What would your dream gaming TV/Monitor be?

[Blanka789]

Considering all of the recent discussions about using CRT televisions for retro gaming (as well as my recent upgrade to a larger Trinitron), I've been thinking quite a bit about what the ideal TV for gaming might be.

-What type of inputs would you like? How many of them?
-What type of screen (CRT Curved, CRT Flat, LCD, LED, etc.)?
-What size?
-Any aesthetic desires? Specifically, any specific color or design?
-And of course, are there any other things that you'd love to have on the TV/Monitor?

I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone responds to this, I'll post my own wish list after a few responses.

[RP2A03]

My dream monitor is a 27 inch flat tube multiscan cathode ray with a stripe pitch fine enough to sharply resolve at least 1080 horizontal lines. Focus and convergence would be dynamic and there would be adjustments for everything. As for inputs, at least two of everything would be nice and for the sake of even phosphor wear it would come in 4:3 and 16:9 models. Of course, a field emission display would blow every thing out of the water. Too bad we will probably never see one make it to market.:bawling:

[PreZZ]

recently they made a little dongle for wii that outputs trough hdmi, would this be possible for retro consoles?

[ave1]

Since I (NTSC gamer) am on a PAL 2600 and Colecovision game buying spree, I'm thinking that an lcd tv with a vertical hold knob would make me quite a happy gamer. . . alas, it's getting difficult to even find CRT monitors/tvs at thrift stores with that feature. . .

[BlastProcessing402]

recently they made a little dongle for wii that outputs trough hdmi, would this be possible for retro consoles?

Even if they could, but you'd probably be better off just getting one of the HDMI converter boxes and plugging them into that rather than messing with a separate dongle for each system.




Anyway, since we're talking dreams and not reality, I'd like a 1080p capable 40" CRT (16:9) with at least 4 each of HDMI, component, S-video, and composite hookups, with one of each set of hookups on the front of the TV. Also, should have a VGA input, but I don't think I'd need more than 1, maybe 2 of those. It should also have two audio outputs, one a line out, the other a variable out (or headphone jack, either way) so I can control headphone volume with the remote. A cable card slot would be nice as would an ethernet port for streaming video over my home network. Throw in a couple of USB ports for movies stored on USB or flash drives, too.

Now that I think of it, basically it would be a mashup of my Samsung LCD and my Sony CRT. LOL

[kedawa]

I'd like a 4:3 aspect OLED screen that can accept any analog signal that has been used by humans in the last century.
It would have to scale everything smoothly with 1 frame of lag or less.
A resolution of 2560x1920 should suffice.

[WanganRunner]

Barco Cine 9.

http://www.hcinema.de/pdf/images/barcocine9.jpg

CRT Projectors still offer the very best of everything, albeit at idiotic prices, but this IS a hypothetical thread. This is the best CRT Projector in the world, so it's priced accordingly ($50k+)

Runco DTV-1200 or similar would work just fine too, but if we're reaching for the stars, the Cine 9 is the only choice.

Unless I can just take an IMAX rig, but such things are unobtanium and full IMAX GT (Grand Theatre) specs require a purpose-built structure. The projectors are also made by Barco (who else?) of course, at around 2 tons each and ~$400,000 for the pair (each rig uses two). Then you need a Teranex processor and a truly massive screen. I don't have the foggiest what they use for sound in IMAX rigs, but it probably makes high end commercial theater stuff like M&K look pedestrian.

If you couldn't tell, I'm a bit of a nerd for this sort of thing.

[RCM]

I'd like a TV that could display SD, HD, 4K, etc. in a pixel perfect presentation. Likely won't ever happen, but I'm happy with my plasma and upscaler.

[_joshuaTurbo]

My ideal would be a CRT flat model with some S-Videos a bunch of RCA jacks and I've even heard that a few of the later model Sony TVs had a HDMI jack!! I'd love to get my hands on one of those.

Until then, I've got a 34" CRT rounded TV (Waiting to come out of storage) for my soon coming (HOPEFULLY) gaming den/basement area. :)

We have a nice Samsung LCD 42" in our living room that I've tried gaming on with SNES, Turbo, and Saturn and it's just not the same. Pretty odd actually. Too digitized and light gun games are a NO-GO!

I've had better luck playing classic games on the newer Monitors using Wii Virtual Console or modded Dreamcast/Xbox.

