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Consumer CRT or PVM for retro gaming


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Seriously? How close are you sitting to your TV, with your nose to the glass?

 

 

That actually sounds like you're sitting unreasonably close. 27" is not a big screen at all. I've got a 24" CRT for occasional light gun games and I'd have to get my nose within a foot of the screen before it started to surpass my visual field. Sitting 4+ feet back from a 27" + screen is not going to exceed your visual field. Even the biggest CRT made at 40", wouldn't be a problem at all unless you were trying to crawl through the screen like a stargate.

 

I'm sitting about 6 feet away from a screen that's the equivalent of a 55" 4:3 screen. No issues with losing track of stuff on screen and well within my visual field.

I am pretty much on the same page with this. When I'm using my FV310 (27"), I'm only about 4ft away. Using my 20" PVM, I'm barely past arms length; I can lean a little forward and touch it with my hand.

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I am pretty much on the same page with this. When I'm using my FV310 (27"), I'm only about 4ft away. Using my 20" PVM, I'm barely past arms length; I can lean a little forward and touch it with my hand.

 

I'm not trying to be funny with this post, but if I were sitting "reasonably close" to a 27" screen and it was exceeding my visual field and having a hard time following objects on screen, I would be placing an immediate call to my eye doctor to have my vision tested. Out of concerns for glaucoma or some other degenerative retinal condition. To give you some perspective, most of the popular arcade cabinets from the 90's like Street Fighter 2, Neo Geo, Mortal Kombat etc.. were outfitted with a 25" monitor, and you were right there without issue.

 

There's a device that tests field of vision, it involves focusing on a center mark while flashes of light are played at various locations and you hit a button much like a hearing test. The doctor can map any loss of peripheral vision.

Edited by keepdreamin
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I'm not trying to be funny with this post, but if I were sitting "reasonably close" to a 27" screen and it was exceeding my visual field and having a hard time following objects on screen, I would be placing an immediate call to my eye doctor to have my vision tested. Out of concerns for glaucoma or some other degenerative retinal condition. To give you some perspective, most of the popular arcade cabinets from the 90's like Street Fighter 2, Neo Geo, Mortal Kombat etc.. were outfitted with a 25" monitor, and you were right there without issue.

 

There's a device that tests field of vision, it involves focusing on a center mark while flashes of light are played at various locations and you hit a button much like a hearing test. The doctor can map any loss of peripheral vision.

I was agreeing with you. I have a UMK3 cab in my house, and you're literally just about two feet from the 25incher.

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To the op, you can't go wrong with a Sony Trinitron.

 

Or any of the following,

 

Sony FD Trinitron KV-14LT1U 14" TV
Sony Trinitron KV-X2582U 28" TV
Commodore 1701
Philips CM8833 Mark 1
Philips CM8833 Mark 2
If you want a PVM or BVM, then I've used the following, and they're superb.
Sony BVM-20F1U 20"
Sony PVM 2044QM 20"
Sony PVM 20n6e RGB
They're hard to get, and often quite expensive - But they're not as expensive as the over-rated and over-priced Framemeister - which (IMO) looks nothing like a CRT, even with scanlines.
Top post, youxia. Completely agree with every thing you said.
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One thing about 27"+ CRT TV's... they're a pain in the neck. Even a 27" CRT requires two people to lift, and the plastic on a lot of these is going bad and often won't survive a move. I bought my mother a 27" Sony for Christmas in something like 1997, noticed the plastic was cracking a bit about 8 or so years later, went to move it when she got a new apartment and the entire thing fell apart. We couldn't even pick it up because the plastic had basically just shattered from regular handling. We had to call a junk company to come get it, and when they picked it up, the tube violently imploded.

 

I resolved at that point that there'd be no more CRT's in my life, and I'd just live with the picture differences of flat panel displays. I've since relaxed that - I currently have four CRT's in my basement, but all are relatively small and three are computer monitors. Two of those are CGA; I don't know of a way to even use an LCD with a CGA computer, so CRT it is. The last one is an old Sony KVM that I just recently got - actually I have no real use for it and have been thinking to sell it. But no way I'm shipping it, because it's made of that thin Sony plastic too.

 

Also, most people didn't play older games on 27" and larger sets. When I was a kid, a 20" set was considered big and that's what we had. When it finally broke, we bought another 20". When I had enough money to buy my own stuff, I bought a 13" TV, and that's also what I took to college to play all my NES and Genesis games on. I sold electronics for a living from 1996-1998 and even at that time, 27" was just getting to be about average. Plenty of people were still buying smaller sets, but those who were buying 27" and larger were typically upgrading. So they'd have had something smaller before, when most 2D game systems were on the market.

 

That's not to say you can't or shouldn't try to have better than most people did, but it's an easy excuse for buying a smaller CRT, which is something I'd recommend doing anyway. It'll save you a lot of headaches.

