Shaders and filters
Shaders and filters can be applied to video games to achive some kind of visual effect. These can be from attempting to replicate aperture grille displays, NTSC cables, or something more exotic.
Contents
Emulator support
| Name | Shader file types | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| RetroArch | .cg, .cgp, .filter, .shader |
.shader only can be used through phoenix, not RGUI. Filters from bsnes v82 and below work in RetroArch. .cgp stacks several .cg files on top of one another. |
| DOSBox | .fx | Only on special builds such as SVN Daum. |
| Higan | .filter, |
.shader removed in future higan releases, .fiter works in old bsnes Not current Higan. |
| MAME | .fx | |
| OpenEMU | .cg, | |
| Snes9x | .cg, .shader | |
| Project64 | .fx | Only with a custom Rice Video plugin. |
| PCSX-R | .slv/.slf, .vp/.fp | Requires Pete's OpenGL2 or gpuBladeSoft. |
| ePSXe | .slv/.slf, .vp/.fp |
Requires Pete's OpenGL2 or gpuBladeSoft. |
| PCSX2 | .fx |
Support added in r5390 (after v1.0.0) Must be named shader.fx and be in the main directory. PageUp to activate. |
| Dolphin | .txt | Can only be used with OpenGL backend. |
Types
CRT Shaders
These replicate aperture grille CRTs, which have sharp images and strong scanlines. They do not replicate shadowmask CRT displays.
NTSC Filters
These replicate the cables used to connect the system to the TV. They vary in quality, with the lowest being RF, then composite, then s-video and RGB (scart) being the highest quality. Many systems have NTSC filters built into them. They can also be separately downloaded in .filter format.
GameBoy Shader
This .cgp shader replicates the dot matrix screen of a Game Boy, complete with the ghosting problems to reproduce certain visual effects. Made by Harlequin. Requires RetroArch.
Smoothing shaders
These shaders, such as Super Eagle, BR, or HQ, attempt to reduce the pixilation by smoothing and rounding. They cause a lot of false positives and disotrions however.
Dithering
These are shaders designed to detect and smooth dithering. mdapt is a popular one.
