What Is the Most Accurate CRT TV Shader and Accurate Aspect Ratio?

[Zombeaver]

The same concept applies. Arcade cabinets spanned 25+ years of games so the technology varied, was created by differing manufacturers, and changed over time.

[ChristopherNeff]

Could you tell me what shader I need and settings to make the arcade roms of Gauntlet Legends and Gauntlet Dark Legacy look as close to the real Arcade Cabinets and CRT Screen as possible?

[Lordmonkus]

How do we know what shader you need to replicate the exact CRT that was in a Gauntlet Legends cabinet ? We don't have the actual cabinet and CRT to do a side by side comparison to tell you the exact settings.

[ChristopherNeff]

So I need to contact the manufacturers first then and ask them for the exact make and model of the Arcade screen they used and then come back and give you guys that info.

[Lordmonkus]

lol no, even with that info we cant help you

[ChristopherNeff]

Is it because it would still require someone to do extensive testing of every shader known to man while simultaneously looking at the actual CRT Monitor while tweaking the settings until they matched as close as possible?

[Zombeaver]

I think setting it to... lemme just do some quick math here... carry the... divided by...

Okay. Looks like if you set it to 3.275 that ought to do it.

[SiriusVI]

11 hours ago, Zombeaver said:

I think setting it to... lemme just do some quick math here... carry the... divided by...

Okay. Looks like if you set it to 3.275 that ought to do it.

Haha yeah this is getting ridiculous.

However, I actually DO understand OP's desire for having an "accurate" look. I actually have 2 different retroarch installations, one with a more modern look, with upscaling and so on and one with a retro look, meaning retro bezels and retro shaders.

Having no idea about the actual technology of CRT TVs, cables and so on, it can be a difficult task deciding what an "authentic" shader looks like.

 

@Christopher Neff

My advice to you would be the following:

1. Look for pictures of CRT monitors online displaying a game you know well (e.g. Mario 64, or Mario World --> bonus: check if you can spot the black bars on the CRT or how much of the image is actually cropped).

2. Use different shader presets from retroarch until you find one that looks as closely as possible to the image of the real CRT.

3. Tweak the shader settings (or don't) until you get even closer.

4. Just accept that it will never be perfect and be done with it. 😃

Alternatively, just buy a CRT TV and compare the real thing to the shaders in your own home.

 

As for Acrade shaders. Those Arcade screens were CRTs as well, right? I find that whatever works on retro consoles, such as SNES also works on arcade games. I don't think you'll be needing a separate shader for them.

[ChristopherNeff]

"1. Look for pictures of CRT monitors online displaying a game you know well (e.g. Mario 64, or Mario World --> bonus: check if you can spot the black bars on the CRT or how much of the image is actually cropped)."

Will pictures work though? Wouldn't they need to be videos showing it in action since pictures tend to distort the effects of the screen for some reason?

Also, is it important for me to be able to spot black borders or cropping in the images or videos?

"Alternatively, just buy a CRT TV and compare the real thing to the shaders in your own home."

If I bought a real CRT TV, I wouldn't even bother comparing it to the shaders because I'd just throw the shaders away and never touch them again.

"As for Acrade shaders. Those Arcade screens were CRTs as well, right? I find that whatever works on retro consoles, such as SNES also works on arcade games. I don't think you'll be needing a separate shader for them."

Actually, Arcade CRT's are vastly different than home, consumer CRT's. So a shader that replicates a home, consumer CRT would most definitely NOT work for an arcade CRT.

Can you tell me what Retro Shaders and Retro Bezels you use and also if you tweak any of the Shader Parameters or just leave them all at default, stock settings? Thanks.

Edited January 15, 2022 by Christopher Neff

[SiriusVI]

25 minutes ago, Christopher Neff said:

If I bought a real CRT TV, I wouldn't even bother comparing it to the shaders because I'd just throw the shaders away and never touch them again.

Well why don't you do just that then? You clearly want the most accurate CRT experience and CRTs aren't expensive. The only downside is that you'd have two TVs taking up space in your room.

24 minutes ago, Christopher Neff said:

Can you tell me what Retro Shaders and Retro Bezels you use and also if you tweak any of the Shader Parameters or just leave them all at default, stock settings? Thanks.

I actually answered that in my first reply.

Edited January 15, 2022 by SiriusVI

[Mr. RetroLust]

I like my scanlines not to dark, just barely visible. And a bit of glow. A bit of curvature not too much. Happy with the results.

[Lordmonkus]

4 hours ago, Christopher Neff said:

Actually, Arcade CRT's are vastly different than home, consumer CRT's.

No they aren't. Or at least not any more different than the differences in various consumer CRTs. The only really different arcade CRTs would be the vector CRTs used in games like Asteroids and Tempest. They may have been slightly higher quality and built for 1000s of hours of usage but the tech itself is identical.

