What type of TV do you use for classic consoles?

[+GoldenWheels]

I have a 19 inch CRT portable set up but still find myself using the Wega 60 inch (which is like a 47 or something at 4:3) rear projection/lcd combo. The games look and play wonderfully.

 

But I can't play Duck Hunt.

 

I'll live.

Edited December 16, 2013 by GoldenWheels

[ls650]

I switched to a cheapie 'Dynex' LCD 15" TV I bought a couple of years ago for $99. It actually works quite well with every classic system I've tried it with, including several that use RF.

[Charlie_]

So far, poll shows we are old and have old TVs.

[Atariboy]

I'm 30 and play on a 26" SD Sony Trinitron flatscreen from about 2006 or so. Also have a 2600 connected to a small 11" or so B&W CRT and a Dreamcast to a CRT PC monitor. Only exceptions so far not on a CRT are my 360, PS3, and my PSP via tv/out to a HDMI upscaler (And someday, a Wii U, PS4, XB1, Retron 5, and hopefully a Vita TV if it releases stateside).

 

I almost went for a 36" HD Trinitron. But at the last minute, I started taking some measurements of my backseat and various points in my home that it would have to be navigated through and where it would sit. It wouldn't of even fit in the backseat of my Chevy Impala...

 

When I realized just how heavy what I purchased was, I don't see how I could've even managed what I originally considered. Thanks to CRT's being so unbalanced and hard to get a grip on, it was hard with one person helping to move it (I want to say it's 160 pounds or thereabouts if I'm remembering its specifications correctly). And it was about at my limit for moving it alone a few feet when I switched tv's out later that day.

 

I forget the weight of the 36" but I'm sure it was at least 100 pounds more. Wish I could've had both though. I bet 480p and 16:9 from my Xbox and Wii would've looked great on that 36" model.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Atariboy

[BassGuitari]

CRTs only. I'm 28 years old and I keep old TVs specifically for classic games, because that's what they're supposed to be played on. They're not even THAT old. They were all made in the last 10 years, which I guess by electronics standards is ancient.

The big LCD is for movies, football, and Netflix.

[1982VideoGames]

Sony Trinitron 20" that I've been using for 20 years now.

[R.Cade]

Trinitron 14" and 20" PVM models... nothing better.

[mbd30]

Hey, I think I just found the biggest ripoff on Amazon. Does this seller expect anyone to pay $500 for a 20" RCA tube TV??

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000TKI4WM/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

[+remowilliams]

I use modern flat panels (LED LCD or plasma) with the XRGB-mini. It was the device that after searching for many years finally allowed me to pack away the CRTs. It's not cheap but it's the best, bar none and will eliminate most people's needs for CRTs.

 

http://retrogaming.hazard-city.de/framemeister.html

[Hatta]

I almost went for a 36" HD Trinitron. But at the last minute, I started taking some measurements of my backseat and various points in my home that it would have to be navigated through and where it would sit. It wouldn't of even fit in the backseat of my Chevy Impala...

I have a 32" SD Wega Trinitron, and I hear you. That thing *barely* fit in the back of my Accord. And by "barely fit", I mean I was seriously worried that I had damaged the door trying to get it in. I have a move coming up next month, and I'm going to have to work against gravity getting this thing out of my basement.

 

Still worth it, fantastic screen. Still, I'd kill for a PVM.

[cimerians]

Sony Trinitron and I also have a Toshiba 14" here:

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005KI2Z/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3P86SSV8RNNKP&coliid=I1U20QN985KS60

[Eltigro]

Right now, anything I play is on my 40 inch LCD, but that's mainly because of space restrictions. I have a 32 inch Samsung CRT in storage that I used to have several older systems hooked up to. But honestly, I'm okay with having older stuff hooked up to the LCD. It's not that bad in my opinion. (Last night, though, I was playing Raiden on my TurboGrafx and kept seeing a little dot that was making my eyes hurt. I'd try to focus on it but kept seeing double. I finally got up to see what was going on, and it was a tiny spider hanging from a thread about two feet in front of the TV.)

