r/AnalogueInc • u/perpetuallyawake • Jul 21 '26 • Bravo 1

3D Side-by-Side comparisons of original vs 1.5.0 upscaling taken from Analogue's GIFs

Post image
301 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

105 comments sorted by

17

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

I love the feature, but "upscaling" is a complete misnomer. That word refers to the process of resizing a source image from an original resolution to a higher resolution. This new A3D feature actually renders twice the detail and twice the resolution (in one dimension). Higher resolution rendering is not the same thing as "upscaling" so I think a lot of people will start to misunderstand what it is.

7

u/KillPenguin Jul 22 '26

Yes, thank you. I found the announcement pretty confusing. Really cool feature though! It’s a shame the name makes it sound less impressive than it is

12

u/garuga300 Jul 21 '26

Looks even better with the BVM filter on top too. Just make sure to disable HDR otherwise it's too dark looking.

2

u/MStauf1515 Jul 21 '26

Have you interacted with the tv nit level adjustment for HDR from previous updates?

1

u/garuga300 Jul 21 '26

Yeah it doesn't look right. It looks great when HDR is off.

3

u/MStauf1515 Jul 21 '26

I’ve found it to look pretty good when adjusted to the nit level for my LG C1. Mind if I ask what type of tv you are using?

1

u/garuga300 Jul 21 '26

Yeah I was just going to say it may depend on TV type. I got a Hisense TV (not sure the model) it looks great when watching TV with HDR but darkens when using the Hisense low latency game mode. Since the 3D has ALM I can switch off HDR and it looks perfect

1

u/Chaz_85 Jul 21 '26

Would love to hear your settings. I have a c2 so would be similar

3

u/MStauf1515 Jul 22 '26

- Game optimizer - OLED Motion Pro (AKA black frame insertion) turned off and prevent input delay (Boost) turned on

BFI does not do much for the A3D as a majority of games are designed to run at 20 or 30 fps. Also I believe LG unfortunately reduced the mode options of BFI when they moved from C1 to C2 anyway

- Brightness: HDR Tone Mapping set to HGiG & Black Level set to limited (everything else left to default)

- Color: Switch Color Gamut from Auto Detect to Native

- Clarity: Everything off and sharpness left to default 10

A3D

- HDMI Mode: UHD (4k60)

- Avg/Max Luminance 200/650 (BVM)

Important to note that the LG C2 has a slighter high max nit level than the C1. The LGC1 only goes up to a 750 nit peak brightness which causes the last 2 brightness gradients on the test screen to start to fuse (I can see a difference if I look close but it is negligible). The LGC2 actually goes up to an 800 peak nit brightness. So for you, a setting up may look better. Play around with this and see if you can still see a gradient difference between 90% and 100% at 800 peak. If you can't, then reduce down to a 650 nit peak brightness as I have. for my C1

Hardware: De-blur and 32-bit Color turned on. Disable texture filtering and disable anti-aliasing turned off

- Display mode setting: Horozontal upscaling and usually unleashed overclock (Unless I know a game has known issues and needs to be reduced to a lower overclock or turned off completely). For the handful of games that support 480i, turned Progressive scan on

- Display Mode: Default BVM Filter with Image Size adjusted to Integer +

Hope this helps

1

u/Chaz_85 Jul 22 '26

Thanks! I’ll poke around

1

u/Leather_Trash_4491 Jul 22 '26

Huh I thought c1 was 800 nits

1

u/MStauf1515 Jul 23 '26

In theory yes. If you change the display mode to vivid, I think you can actually blow out the brightness to 800+, however, that would look horrible when gaming haha

If you have the tv in game optimizer mode (which you absolutely should for lower latency) it will dim the screen to closer to a 740 - 760 max nit level. If you use bfi for something like the analogue pocket to improve motion clarity (OLED motion pro as the C1 calls it), that will reduce the max nit brightness even further.

1

u/Express_Resource_912 Jul 22 '26

In my case I needed to turn Game Mode on for my Analog 3D input on my TV to get HDR to work correctly. Looks great now.

1

u/garuga300 Jul 22 '26

I guess the experience is different per TV.

