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Author Topic: Powerstrip writeup  (Read 124979 times)

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Barkuti

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #40 on: November 06, 2005, 04:37:26 pm »
VooD, you can do whatever you need with PowerStrip. You seem to lack the knowledge of how analog signals work. From a monitors standpoint, all "resolutions" working at or around the same horizontal scanning frecuency are the same (digital units may distinguish between differently polarized sync signals modes, but that's another story).

For a CGA (~15.7 KHz) mode, if you are not getting correct refresh rates is because you're not using the correct amount of lines. For a 60 Hz refresh rate, that translates into 262 lines, and 15720 Hz Hsync frecuency. I mean, ALL 60 Hz modes at that Hsync frecuency HAVE 262 lines. This is axiomatic: Hsync freq. = lines * refresh.
When you refer to 224 or 240 lines, you're referring to the active lines. Total mode lines = active lines + blanking lines. So you're missing the blanking lines, 38 for 224 line modes and 22 for 240 ones.

I heartily recommend you this tutorial:

Modeline howto / tutorial / help -- Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs)


Cheers

ZeroPoint

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #41 on: November 07, 2005, 06:21:24 am »
Barkuti ! Just wondering if you could help me with something here.

I have been using PowerStrip and Radeon-cards a couple of years now. My latest card is X850 (actually x1300 but that is not supported by PowerStrip yet). I use a scart television that I have "underscan"-adjusted.

Now to the problem: I cannot display the whole 240 active lines. It

Barkuti

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #42 on: November 07, 2005, 09:30:43 am »
Mmm, haven't messed thoroughly with the issue but it seems SCART TV's share this problem in common. These may be "reserving" some front and back lines for unknown reasons to me.
Have you tried increasing front/backporch at the cost of the "width" lines? Maybe too few to be of any help, right?

Once I thought in asking Andy Warne about the red, green and blue lines that appeared on the upper part of the screen of my old desktop TV when connected to the AVGA (I corrected its overscan also). All modes shown them but only the ones with close to 90% or more active lines were being clipped. Sold it some time ago now so I forgot to investigate on it.

My arcade monitor should be in my hands in 2 to 3 days; we'll know for sure then. :police:


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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #43 on: November 14, 2005, 04:27:35 pm »
Quote
For a CGA (~15.7 KHz) mode, if you are not getting correct refresh rates is because you're not using the correct amount of lines. For a 60 Hz refresh rate, that translates into 262 lines, and 15720 Hz Hsync frecuency. I mean, ALL 60 Hz modes at that Hsync frecuency HAVE 262 lines. This is axiomatic: Hsync freq. = lines * refresh.
When you refer to 224 or 240 lines, you're referring to the active lines. Total mode lines = active lines + blanking lines. So you're missing the blanking lines, 38 for 224 line modes and 22 for 240 ones.


How do you think you setup powerstrip for proper 60hz display?

And how to tell mame that a 262 line mode in windows only has 240 active lines?


The mode lines I use from a earlier post.. i.e.

480x240=480,16,48,32,240,4,3,15,9072,7
512x240=512,16,48,40,240,4,3,15,9702,7
512x256=512,16,48,40,256,4,3,17,9702,7
512x264=512,16,48,40,264,5,3,17,9702,7
576x240=576,8,56,48,240,4,3,15,10836,7
592x240=592,16,56,48,240,4,3,15,11214,7
608x240=608,16,64,40,240,4,3,15,11466,7
768x240=768,16,80,56,240,4,3,15,14490,7
640x240=640,16,64,48,240,4,3,15,12096,7
640x256=640,16,64,48,256,4,3,17,12096,7
672x240=672,16,64,56,240,4,3,15,12726,7
704x256=704,24,72,48,256,4,3,17,13356,7
704x264=704,24,72,48,264,5,3,17,13356,7
704x288=704,24,72,48,288,5,3,19,13356,7
736x240=736,16,72,56,240,4,3,15,13860,7
784x240=784,24,80,56,240,4,3,15,14868,7
768x288=768,16,80,56,288,5,3,19,14490,7
424x272=424,16,40,32,272,4,3,18,8064,7
448x240=448,8,48,32,240,4,3,15,8442,7
512x240=512,16,48,40,240,4,3,15,9702,7
512x288=512,16,48,40,288,5,3,19,9702,7
632x264=632,16,64,48,264,5,3,17,11970,7
640x288=640,16,64,48,288,5,3,19,12096,7
800x288=800,24,80,56,288,5,3,19,15120,7


80% of those display correctly on a commodore 1084 monitor (and a d9200)
and display the correct amount of lines. (Be it 50 or 60hz)
The front and back porch defines the retrace period.
Not the active number of lines. (If you notice the 50hz and 60hz modes have different front porch values)

I keep running into the problem when I try to use the lower pclocks
the card and computer locks up or generates a unusable display.