[Austin]

I use modern flat panels (LED LCD or plasma) with the XRGB-mini. It was the device that after searching for many years finally allowed me to pack away the CRTs. It's not cheap but it's the best, bar none and will eliminate most people's needs for CRTs.

 

http://retrogaming.hazard-city.de/framemeister.html

 

I am hoping in the next year or so I will be able to invest in one of these. Possibly sooner. I have a friend that absolutely raves about it.

[MaximRecoil]

I am hoping in the next year or so I will be able to invest in one of these. Possibly sooner. I have a friend that absolutely raves about it.

I hate the image characteristics of LCD displays in the first place, regardless of what is being displayed on them, so there is no fixing them for me. LCDs are clear and sharp and whatnot, but there is something about them that is hard to put into words; the "texture" maybe, that I don't like. When viewing an LCD, you can instantly tell you are viewing an LCD, even if everything but the screen itself was concealed from view, and whatever it is about the image that screams "LCD" is what I don't like.

 

It is too bad that "SED" turned out to be vaporware, because based on the description of it, I probably would have liked it (at least for viewing content which natively matches its fixed resolution so that there are no hardware stretching [scaling/resizing] artifacts). Based on the description of OLED, I might like that too (again, only for native HD content).

 

All digital displays have the fixed-resolution problem though, which is inherent to the concept of a digital display in the first place, and will never be eliminated. This restricts you to having to use content with a native resolution that matches the fixed resolution of the display if you want a picture that's free from scaling/resizing artifacts. And classic video games have a lot of stretching/scaling that needs to be done to go from ~240p (which would look like a postage stamp surrounded by a sea of black if a modern digital HD display simply passed it through to the screen raw) to 1080p.

 

I wish that modern displays didn't have these inherent problems; I hate when "one step forward, two steps back" technology catches on, especially when the "two steps back" were the most important steps (i.e., steps that affect overall image quality in this case).

[Atariboy]

I am hoping in the next year or so I will be able to invest in one of these. Possibly sooner. I have a friend that absolutely raves about it.

Any idea if they save settings now? That was a complaint when they were new since one setting that is good for say the Genesis isn't going to be good for another system like the NES. Yet you had to manually reset it each time you switched between systems as I understood it.

 

Even if price wasn't an issue, that's a deterrent for me unless I was planning to keep it dedicated to a single console. And even then, there has never really been a standardized resolution for any game console so ideal settings could still vary from game to game.

 

So the hope was that a firmware patch would let you assign settings to several buttons on the remote so you could press button A or button 1 or whatever and it switches you to your Genesis settings, button 2 for the N64, etc. Then at least for your favorites, there's a minimum of fuss.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Atariboy

[Falconhood]

I think our screen size should exceed our age...okay, that's a good enough excuse for me to get a BIG T.V. for Christmas!

[famicommander]

My 7800, Intellivision, Colecovision, Master System, 5200, Odyssey², NES, Super Nintendo, Playstation, Neo Geo CD, Nintendo 64, Genesis w/32X and SEGA CD, Saturn, 3DO, CD-i, Jaguar w/Jag CD, and Turbografx-16 are hooked up via s-video/composite/coax and a complex network of switches and surge protectors to a 24 inch CRT. The 2600 isn't hooked up due to the 7800.

 

The Wii, Gamecube w/Game Boy Player, Playstation 2, Xbox, and Dreamcast are hooked up via component or VGA to a 32 inch Sony 16:9 HD CRT.

 

The Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U are hooked up via HDMI to a 42 inch Panasonic Plasma.

 

I hope to acquire a Sony PVM to replace my two CRT displays. Those things have great color reproduction.

 

EDIT: I'm 23 years old

Edited December 18, 2013 by famicommander

[Algus]

32" 720p LCD from 2006. Has a few issues with 3rd gen systems (NES/SMS) with the refresh rate and no light gun of course but works great for everything else. Very nice picture with the 2600 and coax adapter.

 

I'd like to upgrade my set for my newer stuff but I need to get a CRT first. And find space for it.

 

Got a very nice 1080p LED monitor though, I should hook the PS4 up to it.