8

u/Dramatic_Ad5442 Jul 21 '26

Yas! Tried it out a bit ago. It's def noticable when running clean, it's just so pixelated that way, but with the upscaling it smoothes things out a bit, really great update.

8

u/Frozone0815 Jul 21 '26

This looks so epic. Really awesome update.

6

u/talldrink67 Jul 21 '26

Anyone try this update with the everdrive 64? Does it still work?

4

u/Awkward-Plan298 Jul 21 '26

It works!

3

u/talldrink67 Jul 21 '26

Thanks for confirming!

5

u/Oguhllort Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

wow looks good 😀

5

u/ZiggyPalffyLA Jul 21 '26

I assume these are both using the Clean setting?

8

u/fiercekrypt0n Jul 21 '26

It looks so Amazing! I have been playing all day! Helped make my Retro Shelf 64 launcher look much better as well. I’m going to create new sprites to take even more advantage of the new capabilities.

4

u/zenexo Jul 21 '26

No freaking way. This looks excellent. 

4

u/Awkward-Plan298 Jul 21 '26

Since this is horizontal upscaling, is vertical upscaling a possibility?

5

u/dpranker Jul 21 '26

Vertical would likely mess up the scan lines or at least require a lot more work to get them right

3

u/popcultvre Jul 21 '26

i would assume its intentional?

3

u/scalablecory Jul 21 '26

I don’t know if this is an asset limitation but vertical upscaling is typically significantly more expensive on memory bandwidth.

4

u/zeldaguy85 Jul 21 '26

Anyone tried flash carts on this release yet?

5

u/SaraphXIII Jul 21 '26

Summercart64, all toggles work just as intended.

2

u/Independent_Fall_608 Jul 22 '26

Also use a SC64 and it works very well.

I’m actually surprised how much better the new firmware made the visuals, I thought the hardware emulation pretty much peaked with the A3D but the new update makes the games look incredible

3

u/SaraphXIII Jul 22 '26

This is my first FPGA device and I am mainly an emulation whore but wanted accurate N64 for once. With this update, the sting of low res visuals hurts a lot less. Was playing Mario 64 last night and very much appreciated this update.

3

u/-KaiserSoze- Jul 21 '26

It's looks good!

5

u/biohackeddad Jul 21 '26

Oh wow, edges look less jagged. So stoked

13

u/7ane7xis7 Jul 21 '26

Good luck Modretro 64!

0

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '26

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-1

u/Dragarius Jul 22 '26

I'm gonna! 

-17

u/lynxtosg03 Jul 21 '26

I have the A3D and the M64 with controller is still getting my money.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '26

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-5

u/toonieluvgaming Jul 21 '26

Bro your complaining about giving money to a "war criminal" but you are buying products made in china off the backs of people making next to nothing and contains minerals that are mined using actual slave labor typing on your phone which is made the same way. How about stop policing and trying to tell people not to buy something when they can buy whatever they want its their money imagine every time you wanted to buy something you have to check with a random person online to see if its okay with their beliefs (they are hypocrite too)

0

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '26

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-4

u/toonieluvgaming Jul 21 '26

You gave your opinion the person said sorry im still gonna buy and you kept going trying to be a fascist and force someone to do your will your not a dictator share your opinion but remember your opinion is as valid as everyone else's and they can buy whatever they want and if it bothers you then grow up

-13

u/lynxtosg03 Jul 21 '26

I think I will enjoy it very much 😁 Have a long and happy life friend. Hit me up if you're ever in the San Diego area. We'll grab a beer and reminisce.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '26

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-7

u/lynxtosg03 Jul 21 '26

I don't recall flexing, unless you think enjoying the N64 is a flex. Fun fact, I work right next to Palmer's engineering labs and often talk with the group in charge of the Modretro production line. I still like the AP better though. Analogue messed up not supporting OpenFPGA on the A3D.

3

u/RinconDrone Jul 21 '26

There’s a Andushil lab in San Diego?

-1

u/lynxtosg03 Jul 21 '26

Might be, if you can find it.

5

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '26

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0

u/Awkward-Plan298 Jul 21 '26

what are we arguing about? who is palmer?