This is with nvidia and ati radeon chips.

To me the powerstip solution seems to be a dead end at the moment, along with
advmame under windows. (no support for the newer video cards)

I would love to put a good video card into my main mame system, my arcadevga 9200 based version really sucks at house of the dead 3.


Later,
dabone


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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #44 on: November 15, 2005, 04:31:58 am »
I keep running into the problem when I try to use the lower pclocks
the card and computer locks up or generates a unusable display.
Saw this thread in the powerstrip forum.

http://www.entechtaiwan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2903

Maybe that solves the low pixel clock problems.

VooD

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #45 on: November 19, 2005, 01:11:01 pm »

VooD

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #46 on: November 19, 2005, 01:21:02 pm »
VooD, you can do whatever you need with PowerStrip. You seem to lack the knowledge of how analog signals work. From a monitors standpoint, all "resolutions" working at or around the same horizontal scanning frecuency are the same (digital units may distinguish between differently polarized sync signals modes, but that's another story).

For a CGA (~15.7 KHz) mode, if you are not getting correct refresh rates is because you're not using the correct amount of lines. For a 60 Hz refresh rate, that translates into 262 lines, and 15720 Hz Hsync frecuency. I mean, ALL 60 Hz modes at that Hsync frecuency HAVE 262 lines. This is axiomatic: Hsync freq. = lines * refresh.
When you refer to 224 or 240 lines, you're referring to the active lines. Total mode lines = active lines + blanking lines. So you're missing the blanking lines, 38 for 224 line modes and 22 for 240 ones.

I heartily recommend you this tutorial:

Modeline howto / tutorial / help -- Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs)


Cheers

I

Barkuti

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #47 on: November 19, 2005, 03:46:48 pm »
VooD, you are using a fixed resolution monitor. Different modes' scanning frecuencies can (and will) be different due to a number of reasons. But you don't need to scan at 15735.9348592873945872 EXACT frecuency, that's silly and any device with such a requirement would be useless.

Any CGA monitor or SCART driven TV will accept at least 15.5 - 16 KHz Hfreq, and some sets may do 16.5 KHz or more.

Refresh rate is the most important fact. Resolution isn't. A 224 line game can look perfect using a 240 line mode. Remember, as long as you don't stretch the picture or apply any filtering to it you are fine.
Sure, you may be thinking you'll see black borders displaying 224 line games in 240 line modes. Of course you will, if you have adjusted your screen to see all those 240 active lines. But expand your picture to hide roughly 16 lines, half up and half down, and the result will be EXACTLY the same. Use a game with a screen geometry pattern on the operator's menu for adjustment.
After all, a blanking line doesn't belongs to the picture and therefore in a correctly setup monitor it will be rasterized close or out of the screen, if at all. Remember MAME will center that 224 lines image over 240, leaving exactly 8 black lines in the upper part & 8 down.
On the other hand, if you define a true 224 active lines mode with 38 blanking lines, and your monitor had been previously adjusted to display 240 active lines, you will see black borders after switching to your "true" 224 line mode, 8 line wide black borders up & down. So you will need to adjust anyway. ::)


Cheers

VooD

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #48 on: November 19, 2005, 07:24:51 pm »
I can assure you I can setup pixel perfect different vertical resolutions in advmame with no borders at all (neither overscanned lines) or resizing.

In fact you can easily test every desired mode with advcfg after doing the first monitor calibration, and they will appear mostly centered.

Maybe tomorrow If I get bored enough I
« Last Edit: November 19, 2005, 11:12:28 pm by VooD »

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #49 on: November 21, 2005, 08:45:34 am »

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #50 on: November 21, 2005, 02:42:50 pm »
Although it auto-detects to an extent, its very unlike Advmame in that it is not geared to generating accurate resolutions as far as I can see (or if it is, its not very good).
I'm working on a better auto-detect algorithm for mame. The idea is to select the lowest resolution where the game fills as much as possible of the screen.

