Was wondering how many on here use a CRT for retrogaming and your experiences with it or if you just stick with a modern screen and upscalers or go in raw.
For me personally. in my early days I used a modern huge flat screen. it had all the classic inputs RF to scart/ components also had game mode for not noticable lagg and it had options to alter the image move position etc.
So even on a modern screen retrogames didn't look that bad, better than the average emulator vids even with cheap composite cables. plus could be improved with stuff like frame meister/ retro tink etc.
Clean Pixel look though for retrogames though but they where very sharp especially with rgb quite a huge difference compared to the good ol composite. in my beginning days I used RF because those cables came standard with allot of 2d consoles. it was a Horror show setting up the channels. image was mid but playable. and composite is huge upgrade compared to that and very playable, played allot on that early on and I'd imagine many did aswell.
Later on I used a crt. especially for 2d Gaming it looks way better, Scanlines are great colors more natural, pixels ain't open and can get more depth which looked ugly when it's just sharp and flat. N64 looks pretty acceptable on composite which was one of the few that looked terrible on my modern tv. Also that you can play light gun games.
For 2d games it's a no brainer for me it looks way better on a crt. early 3d is a win for CRT aswell. cube is debatable if you got a component cable but for the gameboy player crt is the way to go. although ps2 looks way better on a crt ps2 games just had lesser visuals. also all modded consoles will work on a crt. since 60hz switches are a thing in europe. if it strays to far off the og it doesn't work on modern display's gotto get an og genesis to play on 60hz than. crt's are more tolerant to such differences. I also like having no black borders because of it being the correct aspect ratio.
Obviously crt has flaws. Decent size crt's are pretty heavy and hard to move gotto have some space for it. Picking one up that ain't to far away and at the bottom floor can be quite the challenge
Let alone a decent model instead of something random.
I wouldn't say it's a must have if you got a decent modern tv with nice inputs for retro consoles and even in the worst case you do have converters to improve the image. It's pretty acceptable and the more easy scenario for plenty I'd imagine, convenience has value it ain't a bad experience even withouth converters. Plus imo I'd take a good modern tv over a small crt of 20 inches or below. screen size has more value than good image because at that point that's smaller than the average pc screen makes the console experience less for me. Although if you really care about image quality. crt's of that size can be carried by 1 person so they are very easy to move. weight goes up big time per extra inch. that's pretty valuable all things considered because those things get heavy. especially if your planning to get said crt to the basement or multiple floors up.
Heard the US doesn't really have scart on consumers tv unless you mod it or go for a pvm/bvm which seems rough. Especially considering for the latter in most cases you gotto open the tv up to have service menu esk options unless you got one of the more desirable moderls which is quite the hassle if your planning on using multiple different consoles aside from the price or rarity. plus that unless where going for the most desired models most pvm/bvm's are in the 20/14 inch visual screen size category which for my taste is a bit small. although I guess you could use converters to get an rgb signal going on a tv that lacks said inputs.
I do see more incentive for a pvm/bvm in the usa than in europe considering lack of scart in consumer crt's but than again those prices rarity and screen size
That being said composite does have some small advantages. some games used composite image to get cool effects going like the waterfall in sonic 2 or the space background in certain shootemups having more colors/forms in composite. those cases are pretty rare however. plus considering the upgrade for the rest of the game it's still rgb favoured I'd say but it's still fun to see that developers took account that many people used composite back in the day.
