Polostar - 80% won't switch to the correct resolution?

[Endprodukt]

Calamity told me this is a common "feature" of this monitor not recognizing the correct resolution. But it's like 80% of the time that I have to start a game a couple of times until it will make the switch to 15khz. This seems to happen especially with 15khz as 25khz and 31khz switch all the time (model 2 for example). Desktop is in 31khz. It seems like some games have this problem more than others, Mortal Kombat for example.

Is anyone else having this problem?

Thanks!


Olli

[Calamity]

Hi Endprodukt,

You can try using different sync polarities for the 15 and 31 kHz ranges:

vmmaker.ini

      MonitorType = "CUSTOM"
      monitor_specs0    15700-15800, 45-80, 4.000, 4.700, 5.300, 0.062, 0.062, 0.740, 0, 0, 288, 448
      monitor_specs1    16100-16200, 45-80, 1.280, 4.500, 6.420, 0.062, 0.062, 0.740, 0, 0, 288, 448
      monitor_specs2    25100-25200, 45-80, 0.200, 0.400, 8.000, 0.040, 0.040, 0.640, 0, 0, 384, 768
      monitor_specs3    31500-31600, 45-80, 0.170, 0.350, 5.500, 0.040, 0.040, 0.640, 1, 1, 576, 800

mame.ini

      monitor custom
      crt_range0  15700-15800, 50-65, 1.800, 0.400, 7.400, 0.064, 0.160, 1.056, 0, 0, 192, 256, 0, 0
      crt_range1  16200-16300, 50-65, 0.200, 0.400, 8.000, 0.040, 0.040, 0.640, 0, 0, 256, 264, 512, 528
      crt_range2  25300-25400, 50-65, 0.200, 0.400, 8.000, 0.040, 0.040, 0.640, 0, 0, 384, 400, 768, 800
      crt_range3  31500-31600, 50-65, 0.170, 0.350, 5.500, 0.040, 0.040, 0.640, 1, 1, 400, 512, 0, 0

This may or may not work 

On a side note, I'd say the best option for this monitor in the long term is to always use the 31 kHz range with software scanlines (in mame.ini, "effect scanlines"), using ultrawide resolutions with "cleanstretch 2". The 31 kHz range has the best geometry with this particular monitor. In theory, the picture should look exactly the same as with true 15 kHz modes. Unfortunately, in my experience, brightness gets greatly reduced when doing this in MAME. I'm not sure if it has to do with the way the filter is applied or is monitor related.

[Endprodukt]

Changing the polarity of the 31khz modeline to 1, 1, didn't help I'm afraid.

 I THINK that the problem with the switching is also related to switchres. For example: I start MK with the nagscreen, the monitor will switch to 15khz and the resolution is fine.  After I press any button to skip the nagscreen it seems like some resolution switching is going on and this is the point where the monitor can't keep up with the speed when this is happening... does this make sense?

[Endprodukt]

Today I tried a little more. I switched from magic back to static resolutions as I hoped the problem would be magic resolutions creating the res on the fly. It wasn't.

Calamity, do YOU have problems with the monitor switching to 15khz modes (try MK maybe?) all the time?

[adder]

those certain midway games are funny ones arent they because mame reports them as resolution of 399x253 but when the games actually run, they run in the following resolutions instead:

400x254:
openice
jdreddp
mk
mk2
mk3
ngahangt
nbajam
nbajamte
rmpgwt
revx
umk3
wwfmania

396x256:
hiimpact
shimpact
trog

410x256:
smashtv

400x255:
strkforc

404x255:
term2

400x256:
totcarn

and narc is another one:
reported as 511x399, but runs at 512x400

there may be more games to be added to this list, these are just the ones i found when i set up my mame cab last year

[Calamity]

Today I tried a little more. I switched from magic back to static resolutions as I hoped the problem would be magic resolutions creating the res on the fly. It wasn't.

Calamity, do YOU have problems with the monitor switching to 15khz modes (try MK maybe?) all the time?

Yes, I do have this problem. I couldn't say if it's all the time, 80%, 50%, it depends. It can be really annoying. Once you understand the problem, you just do what's necessary to avoid it. The obvious solution is having the desktop/frontend at 15 kHz.

It seems to be possible to use such timings for each range (15/31kHz) that make the monitor "notice" the changes better. But there's nothing that works 100% of the times.

The problem with Windows/DirectX is that with each resolution switch, a new full screen device is created, and during an instant, the system goes back to the desktop resolution. So, for games that switch resolutions, like mk or ga2, this multiplies by 2 or 3 the chances to fool the monitor.

Someone suggested to install a physical switch to cut off the sync wires for an instant in order to "reset" the monitor as a solution for this problem.

[Endprodukt]

Since I need the 25khz and 31khz resolutions, how would I add a 15khz 640x480 in the Res|List.txt ? I still need 640x480 31khz though!

[Calamity]

GM can convert any 640x480 modeline to either 15 or 31 kHz, on the fly, so there's no need to have both versions unless you're planning to use other emulators.

However, it's not a good idea to use 640x480 for the desktop, because doing so "locks" the modeline in use and so it can't be edited by GM. It's not only a matter of 15-31 kHz conversion, some games simply run at 640x480@57Hz and so you need to keep this resolution editable.

Usually I set the desktop to a non-standard resolution to achieve this, like 648x480. The problem if you're using the "pstar" preset is that VMMaker won't calculate it in the 15 kHz range. You can disable the upper ranges in vmmaker.ini to calculate the mode. Then grab the modeline from Modelines.txt. Then enable the upper ranges again and recalculate the modes. Now 648x480 will be progressive. Finally, use ArcadeOSD to edit the modeline with the values you previously got from Modelines.txt, so you convert it to 15 kHz. Or even easier, simply use Winmodelines to add the 15 kHz modeline.

[Endprodukt]

Thanks for the input. I will try to get 648x480 15khz via WinModeline and report back.

[Endprodukt]

I created that mode with Winmodelines but the flickering is SO bad it hurts your eyes in seconds. Never thought it was that bad on my 15khz only monitor with the flickering.

[Endprodukt]

Okay... so what's good is that the modeswitching seems to work REALLY good now, even when I switch to 31khz games. Problem is: 648x480i is flickering so bad it's not like "hey this is interlaced of course it flickers".
So I thought maybe that has something to do with the strange resolution. Nope, I created 640x480i 15,7khz and it's the same. Really really bad flickering. Is this a problem of this model or maybe something related to the modeline?

[Calamity]

Is this a problem of this model or maybe something related to the modeline?

This is because this is a "high" resolution monitor. Thinner scanlines -> worse flicker at 15 kHz.

Another possibility: use 25 kHz for the desktop. You can create 1024x768@60i. Although interlaced, the flicker will be more tolerable.

[u-man]

the problem with interlace or tv-monitors in general is, the higher the contrast between colors the more flickering you get i.e. 1pixel white line on a black background is horrible. i would try to avoid thin lines, high contrast and pure white (255) in general. maybe it will get better.... good luck.

if you dont understand me, you can pm me

[Endprodukt]

Wouldn't using a 25khz resolution lead to the same problem with switching that I had before?

[Calamity]

Wouldn't using a 25khz resolution lead to the same problem with switching that I had before?

Maybe switching 25-->15 & 25-->31 is better detected by the monitor than 15-->31 & 31-->15

[Endprodukt]

Well Calamity. It actually is. Seems to work great.

[Endprodukt]

IS there a 25khz resolution that would produce even less flicker?