=========================
               Scale2x, Scale3x, Scale4x
               =========================

Scale2x, Scale3x and Scale4x are real-time graphics effects
able to increase the size of small bitmaps guessing the
missing pixels without blurring the images.

They were originally developed for the AdvanceMAME project
in the year 2001 to improve the quality of old games running
at low video resolutions.

The specification of the algorithm and more details are at :

    http://scale2x.sourceforge.net

This package contains some implementations of the effects
in C and MMX Pentium assembler, and command line tools to
convert manually .PNG images.


1 IMPLEMENTATION
================

The files scale2x.c and scale3x.c are the fast C and MMX
implementations of the effects.

The files scalebit.c and scalebit.h are the fast C implementations
of the effects ready to be applied to a generic bitmap.
Note that the implementation of the Scale4x effect is not
obvious without using a big intermediate buffer.

The files scalerx.c is a simple command line processors,
which uses the reference implementation of the effects.

The files scalex.c is another simple command line processors,
which uses the fast implementation of the effects.


2 TOOLS
=======

The command line tools "scalerx" and "scalex" read a .PNG file
and write another .PNG file with the effect applied.
The syntax of the programs is :

    scalerx [-k N] [-w] FROM.png TO.png
    scalex [-k N] FROM.png TO.png

The option -k can be used to select the scale factor.
The option -w can be used to scale textures with a wraparound effect.

To compile the command line tool you need the libz and libpng
libraries.


3 EXAMPLES
==========

The directory example/ contains some examples of the effects applyed
to a generic image and to a test image.

The suffix of the images means :
    1 - Original image.
    2 - Scale2x effect.
    3 - Scale3x effect.
    4 - Scale4x effect.
    1x - Scaled normally 12 times.
    2x - Scale2x effect and scaled normally up to 12 times.
    3x - Scale3x effect and scaled normally up to 12 times.
    4x - Scale4x effect and scaled normally up to 12 times.

The `x' images have the same final size and can be used to compare
pixel by pixel the result of the effects.


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