Search found 415 matches

by 4thRock
Fri Feb 02, 2024 4:54 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Why yellow?
Replies: 26
Views: 1428

Re: Why yellow?

Yellow is a colour with a high Luminance (close to white) and low Chroma difference so it encodes well in PAL. Cyan is also good in this regard. Other colors create more artifacts and lower resolution, as most of the information is on Chroma (colour difference) signals (red and blue being worse). An...
by 4thRock
Tue Jan 02, 2024 4:27 pm
Forum: Design/Ideas
Topic: Mickey Mouse goes public domain, but not quite
Replies: 7
Views: 648

Re: Mickey Mouse goes public domain, but not quite

Some low-effort conversions to Spectrum screens:

Monochrome with Bright variations
Steamboat_Willie_8x8_mono.png
Steamboat_Willie_8x8_mono.png (7.71 KiB) Viewed 474 times
Colours to simulate gray tones
Steamboat_Willie_8x8.png
Steamboat_Willie_8x8.png (8.4 KiB) Viewed 472 times
Colours to simulate gray tones (8x1 Timex attributes)
Steamboat_Willie_8x1.png
Steamboat_Willie_8x1.png (9.33 KiB) Viewed 474 times
:D
by 4thRock
Thu Nov 23, 2023 5:53 pm
Forum: Website
Topic: ZXDB Update 23/11/23
Replies: 7
Views: 575

Re: ZXDB Update 23/11/23

No worries and thanks !
by 4thRock
Wed Nov 22, 2023 5:39 pm
Forum: Other Retro Stuff
Topic: RetroTINK recreates the beauty of CRT displays for serious and seriously deep-pocketed retrogamers
Replies: 14
Views: 426

Re: RetroTINK recreates the beauty of CRT displays for serious and seriously deep-pocketed retrogamers

On a CRT TV scanlines were quite large, with a small gap between them, like this: █████████████ █████████████ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░ █████████████ █████████████ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░ █████████████ █████████████ (In the case of interlace there would be some overlap between scanlines of each field, and the next field ...
by 4thRock
Wed Nov 22, 2023 3:49 pm
Forum: Other Retro Stuff
Topic: RetroTINK recreates the beauty of CRT displays for serious and seriously deep-pocketed retrogamers
Replies: 14
Views: 426

Re: RetroTINK recreates the beauty of CRT displays for serious and seriously deep-pocketed retrogamers

For CRT filters to work you need a 4K display. I tried it with MAME and it works perfectly.
Makes sense, because with 4K you have high enough pixel density to actually simulate the colour mask and scanlines of a CRT.
by 4thRock
Wed Nov 22, 2023 9:37 am
Forum: Website
Topic: ZXDB Update 23/11/23
Replies: 7
Views: 575

Re: ZXDB Update 23/11/23

As mentioned, I provided border colour for these titles: - BATS'922 (Mecosoft (Romania))(1992) (uploaded files) by @4thRock - BATS'921 (Mecosoft (Romania))(1992) (uploaded files) by @4thRock - String Art (Shiva Publishing Ltd (UK) - type-in from book "Games to Play on Your ZX Spectrum")(19...
by 4thRock
Tue Oct 24, 2023 9:21 am
Forum: Programming
Topic: giga screen scroll with an headache
Replies: 10
Views: 392

Re: giga screen scroll with an headache

C.Born wrote: Tue Oct 24, 2023 1:29 am do you now where i can find that parrot ??
The original parrot is this one:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... 750pix.jpg
by 4thRock
Wed Sep 20, 2023 3:02 pm
Forum: ZXDB Fixes
Topic: Broken screens!
Replies: 2
Views: 121

Re: Broken screens!

Yes, also checked and they are PNGs:
Image
Image
Image
by 4thRock
Wed Sep 13, 2023 9:28 am
Forum: Design/Ideas
Topic: The Map Keeper
Replies: 29
Views: 1187

Re: The Map Keeper

A very simple colour scheme might work:
Image
;)
by 4thRock
Fri Sep 01, 2023 10:38 am
Forum: Website
Topic: ZXDB Update 29/08/2023
Replies: 8
Views: 347

Re: ZXDB Update 29/08/2023

PeterJ wrote: Wed Aug 30, 2023 6:04 pm Thanks to @ionut76 for the 3 bats games, and the 2 jackpot games....
Added border colour for some of these titles using the preservation tools ;)
by 4thRock
Wed Jun 28, 2023 9:34 am
Forum: Website
Topic: ZXDB Update 26 June 2023
Replies: 8
Views: 478

Re: ZXDB Update 26 June 2023

A lot of small improvements are part of these updates but tend to go a bit unnoticed. I've added border colour information to a lot screenshots. It doesn't take much time and it really makes a difference on listings. Just mentioning this because there are lots of ways to participate, besides adding ...
by 4thRock
Mon Jun 19, 2023 12:45 pm
Forum: Music
Topic: An audio (and #AUDIO) question
Replies: 26
Views: 661

Re: An audio (and #AUDIO) question

Perhaps a dumb approach, like simply counting + and - pulses during fixed amounts of time would do. Just guessing really :D
by 4thRock
Mon Jun 19, 2023 10:32 am
Forum: Music
Topic: An audio (and #AUDIO) question
Replies: 26
Views: 661

Re: An audio (and #AUDIO) question

I'd say it needs a much higher sample rate to fully capture whatever pulse modulation the sound engine is using.
After that, eventually apply a low pass filter to simulate the dampening characteristics of a physical speaker.
by 4thRock
Wed Jun 14, 2023 9:19 am
Forum: Hardware
Topic: Looking for opinions on video...
Replies: 10
Views: 469

Re: Looking for opinions on video...

