Which MAME scanline effect do you prefer?

[CGRemakes]

I've tried doing a search on this, and didn't find any information (if there is, I appoligize), so I would like to get some input on what everyone prefers.  Which do you think looks the best?  Which most closely resembles a true arcade montitor?  If you prefer one not listed, please comment as well.  

[Sasquatch!]

Throwing in the vote of "none".  I don't care for the way they look, even on a PC monitor.

[jerryjanis]

Me too.  The scanline effects never made any sense to me.

[NoOne=NBA=]

Make that 3 for NONE.

I just turn on Bilinear filtering to fuzz up the pixel edges, and call it good.

[patrickl]

Yeah, I hate them all too.

I do use a fuzzy scaling effect

[nighthawk2099]

Make that 5 now for none....

[cw]

I for one use scan lines..... some game imho just dont look right without them...........and im thinking i use the
25%.......

[patrickl]

Ehhe, that's one vote for "yes".

Did you try using a smooth scaling instead of scanlines? IMHO that gives you the same effect (pixels being smoother) without the annoying scanlines (which just makes things harder to see).

[Tiger-Heli]

Another vote for NONE.  Surprised there were so many others, though.

UPDATE:  Okay, makes more sense now that most of you guys are using TV's and arcade monitors.  I use a PC monitor and I don't like scanlines.

[SirPeale]

Another vote for 'none.'  I prefer my games on an arcade monitor.

[Lilwolf]

none and arcade monitor here also

[jerryjanis]

Another vote for NONE.  Surprised there were so many others, though

Yeah, I'm surprised, too!  I just figured there was something wrong with me because I didn't get it.

Maybe the programmers enjoy dreaming up different filters, even if nobody actually uses them.

[Brax]

None and I'm on a pc monitor... I find it distracting.

[Todd H]

None.

[Stingray]

None on a PC monitor. Scanlines are too hard on my eyes.

-S

[telengard]

I use AdvanceMame and it's amazing how close you can get to emulating a real arcade monitor.  IIRC  I use a double resolution w/ hardware scanlines, and a few other effects that I can't remember off the top of my head.  If anyone is interested I can post them.  I have spent a LOT of time creating exact resolutions too that use all of the monitor.  It's definitely worth the effort.  Except for the missing bricklike pattern and color bleeding it looks very close to the real thing.  If only MAME could emulate the super bright vectors in Asteroids.  

[CGRemakes]

I use AdvanceMame and it's amazing how close you can get to emulating a real arcade monitor.  IIRC  I use a double resolution w/ hardware scanlines, and a few other effects that I can't remember off the top of my head.  If anyone is interested I can post them.  I have spent a LOT of time creating exact resolutions too that use all of the monitor.  It's definitely worth the effort.  Except for the missing bricklike pattern and color bleeding it looks very close to the real thing.  If only MAME could emulate the super bright vectors in Asteroids.  

Yea, that would be great.  I've tried several different combinations as well, and just am not sure I'm happy with the results (which was the inspiration for starting this post).  I too am quite surprised more don't use some type of effect (at least for PC monitors, as it's pointless with TVs and unnecessary with arcade monitors)

[Khenemet Heru]

I wasn't using them because my test machine uses an LCD display that was a trifle fuzzy to start with, scanlines look strange on it. However the machine I'm actually putting in my cab project has a 19" VGA (computer) monitor, and for that I use the "auto" setting for scanlines thru Direct3D - that setting, in theory, chooses the best scanline effect for the resolution, refresh rate, etc. on a game-by-game basis. So far, 90% of the time it has chosen 25% scanlines; I have my scanline intensity set for 40%, and it looks fine for all the games I have tried. Vertical games look a trifle strange since the lines go the wrong way, but what the hey, it's good enough that I can enjoy the game and feel like it might be a real machine, without the blurring that I got with a TV, which to me is all that matters.

