MiSTer FPGA Forum

With the arrival of Version 2 of Shadow Masks much more has become possible when it comes to finetuning the masks. For a tldr of the new shadow masks: there are two major additions:

• The brightness of the color values can now be adjusted for both the 'on' state and the 'off' state

• The grid has been extended to 16x16

Essentially, existing masks can now be much better defined as the 'off' state can now have 0% brightness. This leads to a much better visible 'mask' (and a darker image).

Based on the v2 mask provided by sorgelig, I have converted some of the old masks. I also have created a new mask based on a crt from the reference image thread. This new mask makes use of the larger grid and is made for 1440p output. This is how it looks:
As you can see, a larger grid allows for more detail, but the mask size also increases. It's almost impossible to create subtle effects with large grids I think. Still, I do think the final image looks nice. Since the masks can't replicate a CRT anyway, it's all about style. And (the new) shadow masks definitely allow for that.

All masks should now be available in the official MisTer repository. You can always find the latest versions in my repo (link).

Woah! Thin RGB stripes v2 look spot-on! All that remains, is to curve my monitor and inject some radioactive matter into it (you know; for the glow)

That looks fantastic! Well done.

Is there or will there come a script to update the shadow masks?

Hello, just downloaded these. Where should these be placed on the SD card? When attempting to load them from the core I get a "No Files Found!"n

EDIT: Nevermind, I learned you have to have a 'Shadow_Masks' folder on the SD card and that is where they go.

Feedback:

I used this hoping the RYCB would look as good as the one that is available for the Jotega cores right now and unfortunately it's just too dark using these.

The update_all script can also download the masks for you.

LamerDeluxe wrote: ↑Sat Dec 18, 2021 10:30 pm The update_all script can also download the masks for you.

I just ran this, it did not download any shadow masks. Link to the latest script?

EDIT: Oh! I had to enable the new downloader in MISC.

FeelsDuckMan wrote: ↑Sat Dec 18, 2021 10:33 pm

LamerDeluxe wrote: ↑Sat Dec 18, 2021 10:30 pm The update_all script can also download the masks for you.

I just ran this, it did not download any shadow masks. Link to the latest script?

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/theyp ... ate_all.sh

I just checked its menu and there is no setting to turn it on or off, so it should work as is.

LamerDeluxe wrote: ↑Sat Dec 18, 2021 10:41 pm

FeelsDuckMan wrote: ↑Sat Dec 18, 2021 10:33 pm

LamerDeluxe wrote: ↑Sat Dec 18, 2021 10:30 pm The update_all script can also download the masks for you.

I just ran this, it did not download any shadow masks. Link to the latest script?

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/theyp ... ate_all.sh

I just checked its menu and there is no setting to turn it on or off, so it should work as is.

Yes, new downloader has to be enabled via MISC menu on the update_all script. Hope this helps anyone looking in the future.

Really enjoying the v2 masks that have been put out now, there's a nice range between super subtle and super strong. Its nice enough on a VGA monitor to switch me over to vga_scaler. Congrats to all the devs for this great addition!

Would be fun whenever this comes over to the handheld cores, could make effects similar to what is on the Analogue Pocket.

Did I say thank you?

Thank you Jos! Your masks are the most faithful out there!

I'm partial to your first endeavor; I'm using a 1920x1200 panel with the MiSTer, and while all the 'Grid' masks are mathematically correct so to speak, I'm getting the best results with "Thin RGB Stripes v2", and "Squished VGA v2".

Please preserve those, no matter the lower perceived brightness; I'm gonna pull a Sorgism myself here and decree: [sorg] get a better monitor/TV [/sorg].

Glad you like them!

I'm currently organising my masks to allow for some choice in terms of brightness but also in the level of definition (ie. darkness) of the mask. These correspond to the brightness of the 'on' state and 'off' state of the 'subpixels' respectively.

The challenge with these masks is that the image gets (really) dark. However I do think the darker masks look better, so they will definitely remain. The converted 'default' masks will be added to my folder in the next update.

edit: There's some new masks waiting in a pull request. All masks are now in my github repo.