Emulator

Some dither effects render incorrectly in Dolphin. They appear substantially weaker in Dolphin than on console. This likely affects many games, such as Resident Evil 4, however it is easiest to demonstrate in P.N.03 and Wind Waker (dark scenes).

P.N.03 (GPNE08)

PN03-dolphin.png

PN03-console.png

This is the first section of the game after the opening FMV, without even moving the camera. As is very apparent in these images, the dither is MUCH stronger on console than in Dolphin. In fact, in Dolphin if a pixel is bright enough it seems as though the dither doesn't even apply, but on console it always is visible on the entire screen.

Wind Waker (GZLE01)

ww-dolphin.png

ww-console.png

The effect is much more subtle in Wind Waker, with dithering being almost invisible most of the time even on console. However, it is obvious here at the forest on Outset Island. Just like with PN.0.3, the dither is MUCH stronger on console than it is in Dolphin. It appears to all be there and render correctly, but it's incredibly faint.

To reproduce in P.N.03, use the included fifo, or just... boot the game and load into the first area. It's immediately apparent.

To reproduce in the Wind Waker, use the included fifo or go to the forest at Outset Island. Just be aware that time of day affects the lighting here.

Note however that some specific settings are needed to make this apparent. By default, Dolphin will blur the dithering quite substantially. Here's what I used.

• Internal Resolution: Native
• Texture Filtering: Default (Anisotropic Filtering may affect this)
• Output Resampling: Area (technically optional but makes it MUCH easier to see)
• Per-Pixel Lighting: Off
• Force 24-bit Color: Off (REQUIRED, the dither is disabled if this setting is on!)
• Disable Copy Filter: On (disabling the copy filter matches progressive output on console for P.N.03 and Wind Waker. The Copy Filter blurs the dithering heavily as well.)

My capture setup:
RVL-001 Wii with component output and progressive scan
RetroTINK 4k ("maximum authenticity", so decimation disabled, nearest neighbor and integer scaled, etc) with 4k output to HDMI
Elgato 4k X (capturing said 4k output)

Dolphin Version Tested: 2409-37
Also confirmed in 5.0. This appears to be a very old issue.

Computer Specs:
Windows 11 Pro 23H2
Intel Xeon w7-3465X @ 4.8Ghz
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 FE