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Prerequisites:
ShaderGlass (ShaderGlass Itch Page, ShaderGlass Steam Page)
1080p or higher monitor
For this guide ill be using PCSX2 as I'm most familiar with the system and have ps2 setup on a CRT to replicate the look of.
Some things to get out the way first, EACH CRT looked DIFFERENT! even with the same brand, model & settings there were differences in colour, brightness n all sorts. Alot of this is personal preference but step 1 & 2 are absolutely required for for a accurate look, inaccurate scaling can cause discolouration, distortion & artificing if not setup correctly
Step 1: Setup Rendering in the emulator.
What's needed most for CRT shaders to look authentic is a emulator configured with as close the limitations of the console. So for PCSX2 that would mean having all the rendering set to Default, but most importantly is the Internal Resolution.
The resolution that the game is rendered HAS to be 480p (in most cases), You also gota keep the game at its native aspect ration that being 4:3 (again in most cases)
Bilinear Filtering is the only exception in this specific case but ill explain that later on.
Lastly having the game render to a separate window will help out with setting up the shader and generally make things easier.
Step 2: Setting Up ShaderGlass.
ShaderGlass is from what iv been able to find and even make the best option for applying shaders to emulators.
Once you got the settings on the emulator setup you can launch the game, i recommend one with somewhere to idle in-game well you tweak the settings, Ill be using Monster Hunter G for this.
First thing you wana do is set the input on ShaderGlass, you can have the software capture the output of a specific window. Click on Input, go to Window and Select the Window for PCSX2 (when rendering to a separate window it will have the title of the game) Then you want to set the correct Pixel Size. This will be different depending on your own computers resolution, in my case I'm using a 1080p monitor so will select the x2.25 option.
To work out what option you need to select simply Divide your Monitors Resolution by 480 (1080 % 480 = 2.25)
If you have a higher resolution monitor use the calculation to find out what Pixel Size you need.
The higher resolution monitor you have the better the results will be, 1080p is generally the lowest you can go before the shader is just not worth having atall.
Next you want to go to Outputs and set the Mode to Clone, you will now have to use this ShaderGlass window to play the game. You also want to set the Scale to 100%, this will ensure there is no stretching on the game or shader and is
Step 3: Setup the Shader
now its time to actually setup the shader, click on Shader and select Choose From Library... this should bring up a list with tons of shaders.
For this Guide i will be selecting CRT-yah as its most accurate to my actual CRT in terms of visuals. This should start applying the Shader to the game through the ShaderGlass Window.
Next you need to configure the shader, this is different for each shader but most follow many of the same principles. Click on the Parameters button to open a configuration window for the shader.
Some shaders have alot of settings so showing a screenshot for each on is impractical, so I'mjust going to bullet-point the settings you need to apply to get it looking like my CRT.
Screen > Resolution (0-Auto, 1 Native) : 1.0 (this sets the shader to use the internal resolution of the emulator (480p) )
Phosphor > Decay (0-Slow .. 1-Fast) : 0.3 (add slight blur)
Color > Saturation (-Darken .. +Lighten) : 0.3 (adds a lil more colour to the image)
Color > Contrast (-Lower .. +Higher): 0.1
Mask > Type (1-Aperture, 2-Slots, 3-Shadow): 1 (Each CRT had on of a handful of mask types which are kinda like "Pixel shapes", this is up to your own preference mostly)
CRT > Noise (0-None .. 1-Full): 0.6 (adds some fuzz to the image)
Lastly once your satisfied with the look you can save the shader to be loaded whenever you want to use it by going to Processing and selecting Save Profile As.
I recommend you play with the settings, especially with the saturation, contrast and mask types and see what you like.
If you got any questions just ask.
Enjoy and have fun
Additional Info:
Accurate CRT shaders are very difficult to share, any shrinking of the image can lead to distortions and artificing due to the way in which each the mask separates the "pixel". so any resizing or even just zooming out can mess up the image. You might even be seeing a messed up image if your zoomed out on your browser.
Recording is also just about impossible unless you have a few terabytes laying around (most accurate recording iv been able to take took up about 50gb-ish for 1 hour of recording), you cant use any video compression so each second of footage is generally 3/4 times larger and it just eats your space, and most video sharing sites compress the video anyways ruining the effect.