Problem is to ensure that it doesn't mess up usage on normal PC monitors.
Quote
Also a quick quesiton hopefully someone can answer - can windows have more than setting per resolution ie if you needed/wanted 640x240 available at say 50Hz AND at 60Hz, can they coexist? or do you need to make a 641x240 or something with a different resolution?
Only one refreshrate per resolution.
(I think it is a limitation of how custom resolutions are handled in the graphics driver rather than windows).

If you use the same pclock for a slightly higher horizontal resolution or add some lines the result will be the same as if you used the correct resolution (unless mame adds stretch).

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #51 on: December 04, 2005, 09:36:00 am »
hello,

hope this is not completly offtopic: Yesterday i got my hantarex to work on a Matrox Millenium G200 and the Powerstrip. I use also an jpac which levels my video signal to the needed 1Volt. O.k now i have a good picture, its a little bit flickery but ok for an interlaced signal. When i am starting without the jpac, i got a vertical scrolling picture. I dont understand this. Normaly i have to got a darker Picture due to the lower Video Signal, but non scrolling... Am i wrong? Any suggestions ?

Thanks a lot

Zyx
« Last Edit: December 04, 2005, 09:37:59 am by zyxman »

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #52 on: January 30, 2006, 07:37:26 pm »
A vertical rolling signal means either you are sending a signal your monitor cannot sync to, or you need to manually adjust the vertical hold on your monitor (usually a small pot on the monitor's board, labelled clearly as "V Hold").

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #53 on: March 08, 2006, 12:14:17 pm »
I've got some time to look at the powerstrip stuff again....

I've also got a monitor hooked up that takes a large range of horizontal scan frequencies (testing how many now).

wpcmame - did you submit any of your changes for mame and resolution autodetection?

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #54 on: March 10, 2006, 02:31:55 pm »
wpcmame - did you submit any of your changes for mame and resolution autodetection?
No, I never got around submitting it. The problem is that it is such a complicated subject and I got a feeling that very few (if any) of the mamedevs understand what it is all about. The aspect ratio problem with the artwork has always been there and when I have pointed it out on the mame forum nobody have had a clue what I was talking about.

Just sending a patch to mame will not work. My plan is to try to get Aaron Giles' attention on the matter since he is the one who touched the artwork/display code last. Don't know when I will get the time to do it.

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #55 on: March 10, 2006, 04:09:26 pm »
Yes I appreciate that - its probably because running it at any stock 4:3 resolution with streching makes things look fine (I think?)... Its only when you use resolutions with differntly shaped pixels (eg by doubling the horizontal pixel count) that it applies....

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #56 on: March 24, 2006, 07:06:53 am »
392 * 240 @ 62Hz (~15,7kHz) working in Windows XP SP2 with ATI Radeon 8500 64MB and Catalist 5.10 driver...




Code: [Select]
PowerStrip timing parameters:
392x240=392,8,40,48,240,1,3,13,7776,7

Generic timing details for 392x240:
HFP=8 HSW=40 HBP=48 kHz=16 VFP=1 VSW=3 VBP=13 Hz=62

VESA detailed timing details:
PClk=7776,00 H.Active=392 H.Blank=96 H.Offset=-8 HSW=40 V.Active=240 V.Blank=17 V.Offset=1 VSW=3

Linux modeline parameters:
"392x240" 7,776 392 400 440 488 240 241 244 257 -hsync -vsync

MAME 384*224 Game without stretch
« Last Edit: July 25, 2006, 06:41:53 pm by JustMichael »

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #57 on: March 24, 2006, 09:44:04 pm »
I have obtained to image to 321 * 240 @ 60Hz Non Interlaced (~15,7kHz) with a Radeon 8500 64MB + PowerStrip + Windows XP SP2...


Modeline 321 * 240 @ 60Hz Non Interlaced (~15,7kHz)...



Important: After adding the resolution 321 * 240 and restart the PC, when Windows XP starts again it is necessary to close PowerStrip or the image won
« Last Edit: August 18, 2006, 10:08:00 pm by [MaD] »

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #58 on: March 25, 2006, 08:25:39 am »
I have obtained to image to 321 * 240 @ 60Hz NOR (~15,7kHz) with a Radeon 8500 64MB + PowerStrip + Windows XP SP2...

Hmm I can't get anywhere near that on my Radeon 9500, xp sp2....

Quote
Important: After adding way 321 * 240 and restart the PC, when starting is due again to close the PowerStrip or it was not image.

This sounds quite important, but does not make sense to me through your translation. You seem to suggest you need to close powerstrip to get it to display, which does not make much sense to me.....