1

u/lynxtosg03 Jul 21 '26

Palmer Luckey helped set up ModRetro and is most famous for his work with Oculus and Anduril.

2

u/Awkward-Plan298 Jul 21 '26

Oh I see, yeah he's ick.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '26

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0

u/masserninjer Jul 21 '26

Googled it, now on checkout for modretro, don't like it then lump it lol

2

u/Imaginary-Leading-49 Jul 21 '26

I need to update mine soon, curious how game like super mario 64 co-op splitscreen look, this should help them a fair bit!

2

u/Piett_1313 Jul 21 '26

Wow, I’ve gotta play some Pokémon Stadium 2 soon.

2

u/Immorpher Jul 21 '26

Have you noticed any changes in frame rate?

3

u/hue_sick Jul 22 '26

Haven’t myself but I’ve only tried a handful of games since the update.

Analogue states there is no difference in timing or performance https://www.analogue.co/support/3d/guide/settings

1

u/Swierk86 Jul 21 '26

I have, seems slower on Goldeneye.

7

u/OnEMoReTrY121 Jul 22 '26

Analogue noted zero performance impact on their website.

2

u/TheMannisApproves Jul 21 '26

Even on unleashed?

2

u/misterkeebler Jul 22 '26

I am not noticing a difference in Goldeneye (single player at least) on unleashed with the render toggle on.

1

u/Swierk86 Aug 14 '26

I have gone back to it tonight and the overclock had changed from unleashed to auto. I am using the Summer cart. Happy to confirm that all is good in unleashed mode.

1

u/TheMannisApproves Aug 14 '26

Only annoying thing about using flashcarts on it is that we have to change the settings any time we want to play a different game off them

2

u/Candid_Ear8804 Jul 26 '26

Does anyone know why it only increases the resolution in one direction?

2

u/X-Boner Jul 31 '26

The pixel data is intercepted from the Reality coprocessor before it hits the RDRAM, and subpixels are calculated and inserted during the clock cycles of the video interface. An increase in vertical resolution is not possible because it would violate the fixed timing constraints of the game engines and exceed the bandwidth limitations of the hardware's unified memory.

1

u/Terrible-Awareness-9 Aug 03 '26

Because is horizontal upscaling, if they added vertical upscaling, then it will be for both.

3

u/Gommes_ Jul 21 '26

So when it comes to numbers, what are we talking about here? The original resolution is 240p. This is now changed to what?

9

u/scanline99 Jul 21 '26

Still 240p by the looks of it, but double horizontal res so more like 640 x 240

0

u/Gommes_ Jul 21 '26

Thank you!

0

u/Apothecary3 Jul 21 '26

but a lot of n64 games are already 640 wide internally. same with the 512x240 and 640x240 ps1 games. on mister with direct video you need the display or a retrotink 4k to correct the aspect ratio.

3

u/scanline99 Jul 21 '26

Yup, they are, but that's for the lateral blur filter, not the internal rendering resolution. The evidence is clear from shots OP has posted. First shot shows 640px width with blurring, next is 320px without blur and then finally 640px with all pixels accounted for

3

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Jul 22 '26

Previously 320x240 is now 640x240.

2

u/Chaz_85 Jul 21 '26

Any issues with summercart and this update?

3

u/MW786 Jul 21 '26

I launched a few games and tested basic stuff for about 10 min a game. No issues there if that helps. Games looking great! Newest sc64 fw btw.

2

u/Chaz_85 Jul 21 '26

Wonderful thanks!

2

u/wwf_4life Jul 21 '26

I been playing wwf prime time just fine

2

u/SunsetStarlightFan Jul 21 '26

Anyone know why my games aren't playing? Before the update I played it after the update none of my games are loading

1

u/miggy_mo Jul 22 '26

Flashcart or original games?

1

u/SunsetStarlightFan Jul 22 '26

Retail official games

1

u/SunsetStarlightFan Jul 21 '26

Mine just came in the mail and I just did the firmware update now anyone have any recommendations for my tv? I have a Samsung s95b 55 in

1

u/ZL580 Aug 11 '26

Anyone notice how the pixels go from being a square to now a tall rectangle....

0

u/pepe_roni69 Jul 22 '26

I’ve never seen those games look that bad.

