Advice for classic game experience

[nmv]

This may be a lot of questions but any and all help is appreciated.

My situation is this... I just bought a new house and will finally have my own game room and am looking for advice on a setup to play my older games.

My questions revolve around the type of TV to use to get the best overall experience from multiple systems. The systems that I would be using range from the 2600-Saturn/N64/PS1. The options that I have come up with are as follows...

Just get a nice tube SDTV such as http://www.amazon.com/Sony-KV36FV27-36-WEGA-Flat-Screen/dp/B00005T3CT

Or a tube HDTV such as http://www.amazon.com/SONY-Super-Pitch-Television-KD-34XBR960/dp/B0002NDFKM so that I can also enjoy PS3/360/HD from it as well. Would the older systems sill look as nice as on the SDTV?

Use the 1080p LCD HDTV I have now. How bad would these systems look compared to a tube sdtv? I have this now, and don't have a "decent" tube so I would have to buy one if this is not a good option.

What about just using my systems/games for display but use emulation on a pc connected to the LCD and use USB modded game pads such as http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=32
to play the games. Would this look any better than using the original hardware on an HDTV?

Also which one of these options would be best for PS2/Xbox/Dreamcast?

I know its alot, but I'm very excited and just want to make sure I'll be able to enjoy the best those systems have to offer.

Thank you

[Kiddo]

Trying to remember to the best of my ability - most of the pre-Dreamcast consoles will look best with a standard-def CRT monitor, connected through RGB if possible, but you're more likely settle for S-Video or composite. I think HD CRT monitors will still work decently for these, but I'm not really sure, particularly since HD CRTs aren't that common where I am.

The Dreamcast looks best connected to a higher-resolution monitor/HDTV through a VGA Box.

For emulation - it depends on the emulator's abilities and somesuch. You might like how SNES/Genesis some games look with Super2xsai filters and such, but I feel you can only go so far with that. For the most part the popular Playstation/N64 games are gonna have the most benefits, with texture/shader hacks that can improve the graphics and make them look much prettier in HD. You might want to tell me what games you expect to play so I can tell you if emulation would give an optimum experience.

[gum_drops]

I say go for the Wega 36 CRT, I had one for the past 12 years until it just recently bit the dust, it was great for playing old systems on. Make sure you have the room and several strong backs to move it, the thing is a beast. You can pick one up fairly cheap on craigslist.

[Soviet Conscript]

i delt with the same issue. eventually i just decided on 3 seperate setups. i have my wii, 360 and ps3 hooked up to my sony 46 inch hd lcd because honestly everything pre hd looks horrible on it. even ps1/2 games upscaled on it look like crap

in my game room proper i have a sony rgb crt monitor that basicly functions as my crt for older games i really i only have 3 systems hooked up to it, an snes a ps2 and a odyessy2

my main tv acually is a samsung widescreen crt hdtv. dispite being a hdtv it displays my older systems amazeingly and is even more vibrant then my rgb crt and displays text much sharper which is why i still have the majority of my older systems hooked up to it.

there are only a few problems with this tv when playing older systems. there is minor pixalation but its so minor and the image is so nice that i barely notice it. there is a motion blur whenever you move, i suppose this is known as "ghosting" its really not a big problem and its really only distracting when your moveing over a checkered background

[nmv]

My friend told me that 36" Sony was a good bet too, I'll have to start searching craigslist. Are there other comparable sets to this that would do well if I can't find the sony? maybe a panasonic?

Will the Dreamcast VGA work/look alright on the HD LCD or is there something more midrange with a PC input that would work better?

Something Else I was thinking was if the HD CRT was a good option would I be better off with something like the Sony KV-40XBR800 where it is 4:3 aspect ratio instead of the 16:9 so I wouldn't have to worry about burn-in when playing games most of which I assume would be 4:3.

[Rickstilwell1]

Another nice option is if you get an old woodgrain console TV. Then you can put a big screen HDTV right on top of it as those are generally strong enough to support that weight. If you get an LCD TV those don't get affected by the magnetism of the other TV as they are built differently.

