Sega cores video issue - unstable, jittery video

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TheGMan143
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Sega cores video issue - unstable, jittery video

Unread post by TheGMan143 »

Searched & looked through several topics in here about the video & video effects on the Sega cores... I'm new to the MiSTer scene, but have pretty decent PC / console, and general electronics skill. As I'm new to this hardware, I'm not completely sure what I should and should not expect from this system. The DE10 appears to be running correctly, and plays games from a number of different cores... but as soon as I load a SEGA core of any kind.. just the core, not necessarily any particular game... anything moving on the screen gets a weird "double flicker"... which includes the core menus. It doesn't seem to affect the operation of the actual games, other than it's very distracting and makes them pretty unplayable. Just like whatever moves tends to rapidly 'ghost' and jump as it's moving.

Now, I'm guessing since there are not a bunch of threads on here about jittery video, it's likely something with my hardware or the software load on it. I did update all yesterday, which did not change anything. The games I have loaded are playable from an operational standpoint - nothing locks up or errors out - just that the video is very unstable. I don't see anything specific in the config menus that would address it, and nothing I've changed has really made it better or worse. I've tried loading the cores from a completely cold start and from a warm reboot, which also has no effect to worsen or improve the issue.

Something obvious I'm missing?

gamesfan
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Re: Sega cores video issue - unstable, jittery video

Unread post by gamesfan »

Can you post the contents of your Mister.ini ?
Can you tell us more about your display and how your connecting to it?

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TheGMan143
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Re: Sega cores video issue - unstable, jittery video

Unread post by TheGMan143 »

I've done some more testing and tinkering, and it really does seem to be something with just the SEGA cores. NES, SNES, Vectrex, TG16, C=64, and PSX I've tested so far... none of them have any notable display issue at all. As I mentioned, it happens as soon as the core is loaded, without loading any game image. If I pull up the menu, as the highlighted selection bar moves between items on the menu, it has the same "jitter" as the games do... however, anything static on the screen has no shake or flicker.

Display is common HDMI to a Samsung 55" LCD, cable is shielded and less than 1 meter long - I have an analog card coming to run VGA but it's not in hand yet. Currently running 32MB RAM, and have a 128MB module coming as well.

Mister.ini:

[MiSTer]
key_menu_as_rgui=0
forced_scandoubler=0
ypbpr=1
composite_sync=0
vga_scaler=0
hdmi_audio_96k=0
keyrah_mode=0x18d80002
vscale_mode=1
vscale_border=0
;bootscreen=0
;mouse_throttle=10
rbf_hide_datecode=0
menu_pal=0
hdmi_limited=0
direct_video=0
fb_size=0
fb_terminal=1
osd_timeout=90
osd_rotate=0
recents=0
bootcore_timeout=10
font=font/Arcade_Cybattler_(Jaleco).pf
reset_combo=0
dvi_mode=0
video_mode=8
video_info=1
vsync_adjust=2
refresh_min=0
refresh_max=0
controller_info=6
jamma_vid=0x04D8
jamma_pid=0xF3AD
sniper_mode=0
;browse_expand=0
logo=1
shared_folder=
log_file_entry=0
bt_auto_disconnect=0
bt_reset_before_pair=0

gamesfan
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Re: Sega cores video issue - unstable, jittery video

Unread post by gamesfan »

Your INI is old, some settings you have enabled are retired.

