TV Help - HD vs SD

[Aton7]

So I recently purchased a Sony Wega HD CRT TV (KV-30HS420) for retro gaming. I wasn't really planning on buying it, but I saw it on a swap site for only $10 so why not. I thought I would just use it as my main TV for retro gaming, from NES to PS2 era but after doing some research, I've read that while the later generation systems (GC, PS2, Xbox) look great on it, older consoles that only produce 240p look pretty bad. I don't know much about TV's and upscaling, but from what I've read the HD CRT's upscale 240p to 480i which produces a bad picture.

My problem is, I don't know if I should keep the HD set and look for a way to make the lower resolution systems look better, or sell it and pick up a SD Trinitron. Hopefully someone who knows a little more about this can help me out.

Thanks, Aton7.

[samsonlonghair]

For goodness sake, Aton7, Hook that TV set up, and judge for yourself!

I can tell you Duck hunt won't work with HD sets, but you could play just about any other (non-lightgun) retro games to find out how it looks. For ten bucks, it's definitely worth it.

edit:typo

[AppleQueso]

Some HD CRTs are multiscan, which means they can change their scan rate on the fly to whatever it needs, and 240p stuff will look very nice on it. Others aren't, have a fixed scan rate, and just scale things to their "native" res (usually 1080i/720p).

IIRC, of the consumer Sony sets, only the XBR HD CRTs are true multiscan.

[dogman91]

Game Sack has a good video on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip6WuOvK8EU
also this article: http://nfgworld.com/mb/thread/660-Aspec ... n-Displays

In a nutshell, if you want things looking the best they can be without any scaling/distorting done to the original signal, along with zero input lag, you should get an SD TV. Scanlines look awesome with older games. If you don't care too much on how it looks than it should still be way better than playing old consoles on an LCD with the standard hookups though.

[Reprise]

For goodness sake, Anon7, Hook that TV set up, and judge for yourself!

I think he did.

So I recently purchased a Sony Wega HD CRT TV (KV-30HS420) for retro gaming.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

For goodness sake, Anon7, Hook that TV set up, and judge for yourself!

I think he did.

So I recently purchased a Sony Wega HD CRT TV (KV-30HS420) for retro gaming.

I've read that while the later generation systems (GC, PS2, Xbox) look great on it, older consoles that only produce 240p look pretty bad.

Thanks, Aton7.

Aton, if it looks good to you then it doesn't matter. I played my retro systems on an HD CRT that wasn't multiscan and they still looked amazing (ended up selling that XBR960 to CFFJR and he is using it for retro games as well). Hell, with the right equipment, retro stuff can still look pretty awesome on LCDs and plasmas. Sure you miss out on the scan lines, but it's really not a big deal.

[AppleQueso]

Yeah an HD CRT will still look better for old games than most LCDs.

Hell, with the right equipment, retro stuff can still look pretty awesome on LCDs and plasmas. Sure you miss out on the scan lines, but it's really not a big deal.

There's equipment for that too!

[samsonlonghair]

I read what he wrote, reprise.

I thought I would just use it as my main TV for retro gaming, from NES to PS2 era but after doing some research, I've read that while the later generation systems (GC, PS2, Xbox) look great on it, older consoles that only produce 240p look pretty bad. I don't know much about TV's and upscaling, but from what I've read the HD CRT's upscale 240p to 480i which produces a bad picture.

The underlined statements lead me to believe that Aton7 has spent more time reading about this TV set than connecting different consoles and testing the TV set himself.

Aton, if it looks good to you then it doesn't matter.

My point exactly.

[Reprise]

Sorry, my bad, samsonlonghair.

In that case, I agree with you. You should just try it Aton!

[CRTGAMER]

So I recently purchased a Sony Wega HD CRT TV (KV-30HS420) for retro gaming. I don't know much about TV's and upscaling, but from what I've read the HD CRT's upscale 240p to 480i which produces a bad picture.

My problem is, I don't know if I should keep the HD set and look for a way to make the lower resolution systems look better, or sell it and pick up a SD Trinitron. Hopefully someone who knows a little more about this can help me out.

I hope you at least try it out before selling and downgrading. I own two HD CRT WEGAS and very happy with them. I'll sacrifice the Scan Lines and Retro Light Gun to gain the sharp pic from RF Atari to SVideo N64 to Component PS2 to HDMI Cable box.

For goodness sake, Aton7, Hook that TV set up, and judge for yourself!