[frank_c]

I've got a 19" Magnavox i bought new back in '92 and hardly ever used. It's sitting in a mobile rack with a Yurkie modded CV and stock 7800 and Astrocade. I thought the tuner was bad but I hooked up the Astrocade and was pleasantly surprised to find it worked.

 

I plan on adding a Genesis and maybe a 5200 to this mobile gaming station, and maybe finding a bigger CRT for a permanent installation elsewhere in the house. I also have two Commodore 1702's, one is hooked up to a Roland sampler and the other I use to test old electronics. I may build a separate cart for a C64 setup.

 

I also play CV/2600/7800/C64 via emulation on my 46" Vizio and Wii but don't like the way the old systems look on it.

[sandmountainslim]

I don't know how to vote. I use two different types. My Atari 2600 is hooked up to a 1980 Rutherford/Curtis Mathes console CRT and my NES is hooked up to a Sanyo LCD.

[darthkur]

I use a RCA 27in TruFlat CRT for all of my consoles from the Atari 2600 up the the Nintendo Wii. The 19in Vizio HDTV is only used for watching BluRay discs and broadcast tv.

 

 

Edited December 26, 2013 by darthkur

[genesisguy]

I'm 31 and have a Toshiba 20 inch FL screen. It gets the job done. I'd love a Sony Trinitron.

 

I guess my big fear is will I out live the remaining CRT TVs?

[CatPix]

Well yes and no. Collectors are able to maintain and even display pictures on 441/445 lines and English 405 lines standards, on TV sets made before or right after WWII.

 

 

Outside of the TV tube itself, which doesn't fail suddenly, the most common failures happens in the power supply: either in the 230/120V, or the high voltage transformer feeding the tube itself (a VERY common failure. On some TVs, the failure come from solder connections getting dry and making bad connections, so you only need to resold it).

CRT displays are reliable (I still see working CRT displays in some rail stations. I think that there is still rounded, 80's era info display at Charles de Gaulle airport, and there is also in the Futuroscope "amusement" park, a wall of like 100 CRT TV screens dating back to 1989, used everyday for introducing the park and it's purpose, worked at least until 2004) and it's likely that if your unit survived a common or even intensive use for the first 10 years, it ga go up for more 20 years and hopefully more.

You might wanna check out then if you have a model which is common. Of course Trinitron come in mind, but can you swap the tube from every models of Trinitron? I don't think so. Keeping like 4/5 TVs, assuming you only use one for gaming, should provide you with enough CRT to play up to 2050.

 

Also,keep in mind that electrolytic capacitors doesn't like to be left unused, so if you already store a TV, plug it at least once a month and switch it on for 15 minutes.

Edited December 27, 2013 by CatPix

[simbalion]

I am split between CRT and LCD. In the house I simply use my Toshiba 19 inch, LCD set to 4.3 and it does ok with the older systems. Up in my 'man room' building it is CRT only, but I am running into issues with the older, 13 inch sets I have picked up. Most are getting 'tired' and the CRTs are either getting weak or adjustments are going out inside them. I've noticed one of my go-to sets is slowly getting wider and wider on the horizontal and being it is newer, I don't know how to readjust it. Another set I found is ok for TV watching, but suddenly begins to swoon and sway in the picture when any game or intense graphics are put to it. One has to remember that it wasn't unusual for some of these sets to be used all day long, only getting shut down for people to sleep at night and that takes a toll on the compenents. Newer CRTs do seem to last longer than the ones used in early sets, but it is still a vacuum tube and eventually it WILL lose emmission. I've learned that from my antique sets and arcade games. Luckily for those, if one has a good CRT checker with the rejuvinate setting and the right settings, you can often zap them for a bit more life.

[Osgeld]

Well yes and no. Collectors are able to maintain and even display pictures on 441/445 lines and English 405 lines standards, on TV sets made before or right after WWII.

 

 

That's a nice looking deathtrap (back in those days it was not uncommon to use the metal frame inside the TV / radio / whatever as a conductor for 100% unrestricted mains current, slip your hand and your arse is frying)