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^

 

OP wants to play light gun games, and considering he just grabbed a Sega Saturn, Virtua Cop on a tiny screen isn't going to be that fun. There's a reason the arcade cabinets didn't come outfitted with 20" screens. I can lift a 27" CRT myself (100lbs), two people on 1 should be nothing. I doubt the CRT would be moved much once in place but there's plenty of ways to make moving one easy enough: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Shoulder-Dolly-800-lb-Moving-Straps-LD1000/204726780

 

Furniture dolly, foldable hand truck.

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Seriously? How close are you sitting to your TV, with your nose to the glass?

 

A few feet away. Not unreasonably close. I can "see" the whole screen, it's just hard to pay attention to a million moving objects if they're spread too far apart. My experience my not be your experience, and that's what I've found I liked. 6 feet is too far away for me, personally. If you can play 2600 games like that all the more power to you.

Edited by BydoEmpire
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@spacecadet I can get your point that moving the big .27 crt can be bothersome , but I can get some help for transporting it. So it is that big issue. The TV has also a certain place where I will put it and it won't be moved much after it. As keepdreamin already said i want to use the CRT set for lightgun games and in that case a bigger screen is the much better choice. I am willing to take the burden of the weigh and potential troubles with the transport. It is worth it to get a good gaming experience I guess..

 

 

@

80s_Atari_Guy Thanks for recommding different models.

Edited by shadowman01
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I wouldn't even consider a 27" CRT "large", too be honest. Have a look at the 32" and 36" trinitrons. The bigger issue would be finding a piece of furniture, unless you could grab one off craigslist with an included stand. Current media centers aren't designed around the weight of a CRT like they used to be.

Edited by keepdreamin
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One thing about 27"+ CRT TV's... they're a pain in the neck. Even a 27" CRT requires two people to lift, and the plastic on a lot of these is going bad and often won't survive a move. I bought my mother a 27" Sony for Christmas in something like 1997, noticed the plastic was cracking a bit about 8 or so years later, went to move it when she got a new apartment and the entire thing fell apart. We couldn't even pick it up because the plastic had basically just shattered from regular handling. We had to call a junk company to come get it, and when they picked it up, the tube violently imploded.

 

I resolved at that point that there'd be no more CRT's in my life, and I'd just live with the picture differences of flat panel displays. I've since relaxed that - I currently have four CRT's in my basement, but all are relatively small and three are computer monitors. Two of those are CGA; I don't know of a way to even use an LCD with a CGA computer, so CRT it is. The last one is an old Sony KVM that I just recently got - actually I have no real use for it and have been thinking to sell it. But no way I'm shipping it, because it's made of that thin Sony plastic too.

 

Also, most people didn't play older games on 27" and larger sets. When I was a kid, a 20" set was considered big and that's what we had. When it finally broke, we bought another 20". When I had enough money to buy my own stuff, I bought a 13" TV, and that's also what I took to college to play all my NES and Genesis games on. I sold electronics for a living from 1996-1998 and even at that time, 27" was just getting to be about average. Plenty of people were still buying smaller sets, but those who were buying 27" and larger were typically upgrading. So they'd have had something smaller before, when most 2D game systems were on the market.

 

That's not to say you can't or shouldn't try to have better than most people did, but it's an easy excuse for buying a smaller CRT, which is something I'd recommend doing anyway. It'll save you a lot of headaches.

Yeah, my Sony FS100 is 99lbs and my FV310 is 103lbs, where as my PVM-20L2MD is 73lbs.

Edited by F34R
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Light gun games are actually easier on a smaller screen.

 

 

That doesn't make them more fun. In the same way turning on a gameshark for every game doesn't make them fun. Light gun games are more exciting when there's more real estate that needs covering. I've played duck hunt 2 feet away from a 13" screen... so incredibly boring. :sleep: Virtua Cop 2 on the Saturn in front of a 32" screen is an entirely different experience.

Edited by keepdreamin
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I wouldn't even consider a 27" CRT "large", too be honest. Have a look at the 32" and 36" trinitrons. The bigger issue would be finding a piece of furniture, unless you could grab one off craigslist with an included stand. Current media centers aren't designed around the weight of a CRT like they used to be.

 

Did not know that there are also 32 or 36 trinitrons. Thats awesome. Would be cool to have a crt set that is not much smaller than my .40 Pansonic LCD. But to find a decent place for such tv would be a big Problem. It also should not be so easy to find them.

 

For the 27 Version there would be enough space.

 

 

@spacecadet I would not go that far, and say that Light Gun games are not fun on a smaller set. I am sure they are. But I want to get a arcarde like experience with my light gun games, so a bigger set is the best bet.

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Did not know that there are also 32 or 36 trinitrons. Thats awesome. Would be cool to have a crt set that is not much smaller than my .40 Pansonic LCD. But to find a decent place for such tv would be a big Problem. It also should not be so easy to find them.

 

For the 27 Version there would be enough space.

 

 

@spacecadet I would not go that far, and say that Light Gun games are not fun on a smaller set. I am sure they are. But I want to get a arcarde like experience with my light gun games, so a bigger set is the best bet.

