FEATURE REQUEST: Aspect Ratio Correction for OGL modes

kyo-KUSANAGI · Post by **kyo-KUSANAGI** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:03 am

I understand that maybe OpenGL likes monitor resolutions like 1024x768 or 800x600 instead of some 768x672 resolution. However, running ZSNES fullscreen with OpenGL really doesn't look good on the monitor. It's the only way to get good ZSNES performance in Linux.... software rendering looks good fullscreen, since it's the correct aspect ratio.

Therefore, I propose a solution: Why don't you all just make OGL render some black areas on the two sides of the screen, and display the SNES output in the middle of the screen, just like software rendering? That way OGL won't have to scale the SNES's aspect ratio to the computer's aspect ratio....

Do you understand what I mean? Like, on the 800x600 resolution, have 686x600 box in the middle, and on the side have two 57pixel wide rectangles on each side. Some cropping will have to come along, but that's life... and besides, who will notice a pixel off in the SNES output?

Post by **Nach** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:18 am

We all agree that's what needs to be done, doing it however is another story. The OGL code really needs to be overhauled.

blackmyst · Post by **blackmyst** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:21 am

I suppose you're talking about the blurring that occurs when stretching HQxX? Otherwise, I like fullscreen streched better, since it is after all 4:3, what the games were designed for. They look squished if you play em in a square box.

kyo-KUSANAGI · Post by **kyo-KUSANAGI** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:36 pm

No, blackmyst, I'm talking about the fact that the SNES normally has a different aspect ratio (768x672), and the OpenGL path stretches the image to 4:3 aspect ratio (like 800x600) which kills the experience for me.

And for other people too, I'm sure. Do you think the 1.43 release would include this aspect ratio thing?

EDIT: actually, the SNES isn't supposed to have that 4:3 aspect ratio.... that's not normal. Play Chrono Trigger and you'll see what I mean. Chrono just looks like a dwarf. It's horrible. And dear Celes of FF6 just looks.... fat.

Post by **Agozer** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 3:50 pm

768x627 wtf?

Clements · Post by **Clements** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 4:13 pm

You must live in a crazy world where Televisions have a 8:7 aspect ratio, since most TVs I've ever seen have a 4:3 aspect ratio (apart from widescreens), which the SNES output is stretched to on a real TV. Any aspect other than 4:3 is wrong even if you subjectively think it looks better, since the Snes did not produce large black bars on a 4:3 NTSC TV (PAL is another matter entirely).

Post by **grinvader** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 6:52 pm

@op: remember, the internal resolution of the console is moot, since it's analogically stretched on your TV to almost 4:3.

Reznor007 · Post by **Reznor007** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 4:49 am

kyo-KUSANAGI wrote:No, blackmyst, I'm talking about the fact that the SNES normally has a different aspect ratio (768x672), and the OpenGL path stretches the image to 4:3 aspect ratio (like 800x600) which kills the experience for me.

And for other people too, I'm sure. Do you think the 1.43 release would include this aspect ratio thing?

EDIT: actually, the SNES isn't supposed to have that 4:3 aspect ratio.... that's not normal. Play Chrono Trigger and you'll see what I mean. Chrono just looks like a dwarf. It's horrible. And dear Celes of FF6 just looks.... fat.

Guess you missed my post some months back where I posted shots of Chrono captured from my real SNES so I could show that the old aspect ratio correction was wrong.

kyo-KUSANAGI · Post by **kyo-KUSANAGI** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 7:11 am

http://board.zsnes.com/phpBB2/viewtopic ... pect+ratio

That's the closest I came to finding your post. The people in this thread said they could see the black bars on the sides of the screen, though.

The NES had a few early games that took advantage, most notably Super Mario Brothers, which simply painted the background color beyond the normal screen boundaries (or overscan for you TV geeks). The fact was even vaguely mentioned in its instruction booklet, but it was there.

When I got my Super NES, I noticed those black bars, but I didn't mind them; they were part of its charm. Smile

See? You got it from me; the black bars do exist (in fullscreen NTSC, at least), so who's to say that Darkfalz is incorrect? 640x480 sure acts native enough to me! Very Happy

Could you post the shots again please?

blackmyst · Post by **blackmyst** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 7:43 am

Ugh.

You've never actually touched a real SNES have you?

No, all these people won't have their experience killed like you said, because most of them have more experience with the SNES than purely through emulation. In fact, a good deal of them still own one. They know the genuine "experience", you don't.

And the only black bars you ever see on a real SNES are on the top and bottom, which happens on a PAL machine. Quite the opposite. (Sometimes though, games will have small black bars all around, like mentioned in that post, but this does nothing to change the aspect ratio, which remains 4:3, and also has nothing to do with what we're talking about here, namely the stretching of the image).

Like I said, games were designed for 4:3. The only reason you think Chrono looks "horrible" and "like a dwarf" when using the normal aspect ratio is because you're so used to that vertically squished image. It's like those glasses that turn your vision upside down.

Reznor007 · Post by **Reznor007** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 7:27 pm

kyo-KUSANAGI wrote:http://board.zsnes.com/phpBB2/viewtopic ... pect+ratio

That's the closest I came to finding your post. The people in this thread said they could see the black bars on the sides of the screen, though.
The NES had a few early games that took advantage, most notably Super Mario Brothers, which simply painted the background color beyond the normal screen boundaries (or overscan for you TV geeks). The fact was even vaguely mentioned in its instruction booklet, but it was there.

When I got my Super NES, I noticed those black bars, but I didn't mind them; they were part of its charm. Smile

See? You got it from me; the black bars do exist (in fullscreen NTSC, at least), so who's to say that Darkfalz is incorrect? 640x480 sure acts native enough to me! Very Happy
Could you post the shots again please?

I don't have the files I took anymore. My SNES is in storage at my parents house right now so I can't take more at the moment. I can assure you that the proper aspect ratio is 4:3, which on a standard PC monitor would be filling the entire screen.