Screen Filters & Shaders

Visual filters and shader effects for retro games — CRT, LCD, VHS, Game Boy, and more

Provenance includes built-in Metal screen filters that let you enhance or authentically reproduce the look of retro games. From CRT scanlines to LCD grids to VHS tape effects, these filters transform how games are displayed.

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Overview

Provenance supports multiple types of visual filters:

Type	Technology	Availability
Built-in filters	Custom Metal shaders	All cores
RetroArch shaders	Core-specific shader support	RetroArch-based cores
PPSSPP filters	Built-in to PPSSPP core	PSP games
Auto mode	Automatic filter selection by screen type	All cores

Coming soon: Slang shader support (ported from RetroArch) is in active development, bringing hundreds of additional shader presets with a custom SwiftUI parameter preview and editing UI. Shaders are pre-converted to Metal for maximum performance.

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How to Apply Filters

Global Filter Setting

Apply a filter to all games:

1. Open Provenance → Settings

2. Scroll to Video / Display

3. Select Screen Filter

4. Choose a filter from the list

5. The filter applies to all games immediately

Per-Game Filter

Apply a filter to a specific game only:

1. Long-press a game in your library

2. Select Game Settings

3. Under Video, select Screen Filter

4. Choose a filter — this overrides the global setting for this game only

Auto Mode

Provenance can automatically select the appropriate filter based on the emulated system's screen type:

Screen Type	Auto Filter	Example Systems
CRT	Simple CRT or Complex CRT	NES, SNES, Genesis, PS1, N64
Color/Mono LCD	LCD	GBA, Game Gear, Lynx, PSP
Dot Matrix	Game Boy	Game Boy, GBC
Modern/Unknown	None	—

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Available Filters

CRT Filters

Recreate the look of playing on a classic CRT television:

Filter	Description	Configurable Parameters
Simple CRT	Lightweight CRT simulation — great balance of look and performance	Curvature, vignette, brightness, zoom
Complex CRT	Full-featured CRT with bloom, shadow mask, and TV line density	Bloom, scanlines, shadow mask, warp/curvature, gamma, TV line density
Mega Tron	CRT with mask intensity, scanline thinness, and Trinitron curve	Mask intensity, scanline thinness, scan blur, curvature, corner rounding
ulTron	CRT with hard scan/pixel effects and shadow mask	Hard scan, hard pixel, warp, shadow mask (dark/light), bright boost, bloom

Best for: Console games (NES, SNES, Genesis, PS1, N64) — these were designed for CRT displays and look most authentic with CRT filters.

LCD Filter

Simulate handheld LCD screens:

Filter	Description	Configurable Parameters
LCD	Pixel grid simulation with ghosting and scanline effects	Grid density, grid brightness, contrast, saturation, ghosting, scanline depth, bloom

Best for: Handheld games (GBA, Game Gear, Lynx, PSP) — recreates the original handheld LCD experience.

Specialty Filters

Filter	Description	Configurable Parameters
Game Boy	Dot-matrix LCD with classic 4-color green palette	Ghosting, contrast, scanline depth. Palette auto-adjusts based on screen type (dot matrix vs monochromatic LCD)
VHS	Animated VHS tape effect with noise and tracking artifacts	Noise, scanline jitter, color bleed, tracking noise, tape wobble, ghosting, vignette

Game Boy is great for authentic DMG Game Boy aesthetics. VHS adds a fun retro TV recording look — the effect is animated with time-based noise and wobble.

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RetroArch Core Shaders

Games running on RetroArch-based cores can access additional shader options through the RetroArch settings interface:

1. Launch a game using a RetroArch core

2. Open the pause menu

3. Navigate to RetroArch Settings → Shaders

4. Browse and apply shader presets

RetroArch shaders offer more advanced effects including:

• Multi-pass shader chains

• Color correction and palette adjustments

• Phosphor glow effects

• Composite video simulation

• Integer scaling

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Performance Impact

Filter	Performance Impact	Notes
None (Nearest Neighbor)	None	Default, no processing
Simple CRT	Low	Lightweight — good for older devices
LCD	Low	Grid overlay + ghosting
Game Boy	Low	Palette swap + dot matrix
Complex CRT	Low-Medium	Bloom + shadow mask + multiple effects
Mega Tron / ulTron	Low-Medium	Multiple CRT effects
VHS	Medium	Animated — time-based noise and wobble
RetroArch multi-pass	Medium-High	Depends on shader complexity

All built-in Metal filters are highly optimized and have minimal performance impact on modern devices. RetroArch multi-pass shaders may reduce performance on older devices.

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Tips

• Match the filter to the system — CRT for console games, LCD for handhelds, Game Boy for DMG games, or use Auto mode

• Try before committing — Change filters mid-game from the pause menu to compare

• Auto mode is smart — It picks CRT, LCD, or Game Boy filter based on the system's original screen type

• Disable on slower devices — If you're getting frame drops on older hardware, use Simple CRT or disable filters

• Per-game is powerful — Set Complex CRT for your SNES games but Game Boy filter for GB, without changing anything globally

• VHS for fun — The animated VHS effect is great for screenshots and streams

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Troubleshooting

Filters not appearing in settings

Make sure you're on the latest version of Provenance. Filter options are in Settings → Video / Display. If using a RetroArch core, additional shaders are in the RetroArch settings interface (accessible from the pause menu).

Game runs slowly with filters enabled

Try simpler filters (Simple CRT, LCD) or disable filters entirely. The VHS filter and RetroArch multi-pass shaders are the most demanding. Built-in Metal filters have minimal overhead on iPhone 11+ and Apple TV 4K.

Filter looks different in portrait vs landscape

Some filters (like CRT scanlines) are orientation-dependent. The filter adjusts to the screen orientation automatically — horizontal scanlines in landscape, which matches real CRT behavior.

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Need help? Ask on Discord.