CRT emulation with scanline and phosphor effects

[cretindesalpes]

Download: crt_display v1.0 (https://ldesoras.fr/src/avs/crt-display-1.0.zip)

This function emulates a CRT display using aperture grille (Trinitron) or Cromaclear technologies. It is slow but gives interesting results. Could be nice to chain after a NTSC defect emulator like dotcrawlplus (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=170433). It implements various features like:
Works at any (non-integer) upscaling factor
Various ways of adjusting the scanline thickness and beam shape
Low-pass filtering of the input signal
Specific gamma target
Beam glow
Optional colored phosphor effect and shadow mask
Colors shift caused by beam misalignment
Automatic contrast adjustment
Halation
Very large upscale is possible, showing the grid of phosphors.

Requirements: Dither 1.26.0 or above and its dependencies, Avisynth 2.6, RGB colorspace.

Detailed instructions in the .avsi file. Prototype:
Function crt_display (clip src, float sw, float sh, float "voff", float "ppp",
\ float "cutoff", float "scandist", float "sharpv", float "sharph",
\ float "blurh", float "glowgain", float "glowh", float "glowv",
\ float "glowsens", float "contrast", float "gamma", float "softclip",
\ float "mix", float "beamshape", bool "phosphor", bool "pgrid",
\ float "vcs", float "cromaclear", float "maskpp", float "gainb",
\ float "halgain", float "halrange", string "pixel_type")


Examples of real NTSC footage with aperture grille (left) and Cromaclear shadow mask (right):
https://s33.postimg.cc/5oqlfr0a3/koya-960-trinitron.png (https://postimg.cc/image/5oqlfr0a3/) https://s33.postimg.cc/tpsw3yaff/koya-1200-cromaclear.jpg (https://postimg.cc/image/tpsw3yaff/)
ar = 10.0 / 11.0
crt_display (2*ar, 2, ppp=1*ar, blurh=2.0) # Left
crt_display (2.5*ar, 2.5, ppp=1.25*ar, maskpp=1.25, cromaclear=1.0, voff=0.25) # right
Make sure to check the pictures at their original size.
Note that the scanline density (480) makes difficult to reproduce the Cromaclear effect in a limited resolution and exhibits unwanted pattern effects. We would need at least three lines per scanline to give it a better look.

But it works very well for upscaling 240p content, especially old-school videogame captures:

Sources, point-resized:
https://s33.postimg.cc/ejrfqhmkb/mana-point-02.png (https://postimg.cc/image/ejrfqhmkb/) https://s33.postimg.cc/6e9dsclgr/mana-point-04.png (https://postimg.cc/image/6e9dsclgr/) https://s33.postimg.cc/bpoad57kb/mana-point-06.png (https://postimg.cc/image/bpoad57kb/) https://s33.postimg.cc/5oqlg3niz/mana-point-07.png (https://postimg.cc/image/5oqlg3niz/)
I don’t know at which gamma these pictures should be viewed so I kept them untouched like if they were in standard sRGB.

Cromaclear display type:
https://s33.postimg.cc/k6j7a2uij/mana-cromaclear-02.png (https://postimg.cc/image/k6j7a2uij/) https://s33.postimg.cc/jv6cay0uj/mana-cromaclear-04.png (https://postimg.cc/image/jv6cay0uj/) https://s33.postimg.cc/a986hcn0b/mana-cromaclear-06.png (https://postimg.cc/image/a986hcn0b/) https://s33.postimg.cc/8vl4ziah7/mana-cromaclear-07.png (https://postimg.cc/image/8vl4ziah7/)
ar = 8.0 / 7.0
crt_display (5*ar, 5, ppp=2.5*ar, blurh=1.0, maskpp=2.5, cromaclear=1, scandist=1.5, cutoff=0.9, glowgain=0.125, halgain=0.03)

Aperture grille display type:
https://s33.postimg.cc/folhvwyrf/mana-trinitron-02.png (https://postimg.cc/image/folhvwyrf/) https://s33.postimg.cc/h3n2khf8b/mana-trinitron-04.png (https://postimg.cc/image/h3n2khf8b/) https://s33.postimg.cc/76c1rlfe3/mana-trinitron-06.png (https://postimg.cc/image/76c1rlfe3/) https://s33.postimg.cc/mrtdbnty3/mana-trinitron-07.png (https://postimg.cc/image/mrtdbnty3/)
crt_display (5*ar, 5, ppp=2.5*ar, blurh=0.75, scandist=1, cutoff=0.9, glowgain=0.125, halgain=0.03)
The scanline effect and variable-width beam could have been more pronounced just by adding sharpv=2, beamshape=2.

