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WinSTon can use a Window or full-screen display using DirectX. There are a number of different display modes available which vary in performance and quality. It is suggested that low-spec machines use a low colour and low resolution display. You can also grab copies of the screen display, or even record animations from the emulator. Lastly, you can select what type of ST monitor is connected. As with a real machine you can only select the hi-resolution desktop when using a Monochrome monitor. |
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Users can select to enter full screen mode by selecting this option, or selecting it on the Configure page. You can also use the short-cut key F11. |
You can select from a number of different DirectX full-screen display modes using this drop down list. The modes range from the fastest, which is low resolution and just 16 colours up to the slowest which uses a higher
resolution and more colours. You will need to select a hi-colour display mode if you wish to see all the colour effects used in most games. By selecting a hi-resolution mode this will prevent the PC monitor from having to change
video mode between ST low and medium resolutions. NOTE - not all video modes may be present on your machine. WinSTon will pick the most suited display mode it can to best show the current ST mode. |
You can save off a copy of the screen by either choosing the Capture Screen button or by pressing the Print Screen Key on your keyboard while the emulator is running in a Window. These images are saved off in the directory where you installed WinSTon using the PCX file format which can be loaded into most graphics programs. |
You can also tell WinSTon to repeatedly capture the screen and save it as PCX graphics files. To start the process simply click on the Record Animation button and similarly to stop the animation click on Stop.
Screen capture is only possible while running the emulator in a Windowed display and switching to full-screen will automatically stop the recording. NOTE - Screen capture files can use a lot of hard-drive space, even when compressed. |
When recording screen animations you can specify to only grab the screen if it changes or to save off a set number of frames per second. To grab every display frame set the 'Frames Per Second' rate to 50. To store a single frame every second simply enter the value of 1. |
On a real ST you could only select desktop resolutions according to which type of monitor or TV you had connected to the machine. The same applies with the emulator, except this is a 'virtual' monitor. If you have selected a colour monitor you will only be able to select the ST Low and Medium resolutions from the desktop. By selecting the Mono setting in this dialog you will only be able to use the ST Hi-Resolution desktop. |
You can select a number of advanced screen options to improve performance or change the view of the screen. |
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When running in a Window WinSTon will use a smaller display for ST Low resolution and switch to a larger Window for Medium resolution. In some cases this can be confusing. By selecting this option WinSTon
will use the same size Window for both resolutions. NOTE - The performance of this setting is directly linked to the scaling performance of your graphics card. If you machine does not support fast scaling this mode will be very slow. |
The ST has a border surrounding the display and under normal use is not used. Some games and disc menus make use of this border. To view the whole screen you will need to enable this option. You may notice that when running the emulator in full-screen, with this option enabled, it will not fill the whole display as it uses a mode which can allow for these overscanned areas. To gain a full screen display you can disable this option and gain a small performance advantage. |
When using a Hi-Resolution DirectX display mode WinSTon will have to scale the display to fill the screen. This can take a lot of processing time. To improve performance and give the screen a more TV-like display you can enable this option. When running in a Window this settings this will have no effect. |
Some scrolling screens may appear 'jerky' when run, even on fast machines. This is due to the difference in refresh rates of the PC monitor and a real ST display. The ST usually updated the display 50 times per second. Modern PC monitors work on a figure of around 70
updates per second to reduce flicker. To smooth out the display the emulator can be timed to the refresh rate of the PC monitor. Only certain graphics cards and resolutions will allow a screen to be locked in this way. If the screen is still 'jerky' then your monitor
does not support this feature/or your machine may not be able to achieve the higher frame rate needed. NOTE - As the speed of the emulator is increased to lock to the monitor refresh rate all other aspects of WinSTon will also increase, including sound playback and input. |