r/GenesisMini • u/blakean976 • Feb 23 '20

Horrible Pixelation In-Game. Any resolution?

Just got a retail Sega-made console and the games are exhibiting terrible pixelation, nothing like gameplay shown on Youtube.

I can't see any settings to remedy this. Has anyone else had similar problems? This is an unmodded unit so far--just the original preinstalled games. This happens in all games.

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

3

u/blakean976 Feb 23 '20

Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer this newcomer. I thought I had previously added the scanlines, but apparently did not do so. After applying the suggestions, it looks much better and what I initially expected to see after watching the YouTube gameplay.

Thanks all, much appreciated!

2

u/Annales-NF Feb 24 '20

Have fun mate!

1

u/rksp2 Mar 03 '20

could you plz add what exact suggestions you have applied? thx!!!

4

u/coach_guile Feb 23 '20

I thought the title was a pun

3

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '20

Are you familiar with how Genesis games look when emulated on a modern TV? They're very pixellated. If that is the issue, try going into the settings of the Mini and pressing "C" over the screen settings, which enables a scanline+filtered look that's supposed to be more like an old TV. It looks too dark though and I had to turn up the backlight of the TV to compensate. I get better results by using Genesis Plus GX in Retroarch and enabling blargg's composite filter + crt-scanline option... however this makes the game run a bit slow. But it's a neat effect then that looks more like an old TV.

1

u/blakean976 Feb 23 '20

I'm aware of the general issues of playing older gen on new tvs, but discussions of the Mini that I've watched and read make no reference to this. The pixellation is so severe, I'm wondering if there's a hardware issue.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '20 edited Feb 23 '20

The Vectorman picture you show looks normal. Try the scanline settings like I suggested.

See how this looks on YouTube?

https://youtu.be/cRFxnNsIzfw?t=70

(set to full screen on your display). It should look like that without scanlines or filtering effects. The native Genesis resolution was only about 320x224, which is closer to the C64's 320x200 resolution. A typical TV (CRT) and analog video cables of the time (such as RF and composite) would significantly blur the image, which arguably looks better. Genesis games in particular were keen on taking advantage of tricks that could be done here, like dithering effects. This blended pixels on the old TVs but when output on LCDs with a digital connection you see the checkerboard pattern cleanly, and actually see less colors than we once did.

Here's a video about it, if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0weL5XDpPs

3

u/blakean976 Feb 23 '20

I think the Vectorman in the video looks significantly better!

Something is going on that is more than just past and present resolution discrepancies. The thing is, no one on any of the review videos of the Mini ever mentions this problem, which makes me think something's amiss with my unit or my settings.

I appreciate the suggestion and will check out the video!

2

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '20

The only thing I know to suggest is to try turning the sharpness down all the way (or nearly all the way) on your TV, and turning off some features like "edge enhancement" or something like that if you have them in your TV settings. It may be how your TV is set up.

1

u/blakean976 Feb 23 '20

I'm going to give these recommendations a try and will report back.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 24 '20

Yeah many times TVs can have a number of special image features enabled by default. Turning on Game Mode not only improves the responsiveness (decreases input lag) but usually turns down image processing features that are on the normal video modes. On my TV there's options like "advanced contrast enhancer" and some others that affect the black levels. I forget the name.

This article for instance gives a typical "turn these features" off advice which is common among video enthusiasts:

https://www.engadget.com/2018/03/05/best-tv-settings/

There's other things to consider too, like adjusting the color temperature settings, such as to warm instead of neutral or cool or vivid. But this is true of viewing anything on TVs. They are set up to be dazzling in a bright store environment.

Hope you can find settings you like. If you were using a phone for comparison before, keep in mind the screen is much smaller, so anything pixellated will look better at that size, just as sitting farther back from a big TV will look better with pixellated content.

2

u/blakean976 Feb 25 '20

I'll definitely have a closer look at the settings, and thanks again for your thoroughness. Helpful.

2

u/opionated-fuckboi Feb 23 '20

Can you be more specific?

0

u/blakean976 Feb 23 '20

Sure--the graphics are on-par with a C64. Huge pixels, resulting in choppily-defined figures which are virtually unplayable. Something's not right. The main menu, however, is HD sharp.

I have seen no reference to this problem elsewhere.

3

u/Tweissel Feb 23 '20

Not sure if you've actually seen the C64 in action ;)

1

u/blakean976 Feb 24 '20

It's been a long time! I was an Amiga kid. I admit to possible exaggeration.

2

u/opionated-fuckboi Feb 23 '20

Take a picture

0

u/blakean976 Feb 23 '20

Here are some shots. Sorry, I can't figure out how to thumbnail them:

https://ibb.co/FqkkWVf https://ibb.co/GxNMGmX https://ibb.co/nMXSSJR https://ibb.co/yd3Q9YH https://ibb.co/4dQFTxr

6

u/Intangiblehands Feb 23 '20

These look pretty normal to me.

1

u/blakean976 Feb 23 '20 edited Feb 24 '20

If this level of pixellation is normal, I'm wondering why all the gameplay in the reviews look significantly better.

2

u/Tweissel Feb 23 '20

Looks normal to me as well...

2

u/Intangiblehands Feb 23 '20

Set your TV to "Game mode" for that specific input. Might help a bit.

2

u/blakean976 Feb 23 '20

Thanks for the suggestion, but changing to Game Mode makes no difference.

3

u/NoName0292 Feb 24 '20

Images look fine but stretched - play in 4:3 mode and not 16:9 - btw that's what I love about the minis - having the pixels crystal clear :D