I'm not at all surprised at the lack of votes or the fact that the general response has been "use an arcade monitor" or the like. Lots of the regulars here (and most of the responders are regulars) have several real machines in addition to their MAME machines, and tend towards authenticity. That's their right and opinion and I have a great deal of respect for them and their ideas. However, I feel that it's a disservice to any newbies that would read this thread to represent that as the general consensus. Personally I feel that in general absolute authenticity is unnecessary, as most people out there would be happy with the simulation.

I don't think anyone can make a decision about using/not using scanlines or about any other video/audio option without trying it themselves, as only they themselves can decide if it's good enough for their purposes. Try everything, pick what you are happy with... that's my recommendation.  

[telengard]

I use AdvanceMame and it's amazing how close you can get to emulating a real arcade monitor.  IIRC  I use a double resolution w/ hardware scanlines, and a few other effects that I can't remember off the top of my head.  If anyone is interested I can post them.  I have spent a LOT of time creating exact resolutions too that use all of the monitor.  It's definitely worth the effort.  Except for the missing bricklike pattern and color bleeding it looks very close to the real thing.  If only MAME could emulate the super bright vectors in Asteroids.  

Yea, that would be great.  I've tried several different combinations as well, and just am not sure I'm happy with the results (which was the inspiration for starting this post).  I too am quite surprised more don't use some type of effect (at least for PC monitors, as it's pointless with TVs and unnecessary with arcade monitors)

Here's the useful bits...

display_mode generate-double-scanline
display_adjust generate_exact
display_scanlines yes
display_color bgr8
display_resize integer
display_brightness .94
display_resizeeffect filter

I noticed that having the brightness at one made the colors look too pastel-ish.  Berzerk looks **much** better @ .94 brightness.  The reds/blues/greens are much brighter, well at least to me   .

A few games, most notably the Williams games like Defender, Robotron, etc don't seem to work well with generate-double-scanline so those and a few others have the resolutions I've created.

[Zakk]

Another vote for none.  I used to use them (pc monitor) then just got used to the fuzzy stretch screen.  Now I prefer it without.  I think I just converted a buddy too, he was hellbound defiant not to give up his scanlines, but I think he's finally seen the light

[patrickl]

I've just tried scanlines again. With Galaga it actually didn't look that bad, but on many other games it's just a mess.

The way I see it, the real benefit of an arcade monitor is not so much the scanlines, but the fact that the images get smoothed out a bit. If you are looking for a smoother image then a much better result can be obtained with the Image Enhancement algorithms in Mame32Plus. Personally I like "Derek's 2xSal" (allthough it's a bit too smooth for some games). A game like Out Run really looks a lot better with this on.

But then I read "better" as "better current performance" rather than "better authenticity".

[Oldskool]

I use a PC monitor, and I LOVE SCANLINES.

So there  

[shmokes]

It doesn't really make sense for anyone using a TV or Arcade monitor to be posting in this thread does it?  I mean, the purpose of scanlines is to make a PC monitor look like a TV/Arcade Monitor if I understand correctly.  Why would someone with an arcade monitor attempt to emulate an arcade monitor?

[jerryjanis]

Even those of us with arcade monitors are forced to play mame on a PC monitor sometimes.

[CGRemakes]

One quick question.  I switched from using regular Mame32 to AdvanceMAME, and had a question on my monitor.  Are these the figures I'm supposed to enter for the pclock, hclock and vclock (I have a Dell M992):

http://support.ap.dell.com/docs/monitors/M992/En/specs.htm

When I enter in 28.322-202.50, 31.469-93.750, and 70.087-75.000, all the resolutions are listed as "out of range" by advv.  If they are not, does anyone know what the correct values are?  (I don't have the manual anymore, sorry)

[Minwah]

I use a PC monitor, and I LOVE SCANLINES.

So there  

Same here (kindof).  When I use a PC monitor (most of the time until now) I like -scanlines, IMO looks loads better than without.

I have an arcade monitor for my cab tho so fortunately I won't have to even think about it in future