Simple scanlines without phosphor effect:
https://s33.postimg.cc/50hqwxrbf/mana-scanlines-02.png (https://postimg.cc/image/50hqwxrbf/) https://s33.postimg.cc/pw418j31n/mana-scanlines-04.png (https://postimg.cc/image/pw418j31n/) https://s33.postimg.cc/ttraxopsb/mana-scanlines-06.png (https://postimg.cc/image/ttraxopsb/) https://s33.postimg.cc/qzo5kal23/mana-scanlines-07.png (https://postimg.cc/image/qzo5kal23/)
crt_display (5*ar, 5, ppp=2.5*ar, blurh=1.0, maskpp=2.5, phosphor=false, scandist=3, cutoff=0.8, glowgain=1.0, glowh=6, glowv=0, halgain=0.03, sharpv=2)
This is just insane but gives an idea about how it could look with extreme settings.

More screenshots here (https://postimg.cc/gallery/1cqmuzc3g/). Default settings are generally OK, but tweaking the parameters can improve the results a lot.

My 15 kHz CRT is gone for a long time and I only have half-decent monitor photos for reference, so any advice based on real CRTs is welcome to improve the emulation.

[Motenai Yoda]

It's look very like my old Sony Triniton!!! :eek:

But Triniton have also a defect, there were some horizontal gray lines.
http://www.dansdata.com/images/sg400/sonydampersml.jpg
http://www.dansdata.com/sg400.htm

[TheSkiller]

Impressive! :eek:
Being a CRT expert and lover I definitely have to say this is the most authentic CRT simulation I've seen. Goes very nice especially with old games. I'll have some fun with this, even though I have plenty real CRTs right here. :p


Edit: One thing I noticed is the scanlines in your simulation are more pronounced with the Cromaclear setting compared to the Trinitron setting. Well, in my experience, and I have a Trinitron as well as a shadow mask CRT side by side here, the scanlines are generally more pronounced with Trinitrion masks and slightly less with shadow masks. This is also commonly known among retro gamer "CRT fetishists" on the internet. Trinitrons have slightly more pronounced scanlines compared to shadow masks.

[cretindesalpes]

TheSkiller:

Thanks. I agree with the Cromaclear/Trinitron mismatch. I just put different settings to show the versatility of the function, of course it’s possible to increase the scanline effect with the Trinitron.

Motenai Yoda:

Indeed, I haven’t included the “damping wire” effect. I’m not sure if it’s a wanted feature…

[Reel.Deel]

This is nice, it reminds me of much simpler times. :)
Kudos cretindesalpes.

[Lyris]

Outstanding attention to detail. That really puts the crummy "Old TV effect" in NLEs to shame.

[creaothceann]

Here (http://board.byuu.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4719&p=108903#p108903)'s another thread about CRT simulation. :)

Btw. I get this (http://i.imgur.com/ovppcDZ.png) error (crt_display.avsi is in the plugins folder)... any idea what could be the cause? I have this (http://i.imgur.com/WSa7I2Z.png) version and the plugins.

[Gavino]

I get this (http://i.imgur.com/ovppcDZ.png) error (crt_display.avsi is in the plugins folder)... any idea what could be the cause? I have this (http://i.imgur.com/WSa7I2Z.png) version and the plugins.
You need an updated MaskTools fully compatible with 2.6a4 - see here.

[creaothceann]

Mmmh... (http://i.imgur.com/FKifd3J.png)

[Motenai Yoda]

Mmmh... (http://i.imgur.com/FKifd3J.png)

U must delete old mt dlls

[osgZach]

This is so awesome...

