Atari Vault on Steam question

[AAA177]

I'm non-technical in nature, but enjoy playing classic games. I have Atari Vault on Steam. Curious about something.

 

When I set scan lines to off, the image is much better. I always thought scan lines were what was needed to make old games look better. Just trying to figure out why this is on the Vault product, just to ensure I understand what this option entails. (Also, when I set for full screen - that actually may be the default - it doesn't seem to do it; anyone else have that issue?). 

[Absalon]

scan lines (today) are needed to make old games look better like they did on old crt monitors. But "artificial" scanlines in emulators are often not like the original. (see color bleeding). I don't want to go into more technical details.

 

So. In fact the image is better without scanlines. you are right !

 

 

(and I don't have problems with full screen mode in steam)

[Mockduck]

I have never been a fan of artificial scan lines myself, they never felt more authentic to me, so I always turn it off. Those scan lines are how (sorta) it'd be on an old CRT, but the bloom of a CRT would mask a lot of it. 

[zzip]

It really depends on how the scanlines / CRT emulation is implemented.   I've seen it done well, and done poorly.

 

Sometimes the scanlines are just too harsh, they shouldn't be 100% black,  they should be dimmer than the line above and below it.   Sometimes the scaler screws up the scanlines.

 

And there are other aspects to CRT emulation than just scanlines, but scanlines are a good start.   When done well, I think they do enhance things.   Remember the game designers tweaked their games to look good on this type of display.   When you view these games on high-res displays they often look more pixelated than they did on the original display.