Best CRT for retro gaming?

[Cronozilla]

All TVs have upscalers in them, especially HDTVs. I have a HD CRT from Samsung and those old games look glorious on it.

[arnold_the_bartender]

I went through this thread and am a bit surprised no one mentioned a Sony PVM. I have a PVM 20M2MDU model. How do PVMs fare against other CRT monitors? I'm going to be getting a scart to BNC cable (no need to convert the signal) for direct RGB and I have a female BNC to male RCA adapter coming in the mail for composite play. It's also S-video ready so I checked it out with my S-Video modded Genesis and it looks better than my other TVs that have S-Video. Anyone else have a PVM?

[crt4eva]

can HDTV CRTs like the sony 4:3 xbrs handle 15khz resolutions (240p)?

Welcome to the boards crt4eva, love your Login name!

YES. HD CRTs are fine for ALL the resolutions. I run consoles from Atari to PS3 with no issues.

Take a look at my CRT vs LCD Guide linked in my signature.

CRT doesn't have a native resolution so you don't get the same issue you get with LCDs. CRTs just display the content in the resolution it was intended to be viewed in. No up scaling required.

Thanks for the quick reply

So, just to be sure, HDCRTs like your xbr display retro games in the exact same way as SDCRTs? Like 240p unscaled? I've been getting conflicting reports online. I'll check your guide

Regarding the PVMs, I heard they have ridiculous picture quality. Are regular Sony Wegas similar in quality?

[Zing]

No. CRT HDTVs convert every type of input to a "native" format, at least on Sony CRTs. I don't know about others. For example, all inputs on a Sony CRT HDTV are converted to 1080i. It will not look the exact same as an SDTV. The most obvious difference is the lack of scanlines.

[AppleQueso]

^indeed.

If you want the TV to process everything without doing any scaling or converting, you'll need to find a multiscan CRT.

[arnold_the_bartender]

Regarding the PVMs, I heard they have ridiculous picture quality. Are regular Sony Wegas similar in quality?

I'd like to know this as well. I don't have a Wega to compare though.

[Zing]

Other than having RGB inputs and slightly better geometry potential, I'd say that the age and wear of all existing PVM units makes it a wash. Obviously, if you want RGB input, you have no choice, but otherwise, s-video is sufficient, in my opinion.

[arnold_the_bartender]

Other than having RGB inputs and slightly better geometry potential, I'd say that the age and wear of all existing PVM units makes it a wash. Obviously, if you want RGB input, you have no choice, but otherwise, s-video is sufficient, in my opinion.

Mine is manufactured from 2003 if that info is useful. My Magnavox CRT (MFG 1992) with RF only has superb RF quality and surprisingly looks better than composite on most of my other TVs even after all these years.

[crt4eva]

Obviously, if you want RGB input, you have no choice, but otherwise, s-video is sufficient, in my opinion.

there is the SCART to Component option wish should be better than s-video. I'm hoping to connect an SD CRT to a computer for emulators at native res using the ArcadeVGA card.

tahnks for the info also, guys

Man, wii classic titles looked SO GOOD on my old crt with component cables. Native res. I wish I didn't throw it away.

[arnold_the_bartender]

there is the SCART to Component option wish should be better than s-video. I'm hoping to connect an SD CRT to a computer for emulators at native res using the ArcadeVGA card.

Yes. I've been doing this method as well. I have a Toshiba CRT with component inputs and it looks fantastic and is a great step up from S-Video.