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[Feature Request]: Option to filter 2D images (uploads, native frames, 2D textures) with bilinear or xBR when upscaling #14947
Description
Activity
Some screenshot comparisons between my fork and PCSX2 normal behaviour:
The ask here sounds more in line with having a separate post processing shader that only affects 2D assets. The thing I disagree with here is the analysis that there are things that don't get filtering at all. While this can be true, as games themselves get to choose what does and does not receive texture filtering, the examples shown do not seem to be cases of that. Furthermore texture filtering can already be forced, by switching to the Bilinear (Forced) mode to always apply it rather than following what the game asks for.
I have suspicions about the quality of the findings here given there was AI use. But there may still be validity in the addition of a post processing shader that targets 2D assets. Would need consideration from other team members if that's reasonable to pull off, though.
The ask here sounds more in line with having a separate post processing shader that only affects 2D assets. The thing I disagree with here is the analysis that there are things that don't get filtering at all. While this can be true, as games themselves get to choose what does and does not receive texture filtering, the examples shown do not seem to be cases of that. Furthermore texture filtering can already be forced, by switching to the Bilinear (Forced) mode to always apply it rather than following what the game asks for.
I have suspicions about the quality of the findings here given there was AI use. But there may still be validity in the addition of a post processing shader that targets 2D assets. Would need consideration from other team members if that's reasonable to pull off, though.
Of course, my approach with this issue/request, was to expose the problem that currently many games had with 2D textures not being filtered in any way, using these examples (Sotc map, icons on the map, & weapons, dragon quest VIII intro splashes and characters images at the menu, etc) I choosed that examples because even having bilinear forced always enabled by default they're not being currently filtered at least on my side. (But there are many others)
Regarding the code itself, it was done with AI help as said. That's the reason to avoid opening a PR because PCSX2 contribution guidelines are against that. But I wanted to find a way to fix this by myself, and show how the xbr filter is also a good option already present in many emulators when it's used only for 2D textures.
In any case, I'm open to modify anything, or close the issue if the devs are offended by this, (It wasn't my intention though)
Description
When running games above native resolution, a lot of 2D stuff in PCSX2 still comes out as blocks of replicated pixels: FMVs, pre-rendered backgrounds, HUD icons, menus, anything the game draws as flat sprites. I've been digging into why, and it comes down to three separate paths in the hardware renderer, none of which gets any filtering by default:
What I'd like is a single option in Graphics > Rendering, "Filter 2D Images", with three values: Off (default, exactly today's behaviour), Bilinear and xBR. It should work on its own, not tied to the Bilinear Dirty Upscale hack, and it should only touch 2D:
I have all of this working in a branch of my fork, as a single commit on top of current master: https://github.com/Forgottenshadow89/pcsx2/tree/filter2d . There's a FILTER2D_NOTES.md in there that explains every file that's touched and why. The shader is Hyllian's xBR (MIT), added as a new ShaderConvert entry for D3D11/12, OpenGL, Vulkan and Metal; it needs no constant buffer because it derives the scale from the texture coordinate derivatives.
About why this is an issue and not a PR: I'm not a PCSX2 contributor and the code in that branch was written with the help of an AI assistant (Claude Fable 5.1), with me directing it and testing everything on real games and GS dumps. Your contribution guidelines don't allow that for new contributors, so I'm not going to submit it as a PR. I'm leaving it here in case the idea itself is useful to the team; anyone is welcome to take the branch, rewrite it properly or just use it as a reference for where the problem is.
Reason
Right now the only way to get smooth 2D at high internal resolutions is Bilinear (Forced) plus the Bilinear Dirty Upscale hack behind manual hardware fixes, and even then FMVs drawn as sprites and HUDs in native scaling games stay blocky, while 3D gets blurred too. Other emulators (Vba-M, PPSSPP, Flycast, Project64, SNES9x, etc) offer this kind of 2D filtering as a normal option and it makes a big difference in games with pre-rendered backgrounds, videos and pixel art HUDs, without any accuracy cost when it's off.
Concretely, in my testing: Dragon Quest VIII's intro video (uploaded as 16x16 macroblocks and drawn as a 1:1 sprite) goes from hard 6x blocks to clean edges, Shadow of the Colossus' HUD icons get smooth outlines while the 3D stays pixel identical between Off and xBR, and games that stream pre-rendered backgrounds into the framebuffer stop looking like they're running at native resolution.
Examples
DuckStation's "Texture Filtering" and "Sprite Texture Filtering" options (xBR, JINC2 and so on, applied to 2D/sprites separately from 3D), and PPSSPP's texture upscaling (xBRZ 2x-5x) are the closest equivalents. My fork branch above is a working implementation for PCSX2 itself.