:)

[StealthLurker]

For CRT:

NEC XM29 RGB Monitor (29")

Gateway Destination 27" VGA + Micomsoft XRGB2+ + Dreamcast VGA Box



For flatpanel:

Pioneer Kuro Elite 60" Plasma + DVDO VP50 Pro video processor + SLG

or

Runco 60" Plasma + SLG

or ridiculous fantasy time....

100" 4K OLED Display + "Magical" 4k video processor + SLG



For Projectors:

I don't like projectors. Direct view or go home! lol


.

[kedawa]

I've had better luck playing classic games on the newer Monitors using Wii Virtual Console or modded Dreamcast/Xbox.

:)

I really don't think anything could look worse than the filtered mess you get with VC releases. They have a weird grainy texture, and all sorts of weird flickering pixels.

[PreZZ]

Barco Cine 9.

http://www.hcinema.de/pdf/images/barcocine9.jpg

CRT Projectors still offer the very best of everything, albeit at idiotic prices, but this IS a hypothetical thread. This is the best CRT Projector in the world, so it's priced accordingly ($50k+)

Runco DTV-1200 or similar would work just fine too, but if we're reaching for the stars, the Cine 9 is the only choice.

Unless I can just take an IMAX rig, but such things are unobtanium and full IMAX GT (Grand Theatre) specs require a purpose-built structure. The projectors are also made by Barco (who else?) of course, at around 2 tons each and ~$400,000 for the pair (each rig uses two). Then you need a Teranex processor and a truly massive screen. I don't have the foggiest what they use for sound in IMAX rigs, but it probably makes high end commercial theater stuff like M&K look pedestrian.

If you couldn't tell, I'm a bit of a nerd for this sort of thing.

lol i still have my sony crt projector in the basement , but had a flood last year, so I bought a much smaller optoma with the insurance money! mine was worth 20k$$$$ ;(

[PreZZ]

I'd like a 4:3 aspect OLED screen that can accept any analog signal that has been used by humans in the last century.
It would have to scale everything smoothly with 1 frame of lag or less.
A resolution of 2560x1920 should suffice.

with built in image upscaler, that would be awesome!

[theclaw]

I'd like to see fast refresh RGB input LCDs using the primary native resolution and sync rate of each retro console.

i.e. 256*224, etc.

[kedawa]

That would be cool if they attached to each console like the PSone screen.

[SpaceFlea]

I'd love to see a smart adaptive pixel matrix where the pixels shift size, shape and location depending upon the source material and desired upscaling effect.

[Cryomancer]

HDTV that actually works with lightguns would be a start. Also it should accept NTSC and PAL. And could be rotated for vertical use.

[Blanka789]

My dream monitor would still be a CRT monitor, albeit with some special additions:

-1 input each for RF, RCA/AV, S-Video, Component, Japanese RGB, SCART, and VGA
-15Khz Mode
-Aperture Grille (I know some people don't like them, but I absolutely love them)
-Digital TV Tuner (May seem unimportant, but DTV is pretty sweet)
-Decent built-in speakers plus an analog audio out port
-Headphone jack
-Some sort of compatibility with wireless headphones (maybe bluetooth?)
-4:3 aspect ratio
-Adjustments for everything-color, vertical hold, contrast, anything you can think of!
-Flat Screen CRT

I'm unsure about how I'd want it to look. Part of me wants it to look like a PVM or some other broadcast quality monitor, and part of me wants to see it look like one of those flat tube TVs.

Oh, and bring back picture in picture!

[Collector_Gaming]

I don't have to settle with the best of the best CRT... I want the one i grew up with.
Which was this giant CRT built into a large wood cabinet case... Friggin thing was massive and heavy... Sadly i broke it when i was like 11 :(
Was made in the mid 80s i would assume so it would have all the connectors i need for all the old style consoles!

[kedawa]

Those were the best!
The last time I had a nice wooden console television, it was a 24' RCA that made my Playstation look way better through composite AV than I ever would have imagined.
There was practically no dot crawl and very little colour bleeding or interference.
It belonged to a friend that I shared an apartment with, and I'm not sure what ever happened to it.

[TonyTheTiger]

For CRT:

NEC XM29 RGB Monitor (29").

Just read up on the XM29/XP29 Xtra and it seems, on the surface, to be the best 4:3 CRT ever. Good lord. It seems impossible to find, though. The XM37 would be amazing, at least for the Hulk. Though I don't know if a screen that size would be overkill for old school systems.