It would be sweet if someone could turn these particular effects into shaders (or provide SweetFX/etc. settings that can emulate them)

[NightSprinter]

To the author of this script/OP of the thread, I know I asked this via e-mail, but is there any way to help with the speed for rendering a video with this? Rendering to an MP4 file on my machine takes sometimes upwards of a day for a five minute recording.

[cretindesalpes]

Yes I saw your email but the previous week was quite intense for me IRL and I hadn’t the time to reply. Anyway I’m not sure about what is slow in the script, and if it can be optimized. I’ll try to benchmark it and narrow down the slowest parts in the next days but I cannot guarantee that I can come with significant speed improvement.

EDIT: I just found that vertical resizing/convolution in Dither_resize16 was not multi-threaded… Got a 75 % speed-up just by fixing it. More later.

[cretindesalpes]

As stated in my previous edited post, updating Dither (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1386559#post1386559) to v1.26.5 will give a significant speed boost to crt_display. You can also maximize the CPU usage and double again the fps throughput by splitting the source video into 2 or 3 parts and encode them simultaneously.

These are probably the only large speed improvement left without altering the quality and accuracy of the emulation. I think implementing a native Dither_lut16 implementation (instead of a wrapper function around several mt_lutxy calls) could help a little too, as the function is heavily used.

Next, there’s a great amount of finetuning to do (like cutting the number of taps to the strict minimum for the gaussian blurs, or reducing the vertical oversampling of the beam), but this is a lot of work for little results.

[NightSprinter]

Thanks greatly for the reply. As I'm using AVISynth 2.6, what would you suggest further to improve? I've updated the dither plugins as suggested, and you've mentioned something about multi-threading. If it helps, here are my specs as well:

CPU: Intel Core i7-920 @2.8GHZ overclock
RAM: Corsair XMS3 DDR3-10666
GPU: PNY GeForce GTS-450
Motherboard: Gigabyte X58A-UD3Rv1
PSU: Corsair TX750
HDD: 3x500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm
Capture Card 1: Startech PEXHDCAP (for anything above composite or s-video)
Capture Card 2: Pinnacle Dazzle DVC-101

[Edit] Here's an error that shows up all too often for me. I wonder what I'm doing wrong?

[foxyshadis]

[Edit] Here's an error that shows up all too often for me. I wonder what I'm doing wrong?

Use this version of Masktools (https://github.com/tp7/masktools/releases), which should help speed a bit as well.

[NightSprinter]

That seemed to work, though I guess even 6GB of memory may not even be enough to render the 240p deinterlaced image up to 1280x960 in VirtualDub. I had to use AVIDemux and its AVSProxy companion to render the video I had set up in my script.

[cretindesalpes]

With a regular Avisynth 2.6 version (32-bit single-threaded) you shouldn’t need such a huge RAM amount. Playing back a 224p to 1080p conversion in VirtualDub uses only 700 MB here. What is your script?

[NightSprinter]

My script looks like this (as I'm using the MT version of AVISynth, and did some deinterlacing of footage captured with a Dazzle at 640x480i)

SetMemoryMax(512)
SetMTMode(3)
SetMTMode(2)
Import("crt_display.avsi")
AviSource("converttorgb.avi")
SeparateFields(AssumeTFF)
#PointResize(640,480)
#Scanlines(STRENGTH=0)
ar = 1.0 / 1.0
crt_display (2*ar, 4, ppp=2.5*ar, blurh=1.0, maskpp=2.5, cromaclear=1, scandist=1.5, cutoff=0.9, glowgain=0.125, halgain=0.03)

The render takes an entire night's worth of time via the AVIDemux program setup I have in order to render the final MP4 video.

[osgZach]

Anyone got any idea what would cause this?

I'd really like to try this script on some DOSBox captures

http://i.imgur.com/sXwBAoa.png

[Reel.Deel]

Anyone got any idea what would cause this?

WeaveRows is only available in AviSynth 2.6.

[osgZach]

lol the fun never ends..

I updated my Avisynth build (I had 2.6) to a more recent one. Now I get a different error.

http://i.imgur.com/oSCVxxw.png

Line 322

g = (phosphor) ? g.insert_black_col16 (ssx, ssx / 3, ssx / 3 - g_thickness) : g




Line 420

msk = msk.mt_lutspa (mode="absolute", expr="x "+String(nbr)+" % "+String(ofs)+" >= x "+String(nbr)+" % "+String(ofs+w)+" < & 255 0 ?")


