this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2024
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Jaw-Dropping SNES Mod Fixes One Of The Console's Biggest Problems | Time Extension (www.timeextension.com)
submitted 4 months ago by ktec@lemmy.zip to c/retrogaming@lemmy.world
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What's the Scoop?

An engineer named Voultar has created a mod called the 'SNES 2CHIP Edge Enhancer' that addresses one of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)'s notorious issues — its blurry video output.

Key Points from the Mod:

  • Innovative Approach: Unlike many modding solutions, Voultar's SNES 2CHIP Edge Enhancer doesn't rely on video amplifiers. Instead, it focuses on directly addressing the system's DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) to improve image clarity.
  • Installation Ease: The mod is relatively simple to install — a five-wire soldering process that can be handled by anyone with basic electronic skills.
  • Broad Compatibility: Designed to work with all variants of the 2CHIP SNES console, it ensures a significant improvement across different hardware versions without requiring custom modifications for each model.

How Does It Work?

Voultar spent many hours analyzing and dissecting the internal components of the SNES's DAC in order to understand its shortcomings. His approach was meticulous, ensuring that the mod would not compromise image quality based on specific game content or performance variability. Instead, it offers a consistent sharpening effect for RGB, S-Video, and Composite Video outputs.

Do you own a SNES? Are you thinking about using Voultar's mod?

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[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 29 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (8 children)

I mean... Isnt this pointless and entirely defeats the purpose of the pre-High Def consoles?

SNES (and other consoles, like genesis and NES and what have you), Were not made to have radically sharp pixel perfect graphics. They were made to be used on CRTs. The games were designed to take advantage of the natural antialiasing/blurring and shading that was inherent in how a CRT works to create the end product graphic on the screen.

These consoles were never meant to have extra sharp super stand out pixels. They look worse the sharper you make them. Just a comparison of CRT shots vs Emulation shows how much better and detailed they look due to the blurring and depth provided by the way CRTs work.

If someone wants to be revolutionary, they'd create a graphic mod that 1:1 recreates how the graphics looked on the CRT, with the depths, shading, blurring, etc.

[–] MrSpArkle@lemmy.ca 8 points 4 months ago

Yeah, hard agree. There are likely technical benefits to being able to extract a pure image from a real snes, but art-wise it’s not for the best.

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