CRT EmuDriver- Driver ATI 15Khz nativo e tools x risoluzioni

[Cabinator]

This version also fixes the vertical aspect ratio issue. Default is 4:3, but you can set any ratio you want now.

[PaTrYcK]

Yes, if we want to use our monitor resolution to the limit, then we can't have an universal geometry setup where all games look good. Personally I prefer to have the possibility of using real 288 lines modes, even if I have to tweak the v-amp potenciometer each time I play the game, because with my Hantarex the controls are accesible from the front door so it's a matter of two seconds to adjust it. Other people may want to have a more static setup in case their potenciometers are difficult to access or do not exist at all (TVs and service menus). The solution in this case is to generate every resolution above, i.e. 256 lines, as interlaced. To do this, modify this option:

ActiveLinesLimit = 256

Hi Calamity, i use 640x240 resolution in my cabinet, where i can modify this value?

Thanks!

[Calamity]

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Hi Calamity, i use 640x240 resolution in my cabinet, where i can modify this value?
Thanks!

If you mean the ActiveLinesLimit, you'll find that option in VMMaker.ini

But you shouldn't need to change that by fact that you're using 640x240 for the desktop, or maybe I'm not getting it all.

[PaTrYcK]

My active lines limit is 240, for games with more than 256 horizontal lines use hardware strech with 240 lines limit, is possible set VMMaker for do it?
Thanks!

[Cabinator]

Hi Calamity
is there a chance to have 25khz output with your drivers like soft15khz does?
I would like to try them with a Sega monitor without using a tv set in the cab.

[Calamity]

Hi Cabinator,

At the moment VMMaker only calculates modelines for low-res monitors. It's actually possible to redefine the monitor params in VMMaker.ini but I have not tested it so I can't recommend you to do that. However, the drivers are perfectly capable of doing 15/25/31 KHz modelines, it's only VMMaker that does not calculate them by now. So if you already have the modelines, then you can use Winmodelines for installing them over my drivers. Another option is to use Switchres in combination with my drivers, so it will recalculate the needed modelines as 25Khz.

[Cabinator]

Thank you,
I'll try that if I really need to. Maybe the Sega medium resolution is 15/25khz switchable.

[Calamity]

My active lines limit is 240, for games with more than 256 horizontal lines use hardware strech with 240 lines limit, is possible set VMMaker for do it?
Thanks!

Oh sorry, I missed this one. Yes, you can do that by editing VMMaker.ini and setting ActiveLinesLimit = 240, then run VMMaker to redo the modelines and inis and restart. By doing this, every resolution above ActiveLinesLimit number of lines and below VirtualLinesLimit number (also defined in VMMaker.ini) will be virtualized (interlaced + stretched). Resolutions above VirtualLinesLimit will be interlaced (for instance, 640x480) but not stretched.

"Virtualized" resolutions are used in situations where we have too many lines to do it as progressive, but too few to do an interlaced modeline, because if we did, it will look too short, too "panoramic". That is usually the case with medium resolutions, as 400x300 or 512x384. Another typical case is a vertical game with 320x224 on an horizontal monitor, that once rotated becomes 400x320. In these cases, we are above 288 lines, so if we made them progressive we'll produce a combination of too low vertical refresh, too high horizontal frequency and too tall picture. But if we do them interlaced, then we get a valid modeline but too short, as it will only be 150, 160 or 192 lines tall (the original height / 2 ). In these cases, we get a better result by virtualizing the resolution: we calculate the biggest possible interlaced resolution that is achievable for a given vertical refresh. This is done because, for lower vertical refresh values, we can achieve bigger resolutions, and so we can benefit from that in order to get nicer results (more detailed) when it's possible, instead of just stretching to a fixed resolution, say 640x480. So for a game that has a vertical refresh of 60Hz, we will get a resolution of 720x480 (interlaced + stretched), and for a refresh of 54Hz, we can easily get a nicer 728x544 resolution.

It's really quite easy and straight forward once you know what this values do. I plan to do a better user interface for this in the near future, hopefully my job will give a breath to go on with this.

[PaTrYcK]

WOW, thanks Calamity

every resolution above ActiveLinesLimit number of lines and below VirtualLinesLimit number (also defined in VMMaker.ini) will be virtualized (interlaced + stretched).

Defautl value:
ActiveLinesLimit = 288
VirtualLinesLimit = 448
Over 448 lines use only interlaced resolution, ok...but why all resolution above 288 lines until 448 will be interlaced + streched instead of only streched?

Thanks

[Calamity]

Over 448 lines use only interlaced resolution, ok...but why all resolution above 288 lines until 448 will be interlaced + streched instead of only streched?

Because, in my opinion, when we stretch a game, the highest the resolution is, the better the result will be (more detail). So by interlacing we are actually doubling our vertical resolution, so we are able to show more information that otherwise would be lost when stretching. The problem with interlaced resolutions is the infamous FLICKER. But as long as we use hwstretch together with interlace, this flicker will be highly reduced (at the cost of loosing sharpness). I find this setup specially nice for vertical games with vertical scroll played on horizontal monitors. Vertical scroll for some reason helps reducing visible flicker and produces the illusion of scanlines. Interlace flicker anyway is more annoying in some old monitors that have wasted electronics, I believe it's because odd/even fields get slightly shifted from it's ideal position producing a horrible effect. Of course, this is not a miracle method, so don't expect a great quality, it's just the less bad method I have found for horizontal monitors. To do things right, you need a vertical monitor