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Visit the [[List_of_shaders_and_filters |List of shaders and filters]] page for more examples.
{{Main|List of shaders and filters}}
===LCD Shaders===
[[File:Lcd-grid.png|thumb|256px|cgwg's lcd-grid-v2 shader with GBA colors.]]
These replicate the look of a low-resolution LCD common on handhelds. These can range from a simple grid drawn around the pixels to a detailed recreation of each pixel's RGB subpixels. May also include motion blurring to simulate ghosting and washed out color gamuts.
This For LCDs these replicate the look of a low-resolution LCD common on handhelds. These can range from a simple grid drawn around the pixels to a detailed recreation of each pixel's RGB subpixels. May also include motion blurring to simulate ghosting and washed out color gamuts.[[File:Dot.png|thumb|right|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/handheld/dot.cg dot.cg]]][[File:Lcd.png|thumb|left|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/tree/master/handheld/lcd-shader lcd]]][[File:Lcd3x.cgp png|thumb|centre|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/handheld/lcd3x.cg lcd3x.cg]]][[File:Lcd-grid.png|thumb|left|256px|cgwg's lcd-grid-v2 shader with GBA colors.]][[File:Gb.png|thumb|189px|right|GameBoy Shader with default palette. Other palettes are available.]][[File:Gameboy.png|thumb|centre|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/tree/master/handheld/gameboy Gameboy], replicates the dot matrix screen of a Game Boy, complete with the ghosting problems to reproduce certain visual effects. Made by Harlequin. Requires [[RetroArch]].]]
These are shaders designed A technique used to detect increase the amount of colour and smooth [[dithering]]shading that can be produced on a system. [https://githubThe effect is achieved by using lines or dots which are then blurred by the low quality NTSC signals (composite or RF) used by the system.com/libretro/common===Anti-shaders/tree/master/dithering mdapt] is a popular onealiasing===A graphics rendering technique used to reduce or eliminate jagged or stepped edges (aliasing artefacts). There is also a newer gdaptIt works by applying various methods such as super-sampling, multi-sampling, or post-processing filters to improve the smoothness and visual quality of the image, particularly when displaying diagonal lines, curves, or fine details.
This shader is supposed to appear Shaders that scale the same as the nearest neighbor (aka "unfiltered"), except with minor corrections when using a non-integer scale that is increasingly less noticeable image within the higher it is scaledviewport. This shader is can be useful to anyone who wants to keep things as sharp as possible without worrying about scale factors. Available in [https://github.com/hizzlekizzle/quark-shaders/tree/master/Pixellate.shader Quark] and [https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/retro/shaders/pixellate.cg Cg] shader formats. A newer alternative that does the same thing (but may give sharper results) is the sharp-bilinear shaderfor ensuring a certain quality of scaling, which prescales often with the image to a high resolution, then downscales using bilinear intention of applying other effects on top that are picky about scaling.
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Shaders and filters can be applied to video games to enhance visuals or achieve some kind of visual effect. These can be from attempting to replicate [[Display FAQ|aperture grille]] displays, NTSC signals, or something more exotic.
==Emulator support==
;Before diving in;
;*Some of the shaders and filters listed below are already included in the chain for some of the [[Shader Presets]] or present as an enhancement/adjustment option (such as [https://www.nvidia.com/content/Control-Panel-Help/vLatest/en-us/mergedProjects/nvdsp/To_use_Digital_Vibrance_to_make_your_desktop_colors_richer.htm digital vibrance]) from [https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Category:Graphics_Adaptor GPU driver control panel] or from your digital [[displays|display]] OSD. Some of those things may cause color clipping, over-exposure issues (due to using excessive digital adjustments to image) and [[Input lag]]. It's recommended to avoid usage of color or excessive image options/filters. But you can use [[Displays|analog device/CRT]]'s OSD adjustments. Another proper option for this using the RTX Dynamic Vibrance option (see [[#AI-powered filters]]) to avoid color crashing and top of that using a HDR device with [[High_dynamic_range#Inverse_tone_mapping|Inverse tone mapping]].
