Retro Gaming TV's: What about DLP, LCoS, Plasma.... ect?

[Niku-Sama]

So I see a lot of posts about "whats the best retro gaming tv" or "display" and in all honesty I know its going to be CRT with the cream of the crop being BVM and PVM monitors, and that's all fine and dandy for smaller TV's and, unless if you get lucky, often times a CRT TV doesn't look too hot. Plus a BVM or PVM is going to cost you ALOT. I got lucky and grabbed my PVM for $15 and its about 20 inches. Not every one is going to be so lucky and I understand the resistance to plopping down $300+ US cash monies for a possibly abused 15+ year old TV with unknown hours used on it that may be on its way out any way. I know I wouldn't. I'd rather spend $300+ on adding more to my collection over a 20" or so older TV, like maybe a decent upright to start on arcade stuff.

but I don't see any one ever ask about other technologies that are not only available in large format (as big as 90 some inches) and may be defunct or on their way out but are either cheaper, newer or even possibly, free.

so heres what I am wondering about, i'm going to link to Wikipedia pages for each technology incase its something you haven't herd of, like LCoS was unknown to me last night...

DLP
LCoS
Plasma
CRT Projection
LCD Projection
3LCD Projection
Video Projector(General Office Use Type)
OLED

Some of this stuff I am sure you thinking "woah that's some hella old crap" well yea, it is, BUT its larger format and its a heck of a lot cheaper, or free. I know bigger isn't always better but if your going to have a bar or some sort of exhibition or competition you're going to want to provide a decent video to the audience or maybe even just for ambiance, and some of us just want a huge ass screen to envelope us and lull us into a cold video game induced coma every night.
That being said I have little to no experience with any of these display technologies but I have herd tidbits about some of them from around the net!

Plasma supposedly deals with image processing more like a CRT and has a chance to produce even less lag if it process a direct image from the system to the screen(i.e. 240p->240P) instead of trying to upscale it to something "usable"
DLP I have herd was good for unknown reason, just good that's all, but black levels are "bad"
LCD projection suffers much of the same issue as LCD TV's within reason. there's generally no tuner or scaling on older ones and can work with less lag as long as it sees lower resolutions as a usable signal

that's what I have heard but I'd like to get some experience from people who have actually used this stuff. Most of these technologies are pretty cheap with the exception of OLED, that's new but it could be a saving grace in the future. there aren't many OLED displays out there but if some ones got ahold of a new production monitor or hacked a Samsung galaxy 3 and up display to accept a video signal I'd like to hear about it still

We all know most modern LCDs suck but some times bigger would be nicer. And yes I said most because not all LCDs have horrible lag, I'm sure we all know the majority of the lag on an LCD comes from its internal need to upscale on a modern TV even if its something we don't want. There are game modes to help but some times, like in my case on my 47" "smart" TV, it makes it much much worse. Some older LCDs will take a straight signal, do no upscaling and display the image with minimal lag, not perfect but a heck of a lot better than newer TVs which is why I am struggling to repair my original Vizio (VX32L) the one you could only buy at Costco for the longest time.

SO!

what other kinds of TVs have you guys used in the past or are currently using and how was your experience with that set and what technology did it employ?

[WCP]

I mostly use a Sony PVM-20M2MDU monitor. It's basically 20 inches. But I have it at the ideal eye level and sit pretty close to it, so it works great. Screen size is pretty meaningless when you want to sit close.


At one point, I was thinking about dedicating a plasma to retrogaming and basically making a case for it, so that I would only see the 4:3 section of the screen and not see anything else. Even though it would be plasma, I wouldn't care about the burn in, cause I'm dedicating it to retrogaming use, and that would be it's only purpose. I never did get around to doing that though. If I was a powerball winner, I'd do it with a large OLED display

[Niku-Sama]

Like i say i have one to but I'm still curious about these others. I put in an offer on a dlp projector on eBay, sounds like it needs a bulb but it will be cheap and i have an idea for a bulb replacement using a high output led.
Not any thing new but not well documented

[Tanooki]

Without reading into all that too much I'd think if you want size versus the bare bones needed to run an old system without issues, probably the old rca jack office projector would be ideal depending on its output not being a newer HD level type, but an older 480p/i type. It would be like having a CRT but not, and with no light gun support and you'd need a nice blank wall or drop screen to use it.