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #59 on: March 25, 2006, 03:33:41 pm »
Important: After adding the resolution 321 * 240 and restart the PC, when Windows XP starts again it is necessary to close PowerStrip or the image won

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #60 on: March 25, 2006, 08:51:40 pm »
OK - so: you set a 321x240 resolution (can you give a Generic/Vesa/Linux modeline info of this? From the powerstrip.ini file?)..

Then reboot....

Then quit  Powerstrip.....

Then change to 321x240 using Quickres?

I am surprised Powerstrip fails here...

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #61 on: March 26, 2006, 12:10:49 am »
OK - so: you set a 321x240 resolution (can you give a Generic/Vesa/Linux modeline info of this? From the powerstrip.ini file?)..

Quote
Quote
[Custom Resolutions]
240x224p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=240,8,40,16,224,12,3,23,4779,7
240x240p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=240,8,40,16,240,5,3,14,4779,7
240x256p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=240,8,40,16,256,2,1,3,4779,7
256x224p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=256,8,24,24,224,12,3,23,4905,7
256x240p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=256,8,24,24,240,5,3,14,4905,7
256x256p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=256,8,24,24,256,2,1,3,4905,7
321x224p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=321,8,24,32,224,12,3,23,6052,7
321x240p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=321,8,24,32,240,5,3,14,6052,7
321x256p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=321,8,24,32,256,2,1,3,6052,7
384x224p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=384,8,40,40,224,12,3,23,7420,7
384x240p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=384,8,40,40,240,5,3,14,7420,7
384x256p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=384,8,40,40,256,2,1,3,7420,7
401x256p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=401,32,24,32,256,2,2,2,7687,7
401x300p (Arcade 50Hz 15,6kHz)=401,32,24,32,300,3,1,8,7628,7
640x240p (Arcade 60Hz 15,7kHz)=640,16,48,64,240,5,3,14,12073,7
640x288p (Arcade 50Hz 15,6kHz)=640,16,48,64,288,5,3,16,11981,7

641x480i (Arcade 30Hz 15,7kHz)=641,16,48,64,480,10,5,29,12089,15
768x576i (Arcade 25Hz 15,6kHz)=768,16,80,80,576,8,5,37,14774,15

800x300p (Arcade 50Hz 15,6kHz)=800,24,80,56,300,3,1,8,14976,7
801x600i (Arcade 25Hz 15,6kHz)=801,24,80,56,600,5,3,16,14992,15

* Non Interlaced Modes.
* Interlaced Modes.

Quote
PowerStrip timing parameters:
321x240=321,8,24,32,240,5,3,14,6052,7

Generic timing details for 321x240:
HFP=8 HSW=24 HBP=32 kHz=16 VFP=5 VSW=3 VBP=14 Hz=60

VESA detailed timing details:
PClk=6052,00 H.Active=321 H.Blank=64 H.Offset=-8 HSW=24 V.Active=240 V.Blank=22 V.Offset=5 VSW=3

Linux modeline parameters:
"321x240" 6,052 321 329 353 385 240 245 248 262 -hsync -vsync


Then reboot....

Yes.


Then quit  Powerstrip.....

Yes.


Then change to 321x240 using Quickres?

Yes.


I am surprised Powerstrip fails here...

I also am surprised, but to my she passes that to me.


A greeting.


Post in Spanish on my progresses is this.
« Last Edit: August 18, 2006, 10:10:06 pm by [MaD] »

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #62 on: March 26, 2006, 08:08:01 am »
Thanks for the info - I notice you have gone all the way down to 256x244 progressive? Very nice.

I only used Powerstrip for testing, but from what you are saying you have to create the resolution in powerstrip but actually quit powerstrip to get it to work. (A bug in Powerstrip? Perhaps in their driver).

I will try again soon and see what I can try.

What Quickres utility are you using? The old Windows 98/ME one in Powertoys does not work on XP.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2006, 08:11:59 am by Silver »

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #63 on: April 16, 2006, 04:53:46 pm »
Hi there.  I couldn't get powerstrip running on my old emachine with a built in ATI Rage display adapter, but then I discovered the 2.78 "legacy" version on their website.  I downloaded that and got it up and running. 

Unfortunately, none of the following instructions seem to apply to the older version.  I can't find a place to set "custom resolutions", let alone an "arcade" setting, nor is there a powerstrip.ini file (nor a "pstrip.ini" file which the help file refers to).

