ZSNES on widescreen LCD TV. Getting the correct resolution

[jonnygus6869]

Yesterday when I compared my HTPC ZSNES setup to the actual SNES console, I noticed my resolution settings were way off.

Any idea how to mirror the real thing (as far as screen sizing)?


The HTPC is hooked up to a 26" hdtv. (via ati Dongle at a resolution of 1216X684)

I have tried every standard resolution in ZSNES to no avail, along with a custom resolution of 864X648, which seems to be as close as I can get.

Any suggestions would be great. Is there a magical ratio to use?

Thanks for the help,

Jonnygus

[sweener2001]

you want a 4:3 picture

i find it odd that your ati dongle uses such a weird resolution, and not 1366 x 768 or 1280 x720. although i assume the dongle is nothing more than a dvi to hdmi converter

[ZH/Franky]

Umm, no, he wants a 5:4 ratio. That's the ratio of the resolution that a snes will output.

[Gil_Hamilton]

Umm, no, he wants a 5:4 ratio. That's the ratio of the resolution that a snes will output.

But will resort in horribly distorted images.

The SNES is NOT designed to be viewed as a 5:4 image.

[blargg]

Assumptions are killers when discussing aspect ratio. First, we don't know how the SNES appears when connected to his TV; it might stretch it horizontally as compared to a SNES connected to a normal analog CRT 4:3 television. Assuming his TV displays it normally, then there's the question of how his PC's image is displayed. Assuming it is displayed with square pixels, then it's just a question of stretching the non-square-pixel 256x224 SNES image horizontally by ~1.141*expand and vertically by expand, where expand is whatever factor expands the image to touch the edge of the screen.

For widescreen, the vertical dimension will be the limiting factor. His PC's vertical resolution is 684, so an expand factor of 3 would almost fill it vertically. This would expand the 256x224 SNES image to 876x672, which is pretty close to the 864x672 resolution he tried. That's probably within variations you'd find on normal TVs anyway. I'm guessing that maybe one of the two assumptions mentioned above might not hold.

But since he can display a SNES on the same TV, he can just do an A/B comparison and adjust the emulator until it matches. No math required, just trial-and-error.

[Gil_Hamilton]

Assumptions are killers when discussing aspect ratio. First, we don't know how the SNES appears when connected to his TV; it might stretch it horizontally as compared to a SNES connected to a normal analog CRT 4:3 television.

I think it's safe to assume he wants something closer to 4:3 than 5:4, though.

[sweener2001]

Umm, no, he wants a 5:4 ratio. That's the ratio of the resolution that a snes will output.

congratulations on the loss. this would be where i scream obscenities at you and call you all manners of ignoramus for forgetting the basic fact that all television displays were 4:3, so the native resolution of the snes is more or less moot if you want it to match actual hardware on an actual television, followed by more affirmations of your stupidity, but i'm not you

[jonnygus6869]

Thanks for all the info so far.

I tried the 876x672resolution suggested, along with a dozen other combinations. (888X666 included).

Each resulted in a " IDirectDraw7: Set Display Failed ... Make sure Video Card supports Resolution"


[additional info regarding desktop resolution]
Using a 1280X720 resolution with the TV set results in the image not fitting on the tv. (overscan is it called?)
The "suggested" resolution by ATI for use with dongle was the 1152X648. This provides a screen with a black border.
I found the 1216X684 Resolution to fit the TV perfectly.
[/]


I read through the forums for that error, changed my grphx to 16 bit, made sure i had 9.0c. Anything else to fix this? Could it just be my Dongle is not cooperating?


My PC specs are as follows:
P4 2.4
1 gig ram
XP Pro
Direct X 9.0C

[Deathlike2]

Windowed mode tends to be more leniant on resolution options.

Fullscreen mode requires that there is a legitmate entry for the resolution entered in... you will need something like Powerstrip to add in such non-standard modes.

[grinvader]

Umm, no, he wants a 5:4 ratio. That's the ratio of the resolution that a snes will output.

congratulations on the loss. this would be where i scream obscenities at you and call you all manners of ignoramus for forgetting the basic fact that all television displays were 4:3, so the native resolution of the snes is more or less moot if you want it to match actual hardware on an actual television, followed by more affirmations of your stupidity, but i'm not you

Besides, the snes has a pixel amount ratio of 8:7, not 5:4.

[jonnygus6869]

I feel like i'm making forward progress here.

I took your advice and used a custom resolution (via ati dongle mode, not powerstrip).


The dimensions of my SNES hooked up to my LCD tv were roughly 17.6 inches by 13.1

So I put tape on my tv where the snes image ends, and then matched it via the ATI custom resolution.

I then used that resolution for ZSNES and unchecked the 4:3 ratio box (when checked, i got one purple line above and below the screen).

Now my ZSNES matches the SNES, but my question is thus, Does it matter that the SNES on my tv is not at a ratio of 8:7? ( i think its roughly 4:3)

Mainly I care about accurate playing, as in zelda, when you go left/right it is not slower/quicker than going up/down.

Thanks for all your guys (and gals?) help. This is turning out to be an awesome feature for my HTPC

[grinvader]

Does it matter that the SNES on my tv is not at a ratio of 8:7? ( i think its roughly 4:3)

SNES games were designed to be played on 4:3 TVs. So 4:3 is as accurate as you can get.

My comment was just about the internal ratio in pixels of the snes itself which is completely irrelevant to the actual output (thanks to analog stretch).

[blackmyst]

So are we gonna get to a point eventually where the video output is simply mapped to a quad (if it isn't already) that we can freely stretch and squeeze in whatever size or ratio we want?

[grinvader]

Ultimately.

Stretched and filtered to your liking.

[blargg]

Now my ZSNES matches the SNES, but my question is thus, Does it matter that the SNES on my tv is not at a ratio of 8:7? ( i think its roughly 4:3)

Burn this into your mind: the ratio of the OVERALL SNES image on a TV is approximately 4:3, while the ratio of EACH INDIVIDUAL PIXEL is approximately 8:7. Two DIFFERENT measures. The reason they differ is because the number of SNES pixels horizontally is greater than vertically (256 versus 224). Don't confuse them.

[paulguy]

I thought it was already on a quad. It uses opengl after all.

Anyway, can't you just set the thing to your set's native res and check the box for it to be 4:3. That's what I did on my plasma TV and it works fine.

[Gil_Hamilton]

I thought it was already on a quad. It uses opengl after all.

Anyway, can't you just set the thing to your set's native res and check the box for it to be 4:3. That's what I did on my plasma TV and it works fine.

"Using a 1280X720 resolution with the TV set results in the image not fitting on the tv. (overscan is it called?) "

Sounds like he did and it didn't.

[clessoulis]

If you wanted it to fit right on your widescreen lcd Set it to 1376x768.

[sweener2001]

assuming that's the native resolution.

my widescreen's native is 1920x1200. granted, i think it's only a toss-up between the two, though.