Modern though, I don't know all the science behind much of that newer stuff, but I think type isn't going to matter as much as the internal components by a model by model, type by type basis by manufacturer. The best way to have that make sense, go to displaylag.com and check out the reported lag in ms on various TVs of all makes, models and sizes. The lower the better. Below 30ms is ideal so you can do the really timing tricky stuff (like Tyson in Punchout.) Some TVs can do this on their own, yet others like Sony, have put a couple hundred dollar (onto the price) device inside that drops the MS down to like a computer LCD/LED gets which is as ideal as you can get without being a non HD-CRT. I got a TV that falls into that range intentionally without buying the Sony box inside of a smaller tv for twice the price.

I really don't think it comes down on the modern stuff to what kind it is, but how it processes the older non-HD transmissions and converts it along with other garbage for processing if you can turn it off or not which all adds to the problem.

[BigBoogie2]

sounds like it needs a bulb but it will be cheap and i have an idea for a bulb replacement using a high output led.

My DLP required a special bulb. Make sure it not proprietary.

[WCP]

I play on a projector too. I have a BenQ 1080p DLP projector as well. I normally use this Kramer FC-14 rgb to component transcoder box, and then go component to the projector. A few systems won't play nice with the Kramer and for those I use a XRGB2+. I'd love to use a new framemeister, but I just don't want to spend all that money on it.


The projector I'm using is a 16:9 projector, but it does have a 4:3 mode that I can switch it to. The only thing is, I feel like a native 4:3 projector might give it a better look. There are older 4:3 projectors that can natively sync with 15.75khz, and can do great RGB without any external boxes, but the problem is that they are older projectors, and they probably would need a new bulb, and 4:3 projectors have been out of the scene for a while now, so they would be pretty old and could have problems in other areas.


Unfortunately, there is no ideal solution. ( well a PVM is pretty ideal... heh... ) Some will complain that PVM's are too small, but they are the closest you can get to the holy grail for old console games. I think a 20 inch PVM or BVM with very low hours is the most ideal display. I got really lucky with my 20M2MDU unit, because it was "barely" used. Like less than 100 hours used. Almost brand new. I love the thing to death, but I do worry a bit about what I would do if the the thing died on me somehow. It should be good for another 15 years at least, but you just never know. I should keep an eye on Ebay for a PVM or BVM with really low hours to have as a backup.

[Niku-Sama]

My DLP required a special bulb. Make sure it not proprietary.

Oh it is but even so I'll remove the old bulb re use the carrier for it so it mounts like factory and use this.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...459062&alt=web

When i meant cheap i meant the projector it self

The driver can take ac voltage up to 250 and drop it down to usable dc for the LED. The LED is about 200 lumens less than the projector bulb at full brightness.

By the way the seller accepted my offer and its already on its way. This is what i got. Its more for an experiment but it could be handy plus i could rangle retro gaming into it some how.
This is the projector it self:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...608900&alt=web

When i get it I'll make a new thread on my project.

Until then let's hear some more input on these old odd technologies and old games!