[MiSTer]
key_menu_as_rgui=0 ; set to 1 to make the MENU key map to RGUI in Minimig (e.g. for Right Amiga)
forced_scandoubler=0 ; set to 1 to run scandoubler on VGA output always (depends on core).
;ypbpr=0 ; set to 1 for YPbPr on VGA output. (obsolete. see vga_mode)
vga_mode=rgb ; supported modes: rgb, ypbpr, svideo, cvbs. rgb is default.
ntsc_mode=0 ; Only for S-Video and CVBS vga_mode. 0 - normal NTSC, 1 - PAL-60, 2 - PAL-M.
composite_sync=0 ; set to 1 for composite sync on HSync signal of VGA output.
vga_scaler=0 ; set to 1 to connect VGA to scaler output.
hdmi_audio_96k=0 ; set to 1 for 96khz/16bit HDMI audio (48khz/16bit otherwise)
keyrah_mode=0x18d80002 ; VIDPID of keyrah for special code translation (0x23418037 for Arduino Micro)
vscale_mode=0 ; 0 - scale to fit the screen height.
; 1 - use integer scale only.
; 2 - use 0.5 steps of scale.
; 3 - use 0.25 steps of scale.
; 4 - integer resolution scaling, use core aspect ratio
; 5 - integer resolution scaling, maintain display aspect ratio
vscale_border=0 ; set vertical border for TVs cutting the upper/bottom parts of screen (1-399)
;bootscreen=0 ; uncomment to disable boot screen of some cores like Minimig.
;mouse_throttle=10 ; 1-100 mouse speed divider. Useful for very sensitive mice
rbf_hide_datecode=0 ; 1 - hides datecodes from rbf file names. Press F2 for quick temporary toggle
menu_pal=0 ; 1 - PAL mode for menu core
hdmi_limited=0 ; 1 - use limited (16..235) color range over HDMI
; 2 - use limited (16..255) color range over HDMI, for VGA converters.
direct_video=0 ; 1 - enable core video timing over HDMI, use only with VGA converters.
hdr=0 ; 1 - enable HDR using HLG (recommended for most users)
; 2 - enable HDR using the DCI P3 color space (use color controls to tweak, suggestion: set saturation to 80).
fb_size=0 ; 0 - automatic, 1 - full size, 2 - 1/2 of resolution, 4 - 1/4 of resolution.
fb_terminal=1 ; 1 - enabled (default), 0 - disabled
osd_timeout=30 ; 5-3600 timeout (in seconds) for OSD to disappear in Menu core. 0 - never timeout.
; Background picture will get darker after double timeout
video_off=0 ; output black frame in Menu core after timeout (is seconds). Valid only if osd_timout is non zero.
osd_rotate=0 ; Display OSD menu rotated, 0 - no rotation, 1 - rotate right (+90°), 2 - rotate left (-90°)
vga_sog=0 ; 1 - enable sync on green (needs analog I/O board v6.0 or newer).

; 1 - enables the recent file loaded/mounted.
; WARNING: This option will enable write to SD card on every load/mount which may wear the SD card after many writes to the same place
; There is also higher chance to corrupt the File System if MiSTer will be reset or powered off while writing.
recents=0

; lastcore - Autoboot the last loaded core (corename autosaved in CONFIG/lastcore.dat) first found on the SD/USB
; lastexactcore - Autoboot the last loaded exact core (corename_yyyymmdd.rbf autosaved in CONFIG/lastcore.dat) first found on the SD/USB
; corename - Autoboot first corename_*.rbf found on the SD/USB
; corename_yyyymmdd.rbf - Autoboot first corename_yyyymmdd.rbf found on the SD/USB
;bootcore=lastcore ; uncomment to autoboot a core, as the last loaded core.

; 10-30 timeout before autoboot, comment for autoboot without timeout.
bootcore_timeout=10

; Option to load the custom font. Format is plain bitmap 8x8.
; Supported sizes of font:
; 768 bytes - chars 32-127 (only alpha + numeric)
; 1024 bytes - chars 0-127
; 1136 bytes - chars 0-141
; up to 2048 - only chars 0-141 will be used.
; if first 32 chars are empty (for sizes 1024 bytes and more) then they are skipped.
font=font/myfont.pf

; USER button emulation by keybaord. Usually it's reset button.
; 0 - lctrl+lalt+ralt (lctrl+lgui+rgui on keyrah)
; 1 - lctrl+lgui+rgui
; 2 - lctrl+lalt+del
; 3 - same as 0 (lctrl+lalt+ralt on keyrah)
reset_combo=0

; !!!!
; Attention: if video_mode is not set in INI, then MiSTer will try to detect
; native mode of display and use it instead.
; Additionally, if dvi_mode is not set (only if video_mode is not set),
; then MiSTer will try to detect if display is DVI.
; !!!!

