240p test suite

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tepples
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240p test suite

Post by tepples »

This is an NES remake of Artemio Urbina's 240p test suite, a tool for evaluating TVs and upscalers for compatibility with retro video game consoles.

Current version: 0.23 (released 2023-03-03)
Download or view changes

____________________

In this post, it was recommended to port the 240p test suite to the NES. I made some prototype screens, but I couldn't write any code for it at the time because I was on another project for half a year.

I've been working on it this week. As of right now, about half of the tests are implemented.
Menu screenshot
Menu screenshot
240pee-1.png (10.1 KiB) Viewed 54498 times
See also:
240p topic on shmups.system11.org
Attachments
240pee-0.01.zip
Source and UNROM binary
(101.23 KiB) Downloaded 1653 times
lidnariq
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by lidnariq »

Is it helpful to use timed code/DPCM IRQ and the emphasis bits on the PLUGE test?
ccovell
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by ccovell »

Good job with the test suite! It will definitely come in handy.
tepples
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by tepples »

Version 0.02 fills in these tests:
  • Solid color screen
  • Overscan
  • Stopwatch
  • Manual lag test
  • Grid scroll test
  • Backlight zone test
  • Sound test
lidnariq: I wouldn't recommend use of emphasis in a test likely to be run on consoles modded with a 2C03 or 2C05 PPU. The 2C02 and 2C07 emphasize by darkening the phases corresponding to opposite channels, but the 2C03, 2C04, and 2C05 emphasize by forcing a particular component to full scale.

For Drop shadow sprite, Striped sprite, and Scroll test, I may need graphical assistance in order to bootstrap the project away from reliance on proprietary art.
  • A 256x240 pixel anime style portrait. The original uses Motoko from Ghost in the Shell.
  • A 512x240 pixel game background in the generic style of a small-g green hill zone, with a flat floor and preferably with some trees in front for parallax. Raster scrolling is encouraged; I have most of the frame time available to do sprite 0 work. The original uses a screenshot from a Sonic the Hedgehog game.
  • A 32x32 pixel enemy sprite that is drawn over the background. The original uses a Buzz Bomber from Sonic.
Attachments
240pee-0.02.zip
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lidnariq
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by lidnariq »

tepples wrote:I wouldn't recommend use of emphasis in a test likely to be run on consoles modded with a 2C03 or 2C05 PPU. The 2C02 and 2C07 emphasize by darkening the phases corresponding to opposite channels, but the 2C03, 2C04, and 2C05 emphasize by forcing a particular component to full scale.
But the entire point of the PLUGE is to allow calibration of black level and contrast. Not that the NES can produce the 3.5, 7, and 11.5 IRE from the standard SMPTE color bars, but it can produce 14 (emphasis + $2D), 0, and -9 IRE (emphasis + $1D).
tepples
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by tepples »

You make a good point. I'll use this post to collect feature requests.
  • [done in 0.03] PLUGE: Toggle sidebars between color and gray (requested by lidnariq)
  • [done in 0.03] PLUGE: Toggle emphasis between none and all, with warning for 2C03/2C05 (requested by lidnariq)
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darryl.revok
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by darryl.revok »

tepples wrote:A 256x240 pixel anime style portrait. The original uses Motoko from Ghost in the Shell.
I could do this if you'd like. I'm not sure what it would be. Perhaps I'll draw an anime version of your character?

You want the image colored for an NES, I imagine, as a background? In more than 256 tiles?
tepples
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by tepples »

darryl.revok wrote:
tepples wrote:A 256x240 pixel anime style portrait. The original uses Motoko from Ghost in the Shell.
I could do this if you'd like. I'm not sure what it would be. Perhaps I'll draw an anime version of your character?
This evening I'll go dig up concept art of this and other characters available to me. But if it's easier to draw a different character, that'll work too, as the original has different characters on the menu (Gillian) and in the still (Motoko).
You want the image colored for an NES, I imagine, as a background?
Yes. In one of the tests, I'll be putting two overlapping 32x32 pixel sprites over it, which eats up the PPU's entire overdraw, so I can't use sprite overlays.
In more than 256 tiles?
If using more than 256 tiles substantially enhances the definition compared to staying within 256, I can cut the title screen into top and bottom portions, with 256 tiles in the top, 192 tiles in the bottom, and the division on a 16-pixel boundary. I say 192 because I need to leave about 64 tiles free in the bottom half for sprites related to the test: 16 for the enemy sprite, 32 for the two frames of the enemy sprite's drop shadow, and 16 for whatever I forgot.

