PVM Monitor /w BNC Connectors

[Dastari]

Hi,

I've been doing research on the best monitors to use for gaming, and I keep hearing that the PVM monitors are the best. I'm looking at using it with some old systems including the original Magnavox Odyssey. Now, the Odyssey uses a dual-lead old school antenna type connection, but I found this adapter to convert the twin lead to regular coax. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005T3EZ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The PVM monitor that I'm looking at only has BNC type connectors. If I use a coax to BNC connector will that be enough? Since the Odyssey broadcasts on channel 3 or 4 I'm worried that a monitor with no TV tuner won't be able to pick up on the signal. Does anyone know if this will work?

EDIT: Since originally posting I've discovered that it won't work. I need a demodulator. However, I can't find a demodulator with a BNC connector or even one with an S-video connector, which is the other type of connection that this monitor accepts. However, i can find a demodulator with RCA outputs. The question is that if I go through the twin-lead coax converter and then a demodulator am I going to have a loss of signal quality that makes getting the PVM monitor not with it? Should I just get a Trinitron TV and where I only to go through the twin-lead to coax conversion?

I swear that this twin-lead connector is such a hassle that I'm going to design my own twin-lead demodulator just so that old school gamers don't have to deal with this sort of mess.

[Aussie2B]

To be honest, I don't think a PVM monitor is worth it period. The scanlines are so sharp and pronounced that the picture looks more like an LCD running scanline emulation than what games back in the day actually looked like. I think Trinitrons are overrated too, as I think a standard dot shadow mask looks better than aperture grille. Both are great displays, but I'd say more so for other purposes than video games. I don't know who started this whole fad in retrogaming of regarding PVM monitors and Trinitrons as the de facto best CRTs, but I don't buy into it myself.

[celerystalker]

To be honest, I don't think a PVM monitor is worth it period. The scanlines are so sharp and pronounced that the picture looks more like an LCD running scanline emulation than what games back in the day actually looked like. I think Trinitrons are overrated too, as I think a standard dot shadow mask looks better than aperture grille. Both are great displays, but I'd say more so for other purposes than video games. I don't know who started this whole fad in retrogaming of regarding PVM monitors and Trinitrons as the de facto best CRTs, but I don't buy into it myself.

This is so true. I mean, like what you like, but games were generally played on pretty basic consumer sets, and often took advantage of those limitations for certain effects. To me, my earliest gaming was on a black and white 13" TV with a UHF tuner, playing Air Sea Battle against my sister. You can mod the hell out of an Atari all day, and it might look sharp as a tack, but at the end of the day, it's not "how it was meant to be."

I do like good video, but I don't mod consoles or do anything more than play them on a stock TV from the era. My Jaguar runs on S-Video. It looks fantastic, as does my SNES and Saturn. My NES runs composite. They look like I remember them, and I'm good with it.

I do have a big Trinitron my Neo Geo AES is on, and you know what? It looks just as good on an RCA.

[Gunstar Hero]

To be honest, I don't think a PVM monitor is worth it period. The scanlines are so sharp and pronounced that the picture looks more like an LCD running scanline emulation than what games back in the day actually looked like. I think Trinitrons are overrated too, as I think a standard dot shadow mask looks better than aperture grille. Both are great displays, but I'd say more so for other purposes than video games. I don't know who started this whole fad in retrogaming of regarding PVM monitors and Trinitrons as the de facto best CRTs, but I don't buy into it myself.

I guess it really all comes down to personal preference. Personally, I couldn't be happier with my PVM. After years of using a Panasonic CRT with RCA cables, the switch to my PVM was like night and day. Luckily, someone on eBay was nice enough to mod all of the consoles I wanted RGB from that didn't natively support it all in one transaction for a very reasonable price. I'll admit some consoles with S-Video look pretty damn near close to RGB, but consoles with only standard composite like the NES benefit IMMENSELY from an RGB upgrade. Honestly, I had put my NES on the shelf for a while and now the bright colors and sharp image it displays on my PVM were enough to reignite my love for Nintendo's 8-bit wonder :) Again, it all comes down to personal preference, but for me getting a PVM was enough to get me back into retro gaming like never before, so I am extremely glad that I purchased mine :)

Also, as a side note, my PVM is around 15 inches compared to the 40+ inch CRT I used to use, which also could be a factor in why everything looks so crisp to me. I always thought bigger was better, but when it comes to retro gaming I realize how much I prefer smaller displays as they tend to look much more crisp.

[RP2A03]

As you have already found out, you will need a demodulator. A VCR will work for this. Professional monitors also tend to only have a notch filter.


https://i.imgur.com/N6RK7EA.jpg

Unless you want to deal with such horrors as demonstrated above, you will want an external comb filter for anything limited to composite. Keep in mind that a 3D comb filter will introduce a minimum of three fields of lag.

Also, not everyone likes having super crisp scanlines, although you can make them softer my slightly defocusing the raster.

[Niku-Sama]

what odyssey are you using?

the 2 or the stand alone pong clones?

[Dastari]

what odyssey are you using?

the 2 or the stand alone pong clones?

The original one, before even the stand alone pong clones. It's the one that has the plug-in jumper cards and a rifle attachment, so that you can play shooting games.

[Trebuken]

The PVM's are really a n RGB solution. The Trinitron and any CRT are all purpose. I do not think using a console with Rf is going to see much benefit if any on a PVM. Consoles like the Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo which do see improvement might me better played with a Retron 5 or Retro Freak with HDMI on a new TV. PVM is retro an cool but the cables need to be made or consoles modified and may not be worth it. TA Trinitron would be great but not the only option. I have a n HD CRT that upscales (JVC I'Art) and it is fantastic for all the older consoles. My SDOny PVM-2530 is not better but it does have a more natural feel, almost an arcade monitor type feel to it, espeacially with Neo Geo.