; set to 1 for DVI mode. Audio won't be transmitted through HDMI in DVI mode.
;dvi_mode=0

; 0 - 1280x720@60
; 1 - 1024x768@60
; 2 - 720x480@60
; 3 - 720x576@50
; 4 - 1280x1024@60
; 5 - 800x600@60
; 6 - 640x480@60
; 7 - 1280x720@50
; 8 - 1920x1080@60
; 9 - 1920x1080@50
;10 - 1366x768@60
;11 - 1024x600@60
;12 - 1920x1440@60
;13 - 2048x1536@60
;14 - 2560x1440@60
;
; custom mode: hact,hfp,hs,hbp,vact,vfp,vs,vbp,Fpix_in_KHz[,hsyncp,vsyncp]
; example: video_mode=1280,110,40,220,720,5,5,20,74250,+hsync,-vsync
;
; calculated mode: width,height,refresh[,flags]
; example: video_mode=1920,1200,60
; flags - cvt=CVT timing, cvtrb=CVT-RB timing (default)
;video_mode=0

; set to 1-10 (seconds) to display video info on startup/change
video_info=0

; Set to 1 for automatic HDMI VSync rate adjust to match original VSync.
; Set to 2 for low latency mode (single buffer).
; This option makes video butter smooth like on original emulated system.
; Adjusting is done by changing pixel clock. Not every display supports variable pixel clock.
; For proper adjusting and to reduce possible out of range pixel clock, use 60Hz HDMI video
; modes as a base even for 50Hz systems.
vsync_adjust=0

; If you monitor doesn't support either very low (NTSC monitors may not support PAL) or
; very high (PAL monitors may not support NTSC) then you can set refresh_min and/or refresh_max
; parameters, so vsync_adjust won't be applied for refreshes outside specified.
; These parameters are valid only when vsync_adjust is non-zero.
refresh_min=0
refresh_max=0

; These parameters have the same format as video_mode.
; You need to supply both PAL and NTSC modes if you want vsync_adjust to switch between
; predefined modes as a base. This will reduce the range of pixel clock.
;video_mode_ntsc=0
;video_mode_pal=7

; Provided below are options for modulating color on the HDMI output.
; Brightness, contrast and saturation can be set to any value between 0 and 100.
; Hue can be set to 0 - 360, observing the HSL color model.
; Each component of video_gain_offset can be set to any value between -2 and 2.
; The order is "gain,offset" repeated three times to cover RGB.
; Example 1, Inverted colors:
; video_gain_offset= -1, 1, -1, 1, -1, 1
; Example 2, Slightly desaturated, warm display:
; video_saturation= 80
; video_gain_offset= 1.5, -0.1, 1.3, -0.15, 0.9, 0.05
video_brightness=50
video_contrast=50
video_saturation=100
video_hue=0
video_gain_offset=1,0,1,0,1,0

; These controls have been provided so you can tweak the HDR metadata values regarding
; peak brightness and average brightness. The defaults are 1000/250 for peak and average
; respectively.
; Some displays will completely ignore the values in the HDR packet, some will make use of them.
; The recommendation is to set hdr_max_nits to your display's peak luminance, while
; setting hdr_avg_nits to at least hdr_max_nits/4.
; Please note that setting a peak brightness far above your display's capability may result
; in clipping in bright parts of the image.
hdr_max_nits=1000
hdr_avg_nits=250

; 1-10 (seconds) to display controller's button map upon first time key press
; 0 - disable
controller_info=6

