TV-Out Blurry

[bismuthdrummer]

First off, this is not a high priority support request.


Just wondering if anyone has a good technique for getting a nice crisp output with the TV-out composite cable (or S-video, I would imagine the same tweaks would apply). The picture is blurred for me.


I have a Sanyo flat panel, resolution ~1360x768. I have plugged in the Pandora using TV-out composite, and when I use NTSC main layer the image appears squished down to a 4:3 aspect ratio on the television screen using the native display size. If I set my TV to fullscreen the image, it fixes the aspect ratio back to the Pandora's 5:3 aspect. However, the image is still slightly blurred.


I've tried other display settings in the TV-out config and on my TV but to no avail. Is there any way to get a clear display through composite? Or is my TV likely the problem here?

 

[EvilDragon]

The problem most probably is your TV.


NTSC is only 720x480, PAL 720x576 pixels.


This doesn't scale well to 1360x768 :/

 

[JeFF]

Try tv-out on an Old cathodic tv. I've got one and the picture is crisp and sharp

 

[TrashyMG]

Yeah my 42" LCD flat panel TV looks horrible, poor blurriness and weak colors even with S-Video and PAL, tried composite it was much worse and had odd striping and distorted colors...


My DLP projector projected on a 120" screen looks very good, Great colors, almost composite 480p video quality only lacks a little sharpness.


Also tried it on an old 36" CRT I have, it looks much better than the LCD.. I think some manufactures don't put much effort in getting analog video looking good.

 

[bismuthdrummer]

Yeah that's what I figured. Damn you newer technology! :angry:


Projector is a good idea though, may try getting one sometime. I've had my fill of CRT's though... lugging one of those heavy things around just ain't worth the clear picture.

 

[EvilDragon]

I'm using a projector myself.


The really good thing is that it's not fixed on one resolution, so everything looks good

 

[the_marshal]

I'm using a projector myself.


The really good thing is that it's not fixed on one resolution, so everything looks good

All digital project have a native resolution (3LCD; DLP; LCOS). Obviously some do a better job at scalling than other.


Or is it that you actually have a CRT projector ? Actually I thought about getting one of those years ago but they are huge and kinda unpractical.They were very cool though. Nowadays digital projector are so good, it's amazing what you can get out of a fairly inexpensive 1080p projector.

 

[bismuthdrummer]

Ok, got it working sexy in the hardware/overlay layer, which is really where I wanted it to look nice anyway (emulators!). So GPFCE looked perfect once I configured the settings correctly.





I love this thing.


The image was cut off a little on the left side when the resolution was 720x480, so after some experimentation I realized I could just adjust the x (640x480 was perfect for me, with 50 starting x and 0 starting y position) and I was good to go. I was trying to adjust both x and y thinking I needed to maintain the aspect ratio. But adjusting the y was making things blurry in the emu.


Main layer is still blurry, but oh well it's not bad.

 

[Mantas]

Ok, got it working sexy in the hardware/overlay layer, which is really where I wanted it to look nice anyway (emulators!). So GPFCE looked perfect once I configured the settings correctly.

DSCN1861.JPG


I love this thing.


The image was cut off a little on the left side when the resolution was 720x480, so after some experimentation I realized I could just adjust the x (640x480 was perfect for me, with 50 starting x and 0 starting y position) and I was good to go. I was trying to adjust both x and y thinking I needed to maintain the aspect ratio. But adjusting the y was making things blurry in the emu.


Main layer is still blurry, but oh well it's not bad.

Hi bismuthdrummer

Would you mind posting how you got your display to look so crisp? Also, what cables did you use?

How did you change the resolution to 720x480?

I have connected via S-Video to a Panasonic 42" but it is quite blurry.

Is there a way to change the Size and Height settings beyond the 685x539 (PAL) and 655x455 (NTSC)

Thank you

 

[Asmo]

@Mantas, I think he was referring specifically to the settings in GPFCE (Nes emulator). A lot of the older systems can look very crisp because they have resolutions so low (and unprocessed with filters) they are well within the TV-Out's capabilities to display well - Snes9x4p looks particularly good! Hatari is very good too.

The rest will depend on the internal scaler of your TV if it's a flatscreen, some are better than others. If you have a DVR of some kind attached via HDMI to your TV, you could try attaching your TV out to that rather than directly to the TV, and seeing if there's any benefit.