[jperryss]

To be honest, I don't think a PVM monitor is worth it period. The scanlines are so sharp and pronounced that the picture looks more like an LCD running scanline emulation than what games back in the day actually looked like. I think Trinitrons are overrated too, as I think a standard dot shadow mask looks better than aperture grille. Both are great displays, but I'd say more so for other purposes than video games. I don't know who started this whole fad in retrogaming of regarding PVM monitors and Trinitrons as the de facto best CRTs, but I don't buy into it myself.

The super high line count BVMs have that emulation filter effect but most of the low-mid level PVMs are 500-600 TVL which produces narrow scanlines with just a little bit of softness to them. I've used a bunch of Trinitron consumer sets and worked my way up to a PVM and when using S-video or RGB the image looks crazy good on it. Comparing a PVM to the RF set you used as a kid is like comparing a SACD remastered album to the worn cassette you used to listen to; It may not be authentic, but it's arguably better.

That being said, a nice consumer CRT set is the easy way to go for most people and there are free/cheap ones all over Craigslist.

[Aussie2B]

Where did I say anything about RF? Comparing one input to another is pointless in this discussion. S-video on a regular consumer set is going to look better than RF on a PVM Monitor or Trinitron. You can't blame nor credit the set for your input choice. Never did I argue that it's better to buy some crappy cheapo CRT that only accepts RF or composite. There is such a thing as good quality consumer CRTs that accept s-video, component, etc. There are lots of options out there that are just as good, if not better, than PVM monitors and Trinitrons, in my opinion, and cheaper to boot, and I think it does a disservice to the retrogaming community to act as if every other CRT is inferior to a PVM monitor or Trinitron. If it's just individuals sharing their own opinions and tastes, that's no problem. Everybody is entitled to their own personal taste. But it's been snowballing to the point that it's parroted everywhere even by people who have no experience in this area, just because people are accepting it as gospel, and less-experienced gamers are dropping wads of cash solely because they read that a PVM monitor or Trinitron is the only way to go. To me, it's akin to how even teenagers will parrot that ET is the worst video game ever created, even though they've never so much as seen a 2600 in person. Personally, things that are important to me in a CRT, besides having the inputs I want, are natural looking scanlines, a dot shadow mask, and a curved screen, and not all of those can be found in PVM monitors and Trinitrons.

[CRTGAMER]

Just because people are accepting it as gospel, and less-experienced gamers are dropping wads of cash solely because they read that a PVM monitor or Trinitron is the only way to go.

Personally, things that are important to me in a CRT, besides having the inputs I want, are natural looking scanlines, a dot shadow mask, and a curved screen, and not all of those can be found in PVM monitors and Trinitrons.
My take on the PVM argument is I too think they are over rated. Yes, PVMs are commercial monitors for durability, but the curved glass (opposite of your preference) are not as good as a newer larger flat tube WEGAs. I own PVMs and Commodore monitors as secondary displays, but prefer the larger flat tube Trinitrons as the primary view screen.

[jperryss]

Where did I say anything about RF? Comparing one input to another is pointless in this discussion. S-video on a regular consumer set is going to look better than RF on a PVM Monitor or Trinitron. You can't blame nor credit the set for your input choice. Never did I argue that it's better to buy some crappy cheapo CRT that only accepts RF or composite. There is such a thing as good quality consumer CRTs that accept s-video, component, etc. There are lots of options out there that are just as good, if not better, than PVM monitors and Trinitrons, in my opinion, and cheaper to boot, and I think it does a disservice to the retrogaming community to act as if every other CRT is inferior to a PVM monitor or Trinitron. If it's just individuals sharing their own opinions and tastes, that's no problem. Everybody is entitled to their own personal taste. But it's been snowballing to the point that it's parroted everywhere even by people who have no experience in this area, just because people are accepting it as gospel, and less-experienced gamers are dropping wads of cash solely because they read that a PVM monitor or Trinitron is the only way to go. To me, it's akin to how even teenagers will parrot that ET is the worst video game ever created, even though they've never so much as seen a 2600 in person. Personally, things that are important to me in a CRT, besides having the inputs I want, are natural looking scanlines, a dot shadow mask, and a curved screen, and not all of those can be found in PVM monitors and Trinitrons.

I mentioned RF because that is what I and many of us used in the 80s when these systems were new and popular and I prefer the sharp image on a PVM just like I prefer the clean sound of a CD over a cassette tape.

Trinitrons aren't the only good sets out there but they are well-regarded and there's a good reason that many other manufacturers copied the design as soon as the patent expired.

I always encourage people to get a decent consumer set first. S-video looks pretty damn close to RGB and once you factor in the cost of a PVM, cables, etc. vs a free TV with S-video, it's obviously not for everyone.

[ccovell]

Although I like the pin-sharp scanlines of the PVMs sometimes, I find them distracting most of the time.

Have you considered finding an X-RGB2 / 2+ / 3 and hooking your systems to a good CRT VGA monitor? That's what I use and prefer, as each scanline is doubled, making for less visual distraction but keeping the other pluses of CRT gaming.

[Dastari]

Although I like the pin-sharp scanlines of the PVMs sometimes, I find them distracting most of the time.

Have you considered finding an X-RGB2 / 2+ / 3 and hooking your systems to a good CRT VGA monitor? That's what I use and prefer, as each scanline is doubled, making for less visual distraction but keeping the other pluses of CRT gaming.

No, I'm new to all of this. It looks like I'm going to have to play around to see what I prefer.

Good news is that I have a 36" WEGA in my living room that I can always default to. What I'm looking for is one for my basement for use while playing or working on mod projects.