early PS2 games (like Ridge Racer V) there's obviously no anti-flicker whatever. The flicker is very obvious even at a distance. All of the 32-bit 480i games I've played look like this. Compare this with a game like Metal Gear Solid 2, which you have to look at very closely to notice any flicker at all. I've yet to come across a Gamecube game that does not have this feature, but I have seen a few (mainly early) PS2 games that don't. Every Dreamcast game I've tried also seems to have it.

Just for a little added information, I'm talking about a Sony PVM here. There's zero post-processing going on. I'm seeing precisely what the machine is outputting. I don't think you could tell the difference if you were playing on an HDTV (i.e. if the image was deinterlaced).