Changing the PAR to 1.0 / 1.0 changes the error to an access violation.

Relevant Line 322:

# Phosphor processing. Applies a mask to put each color component on
# its own phosphor column.
r = SelectEvery (3, 0)
g = SelectEvery (3, 1)
b = SelectEvery (3, 2)
r = (phosphor) ? r.insert_black_col16 (ssx, 0, ssx / 3 - g_thickness) : r
g = (phosphor) ? g.insert_black_col16 (ssx, ssx / 3, ssx / 3 - g_thickness) : g
b = (phosphor) ? b.insert_black_col16 (ssx, 2 * ssx / 3, ssx / 3 - g_thickness) : b
Interleave (r, g, b)



Relevant Line 430

Function insert_black_col16 (clip src, int nbr, int ofs, int w)
{
src
dw = Width ()
dh = Height () / 2

# Tiling the mt_lutspa speeds up a bit the filter initialisation.
# msk = last.mt_lutspa (mode="absolute", expr="x "+String(nbr)+" % "+String(ofs)+" >= x "+String(nbr)+" % "+String(ofs+w)+" < & 255 0 ?")

msk = last.Crop (0, 0, 0, 32)
msk = msk.mt_lutspa (mode="absolute", expr="x "+String(nbr)+" % "+String(ofs)+" >= x "+String(nbr)+" % "+String(ofs+w)+" < & 255 0 ?")
msk = msk.make_tile (dw, dh * 2)
# end tiling

mt_logic (last, msk, mode="and")
}



Just for reference.. very simple script I used copying example from the images showcase on the first page.

AviSource("whip_000.avi")

ar = 1.0 / 1.0
crt_display (5*ar, 5, ppp=2.5*ar, blurh=1.0, maskpp=2.5, cromaclear=1, scandist=1.5, cutoff=0.9,

glowgain=0.125, halgain=0.03)


Source Video

Video
ID : 0
Format : Zip
Codec ID : ZMBV
Codec ID/Info : Zip Motion Blocks Video
Duration : 7mn 55s
Bit rate : 12.8 Mbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 400 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:10
Frame rate : 69.755 fps
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.715
Stream size : 724 MiB (90%)

[osgZach]

maybe I should just nuke my plugins folder....

[feisty2]

Anyone got any idea what would cause this?

I'd really like to try this script on some DOSBox captures

http://i.imgur.com/sXwBAoa.png

Whatever version of avisynth you are using, it surly isn't the latest
Upgrade it

Edit: check your masktools version, is it for avs 2.5?

[osgZach]

I'm using the version linked here http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1696036#post1696036

From earlier in this thread. Not using the 2.5.8 version

[feisty2]

I'm using the version linked here http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1696036#post1696036

From earlier in this thread. Not using the 2.5.8 version

That page got 3 builds, 2.5 version, 2.6/avs+ x86 and avs+ x64
And you got which one in your plugins folder?

[osgZach]

2.6 x86

[StainlessS]

Weaverows introduced in Avisynth v2.6a4 http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1610746&highlight=weaverows#post1610746
So you are using Alpha 3 or prior. Update to v2.6RC3.

EDIT: Here (AviSynth_150419.exe): http://sourceforge.net/projects/avisynth2/files/AviSynth_Alpha_Releases/AVS%202.6.0%20RC%203%20%5B150419%5D/

[osgZach]

Sorry I wasn't clear, I do have that version of 2.6 installed. The weaverows errors went away, then the new ones I posted above popped up. ( http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=1719327&postcount=22 )

I'm gonna try rebuilding my plugins folder I guess.

[cretindesalpes]

osgZach:

The resulting frames are large, 3200x2000. Make sure you don’t run out of memory (almost 1 GB taken just with BlankClip as source here). Your host application should be patched to accept 4 GB of memory.

Also, if you have a recent version of Avisynth 2.6, use the Masktools 2 version modified by tp7 (https://github.com/tp7/masktools/releases). Same with RemoveGrain (https://github.com/tp7/RgTools/releases).