I'm interested to see what you come up with.
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darryl.revok
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by darryl.revok »

But if it's easier to draw a different character, that'll work too, as the original has different characters on the menu (Gillian) and in the still (Motoko).
I figured the main goal is to have something that you have the rights to so there's no issue there and I thought it would be fitting since he's like the curator of the menu. Plus I think it will be fun to do a quirky version of him.
If using more than 256 tiles substantially enhances the definition compared to staying within 256, I can cut the title screen into top and bottom portions
I doubt I'll need to but just curious. If I do, I'll keep the limitations you posed in mind.
tepples
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by tepples »

lidnariq: I implemented your suggestions in my tree, and it turns out $2D is noticeably brighter than the mix of $04 and $0C that I've been using. As expected, emphasis made it really dark.


As promised, here's more concept art of this character's race, some more poorly drawn than others: Pictures of polis
Hand-drawn illustration of Gus that I made circa 2006 using DSOrganize and other tools
Hand-drawn illustration of Gus that I made circa 2006 using DSOrganize and other tools
lidnariq
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by lidnariq »

tepples wrote:lidnariq: I implemented your suggestions in my tree, and it turns out $2D is noticeably brighter than the mix of $04 and $0C that I've been using. As expected, emphasis made it really dark.
That makese sense. Pure $2D should be 34.1 IRE (sync tip depth normalized to -40IRE) or 30.7 IRE ($30 white normalized to 100IRE), while attenuated $2D should be 15.3 or 13.8 IRE...

Meanwhile, pure $0x shades "should" be 15.6 or 14.1 IRE ... at least when there isn't any chroma-into-luma crosstalk.
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darryl.revok
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by darryl.revok »

Here's a rough draft sketch. Any thoughts?

His shoulders are off from one another. I'll fix that.
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PolisRoughSketch.jpg
tepples
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by tepples »

Good job so far.


To clear up, "poli" refers to the race, and the character depicted in ljbg.jpg is named Gus, short for Gustave Nomeles. (The "lj" stands for a disease, related to a short story I wrote in 2009.)

Time for some lore of my fictional universe:

At first, humans lived on the plain. But thousands of years ago, the plain flooded. We're not sure whether it was an outburst or plain old torrential rain. But in either case, the people escaped in sizable barges and were scattered across the planet. Separated from other human groups, they began to change over time into subspecies, of which these are perhaps the most fleshed out:
  • Nander
    Nander have a form of dwarfism that produces a height close to 1.2-1.4 m, significantly shorter legs and a somewhat shorter arms and torso, all the better to work in mines and other tight spaces. As with humans, nander have sub-sub-species or "breeds". One has more facial and body hair. The other somewhat resembles human children.
  • Poli
    Polis have no legs due to a mutation in the founding population. This produced a low center of gravity, a need to cooperate more, a habit of hunting via trapping rather than chasing, and a strong "maker" tradition.
  • Brownie
    Brownies ended up in the desert and adapted to life there. They're roughly 0.9-1.1 m tall, wearing long ragged brown robes. In human-dominated lands, a brownie is often seen doing a host family's housekeeping in exchange for room and board so long as the family tolerates the brownie's smell.
  • Selkie
    Selkies have a physique comparable to Michael Phelps or Gudlaugur Fridthorsson (long torso and arms, short legs, large hands and feet, dense subcutaneous fat), all the better to swim wearing a sealskin wetsuit and foot-mounted fins around their island homeland.
tepples
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by tepples »

This is what happens when I try to correct the shoulder, apply ink using the levels tool, and apply paint using a multiplied layer of color. But the trouble comes with choosing where the 16x16 pixel boxes go.
Attachments
I colored the rough sketch
I colored the rough sketch
But I can't figure out how I'd divide this into 16x16 areas
But I can't figure out how I'd divide this into 16x16 areas
darryl.revok - Rough sketch of Gus colored by tepples 240p res.png (23.72 KiB) Viewed 53952 times
JRoatch
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Re: 240p test suite

Post by JRoatch »

This is my attempt at that. I hope I got all the attribute clashes figured out, and I tried to reduce the chr tiles usage while drawing as well. The red line in the middle is where the palette would have to change. Feel free to correct stray pixels, awkward lines and whatever I did wrong with his right (our left) arm.

EDIT: I forgot one last thing about the palette of the eyes.
darryl.revok - pixel art attempt of Gus by 43110.png
darryl.revok - pixel art attempt of Gus by 43110.png (2.02 KiB) Viewed 53907 times
Last edited by JRoatch on Sun Nov 01, 2015 7:11 am, edited 2 times in total.
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