Jump to content
IGNORED

Plasma or LCD/LED for old school gaming?


tillenterprises

Recommended Posts

Hands down, the best tv I have ever seen for anything 480i or older is a 36" Sony WEGA! I have a 36" JVC that that is VERY nice, but not totally flat, and at 165 pounds it is a beast, BUT the Sony is even better and at approx 240 pounds it has very limited appeal. My in-laws have one and it is about 12 years old and still looks perfect.

I would never buy plasma, even if they are better. I saw what Forza would do to one, 1 day later, you could still see the speedometer burn in.

 

I have my 2600, 7800, PS1, and Wii all connected to this exact same TV. Works awesome, except it is a space hog... but it IS worth it! :)

 

Nothing beats a tube for old school gaming.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I understand it, an LED can not "burn in."

 

AX

 

 

Doesn't that just refer to the lighting style of the screen? It's still an LCD, but lit with LEDs instead of a fluor tube.

 

Absolutely correct. LED tv's just have a different backlight technology. The pixel array is 100% pure LCD, which doesn't really burn in. And the little bit that can happen, well, you just turn to a blank station with static for a few hours to re-exercise the "stretched" crystals.

 

No matter what plasma tv you get, the tech is inherently susceptible to burn-in. Yes. Don't argue with me.

 

And OLED (true LED pixels) TV's will be much worse, even worse than CRT's.. This (and lifespan) are the two main causes of why we aren't seeing TRUE LED TV's right now. The problem is with the blue pigmentation. But all colors fade unevenly. And you have problems controlling brightness consistently across the panel anyways. Give it another 5 years. But don't early adopt any OLED's just yet.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On occasion I run something called UnDead Pixel, a program that cycles through RED GREEN BLUE BLACK WHITE 50%GRAY. You can let this run for a while and just for fun I suppose. And while doing so, you can rest easy knowing your pixels are doing their part to stay healthy.

I'd suggest changing the default yellow color to a 50% gray value.. As the 50% gray value can uncover a lot of issues with the DAC's, as will a 25% and 75% value. The 25%, 50%, 75% grays are generally the hardest values for an LCD display to replicate consistently and smoothly. http://udpix.free.fr/index.php?p=dl

 

Or you can just make a slide show of RGB screens and flip through those with the windows screensaver. Just use paint to make up a series of .BMP screens and cycle through them!

 

And there are all sorts of gimicks and tricks on the web if you search for Dead Pixel, Stuck Pixel, LCD Burn-in, things like that.

 

I find these programs and techniques amusing and of dubious value when "fixing" a pixel problem. But they are invaluable for spotting an errant pixel. But, they make you feel good knowing your pixels operate throughout their entire range though, don't they?

 

Trivia facts:

A proper 16:10 HD display has 6,912,000 pixels.

The retarded cost-cutting 16:9 HD displays have 6,220,800 pixels.

Some mfg's burn-out a "stuck-on" sub-pixel with a laser prior to shipping LCD's.

LCD's (tv/computer)with floro tubes use more electricity to draw black images.

LCD's (with LED backlight) used as a tv use more electricity to draw white/bright images.

LCD's (with LED backlight) used on computers use more electricity to draw black images.

LCD technology is over 150 years old, it was in the 60's and 70's we figured out how to use it.

 

It's interesting to note that PLASMA and CRT displays both emit light. And Burn-in is real burn. You effect a chemical change and remove too many atoms/electrons from one spot area (in relation to all the others) when you leave when you leave a stationary image onscreen. That part of the screen degrades faster than the rest. Though the whole screen degrades evenly with moving images. Electrons are literally boiling off!

 

LCD's are transmissive devices, or light valves. They allow light to either pass through or not. There is no consumption of a limited supply of phosphor coating involved.

 

Read up here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_pixel

 

And enjoy these videos!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3aITfU_UvE&NR=1

Edited by Keatah
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OKAY- I BOUGHT THE NEW TV TONIGHT AND.... IT WAS THE PANASONIC 50" 1080i PLASMA! The decision was made with all of your input and general consensus, of course! However, so far no luck getting the Atari to work right with it. I am using an unmodded 4 switch, with the RF to Coax adapter plug, and the picture displays on the screen, but it makes a "clicking sound" and seems like it's trying to refresh the screen constantly, almost like when you're trying to play a PAL game on a NTSC tv, except the picture isn't rolling. I can try to upload a video when I get a chance so you can see what I'm talking about. I didn't read the manual yet, but offhand, does anybody know if there's a way to manually adjust the signal or the refresh rate, or whatever might be causing the bad picture on the plasma?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hmmm. congrats on your plasma! as far as the problem you are having i am not to sure on that one. i didnt have a problem when playing my atari on a plasma but it wasnt a panasonic. im sure someone will read this and maybe have a good answer. hope it doesnt make you regret your purchase as the panasonic plasma my parents have is great. the one you purchased also has a burn in feature.. which you wont need im sure and an anti glare screen. if you cant figure the problem out i guess in the future you could always get a modded system and that should take care of the problem. not sure who on here could mod it though? anyone??? an afterthought... you got a 1080I one and not a 1080p? could that be the problem... maybe so

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was thinking about trying hooking the atari up to the VCR via coax input and running the red white and yellow RCA composite to send the signal to the tv to see if that will work. I haven't tried the VCR yet on the new tv, but my laserdisc player with the composite outputs seems to work fine, so I'm hoping this will work. I'll try it tomorrow!

