Choosing a television to play NES through ps2/gamecube gen

[shateredsoul]

Hi Everyone,

I recently was inspired to get a new tv after going to the bay area meetup.

Anyways, does anyone have any advice on what might be a good tv to play NES all the way through ps2/gamecube generation systems? I'll probably play gamecube games on my wii, not sure if that makes a difference. Also, I'd prefer something under $100. I've seen a bunch of Sony WEGA trinitron flatscreen on craigslist, but one guy was asking $200 =/.

So, any good recommendations for the thrifty gamer?

[AppleQueso]

If you don't mind not having 480p/progressive scan, you can find some seriously nice CRTs in the $50 or lower range. You can find quite a few that DO have 480p in that range too, but yeah.

Really, what i'd suggest is hitting up pawn shops. Most are trying to get rid of their CRTs so they'll be pretty willing to let them go REALLY cheap, especially if you're willing to haggle a little. I'd give anything with at least s-video a serious consideration.

[ATARI800XLfan]

the none Sony WEGA's are nice. I got my 32 inch Trinitron for free. Just need to look around some people are giving things away.

[mugenmidget]

If you can find one, I'd recommend the Mitsubishi Megaview CRTs. I have a "Pro 27" XC2935C and it works great. It accepts all kinds of resolutions, you can even do 720p albeit letterboxed. 480p looks awesome on it, and it has VGA connectors so you can plug the Dreamcast right into it without issue. I don't think you can do Component video, it's never worked for me at least and doesn't seem to be supported in the manual. But you can do analog RGB just fine.

And if you want to do emulators for something like arcade games, if you have a video card supported by Soft15kHz or an ArcadeVGA then you can use custom resolutions and get games running in their native video modes.

I also have a Sony PVM 2030, it only does up to 480i but it's still a great monitor, probably better than the Megaview for SD content. S-Video looks awesome on it, I never understood the jump between Composite and S-Video until I had one of these. It also supports RGB through a DB25 connector, but there are PVM models that take separate BNC connectors for the red, green, blue, and syncs. I also play a lot of NES on it in Composite (may do an RGB mod in the future), and while it certainly can't compare to RGB or a nice S-Video signal it's still a very nice picture all the same.

If you're interested in reading more about that kind of stuff, this forum is a great place for information and to get your questions answered: http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?board=5.0

But long story short, AppleQueso and ATARI800XLfan nailed it. Just hit up your pawn shops/thrift stores/garage sales and look for a TV with Trinitron branding and at least S-Video (Component is an excellent bonus), I think you're guaranteed an awesome picture at a likely reasonable price if not free.

Here's some crappy shots of M.U.S.H.A. emulated on the Megaview vs. a model 1 Genesis through RGB on the PVM 2030, you decide which is which!

[shateredsoul]

which screenshot is which tv? I like the look of the top one.

I found this, is this a fair price? Shipping kills it though

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-x-pro-monitor ... _500wt_969

The case of the tv itself looks pretty ugly though, don't you think?

[mugenmidget]

Haha the top one is the Megaview (which still looks great, but I think I prefer the PVM 2030 usually), I did a bad rush job of photographing the PVM 2030, this is a lot better shot from Gamesx.com:

http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:pvm-2030

And yea I agree about aesthetics, very blocky design, but a practical one considering its purpose. It made it easier for people to stack them together for production purposes. The fact that it's intended as a professional monitor means some other things are done a bit differently. Like the composite video connectors are all BNC so you'll need RCA to BNC adapters (really cheap, can pick them up at Radio Shack), and there's no RF tuner if you want to use an unmodded Atari 2600/7800 without hooking up a VCR. It does have a standard IR receiver, though, so you can use a universal remote with it just fine (the remote designed for it is nothing special: http://www.universaltvremotecontrol.net ... 453850.jpg).

That gamesx.com wiki page I linked earlier in this post has the manual for the PVM 2030, you might check that and see if it's missing any features that you're accustomed to having. But the picture is completely awesome, I definitely think it's worth the adjustment.

The price on that eBay listing is reasonable, but you're right about the shipping. I've seen ones in fairly good condition show up on eBay for $75 after shipping, which really isn't that bad considering that it's delivered, but you can certainly do better. You might want to check Craigslist with "Trinitron" as your search term since people often list the PVMs as that. I've even seen them listed as "Triton" monitors, so make sure to throw in a few typos!

[shateredsoul]

Thanks for the info, it's much appreciated. How about s-video, does that look pretty good on that tv?

[mugenmidget]

Yup! If I wasn't at work I'd provide some new shots, but S-Video looks great. You'll want to make the jump to RGB when possible, but on the SNES for example I have trouble seeing significant improvement from S-Video to RGB (red seems to bleed more in S-Video, but otherwise both outputs provide a sufficiently sharp and excellent picture). If RGB isn't an option (or an easy option), I think you'll still be incredibly pleased with how it looks.

I have some older (and still bad) shots of S-Video on the PVM. First one is Hokuto no Ken (PS2) running at 480i, the second one is Qix on the Super Gameboy (SNES) running at 240p:

[shateredsoul]

ahh ok, I assumed s-video was better, looks like I have to do some homework. I do have one simple question to add though, So the converter you mentioned earlier, does that convert the rca video signal to rgb? or do I need special rgb chords for each system (I found a thread with someone selling rgb chords for older systems). Just read about SCART here http://www.racketboy.com/retro/2007/02/ ... super.html

US tvs can't do SCART??

Yup! If I wasn't at work I'd provide some new shots, but S-Video looks great. You'll want to make the jump to RGB when possible, but on the SNES for example I have trouble seeing significant improvement from S-Video to RGB (red seems to bleed more in S-Video, but otherwise both outputs provide a sufficiently sharp and excellent picture). If RGB isn't an option (or an easy option), I think you'll still be incredibly pleased with how it looks.

I have some older (and still bad) shots of S-Video on the PVM. First one is Hokuto no Ken (PS2) running at 480i, the second one is Qix on the Super Gameboy (SNES) running at 240p:

[mugenmidget]

Haha, sorry, I should have used the word "adapter" earlier as the RCA > BNC connectors do not actually convert anything. It still accepts the same Composite signal without any conversion.

And you're right to think S-Video is an improvement, as people are often comparing it to Composite and RF video. So even without custom cords, S-Video on the PVM 2030 will look awesome. But if you're not interested in going the RGB route ever, you'd probably be okay with any Trinitron CRT as long as it supported S-Video, as it should be a comparable picture. But from my own experience, the PVMs are still an improvement over the S-Video of other Trinitrons, so you may want to seek one out anyways.

You would need special cords in the case of the PVMs that use DB25 connectors. Some use BNC for RGB as well, and for those you can buy SCART to BNC break out boards, allowing you to use commonly available RGB SCART cables with the PVM. The TV itself doesn't have a SCART connector (although there are PVM models from Europe that have it), but it should still work with the same signals (although some systems like the Saturn are wired differently, so you'll want to check for specifics on places like the gamesx wiki).