DPC+ Games Blurry?

[KevKelley]

I have been working on a batari Basic game (Bag Boy) and have it working on real hardware but I didn't really think much about it until now because while the game works, the fidelity is blurry and the colors are off. Another DPC+ batari Basic game I was working on presented the same problem and is how I discovered this.

 

I tested other games, ranging from a normal batari Basic game I made to games like Mappy or Draconian and they all seem to run clearly. I haven't checked it on other systems I own. Wasn't sure if there had been any similar occurances. 

 

 

I am running it on an inexpensive Emerson flat screen (I think LCD) but the image appearance reminds me of an old CRT, where the colors kind of bleed together. 

 

I am linking to my Bag Boy thread in case anyone has a Harmony, the same file, and same issue:

 

Bag Boy!

[DragonGrafx-16]

LCDs tend to have a pretty crappy RF picture... my 2600 almost looks as good as composite on my Sony Trinitron TV...

[KevKelley]

There weird thing is when I tried other games on the Harmony they were crystal clear ... Except the 2 I tried. I just went back and checked Tyre Trax and it kind of looked a little as well.

 

I just took a couple pictures with my phone as well as a screenshot of gameplay from Tyre Trax for comparison.

 

 

[KevKelley]

[+Andrew Davie]

How about running in Stella and looking at the scanline counts?

 

[KevKelley]

In Stella they run at 262 scan lines without any overscans. In Stella it is clear too. Tomorrow I'll try to dig out other systems and test it on them.

Edited January 18, 2020 by KevKelley

[KevKelley]

I am thinking I may have to test a different TV too. I recall playing Rikki And Vikki on my 7800 and it came out a little blurry too. Possible the tv I got can't handle some of the higher definition games. I did get it for several bucks at the Goodwill so... ?

[KevKelley]

So I tried it on a couple televisions. I tried a Heavy Sixer, a 4 Switch, and a Sears Video Arcade II. I used 2 different coax adapters, a few RF adapters. I tried the channel switch.

 

Same results with each combination.

 

I plugged in other carts and compared the screen to pics online and they seem fine. ND I looked through the Bag Boy thread where someone had posted a screenshot of them playing and everything seemed fine.

 

Maybe it is an issue with the Harmony. Would updating the firmware possibly fix it (it is a 1.06) 

[KevKelley]

So I was playing Tower of Rubble on my Harmony and noticed when I tried a 2 player, the blue guy was a little blurry when compared to the red guy. This made me think back to this post.

 

I had noticed some games didn't appear too bad but it made me wonder if there could be some issue with displaying certain colors. That might make sense as when I considered what games seem to appear blurrier. When I used actual cartridges of games I didn't have any issues.

 

I had a AFP lying around so I compared it to that for reference.

 

Here is what it looks like:

[+Karl G]

Were all of the TVs you tried LCD? It's possible that what you are seeing is how your TV deals with flicker.

[KevKelley]

I had a small CRT too. I didn't try it this time but if I remember I think I tried it back when I first tested this. I'm gonna have to set it up and do some comparisons. 

 

Is that something that happens with LCD and flicker management?

[KevKelley]

So this is a CRT. It doesn't look as bad with ToR.

 

Now I did notice some differences between emulation and the TVs for my manatee game. 

 

And then the lighter color beside the ants and bars on this version of Aardvark.

 

And then I noticed these discrepancies on the side of the screen (you can also see it in the Tyre Trax pic up above) on both the CRT and LCD. It looks as if each row may not be aligned.

 

[+splendidnut]

That's mostly how color works with the Atari 2600 NTSC signal... It produces color by delaying the color sub-carrier a certain amount to generate each different "hue".  So the different colors will not align vertically since they will be positioned slightly different horizontally.

 

Have you tried turning down the "Saturation" or "Color" (usually newer TVs) control on your TV?  Certain colors tend to bleed quite a bit when the saturation is set too high.  Some 2600s have this issue more than others.

 

This is all part of the "charm" of the Atari 2600. 

[NostAlgae37]

1 hour ago, splendidnut said:

This is all part of the "charm" of the Atari 2600. 

Speaking of Atari 2600 charm, has there been any progress with Chaotic Grill lately?