[osgZach]

Hi, thank you so much, I got it working now.

I didn't have that newer Removegrain (RgTools.dll), but even then I still got weird errors... and I guess my plugins folder is really a mess. I've been spoiled by auto-load over the years as it makes script writing so much more convenient.
I gotta get a handle on this stuff and learn to source multiple directories or something.

Just curious. Why do return frames turn out so large? Is there any way to control that?

edit: spoke too soon.. Test clip worked, but the video made it run out of memory I guess..
I am using 32-bit AVS - I take it I need to use 64-bit or something? Can they co-exist on the same system? Kind of confused what you meant with patching to accept more than 4GB
(using Vdub x32 on Win7 x64)

[StainlessS]

osgZach, think this is what cretindesalpes was suggesting:
https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=4gb+patch

[osgZach]

I actually tried that a few hours ago, and I'm not sure what I was supposed to do with it?

Avisynth doesn't have an executable, and I assumed by host he meant Virtualdub, so I applied it to that but that didn't seem to work either.

I keep getting out of memory errors on anything but the sample AVS clip =\
(16GB of RAM so that's not the issue)

Feeling really inept here...lol

edit:

Ok so some progress. I am able to load my video in MeGUI and play it using the preview function. So clearly the issue is with Vdub

[osgZach]

Oh boy people weren't kidding when they said it was slow! :D

So I had a (weird?) idea I was wondering about..

Is it possible to say, tweak it to get the look I want - knowing my intended output resolution ahead of time, etc. And then instead of rendering the video, render out an RGB image file with a transparent background layer, leaving the emulated CRT type effects in the image.. and then you could say, load that image back in to a different script (hopefully with transparency intact) and simple overlay it on top of every frame in the video?

Wondering if that's possible and how good it might look.

edit:
Or maybe someone can just recommend a good free CRT type filter for Vegas, etc. Or some such program, that is much faster.

[cretindesalpes]

Why do return frames turn out so large? Is there any way to control that?
The frames you get are large because you specified an enlargement factor of 5 (640x400 -> 3200x2000), which gave a decent size with my 240p sources. Try something lower like 2 or 2.5, and set ppp to half of it to minimize moire effects.

So clearly the issue is with Vdub
Try to close your script then open it again instead of pressing F2. With the latter, the previous script version is kept in memory until the new script renders its frame without error.

Is it possible to say, tweak it to get the look I want - knowing my intended output resolution ahead of time, etc. And then instead of rendering the video, render out an RGB image file with a transparent background layer, leaving the emulated CRT type effects in the image.. and then you could say, load that image back in to a different script (hopefully with transparency intact) and simple overlay it on top of every frame in the video?
Unfortunately this won’t work because of the beam size emulation, contrast compensation and other non-linear effects. Anyway you can get a decent approximation just by using an RGB grid mask, like many CRT shaders did, but you’ll lose a lot of contrast.

[osgZach]

I see.

Well it definitely looks nice, but I suppose what I am really after is that light scanline look. Something similar to what you can get done in most emulators these days. Not very thick lines, but still there enough that it has that "look".
Is there an easy, much faster way to accomplish that? Aside from just pasting some black 1px lines across the image I mean. I'm looking for something potentially halfway between nothing, and what your script does now. But taking much less render time.

I just can't sit around for 24 hours on a 7 minute video for instance. If it were an hour or two long maybe, but not for 7 minutes :p

[raffriff42]

what I am really after is that light scanline look... Is there an easy, much faster way to accomplish that?There's Scanlines (http://avisynth.nl/index.php/Scanlines). Very fast.

But the lines don't "twitter" as they should (IMHO) - so here's an alternative:
(EDIT better version here (http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=1719572&postcount=42)) LoadPlugin "mt_masktools-26.dll")
## version a48 required
## http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=98985

## Last == YV12
return scanlines2(size=0.5, stren=0.1)

function scanlines2(clip C, float "size", float "stren")
{
size=Min(Max(0.25, Default(size, 1.0)), 10.0)
stren=Min(Max(0.0, Default(stren, 0.2)), 1.0)

C ## Last==C
A=mt_lutspa(
\ mode="absolute",
\ expr=("""(((y/(2*$s))%2)>0) ? 255 : 0""")
\ .StrReplace("$s", String(size))
\ .mt_polish,
\ u=-128, v=-128
\ )

B=ScriptClip(A, """(current_frame % 2) > 0 ? Last : Last.FlipVertical""")

#return Overlay(B, opacity=stren)
return ConvertToYUY2
\ .Layer(B.ConvertToYUY2, level=Round(257.0*stren), use_chroma=false)
\ .ConvertToYV12
}

[osgZach]

Thanks I will try both of those out when I have some free time.