[tomwaits]

4:3 RGB CRTs are the best display available for anything earlier than current gen consoles. I upgraded my game room to an NEC XM29 RGB CRT last spring and the picture quality is amazing. It took a little while to track down the CRT though and it's not plug-n-play... it takes a little effort to get RGB wired up. But if you want the best display possible it's worth the effort. I've got a 36" Sony SDTV too and the NEC XM29 definitely looks better.

I went with the NEC over the comparable Sony/Mitsubishi RGBs because it supports 480p and higher resolutions and it's rotateable for old arcade games/shmups.

If you decide to go RGB, here's a list of potential monitors:
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?p=140066

[nmv]

4:3 RGB CRTs are the best display available for anything earlier than current gen consoles. I upgraded my game room to an NEC XM29 RGB CRT last spring and the picture quality is amazing. It took a little while to track down the CRT though and it's not plug-n-play... it takes a little effort to get RGB wired up. But if you want the best display possible it's worth the effort. I've got a 36" Sony SDTV too and the NEC XM29 definitely looks better.

I went with the NEC over the comparable Sony/Mitsubishi RGBs because it supports 480p and higher resolutions and it's rotateable for old arcade games/shmups.

If you decide to go RGB, here's a list of potential monitors:
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?p=140066

Thanks, great info. I think a RGB monitor would be my first choice. Are the NECs the only ones that support 480p? Where would be my best bet for finding one of these? What kind of adapters would I need to get most systems working on one?

If I have a hard time finding a decent RGB monitor what would be the 2nd best choice? A 4:3 HD CRT would be able to do 480p for systems like dreamcast, but would older systems like NES look as good on it as a SDTV?

On a related note... would light guns work with the RGB monitor? would they work with an HD CRT that doesn't upconvert the 480i signal? (Example of a tv that doesn't?)

Thanks again for everyones help.

[Arkhan]

Another nice option is if you get an old woodgrain console TV. Then you can put a big screen HDTV right on top of it as those are generally strong enough to support that weight. If you get an LCD TV those don't get affected by the magnetism of the other TV as they are built differently.

a woodgrained CRT is the only way to play classic games.


:)

[tomwaits]

Thanks, great info. I think a RGB monitor would be my first choice. Are the NECs the only ones that support 480p? Where would be my best bet for finding one of these? What kind of adapters would I need to get most systems working on one?


On the neo-geo.com link the max resolution and horizontal frequency info will tell you which monitors can support 480p. The Sony PVMs only support 15kHz, which is basically SDTV frequency. Most of the other monitors on that list can support 480p or greater.

Craigslist is probably the best place to look, unless you get lucky and find a nearby seller on ebay. They're pretty heavy so you probably don't want to pay shipping. Might have better luck searching Boston area craigslist than NH.

The best connection varies by console. I've got consoles running via 15-pin VGA, component->RGB converter, SCART RGB, s-video, and composite. Most 16-bit or later consoles just need the right cable, earlier consoles require internal modding to get RGB output. Lots of RGB info on gamesx.com.



On a related note... would light guns work with the RGB monitor? would they work with an HD CRT that doesn't upconvert the 480i signal? (Example of a tv that doesn't?)


I only tried a couple older console light guns and they worked fine. For PS1/PS2, some SCART RGB cables even include a composite video jack on the cable for GunCon support.

[apogee_vgc]

To me classic is the whole setup, so I've always (when I had room) paired up the system to a tv/monitor of the same vintage. helps really get the feel of what the old systems were like.

[jdc]

I've grown to like the old systems on good quality 13" crts. The picture is very clean because of the smallish size. Mind you, that's in our small home office, so you're sitting close by default. In our gaming room, I prefer 27" crts for anything pre 360 or PS3.

[danny_galaga]

Bear in mind that if you have any light gun games, they will only work with CRT