Are HD CRT TVs good for Retro Gaming?
- Thread starter Marbles
- Start date
I own 2 HD Flatpanels one DLP one LED and they work fine.
But I'll keep this 32 CRT just in case.
CodeteTeam
CAG Newbie
HD CRT? Can't say I've heard of such a thing.
Richard Kain
CAGiversary!
HD CRTs are very rare. By the time that they started to become possible, flat-panel screens had already started to take over. And producing a high-definition flat-panel is cheaper and lighter than a HD CRT.
As such, there are far fewer HD CRTs available. While one of these screens would be quite good for retro gaming, they also aren't necessary. The vast majority of older systems are designed for standard-defintion, and an HD screen wouldn't really offer all that many benefits. And because of their rarity, HD CRTs tend to be much more expensive than even high-quality standard definition CRTs.
Your best bet for retro gaming on a CRT is to find a high-quality standard-definition CRT. Your absolute best bet is to find an old CRT that was designed for commercial applications, such as a television studio or video production studio. Many of those screens are being cleared out thanks to the adoption of flat-panel screens, and many of them are both exceptionally sturdy and high-quality. I have a Sony Trinitron that was used for such applications, and it has a plethora of input options. I can even use it as a SuperGun for testing arcade PCBs. (and have used it for that)
The biggest problem with CRTs is the biggness of them. The larger the screen you get, the worse the size becomes. I also have a Mitsubishi MegaView 33" presentation monitor. It is one of the biggest CRTs I've ever seen, and it weighs more than 200 lbs. It takes three grown men just to move the bloody thing. There's a solid steel plate in its base. So if you're going the CRT route, a more reasonably sized screen is usually the way to go. Even a more modern CRT is still going to be in teh 100+ lbs. range when its 30" or larger. And it is physically impossible for a CRT to be much larger than 40". At some point the weight of the glass becomes too much for the tube to sustain, so there are literal finite limits on how large a CRT can be in a gravity environment. Looking for a screen in the high teens to mid twenties would be much more reasonable.
As such, there are far fewer HD CRTs available. While one of these screens would be quite good for retro gaming, they also aren't necessary. The vast majority of older systems are designed for standard-defintion, and an HD screen wouldn't really offer all that many benefits. And because of their rarity, HD CRTs tend to be much more expensive than even high-quality standard definition CRTs.
Your best bet for retro gaming on a CRT is to find a high-quality standard-definition CRT. Your absolute best bet is to find an old CRT that was designed for commercial applications, such as a television studio or video production studio. Many of those screens are being cleared out thanks to the adoption of flat-panel screens, and many of them are both exceptionally sturdy and high-quality. I have a Sony Trinitron that was used for such applications, and it has a plethora of input options. I can even use it as a SuperGun for testing arcade PCBs. (and have used it for that)
The biggest problem with CRTs is the biggness of them. The larger the screen you get, the worse the size becomes. I also have a Mitsubishi MegaView 33" presentation monitor. It is one of the biggest CRTs I've ever seen, and it weighs more than 200 lbs. It takes three grown men just to move the bloody thing. There's a solid steel plate in its base. So if you're going the CRT route, a more reasonably sized screen is usually the way to go. Even a more modern CRT is still going to be in teh 100+ lbs. range when its 30" or larger. And it is physically impossible for a CRT to be much larger than 40". At some point the weight of the glass becomes too much for the tube to sustain, so there are literal finite limits on how large a CRT can be in a gravity environment. Looking for a screen in the high teens to mid twenties would be much more reasonable.
I'm more worried about display lag than anything else.
As I said, I found an HD CRT in storage, now it's just sitting in my dining room.
Richard Kain
CAGiversary!
Yeah, you'll be fine. If you already have an HD CRT, it's all good. Granted, you can probably only get the HD through component connections, which will limit the HD potential of the device somewhat. But retro games should look just fine on it, and should have zero input lag. The technology for CRTs is unaffected by differing resolutions. So feeding low resolutions into an HD CRT will not result in ANY lag. The CRT tech can handle different resolutions without degrading the quality of the image, or intruding input lag through scaling. You'll be A-OK, even with it being HD. It's one of the bigger advantages of CRT.
If at all possible, try to use S-Video output from your retro consoles. If you don't mind a little modding, you might also try to get some native RGB out of your consoles. There are a few older consoles that can be adapted for RGB/Component output if you know what you're doing, and this is usually one of the BEST possible ways to view and run retro systems. I believe the Genesis in particular is fairly easy to modify for RGB output. The Dreamcast is also very easy to enable maximized graphics for if your HD CRT has a VGA port.
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As I said before the necro, I finally threw my HD CRT out because of size and my Panasonic plasma performs nearly as well. All you need to get RGB from Genesis, Saturn and most SNES's are the right cables, no modifications necessary. N64 requires a fairly simple mod.
Sony BVM/PVM SD broadcast monitors will look better than any HD CRT for retro games with their RGB inputs, maybe you could get close with an RGB to YPbPr converter but who knows if the set even supports 240p over component. The only advantage for the HD CRT would be for fighting games or FPS's on last gen consoles, unfortunately the Xbone and the PS4 don't support component video.
Sony BVM/PVM SD broadcast monitors will look better than any HD CRT for retro games with their RGB inputs, maybe you could get close with an RGB to YPbPr converter but who knows if the set even supports 240p over component. The only advantage for the HD CRT would be for fighting games or FPS's on last gen consoles, unfortunately the Xbone and the PS4 don't support component video.
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Yea my main TV is a 50inch so no problems for the, as I said more worried about the retro for that television.
Thank you man!
bread's done