NES in 2019 - clone console or original?

[SuperDerpBro]

Try Retroarch on a PC with runahead (time travel) enabled. Less lag than actual hardware. If you have a near lagless display (like a good monitor or a VERY good HDTV) its freaky.

I prefer monitors to TV so i game on a 32inch LG or HP monitor (I have two that i use for games). Both monitors have less than a frame of lag and playing Super Mario World on them with less lag than playing it on a CRT with an actual SNES is a pretty big jump forward for emulation.

I actually rarely turn runahead on because GPU Hard Sync 0 is enough for me, and playing with less lag that OG hardware for too long will make the OG hardware feel laggy eventually LOL.

[samsonlonghair]

Try Retroarch on a PC with runahead (time travel) enabled. Less lag than actual hardware. If you have a near lagless display (like a good monitor or a VERY good HDTV) its freaky.

I prefer monitors to TV so i game on a 32inch LG or HP monitor (I have two that i use for games). Both monitors have less than a frame of lag and playing Super Mario World on them with less lag than playing it on a CRT with an actual SNES is a pretty big jump forward for emulation.

I actually rarely turn runahead on because GPU Hard Sync 0 is enough for me, and playing with less lag that OG hardware for too long will make the OG hardware feel laggy eventually LOL.

I don't know much about runahead; tell me about that. I'm having a hard time imagining how anything can have less lag than an original console connected to a CRT, but I'll do some reading on the subject.

I can feel you on gaming on a computer monitor vs a TV set. I've done that in the past, and I like it a lot. The two monitors I'm currently using only offer dual-link DVI and VGA (DE-15) inputs. I've been thinking about switching back to an HDMI monitor just so I can game more often. Maybe I'll line up my mini retro consoles under my glass monitor riser. That would be fun.

[bmoc]

I don't know much about runahead; tell me about that. I'm having a hard time imagining how anything can have less lag than an original console connected to a CRT, but I'll do some reading on the subject.

It is essentially the same technique used by rollback fighting game netcode like GGPO. Google Stadia also plans to use a similar technique to reduce input lag.

The classic example is Super Mario World. SMW has 2 frames of input lag built into the game's code. So original console plus a CRT's display lag (zero) = 2 frames of total lag. Now lets say you have one of the best LCD monitors for display lag that has around 1/2 a frame of lag. If you use runahead to eliminate the the 2 frames of lag from SWM, you only have to contend with the monitor's display lag. 2 frames of total lag with your CRT and original hardware vs 1/2 a frame of display lag using a low lag monitor and runahead emulation.

[SuperDerpBro]

Thanks for saving me from typing it

[samsonlonghair]

I've been thinking about switching back to an HDMI monitor just so I can game more often. Maybe I'll line up my mini retro consoles under my glass monitor riser. That would be fun.

short follow up on this idea. The mini consoles look cool under my glass monitor riser, but my monitor takes way too many frames to upscale that 720p up to 1920x1080. It's lag city. It's a shame because it looks really good, but it's practically unplayable. Lesson learned: my computer monitor might be good for native 1080p games, but it's terrible for upscaling 720p games.

Oh well, I guess I gotta carry the 720p TV set back down out of the attic. That one doesn't give me nearly so much lag.

[SuperDerpBro]

Just do this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mblABT4eOfI

[Jagosaurus]

I have my childhood NES & my buddies'. Both power are but are pins are bad. I'm thinking of going all out with ...

Blinking Light Win setup.

For OP, expect to do some tinkering with an old console. I've owned 5 or so NES consoles... all had pin issues. 1 I had to disable the lockout chip to get it to function at all.

This has me looking at some clones. I only own about 20 NES & SNES carts, but HDMI out (with 4:3 toggle!) would be nice versus repairing above + console composite AV output + RetroTink (another $100). Been debating my next move for 6 months

[SuperDerpBro]

That was nearly the exact predicament i was in. All of the clones seriously suck. Big time. Other than the expensive AVS (or the way too expensive NT), which is a different beast. I almost went OG Hardware + RetroTink. But i ended up going full emulation. Its been fantastic. With the shaders you can use, VIA RetroArch, NES looks several orders of magnitude better than.. pretty much anything other than real (RGB modded) hardware on a CRT/PVM. You just cant play your carts without buying a Retrode.

You could also look into the Hi Def NES