[rcubed]

It's look very like my old Sony Triniton!!! :eek:

But Triniton have also a defect, there were some horizontal gray lines.
http://www.dansdata.com/images/sg400/sonydampersml.jpg
http://www.dansdata.com/sg400.htm

If I remember correctly the horizontal lines are due to the design of the shadow mask. The line(s) is a connection between the vertical shadow mask slots to stiffen the overall shadow mask. Sony would probably call it a "design feature" :)

cheers,

rcubed

[osgZach]

haha I remember people complaining about that back in the day.. man I'm getting old

[osgZach]

raffriff42,

That's a pretty neat script (and fast). Although the screen flicker kind of bothers me.. Can it be reduced a little? Or maybe a version with it removed. Also I noticed when I resized and added bars on the sides to maintain aspect ratio, there is a green line on the left hand side of the picture edge. I Don't know if that's from Vdub for some reason or the script tho.

I did find another thread with some stuff too, if anyone finds it interesting.
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=156658

[raffriff42]

Thanks, osgZach. Good points. Try this one, it looks a lot better I think:LoadPlugin "mt_masktools-26.dll")
## version a48 required
## http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=98985

## Last == YV12
return scanlines2(size=2, strength=0.25, flicker=false)

#######################################
## Add scanlines (light & dark horizontal bars) to a video.
##
## @ size - 1 to 4; default 2
## @ strength - 0.0 to 1.0; default 0.25
## @ flicker - default false
##
function scanlines2(clip C, int "size", float "strength", bool "flicker")
{
size = Min(Max(1, Default(size, 2)), 4)
strength = Min(Max(0.0, Default(strength, 0.25)), 1.0)
flicker = Default(flicker, false)

C
A=mt_lutspa(
\ mode="absolute",
\ expr=mt_polish("(((y/(2*"+String(0.25*size)+"))%2)>0)?128+64:128-64"),
\ u=-128, v=-128
\ )

B = (flicker)
\ ? ScriptClip(A, """(current_frame % 2) > 0 ? Last : Last.FlipVertical""")
\ : A

return Overlay(B, opacity=0.25*strength, mode="luma")
}

[osgZach]

That's a bit easier to tweak, thanks :)

One last question. For some reason if I try to put my resize/addborders calls after this function is called, they do not work. No error is given, it just shows the image at original resolution. Was that intended? I was hoping to see if there was a big difference in applying the script before / after a resize.

[raffriff42]

For some reason if I try to put my resize/addborders calls after this function is called, they do not work. No error is given, it just shows the image at original resolution.That does not happen for me. Please post your script.

[osgZach]

AviSource("whip_000.avi", audio=false)
ConvertToYV12()
## LoadPlugin ("mt_masktools-26.dll")
## version a48 required
## http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=98985

## Last == YV12

return scanlines2(size=2, strength=0.75, flicker=false)
LanczosResize(1152,720)
AddBorders(64,0,64,0)

#######################################
## Add scanlines (light & dark horizontal bars) to a video.
##
## @ size - 1 to 4; default 2
## @ strength - 0.0 to 1.0; default 0.25
## @ flicker - default false
##
function scanlines2(clip C, int "size", float "strength", bool "flicker")
{
size = Min(Max(1, Default(size, 2)), 4)
strength = Min(Max(0.0, Default(strength, 0.25)), 1.0)
flicker = Default(flicker, false)

C ## Last==C
A=mt_lutspa(
\ mode="absolute",
\ expr=("""(((y/(2*$s))%2)>0) ? 128+64 : 128-64""")
\ .StrReplace("$s", String(0.25*size))
\ .mt_polish,
\ u=-128, v=-128
\ )

