Commander X16

I've wasted so much time trying to get "good" video playback on the CX16, not complaining it's been "fun"
the main issue is streaming bandwidth from the "sd-card", which is closest to real hard ware that I don't have yet

So I use the Unity Engine to process video and create the ".XAV" files
I use a compute shader to modify each frame, calculate optimal palette, diffusion and dither

*I'll just say some kind of bit plane mode would be awesome...guess too late in design for vera that would allow 32, 64, 128 colors

So this a 16 color video, each frame with a new palette calculated

Future improvements:
*palette per scene to reduce color "flashes"
*optimize decompressing
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Please try again if you viewed the old version, Updated 12/5/2023 with Palette Optimization
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Try It Now!
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Really impressive ! I'll try on real hardware and report back.

Works very well on real hardware . Well done!

Pretty impressive work. I have an idea that would probably make it look even more impressive. Rather than trying to encode full color video, pick a cartoon. Something like Tom & Jerry, The Flintstones, Maybe Wizard's or Cool World if you want something more "Adult". The resulting video will look much better because there are less colors to lose ....


Also what frame rate are you shooting for. 30 ? With a cartoon you could probably drop as low as 15 or 20 fps and it will still look good.

At 15 fps you could probably do full screen.

Also on the Cartoon Idea. The copyright on "Steamboat Willy" is about to expire soon.

ahenry3068 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 30, 2023 12:10 pm The copyright on "Steamboat Willy" is about to expire soon.

I doubt Disney's gonna let that happen.

mortarm wrote: ↑Thu Nov 30, 2023 3:29 pm

ahenry3068 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 30, 2023 12:10 pm The copyright on "Steamboat Willy" is about to expire soon.

I doubt Disney's gonna let that happen.

Right now it's actually looking like a done deal... Disney will still have Trademark on Mickey Mouse of course, but the depiction in Steamboat Willie will be Public Domain. (It isn't yet)

I really didn't spend much time on this, quick conversion

Try It Now!

I can get really good 256 color videos, just not on real hardware. whats the point if it can't run on hardware.

I do get what you mean for "cartoons", in fact my Dragons Lair port would be a good candidate.

edit: Just for fun, I may try this in 1 bit, I could 4x the resolution

badmai wrote: ↑Thu Nov 30, 2023 11:52 pm I really didn't spend much time on this, quick conversion


I can get really good 256 color videos, just not on real hardware. whats the point if it can't run on hardware.

I do get what you mean for "cartoons", in fact my Dragons Lair port would be a good candidate.

edit: Just for fun, I may try this in 1 bit, I could 4x the resolution

If you do 1 bit. Do nearest color, no dithering. I think it will look better.. Bravo.
( I think you should try that in 4 bit mode as well, at least for cartoons)

P.S. Dragon's Lair is cool, But I was really hoping for something from Wizards . "They killed Fritz, They killed Fritz "

Do these output on Composite if enabled? I think it's a 1-bit change somewhere to ensure that can happen.

(really great conversions! ty for sharing those)