; JammaSD/J-PAC/I-PAC keys to joysticks translation
; You have to provide correct VID and PID of your input device
; Examples: Legacy J-PAC with Mini-USB or USB capable I-PAC with PS/2 connectors VID=0xD209/PID=0x0301
; USB Capable J-PAC with only PS/2 connectors VID=0x04B4/PID=0x0101
; JammaSD: VID=0x04D8/PID=0xF3AD
jamma_vid=0x04D8
jamma_pid=0xF3AD

; Disable merging input devices. Use if only player 1 works.
; Leave no_merge_pid empty to apply this to all devices with the same VID.
;no_merge_vid=0x045E
;no_merge_pid=0x028E

; Same as above but can add multiple devices (one entry per VIDPID). Format is VIDPID in hex number
;no_merge_vidpid=0x12345678
;no_merge_vidpid=0x11112222

; Permanently assign specific controller to specific player.
; Normally you don't need to use this option, but if you use arcade cabinet with integrated controllers then
; you may want to use it for specific player regardless which controller is used first.
; To assign it, you need to provide unique part of this controller ID.
; In USB debug log you may see list of input devices right after core has been loaded.
; For example:
;
; opened 0( 0): /dev/input/event8 (1915:0040) 0 "7c:10:c9:15:22:33/df:47:3a:12:44:55" "Flydigi APEX2"
; ...
; opened 7( 7): /dev/input/event3 (1997:2535) 0 "usb-ffb40000.usb-1.6/input0" " mini keyboard"
; opened 9( 9): /dev/input/event0 (046d:4024) 0 "usb-ffb40000.usb-1.2/input2:1/4024-19-a2-39-0a" "Logitech K400"
;
; following part is unique identifier in system ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
; So you need to provide part of this string identifying exactly this device. Don't include inputX part as it may change after reboot.
; Wireless devices usually have format MAC/MAC, wired devices use usb-... format.
;
; Example of such unique part of strings:
;
;player_1_controller=usb-1.2/ ;include / at the end so it won't match with something like usb-1.2.3
;player_2_controller=7c:10:c9:15:22:33/df:47:3a:12:44:55
;player_3_controller=
;player_4_controller=

; Speeds in sniper/non-sniper modes of mouse emulation by joystick
; 0 - (default) - faster move in non-sniper mode, slower move in sniper mode.
; 1 - movement speeds are swapped.
sniper_mode=0

; Uncomment following option if you don't want to see a second line for long file names in listing.
;browse_expand=0

; 0 - disable MiSTer logo in Menu core
logo=1

; Custom shared folder for core supporting this feature (currently minimig and ao486 only)
; Can be relative to core's home dir or absolute path.
; Path must exist before core start to use it, or it will fail.
; Make sure USB device is mounted before use shared folder on USB!
shared_folder=

; Custom aspect ratio
;custom_aspect_ratio_1=16:10
;custom_aspect_ratio_2=1:1

; use specific (VID/PID) mouse X movement as a spinner and paddle. Use VID=0xFFFF/PID=0xFFFF to use all mice as spinners.
;spinner_vid=0x1BCF
;spinner_pid=0x0005

; spinner_throttle with base value 100 gives one spinner step per one tick. Higher value makes spinner slower.
; Lower than 100 makes spinner faster. Negative value gives opposite direction.
;spinner_throttle=-50

; 0 - X axis, 1 - Y axis, 2 - wheel.
;spinner_axis=1

; Default filters for video scaler. Paths must be relative to "Filters" folder without leading slash.
;vfilter_default=LCD Effects/LCD_Effect_07.txt
;vfilter_vertical_default=<some_file>
;vfilter_scanlines_default=<some_file>

; Default filters for audio. Paths must be relative to "Filters_audio" folder without leading slash.
;afilter_default=LPF2000_3tap.txt

; Defines internal joypad mapping from virtual SNES mapping in main to core mapping
; Set to 0 for name mapping (jn) (e.g. A button in SNES core = A button on controller regardless of position on pad)
; Set to 1 for positional mapping (jp) (e.g. A button in SNES core = East button on controller regardless of button name)
gamepad_defaults=0