Perhaps the controls are in there somehwere, but I haven't found them yet.   I'll keep clicking buttons until I find something, but if somebody knows the easy path with the older version, I'm all ears.   
Thanks

3. Step-by-step guide

3.1 Install PowerStrip
Just download the trial version from www.entechtaiwan.com and run. The trial
version is fully functional but got a time limit (365 days) and a nag screen.

3.2 Verify that your graphic card driver works with an arcade monitor.
Obviously you need a VGA monitor to perform these actions.
(If any of the items mentioned below isn't available, your graphcs card/driver doesn't support custom resolutions. Not much to do but get another graphic card)
1. Right-click on the powerstrip icon in the taskbar and select Display Properties/Change
2. Click on advanced settings
3. Click on "Custom Resolutions".
4. Go all the way down in the list of resolutions to the one that is labelled "640x480i (arcade)".
5. Select it and click on "add new resolution".
« Last Edit: April 16, 2006, 04:56:17 pm by quarterback »
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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #64 on: April 25, 2006, 01:21:11 am »
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=52803.0

Check out my results! The games look AWESOME! I have a plain Radeon 9200SE with the latest Catalyst drivers and Win XP SP2.

Thanks for the tutorial!

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #65 on: April 25, 2006, 11:14:42 am »
I'll echo what Hiub1 just said, and thanks guys for the tutorial on "everything you wanted to know about Monitors/TVs + Powerstrip, but were too afraid to ask".

I've got my Radeon 9250 to accept resolutions of 320x240 and similar so most games run sweet in 60hz progressive scan on my old TV (via RGB scart lead)

The only downside I guess, is being a victim of your own success.. in that now the picture is SO pin sharp, each pixel is defined as a square rather than having that blurry/smudginess that makes the games look so authentic.

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #66 on: April 25, 2006, 02:05:59 pm »
What do you mean that the games don't look authentic?

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #67 on: April 25, 2006, 02:22:41 pm »
The only downside I guess, is being a victim of your own success.. in that now the picture is SO pin sharp, each pixel is defined as a square rather than having that blurry/smudginess that makes the games look so authentic.

The "sharpness" factor is down to the monitor used more than anything else. If you are outputting 320x240 progressive at 60Hz  via an RGB scart you are basically generating a completely authentic  game signal image. Using an "old TV" I would imagine is perfect.

If it looks too good then perhaps you are used to 15 year old nearly-knackered arcade monitors!

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #68 on: April 27, 2006, 05:39:42 am »
Check this out...

http://ryoandr.free.fr/emus-en.html

Looks great on my screen
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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #69 on: May 05, 2006, 05:51:10 pm »
wpcmame - did you submit any of your changes for mame and resolution autodetection?
I sent a mail to Aaron about a month ago describing the problem in detail and included a link to my site with the pictures.

Haven't got a reply. Are there any other alternatives (e.g. PowerMAME)?

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #70 on: May 05, 2006, 06:20:39 pm »
Yes try submitting to same info to Powermame author MikeQ....

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #71 on: June 02, 2006, 05:47:54 am »
Aaron seems to have implemented correct aspect ratio handling in the new video system.
(He even fixed the artwork aspect)

Tested some corner cases and they all seem to work fine. Only problem is that the bitmap is assumed to fill the entire monitor (or at least have the same aspect ratio).
Only matters if you use modes that doesn't fill the monitor (e.g. 224 line modes on a monitor adjusted for 240 lines). If necessary this can be fixed by adjusting the screen aspect parameter.


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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #72 on: June 02, 2006, 06:05:13 am »
Ah that is good news.... I've steered clear until the huge rewrite settles down, though this has been quite an interesting one....

Incidentally, not sure I posted this elsewhere, I had email exchange with the admin at the Powerstrip forums and discovered that there is (was) a hard-coded 10Mhz pixelclock floor. Any custom resolution generated which had a lower pclock would not be enforced as described (and in my case caused Powerstrip to act very slow, like it was hanging). I had assumed this because the pclock was too low for my gfx card (radeon 9500).

However, he changed the floor to 5Mhz in a beta, and I found I could create more 'perfect' non-interlaced resolutions without any problems. Such as 321x240 (320x240 is always "doublescanned" - I've never found a way round this).

 He then changed it (on request) to something lower than 5Meg - around 4.5 or 4.75Mhz I think - so I could test 240x224.  However this particular setting (240x224=240,8,40,16,224,4,3,31,4779,7) was beyond my gfx card.

The low pclock floor should be in all betas of powerstrip since Mid april.