Edited by tillenterprises
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its amazing how new flat panels can so greatly improve the look of new tech, but make retrogear look worse than a crt and how random the problems are. I swear every game looks great on my Samsung except Asteroids! The asteroids look like they are made of glowing window screen mesh. On my Magnavox thhe whole screen jitters like we're having an earthquake... but only on Asteroids! Pac Man has a lot of flicker also, but doesn't give me the same problem on either unit. It's like my tvs don't want me to shoot technicolor space rocks for some reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its amazing how new flat panels can so greatly improve the look of new tech, but make retrogear look worse than a crt and how random the problems are. I swear every game looks great on my Samsung except Asteroids! The asteroids look like they are made of glowing window screen mesh. On my Magnavox thhe whole screen jitters like we're having an earthquake... but only on Asteroids! Pac Man has a lot of flicker also, but doesn't give me the same problem on either unit. It's like my tvs don't want me to shoot technicolor space rocks for some reason.

 

Are we talking Asteroids on the 2600 or MAME or what?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you tried a different channel, switch between channel 3 & 4 on the console and do the same to the tv?

 

With me I have my console set to channel 3 but when I power the tv on and its on channel 3 I have to change from channel 3 to 4 to 3 again to get the signal correct.

 

OKAY- I BOUGHT THE NEW TV TONIGHT AND.... IT WAS THE PANASONIC 50" 1080i PLASMA! The decision was made with all of your input and general consensus, of course! However, so far no luck getting the Atari to work right with it. I am using an unmodded 4 switch, with the RF to Coax adapter plug, and the picture displays on the screen, but it makes a "clicking sound" and seems like it's trying to refresh the screen constantly, almost like when you're trying to play a PAL game on a NTSC tv, except the picture isn't rolling. I can try to upload a video when I get a chance so you can see what I'm talking about. I didn't read the manual yet, but offhand, does anybody know if there's a way to manually adjust the signal or the refresh rate, or whatever might be causing the bad picture on the plasma?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Keep in mind, with any HDTV display, you'll need to worry about input delay for any consoles that aren't connected via component/HDMI. I've seen some TVs that have it real bad, some TVs that feature a "game mode", and some TVs that handle it just fine. I've seen some TVs where game mode didn't change a thing, and some TVs where anything RF/composite/S-video came in way too dark.

 

Depends on the game. I'll play Astrosmash stretched, but other stuff in 4x3.

 

No, you won't burn black, as it's not being lit.

 

My friend's grandma had a plasma TV, she watched a lot of 4:3 television on it (with the aspect ratio corrected, so black bars on the sides). We tried watching a widescreen movie on it, and on the sides where the black bars usually were, the entire picture was shifted pink.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's way too many input and output formats, both for gaming consoles, television sets, and other a/v equipment.

 

You can say all you want about freedom of choice. But in the world of electronics, where every manufacturer does things differently in an attempt to get ahead of the competition, this is a bad thing. It's rough on on the consumer, trying to find mix and match components - as evidenced in this thread.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing one type of connector standardized on a monitor, ONE TYPE, and you have tiny modules that convert that connector to others. You build a cheap conversion chip right into the cable. And it would be modular and forward and backward compatible. Once that is designed, manufacturing it would be dirt cheap!

 

If that sounds too complex, just put all the connectors on it! And include a front-end DSP that can bring it all together and present the correct image to the monitor drive circuitry. No big deal folks.

 

Maybe include a 20-pin user input cable, and that same analog DSP, and have the software already in the monitor (or downloadable and upgradable) - ready to accept whatever you feed it. From Morse Code all the way to lightpeak. Whatever.

 

If a manufacturer is going to start changing things around, then they better damned well support all the past standards as well as the newer stuff as it becomes available. If you're going to do the job do it completely and correctly. Otherwise don't bother, we don't want your half-assed cost-cutted shit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't mind seeing one type of connector standardized on a monitor, ONE TYPE, and you have tiny modules that convert that connector to others. You build a cheap conversion chip right into the cable. And it would be modular and forward and backward compatible. Once that is designed, manufacturing it would be dirt cheap!

 

Sounds like SCART. I wish that were more popular outside of Europe, it seems great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...