Best way to share these are through screenshots or filesharing for video (if you can record it)
ShaderGlass (ShaderGlass Itch Page, ShaderGlass Steam Page)
1080p or higher monitor
For this guide ill be using PCSX2 as I'm most familiar with the system and have ps2 setup on a CRT to replicate the look of.
Some things to get out the way first, EACH CRT looked DIFFERENT! even with the same brand, model & settings there were differences in colour, brightness n all sorts. Alot of this is personal preference but step 1 & 2 are absolutely required for for a accurate look, inaccurate scaling can cause discolouration, distortion & artificing if not setup correctly
Step 1: Setup Rendering in the emulator.
What's needed most for CRT shaders to look authentic is a emulator configured with as close the limitations of the console. So for PCSX2 that would mean having all the rendering set to Default, but most importantly is the Internal Resolution.
The resolution that the game is rendered HAS to be 480p (in most cases), You also gota keep the game at its native aspect ration that being 4:3 (again in most cases)
Bilinear Filtering is the only exception in this specific case but ill explain that later on.
Lastly having the game render to a separate window will help out with setting up the shader and generally make things easier.
Step 2: Setting Up ShaderGlass.
ShaderGlass is from what iv been able to find and even make the best option for applying shaders to emulators.
Once you got the settings on the emulator setup you can launch the game, i recommend one with somewhere to idle in-game well you tweak the settings, Ill be using Monster Hunter G for this.
First thing you wana do is set the input on ShaderGlass, you can have the software capture the output of a specific window. Click on Input, go to Window and Select the Window for PCSX2 (when rendering to a separate window it will have the title of the game) Then you want to set the correct Pixel Size. This will be different depending on your own computers resolution, in my case I'm using a 1080p monitor so will select the x2.25 option.
To work out what option you need to select simply Divide your Monitors Resolution by 480 (1080 % 480 = 2.25)
If you have a higher resolution monitor use the calculation to find out what Pixel Size you need.
The higher resolution monitor you have the better the results will be, 1080p is generally the lowest you can go before the shader is just not worth having atall.
Next you want to go to Outputs and set the Mode to Clone, you will now have to use this ShaderGlass window to play the game. You also want to set the Scale to 100%, this will ensure there is no stretching on the game or shader and is
Step 3: Setup the Shader
now its time to actually setup the shader, click on Shader and select Choose From Library... this should bring up a list with tons of shaders.
For this Guide i will be selecting CRT-yah as its most accurate to my actual CRT in terms of visuals. This should start applying the Shader to the game through the ShaderGlass Window.
Next you need to configure the shader, this is different for each shader but most follow many of the same principles. Click on the Parameters button to open a configuration window for the shader.
Some shaders have alot of settings so showing a screenshot for each on is impractical, so I'mjust going to bullet-point the settings you need to apply to get it looking like my CRT.
Screen > Resolution (0-Auto, 1 Native) : 1.0 (this sets the shader to use the internal resolution of the emulator (480p) )
Phosphor > Decay (0-Slow .. 1-Fast) : 0.3 (add slight blur)
Color > Saturation (-Darken .. +Lighten) : 0.3 (adds a lil more colour to the image)
Color > Contrast (-Lower .. +Higher): 0.1
Mask > Type (1-Aperture, 2-Slots, 3-Shadow): 1 (Each CRT had on of a handful of mask types which are kinda like "Pixel shapes", this is up to your own preference mostly)
CRT > Noise (0-None .. 1-Full): 0.6 (adds some fuzz to the image)
Lastly once your satisfied with the look you can save the shader to be loaded whenever you want to use it by going to Processing and selecting Save Profile As.
I recommend you play with the settings, especially with the saturation, contrast and mask types and see what you like.
If you got any questions just ask.
Enjoy and have fun
Additional Info:
Accurate CRT shaders are very difficult to share, any shrinking of the image can lead to distortions and artificing due to the way in which each the mask separates the "pixel". so any resizing or even just zooming out can mess up the image. You might even be seeing a messed up image if your zoomed out on your browser.
Recording is also just about impossible unless you have a few terabytes laying around (most accurate recording iv been able to take took up about 50gb-ish for 1 hour of recording), you cant use any video compression so each second of footage is generally 3/4 times larger and it just eats your space, and most video sharing sites compress the video anyways ruining the effect.
Best way to share these are through screenshots or filesharing for video (if you can record it)