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #73 on: June 12, 2006, 09:07:17 am »
Ah that is good news.... I've steered clear until the huge rewrite settles down, though this has been quite an interesting one....

I was a bit to fast. The new system does aspect ratio correctly but the cleanstretch option is removed. This means that the image will always be stretch to fill the entire width and/or height. Makes 224 line games look really bad.

Lets hope Aaron adds the cleanstretch option again.

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #74 on: June 12, 2006, 09:55:13 am »
surely that breaks the aspect ratio? If a game is native 320x240 and displayed at 640x480 on a 640x480 screen, thats fine. But if a game is 320x224, then it should be displayed at 640x448 on a 640x480 screen. (With borders).

Or am I missing the point again? Does the Maintain_aspect switch still exist?

Or is this a problem that a 224 line game actually ouputted a 240line screen and the monitor was simply stretched/overscanned to provide a good picture in the original arcade?

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #75 on: June 12, 2006, 04:57:29 pm »
surely that breaks the aspect ratio? If a game is native 320x240 and displayed at 640x480 on a 640x480 screen, thats fine.
It keeps the aspect ratio by only filling the screen in one direction (unless the screen has the correct proportions of course).
Quote
But if a game is 320x224, then it should be displayed at 640x448 on a 640x480 screen. (With borders).
No. A 640x448 image on a 640x480 screen would not have 4:3 aspect ratio. Since you have ~7% (32/480) black lines you need to shrink the game by the same amount horizontally to get correct proportions (i.e. 600x448). As you can see there are 2 ways to display the image with correct proportions: either use 640x480 (non-integer stretch vertically) or 600x448 (non-integer stretch horizontally).

In the old version you could use the cleanstretch option to force integer stretching.

-cleanstretch both (640x448, nice but wrong aspect)
-cleanstretch horiz (640x480)
-cleanstretch vert (600x448)

The new version will just use the largest resolution that keeps the aspect ratio (640x480) and there is no way to change it.

You can solve the problem by creating "perfect" resolutions for every game resolution but it is not practical and if you have an AVGA you just can't display 224 line games properly (since there are no 224 line modes).
Quote
Or am I missing the point again? Does the Maintain_aspect switch still exist?
It is called keep_aspect and ut still exists.


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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #76 on: June 18, 2006, 10:06:15 am »
Ah, thanks once again for clearing that up....

So while the new video system does correct aspect ratio, the catch is it will do non-integer streching (causing strech image problems?) unless you happen to have a perfect video mode.

Ideally we want to be able to use the closest available video mode, and only stretch with integers, creating a near-perfect image with borders?

Maybe we could ask Aaron to look at this while he is still tweaking the video renderer...?

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #77 on: July 23, 2006, 08:34:21 am »
hi guys, im having a little trouble here, im using powerstrip to display windows on an 15khz arcade monitor with the gameex frontend, everything runs great axcept for 1 thing, the mame chd games, the normal mame roms work fine but with the chd games the screen is flickering alot, i think it has something to do with the customresolutions, as far as i know the chd games run in 800x600 mode but the custom resolutions i added(wich i found on this lovely sitre btw  ) dont have a 800x600 layout on 15khz on them. could anybody plz write down that resolution inhere plz cause i dont know anything about them, to many numbers for me, i can only copy and paste
thx in advance
 

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #78 on: July 29, 2006, 04:16:25 am »
I think your problem is that the game is scaled to an interlaced resolution with an uneven factor. Try the mame option "-cleanstretch full" and maybe -noswitchres and see if the flicker remains.

There is no use of a 800x600 resolution on an arcade monitor. The monitor will display the same amount of lines (normally in the range 480-576) regardless of resolution uesd so you will not be able to see 600 lines.

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Re: Powerstrip writeup
« Reply #79 on: October 26, 2006, 01:28:42 pm »
OK.  I have an ArcadeVGA card.  It sets up my video modes automatically.  I am using Powerstrip only to adjust the image...h center, etc.   My hardware maxes out and is still not properly centered.  In 640x480i mode this works perfectly. 

Even if I switch to a low res (for example, 240x240) mode and go in to powerstrip I can adjust the screen's position no problem...but as I exit it changes modes....and it screws up the screen...and I have to use my HOTKEY I programmed for 640x480 to get back to normal.

I have inputed the modes above...and through powerstrip I can even change to one of those modes...but again,  as soon as I exit,  it jacks up the screen.

Any suggestions?

I have one or two low res modes Id' like to center horizontally...
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