==Types==
[[File:Crt-geom.png|thumb|190px|crt-geom-flat.cg, a popular CRT shader.]]
===CRT Shaders===
These software filters replicate the signals that consoles output to the TV. They vary in quality, with the lowest quality being RF, then composite, then S-Video, and then RGB (SCART) being the highest quality. Many emulators have blargg's NTSC filter libraries<ref name="blargg">http://slack.net/~ant/libs/ntsc.html</ref> built into them. They can also be separately downloaded in filter plugin format.
===Game Boy ShaderHandhelds===[[File:GbThese shaders replicate the visuals of the Dot matrix and LCD displays of older handhelds and their specific artifacts in comparison to newer screens.png|thumb|189px|GameBoy Shader with default palette. Other palettes are available.]]
===Smoothing shaders===
These shaders, such as 2xSai, Super Eagle, Super 2xSai, scaleX, HQx, xBR and xBRZ attempt to reduce the pixelation by smoothing and rounding. They can cause a lot of false positives and distortions, however, scaling the image 2x or 3x using nearest neighbor, then applying the smoothing shader will reduce the intensity of the smoothing by keeping the pixel shapes intact, eliminating most distortions while keeping a fairly smooth look.
====Lanczos====
[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/lanczos/lanczos4.cg lanczos4.cg], [https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/lanczos/lanczos6.cg lanczos6.cg], [https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/lanczos/lanczos12.cg laczos12.cg], [https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/lanczos/lanczos16.cg laczos16.cg]
[[File:Lanczos12.png|thumb|right|200px|lanczos12.cg]][[File:Lanczos4.png|thumb|left|200px|lanczos4.cg]][[File:Lanczos6.png|thumb|centre|200px|lanczos6.cg]]
[[File:Lanczos16.png|thumb|centre|200px|lanczos16.cg]]
====Bicubic====
Enlarges images by calculating the colour values of new pixels based on a weighted average of neighbouring pixels in the original image. Popular for its ability to produce smooth, high-quality results when resizing images, especially when significant upscaling is required.
{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|Name
! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|Image
! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|
Description
|-
| style="text-align: center;"|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/bicubic/bicubic-fast.cg bicubic-fast.cg]
| style="text-align: center;"|
| style="text-align: center;"|
|-
| style="text-align: center;"|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/bicubic/bicubic-normal.cg bicubic-normal.cg]
| style="text-align: center;"|
| style="text-align: center;"|
|-
| style="text-align: center;"|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/bicubic/bicubic-sharp.cg bicubic-sharp.cg]
| style="text-align: center;"|
| style="text-align: center;"|
|-
| style="text-align: center;"|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/bicubic/bicubic-sharper.cg bicubic-sharper.cg]
| style="text-align: center;"|
| style="text-align: center;"|
|}
====DDT====
Data-Dependent Triangulation Shaders look at the square plane formed by the four nearest neighbours (a basic image resizing technique that assigns each pixel in the resized image the colour value of the nearest pixel in the original image). They divide the square plane into two triangular planes. The pixels are bilinearly interpolated using only the three points of the triangles to which they belong.
