TV Help

[The Last Horseman]

Chu Chu, I've looked through that guide and some others, and I am lost. I don't understand 90% of what that says. Maybe you could 'translate' for me. After looking, I know I want an affordable model (<200$), is somewhat hideable/not ugly, and can make N64/SNES/Gamecube/PS1 and PS2 games played on PS3 look good. I also want to avoid lag if at all possible.

I know i'm probably asking too much, but I'm not good when it comes to video...

[vlame]

if you dont care for lag get a crt. if you cant have a crt, get a flat panel. how hard is this decision?

[Anapan]

Maybe a 720p plasma is what you're looking for. Their scalers seem to be better and faster than most LCD's (from what I've seen and read). The colors are great, as is angle viewing and response time. Even large used ones seem to be in your price range. Just make sure there's no burn-in or dead pixels - also test it with a Nintendo before purchasing to make sure it doesn't have a horrible comb filter that can't be turned off. The one thing I'd miss from using one for retro games is the scanlines on 240p games (unless you get an xrgb or other scaler with scanline emulation). I believe the glamor shots on Fudoh's page (retrogaming.hazard-city.de) are all taken on a Plasma TV.

[ChuChu Flamingo]

Chu Chu, I've looked through that guide and some others, and I am lost. I don't understand 90% of what that says. Maybe you could 'translate' for me. After looking, I know I want an affordable model (<200$), is somewhat hideable/not ugly, and can make N64/SNES/Gamecube/PS1 and PS2 games played on PS3 look good. I also want to avoid lag if at all possible.

I know i'm probably asking too much, but I'm not good when it comes to video...

Think of it this way. Most flat panels have a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, more commonly called 1080p. Their native resolution is 1080p and everything that isn't that resolution will have to be upscaled. Think of it as blowing up a small picture in paint to full screen. The effect isn't so nice.

Most retro game systems are 240 x 320 or around that. This is called 240p.
CRTs are almost always 480i, which is interlaced. Developers of games did a neat trick back in the day and halved the resolution of 480i to 240p for game performance. That is why you get scan lines.

Also im gonna be blunt about this, but I would recommend keeping your crt. Additionally, your ps3 playing ps1/ps2 games already has input lag. 1.5 frames for ps1, 2 frames for ps2. When you get a monitor, that input lag of 1.5/2 frames is gonna add to the input lag of the monitor itself.

But we would really need a budget.

[The Last Horseman]

I don't have a budget, I guess I'll stick with my CRT until I get a better understanding. If I had to choose a budget, it would be under 650$ for the TV and an upscaler. I would get plasma if possible, because they are cheaper.

[ChuChu Flamingo]

I don't have a budget, I guess I'll stick with my CRT until I get a better understanding. If I had to choose a budget, it would be under 650$ for the TV and an upscaler. I would get plasma if possible, because they are cheaper.

When that time comes, make sure you do your research on input lag.

XRGB's are the top tier when it comes to scalers. But they are expensive, around $300 to 400.

Micromsoft, the company who makes it are currently making ones that should be priced significantly lower. It is called the frame meister.

A good site for input lag test

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1166196
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1131464