; Write out file name under the cursor in browser for external integration
; External application or script may parse the info and do some additional actions and/or send info to 3rd party server.
; Warning: it may slowdown the system or add lag while browsing the files in OSD depending on external app/script.
log_file_entry=0

; Automatically disconnect (and shutdown) Bluetooth input device if not use specified amount of time.
; Some controllers have no automatic shutdown built in and will keep connection till battery dry out.
; 0 - don't disconnect automatically, otherwise it's amount of minutes.
bt_auto_disconnect=0

; Reset Bluetooth dongle before pair dialog.
; Some dongles may have problem to pair if not explicitly reset.
; Some dongles (mostly CSR) have problem to pair with BLE if not reset in advance.
; Consequence of reset: some input devices get shutdown after reset.
bt_reset_before_pair=0

;default Shadow Mask
;shmask_default=VGA.txt

;default shadow mask mode:
; 0 - none, 1 - 1x, 2 - 2x, 3 - 1x Rotated, 4 - 2x Rotated
;shmask_mode_default=1

; Wait for specific mount before start the core.
; Attention: waiting is performing BEFORE core start, so no message will be displayed on screen!
; It's useful for debugging when core is loaded from USB blaster and games folder is on USB or Network drive.
; This option cannot be used when defmra in CONFSTR is used (i.e. if arcade rbf is loaded directly not through MRA).
; This option is ignored for Menu core.
;waitmount=/media/usb0

; Overrides for video mode
; When the core's video mode matches the parameters in the section header, any options in the section override options from MiSTer and core sections.
; Refresh rate in header is optional and, if present, must match exactly the output from video_info or the logs. For example, if it says "60.0Hz", the header needs to be "@60.0" to match.
; When the core changes video mode, MiSTer will first look for a matching WIDTHxHEIGHT@VREFRESH section.
; If no match is found, it will fall back to a matching WIDTHxHEIGHT section with no refresh rate.
; If there is still no match, MiSTer/core options will be used without overrides.
; [video=640x400]
; ...
; [video=640x400@70.1]
; ...

; Wheel centering force 0-100. Default is 50.
;wheel_force=50

; Wheel steering angle range. Supported ranges depends on specific wheel model
; If not set then default (depending on driver) range is used
;wheel_range=200

; Enable game mode on HDMI output. It may give you better optimization on some displays, but also
; can give worse result on others. Default is 0 (non-game).
;hdmi_game_mode=1

; Variable Refresh Rate control
; 0 - Do not enable VRR (send no VRR control frames)
; 1 - Auto Detect VRR from display EDID.
; 2 - Force Enable Freesync
; 3 - Force Enable Vesa HDMI Forum VRR
vrr_mode=0
; Minimum framerate in VRR mode.
vrr_min_framerate=0
; Maximum framerate in VRR mode (currently only used in Freesync mode).
vrr_max_framerate=0
; VESA VRR base framerate. Normally set to the current video mode's output framerate
vrr_vesa_framerate=0

; disable autofire if for some reason it's not required and accidentally triggered
disable_autofire=0

; Specify a default video processing preset that will be applied to cores.
; Path is relative to the presets/ directory and can optionally include the .ini extension
;preset_default=General Hardware/Console - 3rdGen

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TheGMan143
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Re: Sega cores video issue - unstable, jittery video

Unread post by TheGMan143 »

Copied... I'm going to swap out what you have here for the current INI I'm running & see if it changes anything. Thanks.

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TheGMan143
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Re: Sega cores video issue - unstable, jittery video

Unread post by TheGMan143 »

Update. Thank you - That seems to have corrected the video jitter on the Sega cores - now I need to go back through the settings and see which one migt have been the culprit. It may have injected a secondary issue of some of the CD images loading and crashing, which did not happen before, but I've only tried one disc image that did it.

Anyway, the issue I posted originally is corrected - thanks much for your help.

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