They made a 40" Trini, but I'm pretty sure that was a HDTV. You definitely want a standard definition analog set for what you're doing. Edited by keepdreamin
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They made a 40" Trini, but I'm pretty sure that was a HDTV. You definitely want a standard definition analog set for what you're doing.

 

Wow thats amazing that there even was a .40 Trinitron. But I agree. For my Needs a analog set is the way to go to have the best gaming experience. Actually I have no Need for a HD CRT set. For the hd stuff, from ps3/Xbox 360 onwards and for blu ray I have panasonic LCD.

 

the Crt will be only used for Standard Definition stuf.

 

I started looking around already and there quite a few trinitrons I could obtain. It is really funny to look around. Soon I will start contacting the first owner of These nice TVs.

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I will give the PVM this - a good number of them one support NTSC and PAL. If you're in one region and you're interested in getting into game machines from the other, a PVM is worthwhile. Doesn't necessarily have to be a big one either - I have a 14 inch, it looks gorgeous, and it works for what I need it for. That said, for most of my SD-level consoles, I just use one of those Wega sets with Component and S-Video jacks.

 

The framemeister is a perfectly reasonable option if you just want to use an HD set for everything, but if you do want to go down the CRT route I gotta praise the Wega. I will add a caveat that mine at least doesn't play well with a few 70s machines (early Magnavox dedicated units and the Studio II, specifically) through RF. Everything else is fine.

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They made a 40" Trini, but I'm pretty sure that was a HDTV. You definitely want a standard definition analog set for what you're doing.

 

I had a 36" Sony Trinitron HDTV (4:3) that just died a few months ago so I got rid of it. It was 246 pounds! I thought about getting it fixed, but moving it around was too big of a pain and not worth it. Now I'm using a nice little 20" PVM (1943MD) which is just great. If that were to die I'd probably just go back to regular S-Video on a standard TV though since the prices of PVMs these days are insane and not worth it. Remember, these systems were meant to be played on crappy little TVs, that's the 'real' authentic experience. :)

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I will give the PVM this - a good number of them one support NTSC and PAL. If you're in one region and you're interested in getting into game machines from the other, a PVM is worthwhile. Doesn't necessarily have to be a big one either - I have a 14 inch, it looks gorgeous, and it works for what I need it for. That said, for most of my SD-level consoles, I just use one of those Wega sets with Component and S-Video jacks.

 

The framemeister is a perfectly reasonable option if you just want to use an HD set for everything, but if you do want to go down the CRT route I gotta praise the Wega. I will add a caveat that mine at least doesn't play well with a few 70s machines (early Magnavox dedicated units and the Studio II, specifically) through RF. Everything else is fine.

 

Thanks for your anwer. I am sure that the Framemeister is an awesome peace of Hardware but not worth the Money for me.

 

As I have already mentioned I have already upraded some of my consoles to HDMI . The Gamecube and the N64. My Dreamcast has VGA. . My only no hdmi console left is the Saturn. And getting the Framemeister for just one console seems a bit over the top at least to me. I will get the Jaguar and the 3do soon and of Course I could use the Framemeister with These consoles as well. But for the Saturn I Need a crt anyway for Light Gun Games. The Jaguar and the 3do should also work very well with CRT. So getting a CRT is the best Option to me.

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Thanks for your anwer. I am sure that the Framemeister is an awesome peace of Hardware but not worth the Money for me.

 

As I have already mentioned I have already upraded some of my consoles to HDMI . The Gamecube and the N64. My Dreamcast has VGA. . My only no hdmi console left is the Saturn. And getting the Framemeister for just one console seems a bit over the top at least to me. I will get the Jaguar and the 3do soon and of Course I could use the Framemeister with These consoles as well. But for the Saturn I Need a crt anyway for Light Gun Games. The Jaguar and the 3do should also work very well with CRT. So getting a CRT is the best Option to me.

 

 

Framemeister might not be worth it for the few consoles, but something like the retrotink-2x might be when orders open back up. http://www.retrotink.com/

Edited by keepdreamin
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  • 11 months later...
  • 3 years later...

I took this threads advice on the HDMI crt, and it does look surprisingly good when watching Netflix or any streaming service on it at 1080i.  Its not quite as nice looking to play Wii on as my much larger HD Trinitron, but its great for anything widescreen.  I used to play Wii U on it and it looked great, but I prefer playing it on my 60" plasma.  I picked it up for $25.  They are pretty hard to find, I was suprised that it was in such good shape and also has Component as an optional input.  I run my VCR Svideo into my HD CRT, it looks pretty close to DVD to me.  Surprisingly the surround sound that I have coming from the RCA into my Logitech Z680 unit via an adapter sounds just as good as my optical in from my roku.  I tested it and watched Star Wars on VHS with surround and Disney plus via optical and they sound very similar.  Once my Heavy Sixer gets back from being RGB modded my game room will be back to normal.    If Oleds were cheaper I would replace these with one and a RetroTink 5x pro.

 

I usually sit about 5-6 feet away and they both seem perfectly viewable to me at that distance.

IMG-1987.jpg

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