Pairing old consoles with old TV's, best for each generation?

[Xian042]

Hey guys, been looking into pairing old CRT TV's with old consoles, was thinking maybe listing the most popular/available TV for the time period for each console generation, or maybe there is one type you all prefer for any classic gaming setup?

A 70's Magnavox TV paired with an Odyssey would be hot.

Also, please mention what screen sizes are more fitting for certain consoles.

[Polygon]

Hoesntly, just about any CRT will work the same for all retro consoles., regardless of size.

[theclaw]

For general purpose you want at minimum s-video input, preferably component. And low overscan to avoid cut off edges.

RF or composite are lossy image formats that enthusiasts should avoid where feasible. Their use means the TV is being fed pre-damaged video.

[ApolloBoy]

Generally I'd say use a PVM for everything, they're actually fairly cheap if you look around and you get all the inputs you'd ever need for classic gaming (composite, S-vid, RGB, sometimes component). They don't usually have an RF input but you can get around that with a VCR or an RF demodulator. However, there's definitely something to be said for having an old TV, I recently picked up a Montgomery Ward TV from 1986 and it matches the 8-bit stuff like the NES and SMS nicely. It's also got a nifty tempered glass screen over the actual CRT screen but it only has composite and RF. I'll have to look over the chassis in it one of these days and see if it can be hacked for RGB or even S-video.

[otaku]

I can't stand RF but don't mind composite always upgrade when possible to svideo component or hdmi. Have even had systems modded to make this possible. Always worth it. I would go for the nicest newest crt I could with the most and best hookups

[Tanooki]

I've got 2 TVs in my room. One is a Nov 2007 Panasonic Viera 26"~ LCD TV and for some reason it's perfect for old and new gaming except one system generation alone (N64.) Old games are crystal clear and sharp, they fill all but an inch on the left and right of the screen and that's all. Has the NES, SNES, GC, WiiU and PS3 on it. Then I have a CRT, Sharp NES TV, and it has the N64 because that generation of first '3D' systems used cheats that need to CRT to display right so scanline tricks, lighting using the tube and not the system, shadows, they all crap out and break many games a little to a lot but on the Sharp it's smooth. I see no reason to buy a generation matching TV as it's a silly waste of space for a result that won't do any good.

[A.C. Sativa]

A 70's Magnavox TV paired with an Odyssey would be hot.

Do you mean best as far as playing them goes, or best looking in your collection? Because if I had a huge collection and wanted to show it off then I would totally hook up the Odyssey to a 70s Magnavox TV, that shit would be raw!

As for CRT's, I have a 32" Toshiba that I bought in 2000 and I've hooked up most game systems that have come out between the NES and what's out now (I'm playing F1 2010 for the 360 on it as I thype this) and they all looked great on it. So for an all-in-one TV, that's what I'd try to find.

[cholkavich]

I was hoping to come in here and see beautiful pictures of peoples CRT tvs showing a certain system :(

[Panzerfuzion]

I personally love late 90's Toshiba's 27 to 32.

[Rickstilwell1]

Here's the old RCA console TV I grew up with when NES, Sega Genesis and SNES were the only three consoles I had. Since the SNES is not in the picture, and I already owned Sonic Spinball + that many NES games, I would have to guess this was before I owned it, dating the photo to exactly 1st grade. This should be from fall 1994, just before Christmas when my SNES arrived.

I tried looking for pictures online of this exact model TV and couldn't find any. There are no RCA jacks so I am guessing it must be from the 70s.

6660

[Polygon]

Those were the days...

When your T.V. could double as furniture.

[BlastProcessing402]

I miss wooden cabinets. The RCA I grew up with was so sturdy you could climb up and sit on the thing. Not that there's really much reason to do that, but still.

[Rickstilwell1]

I currently have a Magnavox console TV similar to the kind in my picture, except it is newer (probably early 80s) so it has many more features, including a sensor for a remote, digital buttons for channel changing instead of knobs, RCA jacks, picture in picture function, stereo speakers, and a sort of hidden mute switch on the back of the TV. It doubles as a TV stand for my 52" Sharp LCD, wiimote sensor bar, and PS3 system (and Xbox 360 system if I ever decide to move it back over there).

[XYXZYZ]

There is something neat about playing Atari through RF on an old TV set with knobs and rabbit ears, if I had the space I'd set up something like that in my game room. Once you get to the late 80s I don't think anything really has the same distinguishing charm.

[Rickstilwell1]

I kind of wonder how many people actually were stuck playing video games on a black and white TV either due to their parents buying them one of those cheap small portable sets made for boats or just because they never upgraded to color? When I was a kid, every once in a while I used to set the color on the TV to black and white just to see the games look like they did in their instruction manuals (namely Sega Genesis ones in which the manuals' pages weren't in color.) It was almost like playing a glorified original Game Boy when I did that with NES.

[skaar]

I kind of wonder how many people actually were stuck playing video games on a black and white TV either due to their parents buying them one of those cheap small portable sets made for boats or just because they never upgraded to color? When I was a kid, every once in a while I used to set the color on the TV to black and white just to see the games look like they did in their instruction manuals (namely Sega Genesis ones in which the manuals' pages weren't in color.) It was almost like playing a glorified original Game Boy when I did that with NES.

I had a 13" B&W TV I could take into my room sometimes (my parents had upgraded to a 20" colour TV for the living room)

The first Zelda game is surprisingly annoying in B&W, the rupees all look the same and some of the enemies blend into the background. But you have to work with what you've got when you're younger :)