Do you still play old video game systems on a CRT TV?

[WCP]

Hell to the YES.




Sony PVM-20M2MDU monitor via RGB



I used to sometimes play retro games on my plasma TV, but I try to avoid this whenever possible. I just don't like playing retro games on a 16:9 TV. Either you have to stretch it out, or you have the black bars on the sides. Either way, you're compromising the original vision of the creator by playing it like that. 4:3 CRT or bust.

[jperryss]

Yep, I have a 27" Trinitron specifically for the older stuff (NES, SNES, PCE, XBOX)

Tell that to people still using amplifiers with tubes. There are plenty of people still enjoying far obsolete technology. However, I suggest having spare CRTs around.

It's not really the same, since the vacuum tube is alive and well, even if only for a niche market. Audio products are still being designed which incorporate vacuum tubes. You can still easily find replacement parts for both modern and old tube components. And if you need a repair, you just need to find someone that you can ship the thing to. None of these things can be said about CRT TVs.

[johnvosh]

Yup! I use a JVC D-Series 27" CRT for all my older gen consoles, from the PS2 down

[Alpha2099]

The oldest monitor I've ever used for a game system was hooking my PlayStation to a Commodore 64 monitor. Not sure if that's CRT or not. It lasted about a year or so before its age caught up to it.

[treismac]

Yeah, man. CRTs, clunky and space consuming as they may be, are one of my favorite accoutrements of retro gaming. I kinda, sorta hoard them for when the retro video game apocalypse is upon us and we're all hunting and scavenging and killing each other for working vintage video game systems and games.

[wiggyx]

I keep em around just for light gun games. I prefer my DLP for playing pretty much everything.

[Tanooki]

Somewhat I do. I've got the NES sharp tv, so there's that, but I also use the N64 over rf on it too. N64 like other first gen 3d systems doesn't play nice with LCD tvs messing up lighting, shadow and other visuals wrecking some games completely.

I do have a lucky older 720P LCD with such low lag, I have no issues running pre3d in it and it fills most the screen with a crisp sharp image so I mostly use it.

[thom_m]

I own two CRT sets: a 20" Phillips in my bedroom (the SNES is currently living here too) and a 29" LG in the living room, in which I plug the other consoles. I don't own a LCD TV yet.

CRTs are still somewhat common in Brazil; not everyone has made the jump to LCD/LED yet, they're still a bit pricey (but it's only a matter of one or two years now, really). There's even a brand new 20" set for sale here in my town...I feel tempted to buy and store it, specially because my 20" is starting to have vertical problems. But a new CRT set is still not as cheap as I wanted it to be (this one goes for 400 brazilian bucks).

[sloan]

I have 3 old-style televisions, and have never even had a modern flat panel set in my home.

36" Sanyo
19" Sanyo
27" Toshiba

If you love Master System, then there is no way you can do without one. Too much light gun goodness on that console to pass up.

[atari2600land]

I have a 13 inch CRT TV made in May 1993 that I got new back when I was a kid that I keep around for classic gaming, from VCS to GameCube. I'll need it for the ActionMax I'm going to get. And yes, I have a VCR.

[ApolloBoy]

Sony PVM all the way for me.

[BetaWolf47]

Yeah, I have my PSX hooked up to a Philips TV via s-video right now. The Philips is having problems with s-video though. Video flickering or the like. What's up with that?

[RP2A03]

The Philips is having problems with s-video though. Video flickering or the like. What's up with that?

Sounds like a bad connection.

[VG_Maniac]

There's just no beating a CRT when it comes to older games. I've tried to play NES and SNES on my plasma, but they just don't look as good...softer image, everything looks more pixelated, etc. I worry that some day a working CRT will be next to impossible to get. If nobody will repair them anymore, and all the ones that currently are working finally break down...then what?

[XYXZYZ]

I have a 21" for gaming, a 19" rotated for vertical shooters, and a 27" connected to my HTPC for old 4/3 stuff that looks like shite on the 50" flastscreen, which I generally only use for HD stuff or movies.

[biggzy]

I use a 47 inch Samsung LCD for everything from Atari 2600 to PS3. I totally get what everyone else is talking about, but it just doesn't bother me.

HOWEVER....

I still got a 21 inch CRT in the corner just for light gun games, but I don't play them very often. That's just me, though. Use whatever you like. I think CRTs will be around for awhile, even if it's just an enthusiast's market.

[Black_Tiger]

I will never hook a 240p console to an HDTV if I can help it. I have a 27" crt in my game room that I bought new a couple years ago. Another 27" that I bought new when the Dreamcast was current and a couple 21" tvs I'm keeping in storage.

If I'm not playing in a crt, I might as well just play emulation.

I also try to get s-video out of every console.

[FFStudios]

I have a CRT in my closet in case I acquire any more game consoles that require RCA inputs. So basically, I keep a CRT around in case I buy any consoles that aren't newer than 2006. Which are going to be the only consoles I buy. My 29" HDTV, while wonderful, simply does not have enough Component inputs even with an AV switch to be a viable option for a video game enthusiast. I also keep a very small TV in the bathroom, connected to a spare coax output on my cable box just in-case I want to watch TV while getting ready in the mornings. That one would need some form of RCA-to-coax adaptor for any consoles to work on it.

[WCP]

I'd love to try a 4:3 plasma, that had a native 640 x 480 resolution, if such a thing existed. Then, I could use a XRGB2+ with this plasma, and it would output the 640 x 480, and it would look outstanding on the 4:3 plasma.


Unfortunately, no such thing exists. So yeah, gotta have the real CRT.



which reminds me... I need to start looking out for a contingency plan, just in case anything happens to my current PVM.

[Ed Oscuro]

Tell that to people still using amplifiers with tubes. There are plenty of people still enjoying far obsolete technology. However, I suggest having spare CRTs around.

Tube amps aren't obsolete, though...

I'd love to try a 4:3 plasma, that had a native 640 x 480 resolution, if such a thing existed. Then, I could use a XRGB2+ with this plasma, and it would output the 640 x 480, and it would look outstanding on the 4:3 plasma.


Unfortunately, no such thing exists. So yeah, gotta have the real CRT.



which reminds me... I need to start looking out for a contingency plan, just in case anything happens to my current PVM.

Any LCD with a VGA plug (31KHz signal, same as the XRGB2 output) should support that resolution, though.

Personally I'd love some new display tech that either had fast enough processing to do away with scaling lag, and high enough resolution that it could emulate scanlines, or which didn't have fixed pixels at all (same as CRT) and which had some kind of compatibility with raster scan-type signals.