[[File:Ddt-waterpaint.png|thumb|left|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/ddt/ddt-waterpaint.cg ddt-waterpaint.cg]]][[File:Ddt.png|thumb|right|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/ddt/ddt.cg ddt.cg]]][[File:Ddt-extended.png|thumb|centre|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/ddt/ddt-extended.cg ddt-extended.cg]]]
====Hqx====
("hq" stands for "high quality" and "x" for magnification) is a pixel art scaling algorithm developed by Maxim Stepin and used in emulators such as Nestopia, bsnes, ZSNES, Snes9x, FCE Ultra and many more. There are 3 hqx filters: hq2x, hq3x and hq4x, which scale by a factor of 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
[[File:Hq2x.png|thumb|left|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/hqx/hq2x.cg hq2x.cg]]][[File:Hq4x.png|thumb|right|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/hqx/hq4x.cg hq4x.cg]]]
====Eagle====
[[File:Super-eagle.png|thumb|right|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/eagle/super-eagle.cg super-eagle.cg]]]
===Dithering===
{{Main|Dithering#Shaders}}
[[File:Advanced-aa.png|thumb|left|200px|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/anti-aliasing/advanced-aa.cg advanced-aa.cg]]]
[[File:Fx-aa.png|thumb|right|200px|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/anti-aliasing/fx-aa.cg fx-aa.cg]]]
[[File:Fxaa-edge-detect.png|centre|thumb|200px|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/anti-aliasing/fxaa-edge-detect.cg fxaa-edge-detect.cg]]]
[[File:Reverse-aa.png|thumb|centre|200px|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/anti-aliasing/reverse-aa.cg reverse-aa.cg]]]
===Pixellate===
[[File:Pixellate.png|thumb|200px]]
This shader is supposed to appear the same as the nearest neighbor (aka "unfiltered"), except with minor corrections when using a non-integer scale that is increasingly less noticeable the higher it is scaled. This shader is useful to anyone who wants to keep things as sharp as possible without worrying about scale factors. Available in [https://github.com/hizzlekizzle/quark-shaders/tree/master/Pixellate.shader Quark] and [https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/retro/shaders/pixellate.cg Cg] shader formats. A newer alternative that does the same thing (but may give sharper results) is the sharp-bilinear shader, which prescales the image to a high resolution, then downscales using bilinear scaling.
===Auto-box===
[[File:Box-max.png|thumb|left|200px|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/auto-box/box-max.cg box-max.cg]]]
[[File:Sharpen-lighter-box.png|thumb|right|200px|[https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/auto-box/sharpen-lighter-box.cg sharpen-lighter-box.cg]]]
===Border===
You can combine those things with these two shader presets: [https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/cgp/tvout/tvout.cgp tvout.cgp] for 240p and [https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/cgp/tvout%2Binterlacing/tvout%2Binterlacing.cgp tvout+interlacing.cgp] for 480p. Both of these allow you to have adjustable signal resolution blur applied horizontally, as well as color controls like gamma, saturation, and the option to use TV color range (16-235) instead of PC color range (0-255), while the 480p version provides a scanline shader that is interlaced on 480-line content. The signal resolution blur works best if you use a large horizontal resolution (1280 or higher recommended) while keeping your vertical resolution at 240 or 480, and setting the aspect ratio of the emulator to stretch to fit. The higher horizontal resolution will make it look natural and convincing, avoiding banding issues. Can be combined with NTSC filters/shaders for maximum authenticity, check out the shader presets in [https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/tree/master/cgp/tvout /cgp/tvout] and [https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/tree/master/cgp/tvout%2Binterlacing /cgp/tvout+interlacing] for some examples.
==AI-powered filters==
:[https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/software/nvidia-app/ New Nvidia app features AI-powered filters]
:[https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/gfecnt/nvidia-freestyle-ansel-enhancements-geforce-experience-article/ Nvidia FreeStyle]
:[https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5521/~/nvidia-app-beta-faq What are the requirements to enable RTX Dynamic Vibrance?]
AI-powered filters are a new technology with the potential to further improve the emulation experience. These filters use machine learning to automatically enhance the visuals of content. Nvidia recently release their new Nvidia App[https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/software/nvidia-app/] which comes with new AI-powered filters called "Nvidia FreeStyle", one of the filters is RTX Dynamic Vibrance which is an AI-powered dynamic image enhancement without crashing colors. AI-powered filters offer exciting possibilities for the future of emulation. As the technology matures, expect even more advanced features and use cases to emerge, further improving the way we experience various content such as classic video games.
==Notable ReShade shaders==
These are not [[Shader_Presets|shader presets]]. But you can create your own custom preset using these .fx shaders. As some of the effects (RTGI and Motion Estimation etc.) require depth access, make sure to have your [https://wwwyoutu.youtube.combe/watch?v=zMceMD9OzIE 6C_NuhBVdXc depth buffer correctly configured] if you want to use them. See [https://reshade.me/forum/general-discussion/5442-release-misc-emulators-with-depth-buffer-access this thread] for using reshade and depth buffer access for emulators.
;[https://www.martysmods.com/rtgi/ Pascal Gilcher's RTGI shader] ($)