I think it's important that the graphics retain a certain "Spectrum feel". In my opinion, the only enhancements that still look Spectrum are ULAPlus, 8x1 attributes, and 256x192x16 (ex: ATM / Pentagon no attributes). I think the ULAPlus/ULAPlus HAM modes are interesting because they are de...
by 4thRock
Fri May 05, 2023 12:54 pm
Forum: Website
Topic: Broken screenshots
Replies: 197
Views: 6073

Re: Broken screenshots

PSSST fixed.
(Alien 8 and Sabre Wulf also reverted to the original gifs. Will be fixed by updated screens as mentioned in the previous posts)
by 4thRock
Wed May 03, 2023 3:51 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: ZX Spectrum with 16 colors
Replies: 20
Views: 1196

Re: ZX Spectrum with 16 colors

(can't edit my last post, so let me add this here) Original colour test chart: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/RGB_24bits_palette_color_test_chart.png Test chart under 4-bit RGBI (Red, Green, Blue, Intensity) 16-colour hardware palettes (no dithering): A - most basic implementat...
by 4thRock
Wed May 03, 2023 11:23 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: ZX Spectrum with 16 colors
Replies: 20
Views: 1196

Re: ZX Spectrum with 16 colors

The Spectrum used a 4-bit RGBI (Red, Green, Blue, Intensity) hardware palette. There are 3 ways of displaying it, with increasing hardware complexity: A - most basic implementation) Intensity changes brightness , like on the Spectrum. Another simple possibility is to change saturation . The Thomson ...
by 4thRock
Thu Apr 13, 2023 6:23 pm
Forum: Music
Topic: Is there a list of games containing sound samples?
Replies: 77
Views: 2150

Re: Is there a list of games containing sound samples?

International Karate has nice speech: "Full point red", "half point red", "begin", etc.
by 4thRock
Tue Mar 07, 2023 11:15 am
Forum: ZXDB Fixes
Topic: Little bugs in the database 5
Replies: 755
Views: 22857

Re: Little bugs in the database 5

Another possibility, perhaps simpler, would be to use the existing "Remarks" field. "Remarks" can already point to hardware, for example the Kempston Mouse: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/14620/ZX-Spectrum/Kempston_Mouse_Interface_Driver We have hardware entries for most (...
by 4thRock
Tue Mar 07, 2023 9:16 am
Forum: ZXDB Fixes
Topic: Little bugs in the database 5
Replies: 755
Views: 22857

Re: Little bugs in the database 5

Einar you are right, we can't have 42 ZX81 machine types :D On the other hand, I think we should (somehow) record the required hardware, as indicated on the software inlay, instructions, etc. Perhaps we could have an optional machine variation field? It could cover both memory variations and/or spec...
by 4thRock
Mon Mar 06, 2023 11:30 am
Forum: ZXDB Fixes
Topic: Little bugs in the database 5
Replies: 755
Views: 22857

Re: Little bugs in the database 5

Seems to be another similar one here @4thRock: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/38773/ZX81/Planeta_da_Morte The TS1000 was supposed to be very close to the ZX81 (100 or 99.9% compatible). But in these cases instructions clearly indicate TS 1000 & TS 1500, so we might add those machine type...
by 4thRock
Fri Mar 03, 2023 9:24 am
Forum: ZXDB Fixes
Topic: Little bugs in the database 5
Replies: 755
Views: 22857

Re: Little bugs in the database 5

Another one too. It's marked as ZX81, but has a colour screen: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/38705/ZX81/Desenho_I I'm not familiar with the Timex models, but does there need to a new machine type of Timex 1000? Peter, the inlay and instructions for "Desenho I" (translates to Drawi...
by 4thRock
Fri Dec 16, 2022 8:22 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Game art copied from elsewhere
Replies: 412
Views: 73067

Re: Game art copied from elsewhere

Here's a 30 minute conversion of the Arcade image, with minor retouching:
Image

Looks much better than the original I think! :D
Sure, modern tools help a lot, but there's no reason for bad looking Spectrum graphics.
by 4thRock
Sat Dec 03, 2022 6:50 pm
Forum: Website
Topic: Broken screenshots
Replies: 197
Views: 6073

Re: Broken screenshots

ATF and Sleepwalker fixed.
by 4thRock
Thu Nov 24, 2022 10:51 am
Forum: Website
Topic: Broken screenshots
Replies: 197
Views: 6073

Re: Broken screenshots

Sorry for the delay ;)

MAX Desktop, Paperboy2 and Spaced Out fixed.
(the GIF for MAX Desktop is now displayed, but it has the bottom line missing.)