How does this CRT magic work???

[Rakoniomm]

Recently I have been pretty fascinated by the idea of how the difference between "raw pixels" when seen through the lens of CRT can completely transform the look to the point it just feels like straight up magic

it all started with this video :

the mere idea that random stray pixels can turn into strong highlight or gradient is mind blowing to me like I know the technical idea of dithering and how it makes a 3rd transitional color appear out of nowhere when the artist only has 2 but even tho I understand it on a technical level it still feels like Black voodo magic shit to me

Like the waterfall effect in Sonic The Hedgehog

even tho I played it back when it released on CRT for some reason from the countless amount of times I played it on modern TV I completely forgotten it was supposed to be transparent and my mind just accepted that the sharp pixels supposed to look like that as maybe a stylistic choice

I felt like I was living a lie all these times ヽ(`⌒´メ)ノ


but, and I saved the most crazy one for last is that... you just CAN NOT convince me that two goofy red pixels can transform into evil sexy scary eyes just like that!

regarding the last one supposedly from my understanding is that the portrait of Dracula was just a normal drawing that got "digitized" and turned it into that

my question is does anyone know what is the process artists of the past has been using to digitize normal art and fit it into fuzzy image for consoles that have very limited colors to work with?

I'm very interested in this look and want to try to emulate it (ﾉ>ω<)ﾉ :｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆

 

[Retro Doomer]

Since I play on my Ps3 most of my Retro Games out of convenience so my shader options are limited
I have a old Television its in the basement though since I have to space up here for it.
So I use my sinful Flatscreen

 

[ProfessorFrog]

I can guess part of it:
1: I think the scanlines are hiding the lines between pixels. So you never see where pixels touch each other. I think what they did was align all the graphics in the game to a grid. And due to console limitations that was kind of the norm.
2: There is actually some quality loss. i think Drac's upper lip can't be seen very well in the pixel images.
3: I think just drawing the art, and being able to display it quickly on a crt/in the game would help. Adjustments could then be made to make Drac's upper lip a bit easier to read, if they wanted that.

 

[gwardojones]

I used to hate filters in emulators, but as time has gone on, I've started to wonder if I was misremembering how good games used to look when I play retro games in the present. CRT / scanline filters really show just how amazing pixel art used to be. There's still great pixel art today, don't get me wrong. But the kind of care and consideration that went into making images pop on CRT TVs back in the day is straight up incredible.

EDIT: Sorry OP. I know you're asking a question. The images you posted got me hyped.

 

[Vexicrypt]

In cases where they had to put normal images into games (not through creating pixel art) they usually just compressed the crap out of them. Kinda like with old FMV games, where you could clearly see the damage of compression. Its also about using strict color palettes from the start or removing unnecessary colors in post. At least that's how I see it.

Also everything was made and checked on CRTs to look right, so its kinda hard to emulate because that was just their natural process back then.