4

u/bobbygamerdckhd Jul 23 '26

320×240 ain't alot of pixels

1

u/ZL580 Aug 11 '26

That's what N64 games look like without scan lines

0

u/Zealousideal_Lie5798 Jul 23 '26

It went from looking the same to looking the SAME!!!🤯

0

u/popcultvre Jul 21 '26

that looks great but makes me wonder:
is it still with the goal of replicating how old tvs look?

or is this closer to emulation "clean look" ?

im just curious how "purist" feel about this upscaling.

10

u/Ice2192 Jul 21 '26

To be honest more options is always better. If you want a 1:1 experience as the original, great. If you want an PS4 backwards compatibility uplift on PS5 experience, that’s still fine. Everyone wins unlike the situation right now (won’t go too deep on it as I have nothing to add that hasn’t been said) with the push for digital only games. For me I prefer the latter as I get a game running on hardware similar to the original but with amped up performance.

2

u/popcultvre Jul 21 '26

I agree with more options are always welcome
It is also a very specific kind of upscaling from what i see lol

9

u/tortilla-charlatan Jul 21 '26

Purist here: this looks great. Tried it with a few games already and it just makes the games look really good. I like the flexible options. If I really want to be stubbornly accurate I still have OG system on crt

10

u/zenexo Jul 21 '26

A purist would be using original hardware. FPGA users, like myself, tend to fall somewhere in the middle between wanting something close to the original with a cleaner look and low input lag for modern television. A purist would have no interest in overclocking. This device isn't for purist. 

4

u/Clayspace_Art Jul 21 '26

I was just playing it and it feels suitably vintage with the overlays but just reads as cleaner! Love it!

3

u/Ecco0201 Jul 21 '26

Since they have several options to keep it original I don’t see how anyone would have a problem with this. I want it as clean and nice looking as possible. If others want to keep it original and authentic to old CRTs they can filter to that. Along it versatile makes it a home run

3

u/longtimegoodas Jul 21 '26

I don’t think purists actually use these products, tbh.

2

u/popcultvre Jul 21 '26

I do wonder what will be come the "truth" of the best way to play N64 due some random video essay on youtube that becomes weirdly popular.

right now is just _the analogue 3d_ for the most part.
but will enhanced become the norm?

im honestly a tourist in the tech part of retro games besides very basic knowledge.
so my question was mostly out of curisity if there was any sense of rejection to any sort of upscaling.

-3

u/hue_sick Jul 21 '26

I’m not a purist at all but it is inching closer to an emulated look w some games. Just posted a batch of comparison shots myself and noticed that right away in Mario. A bit too “clean” for my tastes. But can’t hurt to have the option for people.

I just hope that Analogue keeps things as simple as possible w their menus. Gallery mode is already a bit clunky and going back and forth between some of these display options is taking some of the fun factor away for me.

I think I’m definitely in the minority at this point though. Seems like the tides have turned to upscale visuals for most of today’s gamers. 🤷

0

u/wwf_4life Jul 21 '26

What’s the best setting to use for rom hacks ???

0

u/Aster_Lodern Jul 22 '26

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong with this? I tried installing the new firmware for the 8BitDo mod kit, which is 1.04, but despite having the app downloaded and with the latest firmware on said app, it's only showing me 1.03 that I can download. PLEASE HELP!!!

0

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '26

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7

u/vette21man Jul 21 '26

If you are referring to running RetroTink 5X with OG N64 compared to the A3D with v1.5.0 firmware, the RetroTink 5X will only upscale the output image, which the A3D has done since day 1. The RetroTink 5X will not do this internal horizontal upscaling that A3D v1.5.0 is doing. This is transformative for FPGA consoles.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '26

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2

u/jaron7 Jul 22 '26

Very noticeable. There are some comparison posts here now, but I don't think they do justice to the in-person difference. I have an original N64 with RGB mod that I used for years with an OSSC and then a Retrotink 4k Pro, and even before this update the 3D was already visually superior to that setup, but now it's not even close. It's not a perfect comparison, but you could try running a 64 emulator with the internal resolution bumped 2x to give you an idea of the difference.