[Feature Request]: Dithering

[falojazz]

Feature Summary:

The original PlayStation used dithering to avoid color banding. This feature has somehow been turned of in the M2 emulator. It would be amazing for dithering to be available, since its a central part of the original graphics experience.

Describe the solution you'd like

I don't know if other games using the M2 emulator also have dithering disabled, but if the emulator itself supports it, it would be a great feature.

[nuggslet]

More optimistic about this now as I think we can add it via the PGXP work that's in progress - can't promise they would be in the same update but if PGXP gets sorted this shouldn't be far behind.

[falojazz]

More optimistic about this now as I think we can add it via the PGXP work that's in progress - can't promise they would be in the same update but if PGXP gets sorted this shouldn't be far behind.

Sound great! Glad to hear it.

In terms of dithering, the standard settings would usually be ON, OFF and Half Resolution.

With dithering on, the dithering pattern is always the same standard size, and doesn't scale with higher resolutions, meaning it will look the same on low res and high res (dots will be the same size no matter what). On Half Resolution, it usually cuts the standard dithering dot size in half, but it also scales with resolution, in a way that makes half res dithering almost invisible on anything above 1080p, but noticeable albeit more subtle on something like 720p. You can check how Duckstation does it.

In any case, most people would run with either ON or OFF, so the third option of half res setting is probably overkill, unless it's easy to implement.

One thing Duckstation doesn't do, is allow for custom scale dithering (which would be a 4th option). This means that you can only have dithering at scales at 0.0 (OFF), 0.5 (half) or 1.0 (ON). A 4th option to allow for dithering scaling at something like 0.85 or 0.75, would be really cool, and may be possible, since you're implementing it with your own shaderwork. Dithering at 1.0 can look weird on some custom resolutions, so for high resolutions above 1080p, something like 0.85 scale would give the player the aesthetic of dithered graphics, without it being too jarring/overwhelming.

All this talk of scaling reminds me of the possibility of implementing custom CRT shaders, like CRT royale. These would be a welcome addition to the simple scanlines, and would save a bunch of people the hassle of messing about with external injectors etc.
I'll make a feature request for that as well.

Thanks for your hard work! Makes a huge difference for those of us who grew up with the game.