CRT's in a 4k world

KaBoom1701

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That was a really cool write up. Call me a purist but I can't play my old games on a new TV, even with filters. It's not even for nostalgia, old games look and run better on old TVs.

My buddy was throwing away an old CRT TV and I got all excited and took it from him and he was kinda weirded out that I'd want to keep "old trash". Then I nearly broke my back getting a huge Trinitron into my car that was left on the curb... Only to plug it in and have something inside pop and fizz and it stopped working. The wife wouldn't let me live that one down.
 
It also has much to do with the CRT sprite motion trail for classic games that have largely black backgrounds (Defender, Pacman, Galaga, Robotron etc etc). The motion trail provides a great sense of detail, movement, smoothness and glow.
 
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That was a really cool write up. Call me a purist but I can't play my old games on a new TV, even with filters. It's not even for nostalgia, old games look and run better on old TVs.
Depends on how old games, but I totally agree. Super Nintendo/Genesis and older belong on a CRT, but once it became 3D, they look far better on an LCD

But when you're playing an NES on an LCD, forget about proper inputs. Your inputs will lag just barely enough to notice, but it'll frustrate the hell outta you. Im really into the speedrunning community(Super Metroid on SNES is my game), and it's not even possible to play on an LCD
 
One of THE greatest console games of all time(a fav of mine too). Sorry I know OT...but someone said Super Metroid haha. Samus and Bayonetta = WIN
There isn't a better game. Beautifully crafted.

back on topic, I picked up a CRT on the side of the road and fixed it(it was broken) just so I could play this game on a CRT
 
Higher end CRT Computer Monitors also look better with modern games. Faster, deeper color. I haven't seen any game that I'd prefer on a LCD. I still haven't seen a Plasma in action though
 
Depends on how old games, but I totally agree. Super Nintendo/Genesis and older belong on a CRT, but once it became 3D, they look far better on an LCD

But when you're playing an NES on an LCD, forget about proper inputs. Your inputs will lag just barely enough to notice, but it'll frustrate the hell outta you. Im really into the speedrunning community(Super Metroid on SNES is my game), and it's not even possible to play on an LCD
I've never been big on how my games look, but it's the lag that kills it for me too. I am also into speedruns and I was VERY late in getting some submitted because I was hating my classic consoles on my modern set-up. I finally pulled my old tv out of the shed and submitted about 50 scores to Speedrun in the last 2 years.

Fly
 
Electro emissive displays are coming. Supposedly will be able to screen print, ink jet the quantum dot phosphors on the anode in non clean rooms. The cathode on top of that. QDEL displays expected 2021-2023.

The keypoints are phosphors are being used and does not require a bazillion dollar factory to manufacture panels. Thus might be cheap to get quality 4:3 displays made again. The lag and how the anode cathode excites the phosphors I have no idea.
 
You guys that do speedruns, did the mini SNES and NES (the classic retro ones with the games built in) fix the lag issue?
The lag isn't from the consoles, old or new. It's from the monitors. I haven't tried the Minis on my CRT yet, but I suspect it's so minimal that I might not notice it.

Fly
 
The lag isn't from the consoles, old or new. It's from the monitors. I haven't tried the Minis on my CRT yet, but I suspect it's so minimal that I might not notice it.

Fly
Yep. Input lag is present on the SNES Mini on my LCD tv. It's arguably worse than the original console on an LCD. I should hook up my mini to the CRT and see what happens.
 
Yep. Input lag is present on the SNES Mini on my LCD tv. It's arguably worse than the original console on an LCD. I should hook up my mini to the CRT and see what happens.

Have you tried changing the Video Game picture modes and/or turned off all other video post processing "enhancements" on your LCD TV? NES/SNES Classic Minis are unplayable on HDMI displays until I go through all that.

The delay is often bad enough that I even have troubles in SMB3 first level, I always end up running into the first damn Goomba a few times before I remember to check the video mode. It's happened so often I now make sure any friends/family with them understand the picture mode options as well.

And yes, Super Metroid is by far the best game for SNES (and arguably all of console gaming period imo!) I last played through it earlier this year at the start of quarantine, ~85% completion rate, 2h 45-ish minutes from memory, by far not the greatest run out there, but good enough for me.
 
And yes, Super Metroid is by far the best game for SNES (and arguably all of console gaming period imo!)
Another +1 for this, also Killer Instinct for the Super Nintendo, which allows you to do things you couldn't even do on the arcade version...Not much(nothing really) talked about about how the super nintendo version of KI enhances the fighting....>Those two games were the Super for me(as well as others of course...but IMO those games are masterpiece).

IMO, you're gonna have to go with a crt tv and the original hardware to get the experience.....if you think the Mini is bad, the virtual console is even worse.
 
Yep. Input lag is present on the SNES Mini on my LCD tv. It's arguably worse than the original console on an LCD. I should hook up my mini to the CRT and see what happens.
Newer stuff compensates for LCD. One of the coolest examples of this is the NES2LCD mod ROMs for Zapper Gun games like Duckhunt and Wild Gunman.

Meanwhile, my Famicom and NES all have slight input lag (and weird color corruption) on newer smart TVs but only at random on LCDs like old "dumb" Vizios.
 
That was a really cool write up. Call me a purist but I can't play my old games on a new TV, even with filters. It's not even for nostalgia, old games look and run better on old TVs.

My buddy was throwing away an old CRT TV and I got all excited and took it from him and he was kinda weirded out that I'd want to keep "old trash". Then I nearly broke my back getting a huge Trinitron into my car that was left on the curb... Only to plug it in and have something inside pop and fizz and it stopped working. The wife wouldn't let me live that one down.

I never forget to scan the appliance pile at the local dump. I've managed to snag a few 19" CRT televisions that way.
One of them had been stripped of every single part except the CRT, but it turned out to be a perfect, drop-in tube.

There's a local consignment shop here that went out of business and couldn't get rid of a 40 inch 4:3 monster and kept dropping the price until it was $3. I figured if I didn't rescue it, it was bound for the landfill. When will they ever make such CRTs again? It's now safe in my garage under a tarp, perhaps forever- who knows?

I suspect your old Trinitron probably just blew a cap in the power supply. As you actually heard it going, you can probably find the offending part easily. Hopefully there wasn't any collateral damage when that let go. The problem many have with fixing these old things is the R.O.I. on their time.
 
I suspect your old Trinitron probably just blew a cap in the power supply. As you actually heard it going, you can probably find the offending part easily. Hopefully there wasn't any collateral damage when that let go. The problem many have with fixing these old things is the R.O.I. on their time.

I proooobably could have fixed it up, but at that point I hadn't done much explorations into TV or monitor repair and was kind of afraid to crack it open. I did have it plugged in outside just in case it decided to explode haha, so no collateral damage at all.

In the end, I ended up taking it to goodwill as the thing was enormous and I didn't want it just sitting around taking up space.
 
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