let's discuss CRT TV ownership

How about the AV5?
https://youtu.be/zvrK_3OOKT0?si=sBWJtddStn3mhzhe
Not only does it come with a motorized stand and has retractable speakers that automatically go in and out of the main body - When it turns on or off, the image gets faded like a theater curtain. Still not silly enough for you? How about the built in Philips CD-i, then?
What a glorious TV. I even built SNES controller Ports for mine.

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Possibly a blasphemous post so please ban me if so.

But I havenā€™t been so happy with the CRT TVs from my uncle I got for free. It just didnā€™t look so great and I didnā€™t love the large size. I had a difficult time reading text in a lot of PS2 games. I suspect itā€™s the two specific TVs I have and not CRTs in general. I havenā€™t been able to find small CRTs locally, and Iā€™m not much of a bargain hunter. So I began exploring alternate options.

A smaller LCD on my desk would be nice. I only have PS1 and PS2. At first I thought a Dell monitor could be nice. There are 4:3 ones out there that are pixel perfect for older consoles. Then I was doing some looking on Marketplace and found this for $20:

Iā€™m quite happy with it! It has a headphone jack. S-video. And component. I only have an s-video cable for my PlayStations, so Iā€™ll upgrade that too soon. But I think it looks quite nice on s-video PS1! Iā€™m excited to hook up the PS2 soon too.

The TV doesnā€™t have any picture settings I can find. Need to mess around some more.

Part of me is sort of interested in Dreamcast, Genesis, SNES, etc. but Iā€™m worried the games I want might be expensive. But need to research more.

First impressions of Operation LCD is positive! I want to sell/giveaway the honking big CRT I have and just have this little desk LCD, I think.

The TV I got has a little kickstand on the back and itā€™s pretty light. Kind of cute! I could imagine storing it away easily if need be.

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that is an endgame setup if iā€™ve ever seen one.

I think CRT criticism is fair here!

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As much as I enjoy having a 27" tube Iā€™m pretty certain when it dies I shall invest in a retrotink setup. Itā€™s so much easier to rotate an LCD than a CRT.

It does make me wonder if the fascination with tubes just feelings from older folks who grew up with one?

Does a tube do anything for the young folks who never experienced channel surfing or scrambled channels? Folks who always had emulation and full libraries available, no limits on choices?

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it mostly scratches the itch but you have to do all sorts of wacky 120hz bfi hdr stuff. i do think that itā€™s future-proof though and looking 5, 10 years into the future OLED panels will be so good that youā€™ll probably be able to get better brightness and motion clarity than a crt even.

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The CRT is fun because when I plug my still working SNES and PS1 in there it looks right. I guess if like 20 years from now I can just turn a SISTer like thing on and it looks really good iā€™ll probably be pretty satisfied. (And I say 20 years cause who knows if any of my original stuff will work by then.) The other nice thing about the smaller CRTs is they have a nice presence without being too domineering. Just flipping another monitor on that looks like the monitor I stare at all day for work is kind of depressing. Related: I kinda want that picture frame TV that just shows art when not in use.

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We have that TV as a compromise with my partner about not wanting a screen in the bedroom. It is kind of garbo as a tv but it sure looks nice when itā€™s ā€œoff.ā€ It helps that we got a smaller one to sell the effect.

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What do you dislike about it as a TV? It does look nice off in those pics!

I grew up with tube TVs but I donā€™t really have much nostalgia for them based on the two crappy ones I got for free. :rofl: But the pictures in this thread do make me envious of the nice CRTs. For older consoles, that does appeal to me. But I also wonder if a decade of modern pixel art and emulation without any filters has me actually preferring crisp non-CRT pixels? :thinking: I never use CRT filters in pixel art games.

Re: rotating for tate, I had another anti-CRT pick up yesterday. A slightly scratched Dell 2001FP for $20. It rotates! And supports s-video, DVI, composite, and vga. Itā€™s 20ā€ so a lil bigger than that tiny TV. Itā€™s also 4x3 and pixel perfect upscale from older consoles. Picture looks quite nice on it! Iā€™m going to test out Raiden III tate later.

My plan with the Dell monitor is to make a little emulation drive with Batocera and play it on there. Iā€™m interested in PC Engine shmups rn so will see how it goes.

Iā€™ve been wondering (since yesterday) if mid-aughts LCDs is the new CRTs (half joking). :rofl: itā€™s nice that theyā€™re lighter and probably ship more safely. But idk much about image quality and response time, Iā€™m a baby with respect to that stuff.

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Should there be a new thread to talk about non-crt screens?

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the issue i have with early lcds is that image quality is worse than modern tvs and latency was a big problem back then. but tbf iā€™ve never looked into sd flat panels outside of the basic computer monitors that were around when i was younger but i definitely wasnā€™t thinking about image quality or clarity back then. it is cool that they have analog inputs!
interesting that you mention having trouble reading text on a crt. thatā€™s only an issue i had trying to play xbox 360 and ps3 games during the transition to hd. most games from the ps2 era and earlier have pretty massive text. could be a clarity issue if youā€™re using composite on a cheapo tube. or itā€™s the flicker that bothers you? i have some friends that get a headache just looking at a crt so theyā€™re definitely not for everyone.

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#DarkCloudAssFont

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I want an lcd so slow that moving images kind of smear across the screen. I might have to cast setting a C little pocket computer with an rca to vga adapter when I thrift.

i think if theyā€™re the old 4:3 screens with analog connections are still okay. i think the ghosting adds something and the PSOne screen still holds some cachet in the retro circles.

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I think itā€™s exactly this. Except Iā€™m using S-Video cables. But something about reading JRPGs with lots of text wasnā€™t feeling right to me for some reason. Maybe I was too close to the TV since itā€™s a big one? :thinking:

All RPGs on playstation 2 are 480i resolution except for Disgaea. (pretty much) Rather than 240p of previous generations. You may have issues with the interlaced flicker. check settings for deflicker.

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Was setting up and casually calibrating this baby phillips cause i came up with a use case (streaming) and these tiny CRTs have such a specific look that after looking at it for 30 minutes straight everything else somehow starts looking wrong. like rgb on my pvm looks wrong after using the baby CRT.

itā€™s a philips PR0930X301 which is basically phillipsā€™s version of the famous sony KV-9PT50/60 baby CRT

itā€™s technically my older brotherā€™s tv but iā€™ve had it with me for like 5 years now. i should probably just give him 25 bucks for it. just to make sure he doesnā€™t ask me to give it back hehe

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Whoa, carried up my PC CRT to the fifth floor. I can still feel it in my legs. Itā€™s hooked up to the iMac and gaming PC at the same time. Excuse the bad cable management for the moment.

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the things that make it nice as an ersatz-painting make it not great for doing tv things like playing games, watching movies, etc. the panel feels (aside from the matte panel and muted colour rendition) a bit like 2015 and not 2025.

I wouldnā€™t want it as a main TV, we have an older LG oled in the living room and it blows this one away.
Sure is nice as a piece of ambient decoration though!

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