Retrogressive "Classic Game" Image Processing
Daniel R. Page, Neil D. B. Bruce · 2014
Image processing has been applied for aesthetic or artistic purposes to produce a range of visual eects including abstracted images, painterly renderings, and comic-book, or cartoon eects. In this paper we examine the problem of transforming standard RGB images to having an appearance reminiscent of older console games. This is achieved by way of quantization of the colour-space, accompanied by a number of complementary processing stages that optimize the spread of initial RGB values for the target palette. Specific palettes considered include the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Gameboy, Sega Master System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and TurboGrafx‐16. Methods and experimentation presented reveal that distinct strategies are required dependent on properties of source images, and target palettes. Observations driven by experimentation are provided as guidelines for quickly adapting source imagery to the appearance of a desired classic console game, and accompanying software is provided with an overview of its use case.