Do classic games look best on a CRT tube television??

[stargate]

My buddy has a brand new DLP big screen television. Another friend has an LCD. I have hooked up older systems to both, but something was missing. The games just didn't look that great. Too pixelated, too sharp maybe.

Anyway, I went to Best Buy yesterday and grabbed a flat screen CRT Toshiba for my game room and it looks fantastic and the colors just pop off the screen. Just wondering if anyone else noticed this or has any opinions.

[Trebuken]

Yes. Most believe this to be the case.
Some have gotten good results with a projector.
I can get decent results on my DLP with some systems, particularly the oldest (Atari 2600, Colecovision). I get terrible results with systems in the middle...Nintendo, Master System, SNES, Genesis, and the Nintendo 64 is the worst. A device called the XRGB can reputedly make dramatic improvements, but I have not been will ing to cough up a $200 for it.

A new technology called SED (or OLED) looks hopeful for future sets. It is supposed to combine the both of bothe worlds, that is, CRT + LCD or DLP.

You can use one of the many plug-n-play games to get an idea what sort of results you might see from the older systems.

[stargate]

Yes. Most believe this to be the case.
Some have gotten good results with a projector.
I can get decent results on my DLP with some systems, particularly the oldest (Atari 2600, Colecovision). I get terrible results with systems in the middle...Nintendo, Master System, SNES, Genesis, and the Nintendo 64 is the worst. A device called the XRGB can reputedly make dramatic improvements, but I have not been will ing to cough up a $200 for it.

A new technology called SED (or OLED) looks hopeful for future sets. It is supposed to combine the both of bothe worlds, that is, CRT + LCD or DLP.

You can use one of the many plug-n-play games to get an idea what sort of results you might see from the older systems.

Yeah, I would love to see a 2600 hooked up to a huge projector display. I imagine playing something like Combat or Missle Command like this must be insane.

I will have to check out that XRGB thingamabob...

[Technosis]

Yes. I prefer CRT's to new screens due to the anti-aliasing effect that the older technology causes. A semi-related example of this is if you play one of the old coin-op old games like Pac-Man on the MAME emulator on your computer. Without scan lines or other options to blur the image it just looks too sharp and "lego-like".

[agbulls]

I personally feel this is largely dependent on the cables and the TV. I have a 50" Sony HD and my nes (via composite), my SNES (via s-video) and my dreamcast (vga) look great. Your cables are incredibly important--and is making sure your TV is properly calibrated.

For me, its all about Final Fight in 50" pixelated glory--beautiful!

[stargate]

I personally feel this is largely dependent on the cables and the TV. I have a 50" Sony HD and my nes (via composite), my SNES (via s-video) and my dreamcast (vga) look great. Your cables are incredibly important--and is making sure your TV is properly calibrated.

For me, its all about Final Fight in 50" pixelated glory--beautiful!

well, I was using the same cables. OEM, not aftermarket. It may be due to the television. I agree though, there is a tradeoff and I would love to see some of my games on a big screen, but it's just not in the budget right now...

[Ed Oscuro]

I don't care about "anti-aliasing." The best CRTs are still sharper than the best LCDs, and probably still brighter as well.

[Zadoc]

My buddy has a brand new DLP big screen television. Another friend has an LCD. I have hooked up older systems to both, but something was missing. The games just didn't look that great. Too pixelated, too sharp maybe.

Anyway, I went to Best Buy yesterday and grabbed a flat screen CRT Toshiba for my game room and it looks fantastic and the colors just pop off the screen. Just wondering if anyone else noticed this or has any opinions.

Any game, modern or classic, are going to look better on a CRT if resolutions remain constant. CRT just has way more color than any type of Plasma, LCD or DLP.

See here:

Thinner is not necessarily better
MYTH: LCD/plasma TVs look better than old-fashioned CRTs.

A popular misconception is that new-fangled LCD and plasma TVs have better image quality than an old-school cathode-ray tube TV, all HD resolutions being equal.

This is actually false. An HD CRT will almost always look better than an HD LCD or plasma TV, as CRT boasts deeper, more vibrant color. CRT TVs can also render a wide variety of resolutions, from 480i up to 1080p (if supported), without losing quality through downsampling or upsampling. In contrast, an LCD or plasma TV has a designated "native" resolution that must be hit (say, 720p); anything above or below this number will usually look muddy or blurry as the signal must be converted. This is especially true for interlaced formats like 480i and 1080i

CRT may beat both plasma and LCD in terms of picture quality, but they are enormously heavy, with larger sets weighing up to 200 pounds. The key selling point to plasmas and LCDs is their sleek size and light weight, in addition to solid picture quality.


http://gamepro.com/gamepro/domestic/...es/97928.shtml

[cyberfluxor]

IMHO LCDs are ideal for computer usage to save desktop space and energy. I prefer CRTs for my TV viewing and consoles while it's a toss-up with projectors being used for movies. I don't mind the blocky effects of the flat screens because it generally doesn't effect gameplay or sound, however I do like a game that looks good.

[Anthony1]

The biggest problem with classic games and modern day TV's is the screen ratio. Most of the newest TV's being sold are widescreen 16:9. Classic games from the Genesis and Super Nintendo era, and stuff like that, were all designed with 4:3 displays in mind. No matter what special mode you use or whatever, it's still not going to look as good as it would look on a 4:3 display. Ideally, it's best to play 4:3 material on a 4:3 display, and 16:9 material on a 16:9 display. Anything else and compromises are being made.

Then when you get past the aspect ratio issue, you have the various display technologies causing their own issues. So, what happens, is if you become a hardcore videophile like me, and you love both retrogaming as well as the latest and greatest, you come to realize that no single display is going to be the best of both worlds. It's just not going to happen. So you basically have to have two seperate displays to cover the best that each has to offer. I'm not saying that you have to play 4:3 games on a 4:3 TV period, you could hook it up to a widescreen for convience factor, but when you want to get down and dirty and really enjoy a particular work of art that happens to have a 4:3 aspect ratio, you better be playing it on a 4:3 display.

[Zing]

My buddy has a brand new DLP big screen television. Another friend has an LCD. I have hooked up older systems to both, but something was missing. The games just didn't look that great. Too pixelated, too sharp maybe.

DLPs in general are known for excessive sharpness and edge enhancement. Sometimes, these "features" are only able to be turned off via the (normally not user accessible) service menu.

I haven't tried anything older than the PS1, but they look fine on my Sony 50" RPLCD. They did look like total ass on a Samsung 50" DLP, however. I returned that set and bought the Sony.

[Zadoc]

IMHO LCDs are ideal for computer usage to save desktop space and energy.

Too bad LCD still looks like shit.

[gammamatrix1976]

Yes, old school gameing looks like crap on LCD's, as a matter of fact, I hooked up my consoles to a samsung 32" LCD and the picture looked like complete crap...I'll stick to my 1992 Sears LXI 13" CRT thank you very much.

[j_factor]

LCD's have a really hard time with different resolutions. Older systems generally run at 240p, and I've yet to hear of an LCD set that will display 240p. Instead, it upscales, and it looks hideous.