N64 Settings

[Fnnrqwin]

I’m running my N64 in line 5x mode and I’m definitely losing image information. Unfortunately, there’s no 240p Test Suite for the N64, so I’m kind of eye-balling.

Originally I calibrated with the 320×240 grid on the Genesis suite, but that resulted in a very left-oriented picture. I tried copying the settings from the optimal timings page, but that resulted in a similar left-leaning image. Any adjustments to center the image seem to just move the horizontal mask instead of the image.

I’m not at home to write down my settings, but using generic 4:3 I was able to center the image (using the Mario 64 file select screen as a reference). However, this results in information being chopped off the sides.

Has anyone had any luck with the N64 in 5x? It’s playable as is, but I know it’s missing something.

[paulb_nl]

Here are the settings I ended up with a while back for the N64 in lineX5:

H.samplerate 1980
H.synclen 150
H.active 1600
H.backporch 162

[SegaFanboy]

Do you have a Pal or NTSC N64? And are the Settings for Pal or NTSC? There is a huge difference, because the Pal aspect ratio of the N64 is optimized, so I never got it working on Linex5.

[paulb_nl]

The settings are for NTSC but should work on PAL too. I don’t think many games are optimized for PAL. Mario 64 PAL still has borders so it has the wrong aspect ratio. If you use lineX5 1600/1920×1200 modes you lose less on top and bottom.

[Fnnrqwin]

I tried the settings above, they look great for me. I had to run the 5x mode as 1920×1200 in order to achieve results. 1600×1200 didn’t provide an image. Also, I needed to set the H.samplerate to 1978 in order to center the image. I didn’t notice any change outside of positioning, so it doesn’t seem like it introduced any artifacts.

Thank you!

[shephard]

I’ve been doing a lot of testing with N64 PAL games in lineX5 mode, but especially (optimized) RARE games are missing a good portion at the top and bottom of the picture. This happens in 1920/1600*1200 mode, in 1920*1080 mode there’s missing even more, of course. So I guess lineX5 basically is for NTSC games. For an optimized PAL game to display properly the vertical resolution has to be 5*288=1440 at least (in contrast to NTSC with 5*240=1200), is that about right? Could this be implemented as another resolution option or isn’t that possible on the hardware side?

[paulb_nl]

1440p should be possible if you set V.active to 288 and reduce V.synclen/V.backporch in Advanced timing tweaker for 1600/1920×1200. There are enough total lines in PAL (5×313=1565) for that resolution.

I am guessing that Rare probably didn’t use the lines inside the overscan area so V.active at 272 for 1360p could also work.

[shephard]

I’ve already played with the advanced timing settings and have some questions:

1. The proper advanced timing setting profile for lineX5 1600/1920×1200 and even 1920×1080 is 1536×240, right? For PAL inputs the profile changes to 1536×240L. What does the “L” mean and why isn’t there a profile like 1536×288 for PAL in the first place? For lineX4 for example there is a profile called 1280×288. It seems to me that at least in line5X mode the vertical resolution of 1200 is fixed (see point 2).

2. If I increase V.Active in forementioned profile by only one point I immediately lose sync (V.synclen/V.backporch are decreased to 1). Well, it’s not quite a sync loss (red LED is off), I can still hear audio but I get no picture, just a screen showing “invalid format”. That seems a bit odd because I’ve got a quite tolerant TV (4K LG OLED E6, 1440p is supposed to work) and every other mode works fine. How does this profile work exactly? Can I imagine the OSSC sends a 1600/1920×1200 frame to the TV and by the advanced timing settings we’re “fiddling” the image in? That would explain why I can’t get past 1200 vertical resolution and a 1920×1440 frame is needed.

Do I maybe have to alter other settings or won’t it work the way it is now? Is 1440p basically possible with the current OSSC hardware? Thanks for your help!

[Fnnrqwin]

I can’t speak to the PAL timings, but for your second point, try setting your V.Active to your goal number or around there. During my timing adjustments I frequently lost sync until I reached a certain range, even if the default range produced an image. For example, my H.active started at 1536, but it lost any image between 1540 and 1599. Might work for you, so don’t be afraid of losing sync in between ranges.

[shephard]

I guess it was a bit unclear, I also set V.Active to 288, of course. I just wanted to point out I lost sync as soon as I set V.Active only one point higher which didn’t happen to me on other modes. With V.Active at 272 or 288 I’m not able to get the sync back. I’m afraid line5X does something differently than the other modes and somehow constraints the resolution on the vertical side.

[paulb_nl]

I just tried it with my single N64 PAL game: Clay fighter 63 1/3 and my capture card didn’t have any problems with V.active 288. I just increased V.active to 288 and decreased V.backporch to center the image. It resulted in 1600/1920×1440. I think your TV does not accept these resolutions which is odd since it should handle up to 4k.

How does this profile work exactly? Can I imagine the OSSC sends a 1600/1920×1200 frame to the TV and by the advanced timing settings we’re “fiddling” the image in?

The OSSC sends all the lines to the display so in lineX5 PAL mode 1565 lines which you can consider the frame. Then with V.active it tells the display how many of those lines should be visible. So the display will crop the resolution itself.

[shephard]

Interesting, thanks for the info and for testing! I guess the problem is my TV after all which is a bit odd indeed. It’d be interesting if anyone got that ever working with a TV, but nice to know it could basically work. For PAL games I’ll stick with line4X mode for now.

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