Retro gaming, TV advice please.

Retro gaming, TV advice please.

Author
Discussion

NickM450

Original Poster:

2,636 posts

199 months

Saturday 8th September 2018
quotequote all
Hi folks,

Recently got back in to the games that I grew up on, I've bought a NES, Mega Drive, loads of old PS1 and PS2 games.

Problem is the don't look great on my TV, I've decided I want to find an old school CRT TV.

What would you recommend?

From searching the internet I'm drawn towards SONY Trinitron FV310 series or the Bang & Olufsen MX6000. Both 4:3 aspect ratio, flat screen with plenty of composite inputs. Problem is the SONY seems impossible to locate and the B&O is still £150+

Any ideas and recommendations appreciated thumbup

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 8th September 2018
quotequote all
Gumtree, I got two really, really nice B&O Beovisions, can't remember the models, but I paid £50 for one and £75 for the other, they are both 4:3, none of that widescreen nonsense.

Ideal for retrogaming, I've got one in my office and one at home in the cave.

The office B&O has a Raspberry Retropie box plugged into it via a HDMI to Scart converter, works perfectly for all your retro gaming needs cool

Mr E

21,580 posts

258 months

Saturday 8th September 2018
quotequote all
Modern TVs have a few issues.

1) they don’t have the right inputs.
2) they don’t “smooth” the way CRTs do, so everything looks pixelated.
3) they do significant processing, which leads to input lag.

1) is solved with some cables, possibly a hdmi converter. This may lead to more input lag.
2) can be solved with some electronics, but may lead to more of the input lag. And costs.
3) can be helped by putting the screen in game mode, which minimises what the screen is trying to do with the input.

dai1983

2,902 posts

148 months

Saturday 8th September 2018
quotequote all
Found a 4:3 32 inch Sony flatscreen CRT next to a skip at work. All it needed was a new plug and it was good to go!

It’s bloody heavy and bulky. Want to make an arcade cabinet to play 2d classics


dai1983

2,902 posts

148 months

Saturday 8th September 2018
quotequote all
Found a 4:3 32 inch Sony flatscreen CRT next to a skip at work. All it needed was a new plug and it was good to go!

It’s bloody heavy and bulky. Want to make an arcade cabinet to play 2d classics


soad

32,825 posts

175 months

Saturday 8th September 2018
quotequote all
Why not purchase one of those modern Nintendo Classic Mini systems?

I wouldn't dream of playing on PS1. eek Graphics were poor back then (two decades ago!!), never mind now.
Hell, even a GameCube would be an improvement on that.

Mike335i

4,985 posts

101 months

Saturday 8th September 2018
quotequote all
soad said:
Why not purchase one of those modern Nintendo Classic Mini systems?

I wouldn't dream of playing on PS1. eek Graphics were poor back then (two decades ago!!), never mind now.
Hell, even a GameCube would be an improvement on that.
Nostalgia is quite powerful as a motivator and graphics are not the be all and end all, hence the popularity of Player Unknown Battle Grounds.

NickM450

Original Poster:

2,636 posts

199 months

Sunday 9th September 2018
quotequote all
Thanks for the suggestions folks, Gumtree does seem the best bet, but apart from the two models mentioned are there any others I should look out for?

Have to agree with Mike335i though, story and gameplay are far more important than graphics, Metal Gear Solid was amazing back in the day and I still love playing it. Yes, it looks rubbish compared to games these days, even more so on modern TVs, but 20 years ago there was nothing like it thumbup

Skittle

312 posts

260 months

Sunday 9th September 2018
quotequote all
There is another option which is an upscaler which will allow you to play on newer tv’s, they are not cheap but it does mean you don’t have to get an old crt, but they are not cheap

Read more here
http://retrorgb.com/upscalers.html

I don’t use one but I am contemplating one, or optionally getting a retropi set up



Some Gump

12,671 posts

185 months

Sunday 9th September 2018
quotequote all
Anyone that things graphics is the be all and end all needs to play some proper games. Tie fighter. Better than all the games that came after it. Theme park - still the king of the genre. Dr robotnik's mean bean machine. Super bomberman. Wwf vs wcw (royal rumble). Goldeneye. Counterstrike.
None of these have been surpassed, and no visual fluff will change just how good they are/were.

TommoAE86

2,659 posts

126 months

Monday 10th September 2018
quotequote all
Mike335i said:
soad said:
Why not purchase one of those modern Nintendo Classic Mini systems?

I wouldn't dream of playing on PS1. eek Graphics were poor back then (two decades ago!!), never mind now.
Hell, even a GameCube would be an improvement on that.
Nostalgia is quite powerful as a motivator and graphics are not the be all and end all, hence the popularity of Player Unknown Battle Grounds.
I've just setup my PS2 again as there is nothing on the PS4 worth playing and the graphics are ok even on the PS1 games. It's more than nostalgia that makes the old games better, the story telling/UI and things to do once you have completed the main game are so much better than modern games. GTA: San Andreas is still a 10/10 game compared to GTA V which I'd score only a 6 and not a troll in sight!

ZedLeg

12,278 posts

107 months

Monday 10th September 2018
quotequote all
I think there is a certain amount of grumpy old manism happening here laugh. Yes there are loads of brilliant old games and the modern mainstream games industry has some big issues but there are still sensational games coming put almost monthly just now. Both from big studios and indie devs.

Saying that, I still have an old CRT set up in the spare room with a PS2 and a Gamecube plugged in. I'm on the lookout for an Xbox as well as I found my copies of KOTOR 1 & 2 and the backwards compatibility on Xbox 360 is ste.

