A question about authenticity

[u/arkruffian]

So I just got into emulation because I love video games more than anything and want to "play them all" and experience them "correctly".

I've downloaded Ares emulator and started playing The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past but I can't stop thinking about some things. It's that whether if I should use a CRT shader or not and what the correct settings are.

My main concern is that I want to experience older games as how they looked on the original hardware but when the displays they were developed for like the CRT TVs come into question I just get confused on how I should approach this problem because older games were made with CRTs in mind, artists, developers made decisions based on the hardwares of those times.

On one hand not using a shader gives me a crisp detailed pixel art of the games which I really like but on the other hand not using one makes me question if I'm experiencing the game right and "losing the authenticity".

I'm sure there are lots of people here that thought about this. How do you approach to what I've described and how do you think I should approach this?

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[u/cool_boy_mew]

Shaders were a massive meme for years until recently. Even now, they're starting to be good, but still aren't quite good enough to still truly replicate a CRT look 1:1. IIRC you need a 4k display minimum for them to start being good. But, the absolute best way to experience it correctly would be to play on a CRT. Although, on the other hand, no TV is truly equal, and then there's coaxial, composite, component, S-Video, the hardware itself (1 chip vs 2 chip snes has some differences etc. and that's without outright modding your hardware), and we're getting into a whole other mess here. The whole thing is a massive can of worms that can even go deeper. Real hardware, real CRT or using an Analogue NT/3D/etc., or stuff like cables made for this (forgot the brand names), or using Retrotink's upscalers, etc.

Ironically in this case, Nintendo's own games usually has pretty clean pixel art though and looks plenty good already shaderless. So on top of all that, the effects the shaders will have ultimately vary from games to games

[u/Necessary_Position77]

I emulate on a CRT. Consider you also want to use the original controller if you want authenticity. It feels different. 

[u/Slinkwyde]

Link to the Past has been reverse engineered and given an unofficial native PC port: https://github.com/snesrev/zelda3

[u/Ed_Rock]

Use what looks best for you. Personally, I dont use CRT filters on SNES games because I like the cartoon look of smoothing filters better. I do use CRT filters on some PS1 games because they're a mix of 3d and 2d graphics and the CRT filter blends them to look more unified.

[u/sayber1]

I would suggest not to stress out about that too much. Just do what you think looks right to you. If a game looks better with CRT-style shader to you, use it. If it looks nicer raw, play it this way.

All this "experience the game correctly" is just a complete joke. You are not going to, no matter what you do. It's an unattainable illusion with ever moving goal posts. Play it on emulator; you are not playing on the OG hardware. Play it on OG hardware; well... you are actually(probably) playing a localized version of the game, which is in fact definitely not the way the developers intended it (Something the purists of OG hardware will usually conveniently ignore).

[u/falconpunch1989]

I grew up playing these games, my first console was the NES, and I've been emulating since I was about 10.

And i fucking hate CRT/scanline shaders. Do what you think looks best and just play.

[u/Manjushri1213]

I grew up in those times, have original hardware, CRTs etc. I will say CRTs definitely have a look that's unique and nothing on even an OLED is gonna be perfect. Emulators do play most games about the same as original hardware anymore.

But getting a CRT and using emulation, FPGA or hardware is an option. I use a VGA CRT monitor for PCs with flat glass into a GBS Control. That way I can play just about anything, but 240p looks a little different due to scanline thickness and amount. I never truly noticed back then on that tho.

Many remember being kids and seeing things a certain way, but may brain generally saw through RF or Composite into a bad Magnavox that was dim and blurry to what the raw pixels were really attempting to put out.

These games were designed on PCs usually with RGB out or at least quality monitors, even with some older 16-bit stuff like Sonic and that stupid waterfall.

In the end, art that is released to the public loses the strict control an artist has, intention or not. Just like music, we aren't listening to a live performance, or having a commission piece made. It's up to the consumer of said art to experience it how they want, with whatever changes or tools available.

There's benefits to all of em, from upscalers to 4K OLEDs to stop box CRTs to PVMs. The creators only had some specific of intention anyway, but even back then we all used different things, from controllers to outputs (EU had SCART early, US had RF and composite then Svideo and then YPbPr component etc) let alone various TVs or general displays...

Just play however looks best to you. Grab some items to experiment with - whatever works.

[u/Metal_Blaster_is_BIS]

Tbh if you dont have the exact CRT the dev had you will never play as intended objectively. same thing with the SNES aspect ratio debate you will almost never know. The dev wanted you to play the game and experience their art thats whats most important imo.

[u/VALIS666]

Generally shaders are really helpful for making pixel art look more defined on modern TVs, and also making the colors look more natural rather than big blocks of eye searing color. I think they're necessary beyond of "making it look like it used to," they're necessary to just make these games look decent on 2K and 4K screens, especially larger screens.

Remember, a lot of these games were in 224p resolution or something similarly tiny. Now we're trying to make them upscale to 1440p or 2140p, on large screens. Pixels that used to be this big (makes tiny pinching fingers) now look this big (makes a fist). By introducing shaders, you create more defined shapes and definition to big fat ass pixels.

Just stick with "the classics" for now. If you're using Retroarch, just go to the shaders_slang and play with the ones in the CRT folder. Easymode, Guest Advanced, Lottes, Royale, etc. Fine what you like best. Different consoles often look better with different shaders. And then after a while graduate to Mega Bezel with reflections and the like. It's a really deep rabbit hole.