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Is advancing TV technology going to render older consoles obsolete to most?


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I've noticed newer TV's having less and less RCA and Component inputs, also S-Video is well gone and buried.

 

I've also noticed people increasingly having issues with newer TV's and classic consoles where the AV input will keep popping up on screen or other bugs/glitches because of the old tech/new TV.

 

Obviously we can always seek out older tube TV's and early era flat screens, but can we expect that in 5-20 years a TV won't be able to play a 2600, NES or Genesis? Will this make classic gaming inaccessible to most who don't have the time/resources/space to seek out and set up in a special area a "retro gaming" TV?

 

What are your thoughts on this issue?

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I don't know of a single current, modern day TV that doesn't have basic RCA inputs or at very least an RF input. Even then, I think there are plenty of ways to obtain a cheap or affordable upscaler or convertor that ultimately makes this a non-issue and more of an inconvenience should the time arise.

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So far, all TV's still have the 75Ω screw connector for the RF in, but messing with RF modulators really sucks. Fortunately most TV's still have the composite inputs as well. Sadly I've noticed that the VGA connector on many newer TV's is absent. So yes, it looks like a converter may be in the future of many classic computer users.

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Many cable boxes are going to HDMI out, so who knows how long RF will even be on TV's.

 

I was at a hotel recently and the TV had only HDMI inputs on back, no composite! Which blew my mind...

 

I suppose converters will be a likely solution (yeech, more cables and plugs.) Better than not being able to play at all.

 

Thankfully, most TV's still DO have an RCA input.

 

Still you then wonder about TV MOBO's and chip sets, and how long they will read the older signals.

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When the answer is 'converters converters converters', yes, older consoles are going to be rendered obsolete to most. Because most fans simply will not bother with that. They want to play a few games, normally on one system. It has to be easy and cheap.

 

Now, there is an argument to be made this has already happened, regardless of TV tech. Emulators and virtual stores (and now things like the NES Mini) have rendered older consoles obsolete to most already.

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Well, if Ebay sellers offering older game systems are representative of the general population, then way too many folks will simply assume that older systems don't work with newer tvs, or even think of an adapter. They already do.

 

The real reason many tv sets have been moving to HDMI only is to enforce DRM, and because "they" do not want consumers to keep using older devices. It won't work, and will ultimate1 lead to sets with better input selection becoming more valuable over time.

 

The most valuable sets in the near future will be the last few years of CRT sets, which can do high-def and have every input from RF to HDMI, all with no lag, no fixed resolution, and unbeatable color quality.

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The real reason many tv sets have been moving to HDMI only is to enforce DRM, and because "they" do not want consumers to keep using older devices. It won't work, and will ultimate1 lead to sets with better input selection becoming more valuable over time.

 

That's one theory. Another is that HDMI is the de facto worldwide standard now, so there's no reason to include anything else on a TV. What of relevance to 99% of the people out there really uses legacy connections anymore?

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Believe it or not, there are still people out there that get their digital HDTV signals off the air with an antenna. So as long as there are local TV stations that still broadcast, I think it's a fair bet that there will be TV's available with the RF connector.

Yes TVs will continue to have an F connector for an antenna but probably not an analog tuner needed for old consoles. As broadcasting has switched from analog to digital, TV manufacturers will eventually drop analog tuners; some already have.

 

I can see TVs being specially manufactured for hotels with limited inputs. To either save cost or discourage their guests from plugging in their own entertainment. I'd be surprised if a consumer TV didn't have a composite/component input.

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Wow, you're right it didn't really last all that long did it?

 

It was around since the 80's but yea it took quite a while just to get composite jacks on most tv's and SVIDEO is pretty much a no show... of course there's the high end models of the time that would have had that, but as a standard issue thing on all tv's its a blip

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To be fair svideo was pretty buried all along ,I know for me it was early 2000's before I had a TV with svideo on it

My Sony trinitron of 2000 has s-video and the cable box, dvd player, networked media player are all using s-video. Its noticeably superior to composite. Unfortunately s-video and now vga got the short end of the stick. S-video was dropped when hi-def came out as it cant do that but component can.

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I impulse bought a tv to mount above my desk in my home office this weekend, holiday sale and salesman got me, but when I got it home to my disgust the tv had no component or AV inputs! I was flabbergasted, as my fiance mocked me for being concerned with my 1980's video games playing on this 4k tv, and frantically checked the tv's documentation and reviews. The tv came with two stereo minipug dongles that convert to component and av respectively, so I immediately hooked up my PC engine to check it out. To my surprise it looked really good - maybe because this 4k TV already has a good scaler built in to make all content display on it correctly, considering there is next to no 4k content (nor do I have any 4k capable devices..)

 

Anyways, after turning on game mode, and adjusting some settings, it looked pretty danm decent and played just fine. It's no replacement for the game room's CRT, but when I want to test a homebrew or distract myself with a classic at my desk that's still at least a slight option. How long those stereo miniplug ports will hold up is another question all together. I am still on the fence about returning the tv because of the lack of 4k content and devices, and the lack of component/rca inputs.

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Personally I'm already there. I know that classic consoles don't look too good and often have input lag on modern HDTVs so I have a dedicated gaming center with a CRT TV and an appropriate stand just for my Pre-HD era consoles. It's probably just a matter of time until most other people interested in classic gaming end up following suit, as it has been becoming increasingly more difficult (and financially taxing) to try upscaling and converting classic consoles for use with modern televisions. It's already cheaper and less of a hassle to just set up a CRT gaming center for older systems than it is trying to get them to work properly on a modern television, and I think that will only become more true as time goes on.

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I've bought an XRGB Mini and added a switchable sync splitter on the Scart to it, and modded all consoles that I can to RGB (the ones that do not already support it that is) and the result are plenty good, but not cheap by any means.

The SVideo/Composite of the XRGBMini instead is not were it should be but my current LCD TV has a stunning SVideo (but a god awful composite) so for a couple of systems that's what I do.

 

In 20Y if god permits we'll all be playing FPGA versions of our favorites anyway so I don;t see that being such an issue ..... at the same time I'm pretty sure 20Y from now I won't be able to play say Galaga as effectively ... you know it requires quite the reflexes and no-one is getting any younger. In the end is a problem that will take care of itself. Either FPGA/emulation solution for the majority or oblivion if not enough people care anymore.

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I am still awaiting for someone to make a new TV that can imitate the scans for CRT's so I can play my old shooters. Now that would be an advanced TV.

 

I think that's better left to the device you're hooking up to the TV, rather than the TV itself. For instance, the XRGB-mini, RetroN 5, Retro Freak, etc., all have scanline options.

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Since we're already a bit off the beaten path...so far as CRTs for gaming with old systems....assuming you DON'T ever intend to use any HD systems on it, for picture quality is it preferable to have:

 

A) Standard def CRT

 

B) HD CRT

 

C) it makes no difference.

 

I have heard conflicting things on this, but have been told by/read from more than one person that I should go with the standard def CRT over HD CRT. (this is somewhat academic because that's what I have now, and I have spare CRT that is also SD. But if I by chance saw an HD WEGA on the curb, I'd like to know)

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