Pixel Perfect Camera Native Resolution Mistake :'(

[lyric pasture]

I'm making a 2D Pixel Art game, with a 32PPU reference and 320x240 Pixel Perfect Camera Resolution

The thing is, I realized too late that 320x180 was a better resolution to fit most resolution (720p, 1080p, 1440p, 2160p)

BUT, when I set to 320x180 resolution, the camera is too close to the character, so I tried 480x270 (x 1.5) and it looks perfect but it doesn't fit with most common resolution...

So I wanted to know if someone encountered a similar problem ? And how it was managed, thanks 🙂

[zinc sky]

What do you mean 480x270 doesn't "fit"?
It's 1/4 of fullHD exactly

[lyric pasture]

Yes it's good for 1080p but it doesn't work for other common resolution

it works with FullHD & 4K but it doesn't work with 720p and 1440p

[zinc sky]

Does it need to work with 720p?

I can't recall the last time I saw that resolution in real life

[lyric pasture]

Yes for nintendo switch port

steamdeck also use resolution close to that, 1280x800

[zinc sky]

With resolutions this different, you cannot figure out any reference resolution that works for all of them, and no one camera size that all of them can use without cropping or stretching

[lyric pasture]

I can do a specific build for steamdeck that's not a problem, I was answering your question about 720p not being used anymore

[zinc sky]

Yes, but I believe you'll have to swap the reference resolution depending on display resolution for the other choices too

[lyric pasture]

Not if I use 320x180 which will cover a majority, that's why I created this topic in the first place

[zinc sky]

And because you want to standardize the camera size, you don't want to use it

Camera size is determined by the relationship of PPU and reference resolution
But you can't change PPU without remaking all the art assets for another PPU

[lyric pasture]

that's the problem yes

because if i can change the PPU, everything is solved, but i can't now

[zinc sky]

And the solution is that you have a custom reference resolution for each display

Or force it with cropping or stretching

If you don't crop or stretch, you have to find reference resolutions that are as close as possible to the desired camera size, per display

[lyric pasture]

so in the settings of the game, when i change the screen size resolution i also change the pixel perfect resolution camera, that's what you're suggesting right ?

[zinc sky]

Yes

[lyric pasture]

hmm that might be a workaround indeed

[zinc sky]

If there's other ways I'm not sure what they would be

[lyric pasture]

but i feel like it's a "dirty" way to do it

and it's my fault to not having set the right reference resolution and PPU right from the start

maybe i can do something with cinemachine and the pixel perfect extension

[zinc sky]

If you try to get the same pixel ratio and same camera size on both 1280x720 and 1280x800 displays I'm afraid there's no perfectly elegant way about it
Either steam deck will see more vertically or less horizontally compared to switch

Not even a "right" reference resolution or PPU can make it so it works when they have totally different aspect ratios

[lyric pasture]

well i'm just targeting 16:9 ratio

and 320x180 fits all 16:9 mostly used resolutions

[zinc sky]

Not targeting steam deck then?

[lyric pasture]

for example, if I had set from the start 48PPU and 320x180, it would have been perfect

[lyric pasture]

yes, but since it is a weird resolution i'm making it a separate case

it's the 720p switch port that is bothering me most

[zinc sky]

I guess it's possible, but the more you look for one-size-fits-all settings, the more it puts limits on your PPU and camera sizes
As they will have to be determined by the display device, not by artistic intent

Ultimately you've got your sprite art as it is, and then you decide how you want it to appear on each display in terms of pixel ratio and camera size, and then find the best reference resolution to that end

[lyric pasture]

Something i didn't thinked about when starting... fuck me

[zinc sky]

Maybe a reference resolution that mathematically works on switch's tiny screen and a huge 4K monitor is not good to look at if shrunk so small or blown up so big

[lyric pasture]

Also why i'm obsessed with 16:9 and the 320x180 resolution => i don't need to rework my canvas, since with a canvas scaler it will automatically fit

[zinc sky]

Terraria intentionally reduced the camera space on its mobile ports because the pixels would be too small otherwise

[lyric pasture]

Well in my case, be it 720p or 4k, the sprite size doesn't change, it's just less hd

and also the UI of course

[zinc sky]

Usually you want the UI scale to change depending on resolution and physical size of the screen

Or at least have the option to

[lyric pasture]

Isn't that what the canvas scaler component do ?

[zinc sky]

It can make the UI scale not change relative to either display resolution, pixel size or physical size

So it's useful if you want the UI to always adapt to any resolution automatically
But it also can be used to allow scaling the UI elements up or down separately from display resolution

[lyric pasture]

Alright I see

[zinc sky]

A UI scale that looks okay on a FullHD monitor is often too darn small on a mobile device screen

[lyric pasture]

so it can be a problem for switch or steamdeck

[zinc sky]

Or too big on a 4K screen
But because 4K screens have greatly varying physical sizes and their users have varying preferences, not being locked into just one UI scale is helpful

[lyric pasture]

I'll try to change both screen size resolution & pixel perfect camera reference resolution for the different resolution and if it works we can consider this topic solved

[zinc sky]

UI scaling is also an accessibility aspect as some people may have problems with eyesight and either seeing the UI clearly, or seeing the gameplay form behind the UI in some cases

A bit of a tangent but something to keep in mind in the future
UI scaling gets way harder if you have to keep that pixel perfect too, though

[zinc sky]

[lyric pasture]

Yeah i thought i could escape all that work with canvas scaler but i guess i not in the end

[zinc sky]

(And that's before getting into fonts)

[lyric pasture]

lol that's why i didn't used pixel perfect font but a classic one instead

[lyric pasture]

It's not working unfortunately which confirm my fears 😨

also tested with cinemachine, same results

[zinc sky]

What are you doing exactly?

