Retro gaming on SDTV lcd.

[emwearz]

So question, has anyone done any retro gaming on a SD, 640x480, TV?

I know how horrible it can look on a HDTV, but I have never used a sdtv 4:3 LCD.

Someone has offered me one that has VGA, s video, component but all pretty useless if it will have the same shadow/ dot crawl issues as a HDTV. Controller delay is another thing I am worried about, does this tens to happen on sdtv LCDs as well?

I could get it and test it, but it is about a 4 hour trip, so hoping for any feedback before getting into it.

My Sony Trinitron has some issues so I am on the look for a replacement.

[CRTGAMER]

The LCD will still upscale all images. A chance the SD signal might not "deteriorate" to badly due to smaller screen size and not a wide screen? However, I suspect it is an older model which might have worse upscale issues.

Maybe ask the seller to send a screenshot of a TV broadcast know for just a non HD channel? Better yet a comparison of HD and SD channels. If the SD channel looks too pixelated, the older consoles will also have the same issue. The HDTV biggest issue is handling the older TV channels.

I use an older 4:3 VGA LCD monitor for the tower PC. The imagery is very sharp, but then it is in VGA. I sometimes run older PC games in 640x480 which is similar to 480p and it looks just fine. I imagine if the monitor was to take a lower resolution of 240p/480i signal, there might the dreaded dot crawl affect.

[emwearz]

I know the person , it will be a freebie, it's more about trying to gather some info before 4 hours of driving.

I know it doesn't have a digital receiver. So only analog and SD channels only.. He uses it via VGA as a media center in a spare room, but is swapping it out as he got a new TV for his lounge.

It has all the right inputs, which is what I am struggling about finding a replacement CRT for my retro systems. I might have to bite the bullet and do the drive, struggling to find much online about SD LCDs in regards to retro gaming.

[Hobie-wan]

Do they have anything they can hook up? Surely they have a DVD/BR player at least they can hook composite and pop in a disc with a still menu with solid vertical lines to give an evaluation or take a picture for you.

[Anapan]

I played some games on a 848x480 7" lcd from DX.com to test it out. It wasn't bad at all, but that may have just been the size making it look decent. From what I could tell, having the SD image scaled to 640x480 (in it's 4x3 mode) wasn't any better than a higher definition LCD since it was scaled with bilinear. As with all analog signals, the viewable area isn't actually a perfect 256x240, 320x240, 640x480i etc. and no console sends a true "widthx240" image; it's always a few scanlines off due to the vblank and all. You really need an analog display to make everything come out "perfect" since the CRT just projects the overscan out of the viewable area (LCDs just detect or guess the viewable area and throw the rest away). LCDs and the like pretty much always do badly with an interlaced signal as far a videogames go. Horizontal movement does that comb-looking thing, and everything gets blurred...

Still, if it's free, you can never have too many displays (says the guy with about 24 screens kicking around).

That 7" is installed at my dad's place beside his sit-down computer with a long composite cable from his satellite receiver so he can watch tv in the other room while doing classifieds.

[emwearz]

So I drove and got it.

And I am really surprised, everything looks really good. My consoles through S-video look really sharp, component looks amazing, VGA for the Dreamcast is a nice bonus. Composite looks decent, but nowhere as good as my WEGA/Trinitron did and the RF (Only my SMS2 uses it) looks pretty bad as well.

But there is not input delay which was my main worry and no visual artifacts when moving, etc.

I will take some photos later in the day to show you guys, I think you will be suprised.

[CRTGAMER]

So I drove and got it.

And I am really surprised, everything looks really good. My consoles through S-video look really sharp, component looks amazing, VGA for the Dreamcast is a nice bonus. Composite looks decent, but nowhere as good as my WEGA/Trinitron did and the RF (Only my SMS2 uses it) looks pretty bad as well.

But there is not input delay which was my main worry and no visual artifacts when moving, etc.

I will take some photos later in the day to show you guys, I think you will be surprised.

Good to read that! What size is the TV?

Is the WEGA beyond help? Never saw a followup on it.

[emwearz]

It is 20", which of course helps with the IQ.

The WEGA is gone. I went through every option in the service menu, thinking if it died, it did not really matter. Anyway, I from looking online, the only was to fix the issue I had was to open it up and do some cap replacing / calibrating. Beyond what I feel comfortable doing with CRT TV's, just too dangerous.

A fellow retro gamer will be picking up the WEGA to see if they can save it / if the issues don't bother him enough.

Either way I am really happy with the IQ on this unit, it has all the inputs I want (having VGA is great for DC).

I tried taking some pictures today but my phone did not do it justice, I will use my dedicated camera later on and upload some photos.