About PAL SNES and PAL SNES TV output:
1. PAL TVs don't have horizontal scanlines at all,but the PAL SNES outputs video WITH scanlines .On some TVs (older ones) they're barely noticeable (like 25% or less scanlines intensity selected in emulator),on some newer ones (that support PAL60),they are very noticeable (like 75% scanline intensity).
When you look at a PAL screen closely with a black screen (no input signal,AV mode selected),at first you see no horizontal scanlines at all.If you look really carefully,you can see the even or odd vertical lines for a brief period.These are so well "threaded" you don't notice those vertical lines at all. It takes a good training to be able to see them,and that is from a very small distance you'll screw your eyes if you look at the CRT like this. If you look even more carefully,you can even see how the lines are very slowly moving upwards.I think this is what makes the picture so solid and no vertical lines visible at all.
But,when you plug a SNES to a PAL TV,you'll notice scanlines,now CLEARLY visible all the time,and they are rock-solid,no "moving upwards effect" now.And on some TVs,like a not-that-big Samsung 21",for example,those can be very distinguishable,almost like the NTSC ones.
These kinds of TVs that output high-resolution (640x480 and up) video sources much clearer than a >20-year-old '84 TV,on the other hand reveal A LOT of defects with low-res sources (320x240 and lower) and you can see the scanlines,the "sloped lines pollution" PAL SNES defect and even the "center- vertical pillar screen burn" (do you know of this one?) that happens to your TV after several months of playing.
2. All PAL SNES games are viewed in 16:9 letterboxed mode on 4:3 PAL TVs,so they have thick black borders above and below the SNES video display.The PAL SNES filter must output video in 16:9 mode on a 4:3 ratio screen to provide accurate display.ZSNES does not run PAL roms with borders.I really miss the black PAL borders.As a nice side-effect,PAL borders squash the screen so vertical scanlines appear thinner than NTSC ones and are more tolerable.I hate messing with the monitor's size controls and measuring the ratio with a ruler just to get this kind of effect.Then,the desktop at this resolution setting becomes unusable after exiting ZSNES.
3. PAL TVs have thin vertical RGB stripes and a cell mesh when you look very close at the CRT.
4. PAL SNES output (Composite and RF) exhibit a vertical defect most noticeable on thick white vertical lines / sprites and the big time display numbers on Street Fighter II.The PAL SNES cannot display a perfect vertical line. It adds many sloping lines at a something like a 20-degree angle to the vertical line(s) polluting them with this "noise". It's always there and it doesn't move/change/disappear. It doesn't appear when scrolling,it is there all the time.
It is noticeable mostly in slender vertical objects/lines/sprites with colors along the "hot" side of the spectrum and white.Barely noticeable or not at all with colors on the "cold" side of the spectrum or darker colors.
5. TVs usually don't have "perfect" convergence like monitors (especially LCDs).It's always a bit or even more "off".If you wanna simulate an analog TV on an LCD screen,this defect should be included too.
There's also the color bleeding and dot crawl...
blargg,your NTSC filter performs really good with the latest version of NEStopia.I noticed a massive speed improvement over the previous version.It's so fast,I can run it in 2048x1536 now without any slowdown,before I was struggling to get it working at 60fps at 640x480
Weird.
I don't know what the developer of NEStopia has done,but I can now run NEStopia with HQxX with VSync at 2048x1536 and get amazing 100-120 fps ! (no FPS limit)
Really weird.Was the HQxX filter also optimized by you,blargg?
(and all this on a 2 1/2-year old AXP2600+ with 1GB RAM)