You keep asking the same question over and over, which is asking what shader is the most accurate or what settings to tweak and the answer is always the same thing. CRT TVs have a wide variety of looks and there is no "most accurate". Also, how a shader looks is very dependent upon the display you are using, TN vs IPS vs OLED panel, 1080p vs 4K, brightness and contrast levels, it all has an impact on impact on how the shader is shown. There are quite simply way to many variables to give you a good answer beyond what has been said already, try the different shaders out until you find one you feel is correct for you. You can also head over to the Retroarch forums and look around the various shader threads there, people have posted many screenshots and some have even posted custom settings. Maybe you will find something there that you like.

I have already given you my choice shader, crt-guest-dr-venom.

[ChristopherNeff]

16 hours ago, Mr. RetroLust said:

I like my scanlines not to dark, just barely visible. And a bit of glow. A bit of curvature not too much. Happy with the results.

What shader did you use to get that effect and do you use any overlays/borders for your set up?

[ChristopherNeff]

19 hours ago, SiriusVI said:

Well why don't you do just that then? You clearly want the most accurate CRT experience and CRTs aren't expensive. The only downside is that you'd have two TVs taking up space in your room.

I actually answered that in my first reply.

Not enough room. Also, don't know which one to get. And then there's constant maintenance as it keeps breaking down and needing constant repair. Not sure if repair shops even exist for CRT TVs anymore.

And then, I'd also have to use the actual consoles and the games which are subject to wear and tear and freezing etc. You can't attach some ancient CRT TV to a modern PC to run the emulators.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Christopher Neff

[SiriusVI]

Well, I'm pretty sure that there are adapters that would allow you to connect a modern pc to a crt. Also maintenance is not today big of an issue I think. My last crt lasted for over 10 years and never broke. If anything, I'd guess that modern tvs break more easily than older crts.

I've played with the thought of getting one myself, but my living room is too small.

Edited January 16, 2022 by SiriusVI

[Mr. RetroLust]

2 hours ago, Christopher Neff said:

What shader did you use to get that effect and do you use any overlays/borders for your set up?

crt-easymode-halation for RetroArch HLSL for Mame. I use these bezels in retroarch: 

And these in Mame

Interesting read about hlsl: https://docs.mamedev.org/advanced/hlsl.html

Edited January 16, 2022 by Mr. RetroLust

[ChristopherNeff]

2 hours ago, SiriusVI said:

Well, I'm pretty sure that there are adapters that would allow you to connect a modern pc to a crt. Also maintenance is not today big of an issue I think. My last crt lasted for over 10 years and never broke. I anything, I'd guess that modern tvs break more easily than older crts.

I've played with te

He thought of getting one myself, but my living room is too small.

Huh, that's weird. I thought it was the other way around. When I was a kid, I remember having to take my CRT TV in to be fixed all the FREAKING time. lol

Also, for the whole modern TV's breaking down quicker thing, maybe I just don't notice it because I'm constantly switching them out to upgrade to the newer and bigger and latest and greatest all the time.

[ChristopherNeff]

1 hour ago, Mr. RetroLust said:

crt-easymode-halation for RetroArch HLSL for Mame. I use these bezels in retroarch: 

And these in Mame

Interesting read about hlsl: https://docs.mamedev.org/advanced/hlsl.html

Just out of curiosity, what is it about HLSL for MAME that you like more than just using the CRT-easymode-halation for it? Or the HLSL on everything.

[Mr. RetroLust]

9 minutes ago, Christopher Neff said:

Just out of curiosity, what is it about HLSL for MAME that you like more than just using the CRT-easymode-halation for it? Or the HLSL on everything.

I like to run Mame itself for arcade because of the bezels/artwork support which is more authentic like some games use a color overlay or have a separate backdrop which cant be done in retroarch as far as I know, plus artwork files work out of the box, just put that zip file in /artwork and you're done. I like the shaders for retroarch more but HLSL is good as well once you get the hang of it to set it to your liking, many options to tweak.

[ChristopherNeff]

1 hour ago, Mr. RetroLust said:

I like to run Mame itself for arcade because of the bezels/artwork support which is more authentic like some games use a color overlay or have a separate backdrop which cant be done in retroarch as far as I know, plus artwork files work out of the box, just put that zip file in /artwork and you're done. I like the shaders for retroarch more but HLSL is good as well once you get the hang of it to set it to your liking, many options to tweak.

Wait, you use MAME standalone instead of the MAME RA Core? But doesn't RA have just as many, if not more, bezels and artwork than MAME does? Or can't you just download and use the MAME Bezels in RA or are they different than the overlays/borders that you can apply and customize in RA?

You said you like the RA shaders more, so can't you just use them in MAME as well? Aren't those shaders universally compatible with pretty much all Emulators if you use something like ReShade etc?

Edited January 16, 2022 by Christopher Neff