Reccomend me a TV?

[Valkyrie-Favor]

The CRT in my room is becoming intolerable. The geometry is distorted and the convergence is so bad, the color yellow is separated into red and green shapes with no overlap. Adjusting with the service menu isn't possible.

My budget $170 in birthday cards, plus a $25 wal-mart card and a $25 target gift card. If I need to spend more, I can sell my NES and games.

I'm going for an HDTV this time; at least I won't have to worry about convergence and non-rectangular images. I could get one for $140 if I didn't care about inputs, but for a retro gamer that's no good. These are the specs I'm looking for:

-720p resolution
-VGA, Component, S-vid, Composite inputs
-A height of 12 inches, or roughly 25" for a 16:9 screen
Headphone jack would also be cool.

Please help me out if you know of a TV fitting that description.

[AppleQueso]

Unfortunately a TV with s-video input is going to be pretty hard to find as a lot of newer TVs don't bother with it for some reason.. First thing I'd check if you're looking at wal-mart are the display models, you can get some decent deals that way. Returns aren't always accepted on those though...

You might be best off hitting pawn shops or something and picking up a used one.

Don't expect too much in terms of video quality with retro consoles. Component (and I assume s-video) should look decent enough, but composite is going to look pretty bad.

Hold onto your receipt, naturally. Input lag is going to be the biggest deal when it comes to these TVs. It can range from not really noticeable at all to making games unplayable, so you want to be able to return if it it turns out the TV has bad lag that you can't seem to get rid of.

Some tips for whatever you get though:

If it's a 120hz tv, go into the menus and turn off the automotion/smoothmotion/whatever option. Aside from looking weird, it also adds a lot of input lag.

Make sure to turn on Game Mode if it has it, this bypasses some of the extra processing to reduce input lag.

Search on AVSForum for your TV's model number to find some nice calibrated picture quality settings, then tweak from there based on your viewing area and whatnot. It'll help you get the most from your TV.

[sonic2041]

Well, there is this:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Vizio-E241-A1 ... V/21924120

I couldn't tell you how good it is.

I would maybe search the model number for some good reviews. See what people say about overscan, its 1080p so hopefully it has a pixel mode, but some Vizios I've seen have terrible overscan. A quick glance at the user manual shows picture size adjustment when using HDMI so you should be able to set it to have little to no overscan, and overscan probably isn't as big of an issue for retro consoles on the other inputs.

It doesn't have s-video, but with your price range that may not be possible, but it does have component, vga, and a composite that is shared with component.

Also, I'm not sure about return policies if you get it sent to a store, so check that out if you decide to order it.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

This model and a few other cheap ones with good reviews are in stock at my local wal-mart. I'll go check it out soon, then.

[skate323k137]

I love my 720p sony HD, but there's no s-video on it. That was quite disappointing, but like AppleQueso said, it's becoming very hard to find new HDTV's with s-video inputs. Luckily I still keep several CRT's around.

[MrPopo]

If you have a Nomad I'd recommend bringing that to the store so you can test input lag.

[flex wood]

If you have a Nomad I'd recommend bringing that to the store so you can test input lag.

Whoa that's an awesome idea. Any particular reason for using nomad? Wouldn't a psp work just as well?

[MrPopo]

If you have a Nomad I'd recommend bringing that to the store so you can test input lag.

Whoa that's an awesome idea. Any particular reason for using nomad? Wouldn't a psp work just as well?

The Nomad outputs a 240p signal, so it'll be the hardest thing for the upscaler to handle. It'll give you an idea of the lag in the worst case and if the upscaler looks like shit or not.

[CRTGAMER]

I'm going for an HDTV this time; at least I won't have to worry about convergence and non-rectangular images. I could get one for $140 if I didn't care about inputs, but for a retro gamer that's no good. These are the specs I'm looking for:

-720p resolution
-VGA, Component, S-vid, Composite inputs
-A height of 12 inches, or roughly 25" for a 16:9 screen
Headphone jack would also be cool.

Great idea to test an older console at the store, the best way to make sure. Even if a console is in 480p with a Component Cable, some HDTVs handle the upscaling badly.

If Retro consoles and SVideo are the primary requirement maybe a HD CRT? I found it works very well with retro consoles and watching movies as well. Thrift stores sometimes have them, if real lucky in 4:3 to match the screen requirements of older consoles.

HD CRTs have tons of inputs, but rarely have VGA. You can use a box to go to HDMI or Component though. If VGA is the primary requirement then go with a flat screen for a clearer higher resolution pic.

For any TV you pick that does not have a headphone jack, this can be done with the TV aux audio out going to an amp. Temporarily turn off the TV speakers in the menu while listening to headphones thru the amp.

[ExedExes]

This TV I got last year meets some of your requirements:

Philips 19PFL3505D

It is 720p and has all the inputs you need. The panel with the S-Video, composite, HDMI2 and headphone jacks is on the left side of the TV(under tag)

I've successfully played my NES, SNES, Dreamcast and Gamecube with no input lag whatsoever. I got it when it was available on Amazon for a price within your budget, but it appears that you might have to look elsewhere for a better price now.

Here is how games look on it. (under tag)