[lyric pasture]

Changing the pixel perfect camera reference resolution and the screen size resolution to try to found a good combination of both

[zinc sky]

Changing reference resolution from Inspector, and display resolution from Game window, or changing both from scripts?

How are you testing whether it's working or not?

[lyric pasture]

I try first in the inspector then i do a build to change it in game via script

[zinc sky]

So what part didn't work
You couldn't change reference resolution, or display resolution, or couldn't find a matching combination?

[lyric pasture]

couldn't find a matching combination for HD & WXGA, it's either too close or too far

[zinc sky]

So how do you determine if it's good or not

[lyric pasture]

let me show you

So, this is the result by default when moving to 720P

and it can only move to either this :

(too close)

or this :

[zinc sky]

Helpful if the screenshots included the resolution dropdown to show exactly which they are

[zinc sky]

All these are with 1280x720 specifically?

[lyric pasture]

yeah

i can't get exactly what i want to show on screen, it's either too close or too far

[zinc sky]

What's the ideal?

[lyric pasture]

what i have in 1080p, this :

[zinc sky]

With 480x270 ref I assume?

[lyric pasture]

yes

[zinc sky]

With 1280x720 I think your best camera size match is 426x240 ref with 3:1 pixel ratio
It's not actually a resolution divisible by three so it may be a bit of a fluke that it seems to work

[lyric pasture]

let me try that

[zinc sky]

Camera is only a smidge smaller, which may work in the smaller display's favor

[lyric pasture]

it's the same result as that with 426x240

[zinc sky]

What pixel ratio is it reporting?

[lyric pasture]

3:1

but nevermind i guess i'll abandon 720p for now, or just accept the idea that it will be a little too close and move on

[zinc sky]

If you're not using Stretch Fill, regardless of camera size your rendered pixels have to map to an integer number of display pixels*

So one sprite pixel = 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on in display pixels

[lyric pasture]

Yeah Stretch Fill is doing the job for that when i tried but the render is lame 🙁

[zinc sky]

Also note that if your Grid Snapping is set to None, your sprites aren't made pixel perfect and the component isn't doing anything except resizing the camera

[lyric pasture]

It is set to None because i'm trying with cinemachine now, if i activate it it causes heavy jitter

but without the cinemachine camera i always had it activated

[zinc sky]

It only really works on high resolution displays, or if the pixel ratio is otherwise high
Say, >5 display pixels to one sprite pixel means the blurring from stretch is proportionally low

[zinc sky]

There's a few different reasons why that might happen, but most commonly it occurs because cinemachine smoothly damps camera movement by default, and whenever you have smooth minute movements it will cause jitter when sprites have to be snapped to pixels

(Could also be an execution order issue, if CM's camera movement is one frame ahead or behind the pixel snap)

Either way you aren't really getting any "pixel perfectness" if you don't have snapping or upscaling

[lyric pasture]

Yeah i guess i'll remove cinemachine since it's causing more harm than anything right now, didn't have all this problems before putting it

[lyric pasture]

Are you sure about this one ? because it does make the pixel better
Here without the component :

With the component :

[zinc sky]

That's an effect of resizing the camera

[lyric pasture]

Alright so it's doing something at least

[zinc sky]

If the camera is exactly of size relative to your chosen PPU and display resolution so that the pixels map 1:1 without having to squash or stretch the sprites, issues related to that disappear

But you could do the same by setting the camera size manually without pixel perfect component at all

[lyric pasture]

That's what i was wondering yeah

but the component also help to don't have the famous bug of "empty space" between tiles while moving

[zinc sky]

The practical effect is that without snapping your assets' pixel grid won't be enforced

[lyric pasture]

I don't understand why the pixel snapping or upscale texture option cause jitter, all my physics movement are handled in a fixedUpdate with fixedDeltaTime, i even play with the Update Method of the cinemachine brain but nothing is working

i'm just having better result overall without these option activated with a cinemachine camera

[zinc sky]

Does your CM camera have damping or other type of smooth motion?

[lyric pasture]

yes it has the basic follow player attached to it

and the player has Interpolate activated on the rigidbody

[zinc sky]

Damping 1, 1, 1 means it's rather heavily smoothed
That cannot work well with pixel snapped graphics

[lyric pasture]

alright i'll try playing with this value

[zinc sky]

0 is the only right value
Even old genuinely pixel perfect games with no possibility of sub-pixel camera or sprite positions to snap from suffered from jitter with smooth motion

Unless the snapping and motion are both timed precisely

But that's beyond the scope of what the pixel perfect component does

[lyric pasture]

Well if i set to 0 i lose the smooth effect and so i have no need for a cinemachine camera

and i'm still having the jitter when i activate one of the pixel snapping option

[zinc sky]

Smooth motion and pixel perfect graphics aren't well compatible, so you have to prioritize one of them

[lyric pasture]

I see

[zinc sky]

There are possibly some third party pixel perfect assets that snap and sprites on a render texture and then allow the camera to move relative to it
So best of both worlds basically

But last time I checked there were very few if any available, and I don't know if there's unique drawbacks to the technique

But it's possible

[lyric pasture]

Didn't know it was that complicated to achieve that in a 2D side scrolling game

[zinc sky]

Unity is a 3D engine, renders sprites as 3D meshes and basically builds everything around that
The 2D features haven't gotten equal development, and what they did get is more focused on the strengths of mesh based sprite rendering