7 ms·

This is a pretty old paper, but I hadn't seen the live demo. That's pretty cool. A problem with this algorithm is that it's pretty slow. It would be hard to u

This is a pretty old paper, but I hadn't seen the live demo. That's pretty cool. A problem with this algorithm is that it's pretty slow. It would be hard to use it for real time scaling. I think that it's pretty cool though for any precalculated conversion to vector format. It would also be pretty cool if there were software that allowed you to create a pixel art image with a live preview in this format and the ability to export into a vector format. One of the benefits of pixel art IMO is that it's got a pretty distinct style and its simplicity and restrictions means it's easy to be aware of composition where if you are given an unrestricted canvas that freedom can make it hard to know where to start. If you are given a 8x8 pixel grid to indicate "happy" there's only so many ways to do it, a symbolic heart, a little smiley face, etc. Given a whole sheet of paper you'll have more difficulty. With the high res displays, there's more to consider than just the upscaling of old programs, the fact is people (especially indie game devs) still want to work with pixel art, and the number of titles with the term "8-bit" in their name that have come out recently. Part of that's because it's in vogue now, but a big part of it is simply that a poor artist can make a passable 24x24 sprite. But it's still a shame that on high res displays they end up looking like a blocky mess. If you had a program that let you author your sprites under the same conditions, but let you preview an upscaled version and left you with a vector image (or high res texture with mip maps) you can make use of the fidelity while maintaining the simplicity. I think that would be cool.

ahassan 13y ago
Well SuperEagle seems even slower for me, and I know for a fact that I can emulate with SuperEagle scaling on and it works fine (>30 FPS). So I don't think their algorithm is out of the question.
lloeki 13y ago
> If you had a program that let you author your sprites under the same conditions, but let you preview an upscaled version Combine Atwood's law with a proposed law of mentioning ideas on HN being implemented shortly thereafter and there may be a HTML5+JS implementation popping up as a "Show HN" soon.
glhaynes 13y ago
A problem with this algorithm is that it's pretty slow. It would be hard to use it for real time scaling. Even if it's too slow for realtime on today's hardware, I'd love to see some prerendered sample videos.
- josh-wrale 13y ago
  Here's a video: https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/pixelart/supplementary/video_multi_comparison_4x_h264.mp4 https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/pixelart...
  - chongli 13y ago
    Am I crazy for preferring the one on the left (nearest-neighbour)? The other two really mess up certain details such as the point numbers, the stem of the fruits and pokey's eyes. They also tend to cause a very subtle distortion of the outlines of foreground sprites as they move over the background.
    - jpatokal 13y ago
      The one on the left is effectively Super Mario in its original pixelated glory, so it'll certainly look the most familiar.
    - Spittie 13y ago
      No, you aren't. I prefer nearest-neighbor too, I think it preserves the "spirit" of the game. Generally speaking, I prefer it for any kind of "pixel art". That said, those algorithms are impressive, and I can see why someone could prefer them over a simple nn.
      - derefr 13y ago
        > I think it preserves the "spirit" of the game. The art-direction of games from this era wasn't done with the intention that these games would be played on pixel-perfect computer monitors, though. The art was designed and tested for CRT TVs, which would generally give you something like http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo299/muddi900/LTTP3xNTSC.png http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo299/muddi900/LTTP3xNTSC..., or even http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Kzdww8T9fUA/TRplyGIj6PI/AAAAAAAAAtA/jylLsrv3b0I/s1600/CRT%252BNTSC-RGB.png http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Kzdww8T9fUA/TRplyGIj6PI/AAAAAAAAAt...

ahassan 13y ago

Well SuperEagle seems even slower for me, and I know for a fact that I can emulate with SuperEagle scaling on and it works fine (>30 FPS). So I don't think their algorithm is out of the question.

lloeki 13y ago

> If you had a program that let you author your sprites under the same conditions, but let you preview an upscaled version Combine Atwood's law with a proposed law of mentioning ideas on HN being implemented shortly thereafter and there may be a HTML5+JS implementation popping up as a "Show HN" soon.

glhaynes 13y ago

A problem with this algorithm is that it's pretty slow. It would be hard to use it for real time scaling. Even if it's too slow for realtime on today's hardware, I'd love to see some prerendered sample videos.

josh-wrale 13y ago
Here's a video: https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/pixelart/supplementary/video_multi_comparison_4x_h264.mp4 https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/pixelart...
- chongli 13y ago
  Am I crazy for preferring the one on the left (nearest-neighbour)? The other two really mess up certain details such as the point numbers, the stem of the fruits and pokey's eyes. They also tend to cause a very subtle distortion of the outlines of foreground sprites as they move over the background.
  - jpatokal 13y ago
    The one on the left is effectively Super Mario in its original pixelated glory, so it'll certainly look the most familiar.
  - Spittie 13y ago
    No, you aren't. I prefer nearest-neighbor too, I think it preserves the "spirit" of the game. Generally speaking, I prefer it for any kind of "pixel art". That said, those algorithms are impressive, and I can see why someone could prefer them over a simple nn.
    - derefr 13y ago
      > I think it preserves the "spirit" of the game. The art-direction of games from this era wasn't done with the intention that these games would be played on pixel-perfect computer monitors, though. The art was designed and tested for CRT TVs, which would generally give you something like http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo299/muddi900/LTTP3xNTSC.png http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo299/muddi900/LTTP3xNTSC..., or even http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Kzdww8T9fUA/TRplyGIj6PI/AAAAAAAAAtA/jylLsrv3b0I/s1600/CRT%252BNTSC-RGB.png http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Kzdww8T9fUA/TRplyGIj6PI/AAAAAAAAAt...