B = (flicker)
\ ? ScriptClip(A, """(current_frame % 2) > 0 ? Last : Last.FlipVertical""")
\ : A

return Overlay(B, opacity=0.5*strength, mode="softlight")
}

# http://avisynth.nl/index.php/HDColorBars
function StrReplace(string base, string sought, string rep)
{
pos = FindStr(base, sought)
return (sought == "") || (pos == 0) \
? base \
: StrReplace( \
LeftStr(base, pos - 1) + rep + \
MidStr(base, pos + StrLen(sought)), \
sought, rep)
}




I only really modified it to comment out the DLL loading (in plugins directory already) and then to add the resize/addborders. But for w/e reason if I move them back before the call to the function, they work.

[ndjamena]

Lose the "return".

I didn't even know you could return from the base of the script. It looks a tad better than "__END__".

[osgZach]

thank you :cool:

[StainlessS]

I didn't even know you could return from the base of the script. It looks a tad better than "__END__".

The functionality of Return and __END__ is a little different.
Return allows to return a named clip eg 'myclip' rather than default Last clip, and is needed if the final function call before the end of script does not explicitly or implicitly set Last clip.
It (return) also allows you to return early where you want to temporarily disable some following lines of script.

__END__, makes anything following it COMMENT.
Below will produce an error (EDIT: due to ',' COMMA), try remove '#' hash comment (no error).

return Colorbars

#__END__
,


EDIT: Can also use C style comments eg

return Colorbars

/*
, # No error
*/

[osgZach]

I did 2 tests. I'm a little partial to the second one at this point (scanlines after resizing). All I have to do now is see if I can tweak the brightness or gamma to reduce some of the washed out look.

Test 1 - Resize after Scanlines (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JamoA0KiDL4)

Test 2 - Resize before Scanlines (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqew-FBbjvI)

Chrome / 720p / 60fps for best experience.

[raffriff42]

Looks great! However I find it a bit difficult to watch for more than a few seconds. Maybe with lower strength?

When using the effect after resizing, suggest setting the scanline size to match the native pixel size, for most realistic effect IMHO.

Regarding your brightness issue, here's yet another version with a brightness adjustment, and a few other minor changes. # http://manao4.free.fr/mt_masktools.html
## version a48 required
LoadPlugin("mt_masktools-26.dll")

# http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1719737#post1719737
#######################################
## Add scanlines (light & dark horizontal bars) to a video.
##
## @ size - 1 to 16; default 2 (scanline size)
## @ strength - 0.0 to 1.0; default 0.25 (scanline strength)
## @ bright - min -128, max +128; default 0 (brightness adjustment)
## @ flicker - default false (if true, swap light & dark lines on each frame)
## (only allowed if bright == 0)
##
function scanlines2(clip C, int "size", float "strength", int "bright", bool "flicker")
{
Assert(IsYV12(C),
\ "scanlines2: source must be YV12")

size = Min(Max(1, Default(size, 2)), 16)
strength = Min(Max(0.0, Default(strength, 0.25)), 1.0)
bright = Min(Max(-128, Default(bright, 0)), +128)
flicker = Default(flicker, false)

C ## Last==C
A=mt_lutspa(
\ mode="absolute",
\ expr=("""(((y/(2*$s))%2)>0) ? 128+64+$b : 128-64+$b""")
\ .StrReplace("$s", String(0.25*size))
\ .StrReplace("$b", String(bright))
\ .mt_polish,
\ u=-128, v=-128
\ )

B = (flicker && bright==0)
\ ? ScriptClip(A, """(current_frame % 2) > 0 ? Last : Last.Invert""")
\ : A

return Overlay(B, opacity=0.5*strength, mode="softlight")
}

# http://avisynth.nl/index.php/HDColorBars
function StrReplace(string base, string sought, string rep)
{
pos = FindStr(base, sought)
return (sought == "") || (pos == 0) \
? base \
: StrReplace( \
LeftStr(base, pos - 1) + rep + \
MidStr(base, pos + StrLen(sought)), \
sought, rep)
}(Sorry if hijacking the topic. Maybe discussion of this script belongs in a new thread?)