[kedawa]

Just read up on the XM29/XP29 Xtra and it seems, on the surface, to be the best 4:3 CRT ever. Good lord. It seems impossible to find, though. The XM37 would be amazing, at least for the Hulk. Though I don't know if a screen that size would be overkill for old school systems.

I used to have a 36" TV/SVGA monitor, and it was great for everything. I would have preferred it to have a higher refresh rate and resolution for using my PC (it was limited to 800*600@60Hz), but for consoles it was fantastic.

[shertz]

this...

Sony KD-34XBR960

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/283/3052/1024/IMG_4532.jpg

the best!

[Mehunglo]

this...

Sony KD-34XBR960

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/283/3052/1024/IMG_4532.jpg

the best!

I've been looking for one of these since I got the itch! @_@

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

this...

Sony KD-34XBR960

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/283/3052/1024/IMG_4532.jpg

the best!

I have a KV-34XS955, which is pretty identical to the XBR960 in performance. Both have the Super Fine Pitch screen. I've also went through the service mode and fine tuned it.

Excellent, Excellent tv, but there are many others out there these days that are better. Sony has made some even higher end CRT's in their lifetime, look up some of the BVM series. The Loewe Aconda is also worth a look.

I agree with most of the guys in this thread, and I would surely salivate over some 40" 1080p multi-sync CRT.

I'd also love to see some more developments in things like Laser TVs, FEDs, SEDs, and other experimental tech.

However, on the other end of the spectrum, I'd also be in love with a brand new RCA dimensia delivered to my door. RGB capable, and top-class of the big color TV's of the 80s.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii110/blasttapes/20080507-RCA-JCP685-2501JCTC121TV1.jpg

Look at that. Wood grain, curved glass, yellow tint over the video connection. It's got everything.

[alec006]

A fantasy CRT, hmm lets see. There's a lot to list xP

First and foremost, can accept any resolution 240p to 1080p and a wide array of scan rates are accepted a between 15hz to 240hz.

Second, lot's of inputs from around the world. Realistically, at least one to two of every input, some could be shared like component and RGBHV. Composite, S-Video, Component, SCART RGB both European and Japanese, VGA, HDMI, DVI, RGBHV, D-SUB, RF audio (for LaserDiscs) and of course RF.

Speaking of RF, ATSC/NTSC tuner.

A proprietary connector with various adapters/cables that are widely licensed and produced so that some weird RGB proprietary connectors can be connected or maybe even EGA and CGA graphics DE-9.

Third, well since it's HD, then it is a 16:9 TV, but, it has a 4:3 mode which if the user chooses can be stretched.

Audio wise, stereo red and white RCA of course, as well as TOSLINK and digital coax,all in and out. And if the signal is Mono, an option in the menu to output it through both speakers/channels, or a speaker/channel of your choice.

Forth, lots and lots of menu controls. From Trapezoid to Parallelogram, to RGB values, to various audio settings, pretty much, almost like a service menu on a TV and an open menu on monitors than can be reset to default values at the press of a reset button hidden in the back if needed.

Fifth, size, well instead of one size why not many, from 19 to 42 inches. I can only imagine how much the 42 inch widescreen CRT would weight, around 120 lbs at least!

Sixth, flattube compatible with lightguns. Nuff said.

Seventh, NTSC, PAL and SECAM, no issues what so ever 50hz or 60hz.

Eighth, many different colours, and decor options. From 50's/60's woodgrain to 70's yellows and greens to 80's silver, to 90's black to see through so you can see the radiation emanating from this monster!

Ninth...it only costs $99...>< HA, yea right STEVE BAUMER! Cost point for the different models smallest $199 to largest $1299, possible, not likely, but it is fantasy, so one can dream :D

[WCP]

I've already got one of the best monitors on the planet (Sony PVM-20M2U), so I can't really complain about it too much. Still, I think it would be really cool to have a 4:3 plasma in the 36 inch size (maybe even 40 inch), that can actually use analog RGB at 15.75 kHz. The thing is, there actually was an industrial version of a particular Panasonic plasma that would work with 15.75 kHz but it was 16:9.


The problem with all the current displays on the market, none are native 4:3. I'd also love an old school 4:3 projector that could sync with 15.75 kHz.