An easy crt filter using ShaderGlass to get those classic TV graphics

[Consuela]

It is a program that runs in a window, like any other, but is see through and applies whatever filter you choose to everything below it. It's like looking through a magnifying glass except you pick a filter. It's good for retro games or whatever you want it to be good for.

Download ShaderGlass from here: https://github.com/mausimus/ShaderGlass and run FF7 in Windowed mode.

Use one of the CRT filters from the Shader > crt menu.
Or something from the Shader > presets options.

In the Input > Pixel Size menu, select 240p which is the PS1's internal resolution, and output it to your monitor size to get accurate scaling of the filters. Options include:
240p -> 1080p
240p -> 1440p
240p -> 4K
Play around with the pixel sizes with your chosen filter.

Press Ctrl + Shift + G to bring ShaderGlass into fullscreen mode so it gets rid of its window bar at the top.

Why?:
Old school graphics are designed to look a certain way and that way is through the CRT monitors, which is why the backgrounds here look like giant block pixels when viewed on modern monitors. On TV's those graphics would be smoothed out by the pixels between the giant blocks we see now.

Here are examples of why:

Literally getting new colors using the blending of pixels that you do not get in giant raw blocks of data we get. The example of Symphony of the Night is striking :
https://i0.wp.com/wackoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CRT-vs-LCD.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1

Time time stamps of specific examples:
https://youtu.be/aqmAxs9QlSE?t=119
https://youtu.be/aqmAxs9QlSE?t=65
https://youtu.be/3PdMtwQQUmo

In depth explanations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puksg4iD3RY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqmAxs9QlSE

Retro game artists were seeing their art through the CRT display. They designed their games through that look. The visual output they created looks nothing like what it would without the CRT to view it from. Instead, it looks like what we get here, and what all retro games look like on modern screens, all blocky with hard, flat edges of the pixels. It's like taking the Mona Lisa or Sistine Chapel and running them through a blocky pixolator, or even through a CRT filter, which they were not designed through or with. Retro games were just was not intended to look like this, without the CRT look.

Anyway, ShaderGlass makes it simple. It would be fun to play any old game in Fullscreen Windowed mode with this. Doom, Half Life, etc. and let that nostalgia kick you in the balls.

You won't regret this life choice.

[Snonk]

What shader preset did you use for the Symphony of the Night picture? I can't seem to find the one that gets that result.

[Consuela]

Originally posted by Snonk:

What shader preset did you use for the Symphony of the Night picture? I can't seem to find the one that gets that result.

That, sir, is because that is an image from google, and it might be that it is from a real tv. I wish I had access to my CRT TV and games because I would load the games on the tv and computer, and go through each filter to find the best ones that match the tv. Otherwise, grab one that feels right.
Good luck!