Steven_RW

1,727 posts

201 months

Monday 10th September 2018
quotequote all
Mike335i said:
soad said:
Why not purchase one of those modern Nintendo Classic Mini systems?

I wouldn't dream of playing on PS1. eek Graphics were poor back then (two decades ago!!), never mind now.
Hell, even a GameCube would be an improvement on that.
Nostalgia is quite powerful as a motivator and graphics are not the be all and end all, hence the popularity of Player Unknown Battle Grounds.
Are the gfx on PubG really seen as low quality? I'm 900+ hours in since xmas and it never really struck me.

Maybe that re-enforces your point?

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Monday 10th September 2018
quotequote all
Get on Freecycle or Freegle and ask. There are always CRTs appearing as grannies upgrade or die.

Mike335i

4,985 posts

101 months

Monday 10th September 2018
quotequote all
Steven_RW said:
Are the gfx on PubG really seen as low quality? I'm 900+ hours in since xmas and it never really struck me.

Maybe that re-enforces your point?
I find that they are and that was my point, play something like Call of Duty or similar and PUBG looks very functional in comparison, but it is so engrossing because of the gameplay.

Steven_RW

1,727 posts

201 months

Monday 10th September 2018
quotequote all
Mike335i said:
Steven_RW said:
Are the gfx on PubG really seen as low quality? I'm 900+ hours in since xmas and it never really struck me.

Maybe that re-enforces your point?
I find that they are and that was my point, play something like Call of Duty or similar and PUBG looks very functional in comparison, but it is so engrossing because of the gameplay.
Gotcha. I wonder if it is the scale of the PubG world that means it is currently impossible to be at the level of good looks of the smaller mapped games?

ZedLeg

12,278 posts

107 months

Monday 10th September 2018
quotequote all
Nah, they made it quickly and cheaply. Lots of premade assets and textures.


sparks_E46

12,738 posts

212 months

Tuesday 11th September 2018
quotequote all
I’m on the lookout for a decent CRT TV, I hope to soon purchase a PS1, PS2 and original Xbox.

anarki

759 posts

135 months

Wednesday 12th September 2018
quotequote all
sparks_E46 said:
I’m on the lookout for a decent CRT TV, I hope to soon purchase a PS1, PS2 and original Xbox.
Both the PS2 and original Xbox can output video via component (YPbPr) which looks significantly better than RGB scart and will not benefit the use of a CRT TV (Agreed CRT TV's give better blacks) and will look crisper on a modern TV.

The "fat model" PS2 plays the majority of PS1 games so I would just use the one console. Unless you really have the need for a standalone PS1? (Maybe you want to play VCD's!?)

For pre-dreamcast era you ideally want to be outputting your consoles via RGB scart. After dreamcast aim for digital output. The dreamcast itself - go VGA.

My setup consists of the following:

Toshiba 21" 4:3 CRT with this inputted into it, via a 5 port mains powered multi-AV remote switcher (Hitachi one, its actually very good despite the brand)

PAL Megadrive 2 with a 50/60hz switch mod and a Eng/Jap language switch mod (mod carried out by me) hooked up via RGB scart
PAL N64 hooked up via S-Video (N64 doesn't output RGB over scart so S-Video is the next best option)
PAL Dreamcast via RGB scart (for light gun games)
PAL Gamecube via RGB scart (I will be HDMI hard modding mine soon so it will 480P over HDMI on a modern TV)

Modern flat-screen TV:

PAL Dreamcast via VGA (best output for dreamcast 640x480)
PAL PS2 via component
PAL Xbox hard modded (Xecuter 3) to force 720P over NTSC via component
PAL PS3 - HDMI
PAL Wii U - HDMI
PAL Switch - HDMI

I'm not afraid to admit I'm a nerd when it comes to gaming and I've researched a lot, as enjoyment is important to me, part of that enjoyment is getting the best picture output. For example the Megadrive mod was the best thing I've carried out. There is a big difference between 50/60Hz it removes the letterbox that 50Hz gives and makes the games run a tad faster (Sonic is noticeable, you would have to play it to appreciate it) The Xbox mod was important as well because again we (PAL territories) got screwed a bit where we didn't really have a "component input" uptake like the NTSC territories got. So with the mod you can force a PAL console to NTSC.

Don't go thinking your PAL copy of Gran Turismo 4 will output 1080i over component either because guess what? Yes PAL got dicked again! So if you want 1080i GT4 over component you'll need the NTSC disc and either a NTSC PS2 or a modded PAL PS2. Granted it looks very good in 1080i for a PS2 game.

Steven_RW

1,727 posts

201 months

Friday 14th September 2018
quotequote all
anarki brings the proper geek chat. I like it.

How do you keep them all in order? Do you have some shelves laid out?

I have a Ps2, Ps3, Ps4 pro, Xbox one and a wii U as well as pretty full on gaming pc.

My room was never really designed with this in mind so I have three of the consoles on their sides hiding behind the 34" alienware ultrawide screen monitor. Works okay. I'm trying to find a location for the original style Xbone as it doesn't like sitting on its side. Supposedly the discs can spin off the spindle without gravity on their side and fly off into the machine.

My Ps2 is connected using the official connector on component. Some good videos on youtube explaining how to make sure the output from the PS2 is exactly as you want it to be.

I am also watching videos on hard modding older consoles but more for geek research rather than actually planning on doing it!

RW