VicDeakins wrote:I go back and forth. I still have my beloved Sony WEGA 36" Trinitron HD thats a beautiful TV, however lately I've mainly been using more modern 1080P/4K tvs with my trusty XRGB Mini. RGB is pretty much all I can tolerate these days. Even my 3DO and PC Engine CD is RGB modded. I also love the systems Analogue Interactive make which have native HDMI and look beautiful. Somedays I like the picture on my flatscreen+XRGB, other days I like the Sony WEGA, sort of depends.
I definitely have gone back and forth myself. I was using an HDTV and a Framemeister exclusively for a few years, and one of the things I enjoyed was not having to deal with bad geometry and overscan clipping. But I've come to realize that there are two separate arguments, at least for me. One is picture quality, which is obvious. But the other is ease of use. There's nothing easier than having a retro console hooked directly up to a CRT. The Framemeister is great, but I would get annoyed with too many settings and sync time issues. One thing that always annoyed me was the time it takes to sync. Not just for games that switch resolutions mid-game, but for games that have audio immediately when booting. For example, most Nintendo games have that "ba-ding" splash screen when you boot the game.
VicDeakins wrote:I go back and forth. I still have my beloved Sony WEGA 36" Trinitron HD thats a beautiful TV, however lately I've mainly been using more modern 1080P/4K tvs with my trusty XRGB Mini. RGB is pretty much all I can tolerate these days. Even my 3DO and PC Engine CD is RGB modded. I also love the systems Analogue Interactive make which have native HDMI and look beautiful. Somedays I like the picture on my flatscreen+XRGB, other days I like the Sony WEGA, sort of depends.
I definitely have gone back and forth myself. I was using an HDTV and a Framemeister exclusively for a few years, and one of the things I enjoyed was not having to deal with bad geometry and overscan clipping. But I've come to realize that there are two separate arguments, at least for me. One is picture quality, which is obvious. But the other is ease of use. There's nothing easier than having a retro console hooked directly up to a CRT. The Framemeister is great, but I would get annoyed with too many settings and sync time issues. One thing that always annoyed me was the time it takes to sync. Not just for games that switch resolutions mid-game, but for games that have audio immediately when booting. For example, most Nintendo games have that "ba-ding" splash screen when you boot the game.
Thats a very tv-specific thing though. On my Sony TVs I dont have those issues, but sometimes on my Samsung Plasma I get the occasional sync issue. However my settings on my XRGB work great on all the TVs. The issue with going direct to a CRT is then you're forced to use composite video or S-Video. I am just too used to RGB to tolerate that shit. Not including of course systems like GameCube or PS2 that have component video options.
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And I've actually been using RGB with the Gamecube and PS2, too. For the Gamecube, you have to get a PAL console that can output RGB. But for the PS2, you just need the correct cables and then switch the color space to RGB in the system menu. Of course, I don't get the 480p that I could with component, but most games are 480i and it doesn't matter on a CRT anyway.
But on a consumer TV, there's easy enough ways to use an RGB-to-YPbPr transcoder.
Using a VGA CRT is a great solution. Many VGA monitors have an option for defocus that allow you to adjust scanline thickness. Transcoding HDMI to VGA is very easy and cheap using some active dongles off ebay or amazon and one of the newer cheaper HDMI line-doubler solutions like a retrotink or the new RAD2x console cables. It can be annoying dealing with double scanlines caused by line doublers but these even can be removed with vga scanline generators (the link shows them at 33% intensity). That's where the defocus comes into play filling out the large empty black spaces. the great thing is none of those devices cause any significant lag. The older Micomsoft devices are also still relevant, if one could be found.
@Anapan, I shouldn't run into lag issues present in consumer HD CRT TVs correct? The PC resolutions from the time are above 640x480. Big reason I'm interested is to lower lag.
Also, something to note is audio. No speakers adds some complication. I'm likely going to rig something up for now with volume control knob, but eventually would want a proper, small amp to speaker combo. Thanks to RB crew for educating me on line level audio in the past.
No lag issues at all. All VGA CRT monitors are direct-view afaik.
I found that price and quality wise, Altec Lansing 2.1 computer speakers which have the amp built into the subwoofer do a great job. I have owned several sets in the past and often see them at thrift stores and pawn shops (wishing I had room to stash another set). I like that they're properly shielded. Many have a remote wired volume knob and often include preset eq buttons or tone knobs and a headphone jack on the same paddle. XA3021, VS2421, ATP3 and a couple of grey 2.1 sets all still working great @ various friends and families computers as I upgraded my setups.
I needed speakers for my PVM (which has a speaker but is unusable). I have a few Altec Lansing 2.1 speakers, although 1 of the them is very noisy due to poor shielding. And 1 of them has a scratchy volume pot and crackly wire connections (it is yours for the cost of shipping if you want it!). The sound quality of them is fine, but I wanted something a little less clunky than a 2.1 setup. I ended up getting a pair of Bose Companion and couldn't be happier. They have a small footprint and sound great.
Oh yeah, by shielding I meant magnetic shielding (for the CRT). One Altec Lansing set I gave to my friend had some horrible signal noise when we first hooked it up at his new place, tho by rerouting the input differently we mostly eliminated it. My main setup is running Bose Acoustimass and it's far better than anything I ever had before. I just wanted to mention that older 2.1 speaker sets can be gotten for under $50 and having powered 2.1 is far better than any 2.0 unless you get multi-driver pro stereo speakers. Gotta have some bottom end.
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