ULTIMATE Old-School Gaming TV??? (Might Be!)

[artphotodude]

Much has been written about good gaming with older systems and the best TVs for the job. In general, CRTs still have more than a few advantages:

• COST,

• Smooth rendering, that minimizes video artifacts,

• Support for Lightguns (non-HD CRTs),

• Awesome upscaling of low-rez/interlaced games (HD CRTs - the best of which are the late model Sony Wegas - that have field scalers/DRC: enabling solid, clear images, without raster lines, but do not through away image data or cause flicker artifacts as most line-doublers do).

Well one possible holy grail has been out of reach, due to sky-high price tags, till just recently.

NetTV - makers of ultra high-end media monitors for universities and convention centers produced many large screen SD/HD monitors in the 2000s that are now being discarded in favor of flat panels. The DTV-34XRT (http://www.audaud.com/audaud/NOV02/EQUI ... NOV02.html) is one common model that is showing up pretty often now.

Why is this 150+ lb. TV worth your time? Two words: HD + Lightguns!!!!
How does this CRT do what few others can? Simple, this is a STRICT native-resolution display. Composite and S-Video are treated just like any normal tube-TV, but thanks to a 15-pin VGA plug, your Dreamcast running native 480p, or even an Xbox 360, with a VGA cable can be run in full HD (720p/1080i) glory! The secret is that rather than treating every single as HD, it features completely variable resolution from 240i on.

The downside is that unlike the gorgeous Sony Wega HDCRTs, there is no upscan/DRC, so you will have to view raster lines just as they originally were. Also, very few of these monitors feature True-Flat CRT tubes - most all have the classic curved screen, but it isn't too bad, once you re-get used to it, and the tubes themselves are the absolute best/most reliable CRTs ever made (surpassing the quality of most arcade tubes).

Best of all - these are CHEAP. The cabinets look a bit less sexy than the Wegas or Panasonic Taus and such, so they tend to go straight to the second hand stores and I have seen no less than THREE of them in the last year for around $20 each! Just make sure if you find one to bring a console with you to test it, as repairs are likely impossible. A good careful selection can offer years more of amazing Dreamcast-VGA gaming, Classic Lightgun action and even support for PS3/Xbox 360.

[8bit]

Seems awesome... none found in my local area after a few mins of searching though. Anyone who might know where to find one in the greater houston area... pm me.

[Jagosaurus]

While looking @ this unit's inputs... though of a question:

With the DC VGA box, can you do VGA picture & stereo sound via composite? Or once in VGA mode, do u have run sound over 3.5mm headphone?

Realize you could get 3.5mm to composite adapter... just curious.

[artphotodude]

While looking @ this unit's inputs... though of a question:

With the DC VGA box, can you do VGA picture & stereo sound via composite? Or once in VGA mode, do u have run sound over 3.5mm headphone?

Realize you could get 3.5mm to composite adapter... just curious.

The L/R RCA plugs beside the Composit/S-Video still work even when in VGA. OR, you can use an 'RCA to 1/8"' adapter plug. Both work fine!

[artphotodude]

Another big advantage of these sets is that the VGA is on the front, and they also support 768x1024 XGA, so if you have a laptop, and/or 360/PS3/DreamcastVGA that you want to swap-in, you don't have to round up a big, expensive VGA switch-box, or move the set around to change plugs.

The only thing that is a bit of a drag is for component video. With the PS2, running 480p (or the rare 720p/1080i game), you have the option of changing the output to RGB in system settings, which can go to the 15pin plug easily with a cheap adapter cord. But for Wii/original XBox - that use YpBpR you have to use a 'component to vga transcoder' like this one:
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=1 ... 1&format=2

Works well, but is a bit of a hassle.

[Jagosaurus]

Answers my DC VGA box question, thanks.

So it only handles 480i & 480p over component... HD needs to run thru VGA?

I love old TVs & been hunting one with VGA in for years.

[artphotodude]

Answers my DC VGA box question, thanks.

So it only handles 480i & 480p over component... HD needs to run thru VGA?

I love old TVs & been hunting one with VGA in for years.

Very sorry to be unclear. There is no normal Component input - it only has composite, s-video and then VGA.

So in the rare case of the PS2, you can do a VGA adapter cable (like the one that came with the PS2 Linux Kit), OR possibly you might experiment with going from the PS2's component to an RGB/VGA connecter cable (like the ones that come with HD projector TVs). In this case, you need to go into the system settings and change from the Normal YpBpR setting to RGB. Am not PRECISELY sure that the same cable works for both, but is common enough to check. Worst case scenario, you could use a PS2 SCART cable and mod it to go to VGA. Anyway, should allow direct 480p and 720p/1080i from PS2 games that support it.

With the Wii and Original XBox you have to use a Component to VGA adapter box like the one listed above. I suppose it might be easiest to simply use such a converter for all component inputs for one of these TVs (including PS2).

Fortunately, the Dreamcast, PS3, Xbox 360, some arcade hardware like the Atomis Wave and of course most computers output in true VGA/XGA and are very easy to use on this TV, and with a button click, you can be lightgunning in Virtua Cop-Saturn/Area 51-Playstation just moments later on the same set!

[Anapan]

This is all very cool. I couldn't find one locally, but I'll definitely be sniffing around.

You can get the equivalent of a PS2 Linux/VGA cable by using a Sync Strike. Switch your PS2 to RGB and use a generic Sony-to-SCART cable. Those other cables are rare and hard-to-find.

[Shogun]

Is this different than a typical tri-sync monitor? I have a NEC XM29 Plus and it does 15khz 240p all the way up to 1080i as well. I had never heard of these. I'm curious how the picture quality compares to the NEC or Sony PVR series.

[theclaw]

This is all very cool. I couldn't find one locally, but I'll definitely be sniffing around.

You can get the equivalent of a PS2 Linux/VGA cable by using a Sync Strike. Switch your PS2 to RGB and use a generic Sony-to-SCART cable. Those other cables are rare and hard-to-find.

Won't that only work for games without 480p? PS2 switches its RGB to sync on green if it detects a game using high-resolution modes.