Best Tube TV for multitasking: NES, SNES, 3DO, N64, PS2, GC, 360?

[Mike 01Hawk]

Ha, I currently only have 1 TV in my house, a Sony HS20 Projector @ 118inches for Movie duty

 

But now I finally wanna dust off all my old systems. I'll have this setup in my office, so anything over 20inches will be HUGE since I'll only be a few feet away from the screen.

 

I was thinking Tube Widescreen HDTV since I already have a HDTV Tuner in my PC that I can run to the TV, also plan on getting a 360 down the road.

 

Soooo with all that said... are my options pretty slim on what is available new in stock?

 

From some quick searches on AVS, it's looking like the 34 incher Sony XBR960 is the 'KING', but where the heck to get it???

 

Any other suggestions?

 

(Oh and it makes me sad trying to hook up my 3DO, GC, PS2 to my Dell 24 inch LCD.... )

[Mike 01Hawk]

Well folks, even with all the geometry issues mentioned over at AVS, I think I'm gonna go with the Slimfit 30, the TXT3093WH... mainly cause it's the only one f'n available around here.

 

Now I just gotta wait on a Best Buy or Sears sale...

 

Oh and yeah, I'll check local ebay/craigslist as well in the mean time for the Sony 960

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I have the Samsung S3082WH myself and love it! At first the geometry was pretty bad and it annoyed me to know end. But once I spent about 2 hours with it in service mode and an AVIA calibration DVD its better than most standard CRTs geometry that most of us have been used to viewing for many many years. Mine can only go up to 1080i but then the newest consoles I have attached to it are my PS2 and Wii. Both are connected via component directly to the TV. I love all the inputs available on mine. I'm not familiar with the 3093 model... since mine is a bit older. But I just got it about 10months ago.

 

My only complaints with the TV now are that the side speakers still seem to cause some discoloration in the far upper corners of the screen no matter how much degauzing I do on this thing, and how freaking heavy these widescreen HDTV CRTs are! It also wasn't cheap to find a TV stand that could handle the 120+lbs this things weighs. Most TV stands can only hold up to about 90lbs so be sure you check into that.

[JB]

From some quick searches on AVS, it's looking like the 34 incher Sony XBR960 is the 'KING', but where the heck to get it???

eBay. For 2 organs and one limb of your choice.

 

Sony discontinued that model a while back for the XBR970.

Videophiles promptly snatched up the remaining units to ensure they got a best display ever while it was still available. They are now a hot commodity.

 

 

 

 

I'm using an old presentation monitor. 32" Mitsubishi monstrosity. Affectionately nicknamed Screenzilla.

 

I wouldn't really recommend it, as you have to crawl behind it and physically flip a switch to toggle between composite and s-video.

...

Unless the second composite connector isn't tied to the switch. My Video 2 input doesn't work(unless there's something huge I missed somewhere).

 

It's also disappointing for my 360, as

1. I had to construct an adapter to interface the existing RGB inputs(5 BNC or non-standard DB15, your choice) to my 360 VGA cable, and

2. it only does up to 800*600. 360 doesn't believe in that res, so it runs at 640*480. But at least I get progressive scan unlike SOME systems(glares at XBox 1).

[Mike 01Hawk]

Guess I should update this thread incase anyone stumbles upon it down the road.

 

I decided to go w/ that Samsung Slimfit 30 (3093 model) Got it for $525 out the door on sale at BB

 

I've only had the TV for a few weeks, and not THAT much game time but I think it plays nicely with most gaming systems. I think there might be a bit of lag induced during play. I was playing Super Mario World on the SNES and my jumps seemed to be just a wee bit off, but I think that may be due to my crappy controller or just the fact that I'm a bit rusty with the game, after playing a bit longer on the game I got used to the feel. I'll need to test it out some more to make certain there isn't any noticeable lag introduced while gaming on this tv.

 

So, here's are the systems and how they're hooked up and my quick impressions:

 

1) NES -> Composite -> Colors are a bit bloomy/blurry, but very liveable, there are issues with Mario Brothers, you can see extra background pixels on the left hand side, but I guess that's just the nature of the beast when it comes to Overscan I think it's called.

 

2) SNES -> Composite -> Same bloom/blurry as the NES, but liveable

3) SNES -> S-video -> Colors are much better defined, also the clarity is a bit higher, BUT it does introduce the 'mask' (dither?) effect. It's a trade off to decide between the anti-alsing affects of Composite, or the better image quality of S-Video

 

4) 3DO -> S-Video -> Works as expected, good god the birth of 3D was very painful

 

5) N64 -> S-Video -> Same dither issues using S-Vid, also, same problem with 3DO, lol, the teething stage of 3D sucks!!!! (I can fallback to Composite if I wish)

 

6) Gamecube -> Component -> Absolutely amazing, very impressive (tested F-Zero on it)

 

7) PS2 -> Component -> Very nice as well, (tested GT4 and SSX Tricky)

 

 

All Hail the MAN TV (can you tell I like F-Zero? Lol, there's also F-Zero in the Gamecube, and I have the GBA version as well) !!!

[Ghost Soldier]

Nice tv you have everything hooked too. F-zero rules in my mind too.

Edited November 27, 2007 by Ghost Soldier

[kevincal]

I've been playing F-Zero GX quite a bit lately. Love that game. F-Zero and X rock too. You know what would be awesome? An F-Zero vs. Wipeout game...

[Tempest]

3) SNES -> S-video -> Colors are much better defined, also the clarity is a bit higher, BUT it does introduce the 'mask' (dither?) effect. It's a trade off to decide between the anti-alsing affects of Composite, or the better image quality of S-Video

 

I ran into this problem as well. I chose to go back to Composite since the dithering effect was just too obnoxious to look at after awhile.

 

Tempest