Vscale "scale to fit" vs "integer" vs "steps"

Discussion about displays and related hardware including MiSTer filters and video settings.
Deezdrama
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Vscale "scale to fit" vs "integer" vs "steps"

Unread post by Deezdrama »

So I originally had vscale set to integer scaling because I didn't want any visual nastiness when using scanlines until I figured out vscale needed to be set to 0 to be able to set 5x scaling in cores and from what I gather..... Cores are independent now from the ini file and can implement integer scaling even if the ini vscale is set to 0.
So this is how I have mine setup and am happy with it but started looking into the integer step modes and they seem to almost do the same thing that 5x is doing.
Is 5x the better way to fill the vertical real estate or are integer steps worth looking at?

Also.... When I have vscale set to 0 in the ini and set integer scaling and 5x in the cores.... Is it indeed using integer scaling independent of what the ini is set to?

Thanks!
FoxbatStargazer
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Re: Vscale "scale to fit" vs "integer" vs "steps"

Unread post by FoxbatStargazer »

The integer step modes are a little less sharp/precise because they are doing half-integer, quarter-integer, etc. 5x cut is always going to be sharper because it alone is a true whole-integer scale. The downside is that you might be cutting off some useful information, so that is a tradeoff you have to decide on.

Really just plain filling the screen with no integer scaling generally looks fine under sharp interpolation. Its when you get into scanline filters that the integer scale becomes important, and even then half-integer (vscale_mode=2) can work fine.

Only "major" cores seem to have the integer scaling modes integrated into the menu. Very few arcade cores support this for instance, as well as the more obscure computer stuff. So something to watch out for if you get into those cores, you would still need to rely on vscale_mode.
Deezdrama
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Re: Vscale "scale to fit" vs "integer" vs "steps"

Unread post by Deezdrama »

OK, this is what I thought was true... Just wanted to make sure since things seem to change so much.
Thanks for clearing that up!
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