[Niku-Sama]

well I am still plugging away at that projector. I got it to work the way I wanted it to with an LED, using a temporary one. I bypassed and removed the ballast so theres no more super high voltage stuff, its all a 5-12 volts now.
it works with the menu and the built in full screen test patterns but when ever I plug an external source in it blanks out about 1/3rd the screen near the middle for some reason. after I plug an external source in it stays that way even if I unplug the source. I have to unplug the unit from the wall to get it to go back, sound like a video encoder problem for the DMD but it may need to be reflowed, with a hot halogen bulb in there it might have worked itself away from the board. until I can figure it out though...


the real reason I am dredging this up.
i recently learned of a not so well known line of sony broadcast monitors and did some digging, lots of research as usual, and managed to find one that's now on its way to me for $45 shipped.
I was wondering if any one would be interested in any sort of review of this sort of thing, i could do just written, side be side or, if my friends 6D does 60FPS a short video embed in a more lengthy review.

the reason 60FPS is so we can measure input lag, if any, i don't anticipate any but you never know.

let me know, it gets here in a week, yardstick would be a comparison against my 20M2MDU, KV-19TS20, and a Samsung 940MW

[Porksta]

There is a device (expensive and Japan-only IIRC) that you can use to upscale classic consoles, allowing them to be played on newer TVs with no issue. Don't have any other information other than that sorry.

[Niku-Sama]

I'm hunting for viable options for all. Not every one can import stuff.
I think your talking about the framemeister. It tends to cost more than a lot of options. it's on Amazon right now as an import for $350+, a bit cost prohibitive.

You could buy several small used broadcast monitors for that.

What i was looking into were things you could pick up at a thrift or Craigslist for relativity cheap and i was wondering if any one wanted comparisons as i found various displays or monitors

[CRTGAMER]

So I see a lot of posts about "whats the best retro gaming tv" or "display" and in all honesty I know its going to be CRT with the cream of the crop being BVM and PVM monitors, and that's all fine and dandy for smaller TV's and, unless if you get lucky, often times a CRT TV doesn't look too hot.

The PVM is beautiful and yes they do tend to be pricey. However, the PVM tube is still CURVED and do not support at least 480p! I do have 3 PVMs and like them, but for big screen gaming not the idea solution. The PVMs make great secondary monitors for LAN/LINK games.

Pick up a FLAT CRT TV (sizes range from 16" to 40") for retro gaming, so many can be found on the cheap locally at Thrift Stores and Craigslist. Move up to an HD CRT with the Sony WEGA series the best. With the HD CRT (some are 4:3 tubes), you gain SD as well as HD gaming 480i-720p-1080i with no upscale issues.

[Niku-Sama]

Not every one is into the big displays. That's why i was wondering if any one wanted comparisons of the odd ball stuff as I come across this stuff so we have a reference.

I think a lot of people are reading the top post and missing the test because since i asked about comparisons i haven't got any input just input from the OP

[celerystalker]

I don't know how many people are interested, but reading comparisons for displays is a good idea, especially when looking into picking up something from a thrift shop. I wouldn't mind a little education on the subject, as my current TVs will crap out someday

[MetalFRO]

I have a 55" 720p Sony WEGA rear-projection LCD, and I use it for about half of my game systems. Currently connected to it are:

• Wii U (HDMI)
• PS3 (HDMI)
• original Xbox (Component)
• PS2 (Component)
• Dreamcast (Composite, unfortunately)
• Saturn (S-Video)
• GameCube (S-Video)
• JVC X'Eye (Composite)
• TurboGrafx-16 (Composite)

Nearly everything looks pretty good on it. The TV has great color, especially for an older LCD, and even stuff on Composite looks pretty good, probably because the TV handles lower resolutions reasonably well, since it maxes out at 1080i. Having said that, I'm not a "video snob" like some folks are. I don't give a hoot about scanlines, or fret about slightly stretched or upscaled images. If it looks like utter trash, I won't hook a system up to that TV, but I haven't had anything really stand out to me like that. The rear projection bulbs are replaceable in my set, and while they're not cheap (~$200 or so last I checked), they tend to last a few hundred hours, so it will be a while before I'll have to buy one. Despite being a 55" screen, the set isn't overly heavy, but because it's rear-projection, it's deeper than your standard LCD, and thus, becomes very awkward when you need to carry or move it. Definitely a 2-person job.