HDTV vs SDTV? (for retro gaming)

[Talal86]

which type of tv do you prefer for retro gaming,

I personally don't like to have multiple tvs buy I noticed that the virtual consoles games look really bad on my HDTV, so I'm thinking of getting a small sdtv for my wii and ps1 that I just bought from ebay


thoughts?

[MrHT]

It doesn't look too bad on my HDTV. It's not great looking, but it looks fine.

[redtornado]

Alot of light guns dont work on HDTVs. My Dreamcast and NES need CRTVs or I cant play. This is something I have to live with since I really dont have the room for a tube tv in my rec area.

[CoMaToast]

I have a vizio 70" m series. Awesome TV, calibrated, no judder and all my games look like poo.. But completely playable. To be honest sonic and streets of rage ( from the sonics greatest hits collection ) look better than some n64 games. As its easily visible it was the start of 3d and polygons

[Det. Bullock]

I have a 32" HDTV and I use it both with a Gamecube and a Sega Megadrive II (or "Genesis II" for the people on the other side of the pond), in particular the second looks really nice with a good SCART RGB cable, to the point I decided to get one for the Gamecube too, although I think the jump from composite to RGB SCART won't be as noticeable as the jump from R/F.

Originally Posted by CoMaToast

I have a vizio 70" m series. Awesome TV, calibrated, no judder and all my games look like poo.. But completely playable. To be honest sonic and streets of rage ( from the sonics greatest hits collection ) look better than some n64 games. As its easily visible it was the start of 3d and polygons

Sincerely most early 3D games look like crap compared to some good 16-bit or VGA (or even EGA) 2D graphics, while on some games like first person shooters or space combat simulators added gameplay value (let's think of those capital ships in the first Wing Commander, the 2D sprites made almost impossible to understand if you were crashing on them or not, not a wonder the first 3D entry of the genre, X-wing, came soon afterwards) on other games it was just a gimmick.

Even a classic like Jedi Knight didn't age well when it comes to graphics (though admittedly it aged much better than a lot of early 3D titles) while surprisingly the first Quake still retains some visual charm.

[AeroK]

I use a Sony Bravia but for Dreamcast I have a Tomee VGA HD Cable that makes a world of difference in video quality.

[jthefrank]

I picked up a 20" (or so) CRT from a thrift store the other day for $2. Possibly the best $2 I've ever spent, the SNES and Genesis look so much better on SD

[Musashi]

I asked about this once. My intel is that a solid high definition CRT is what you want. Some several Sony models were cited as being great for old games

[heymoe99]

SDTV!
My 50" Panasonic Plasma 3D SmartTV comes close to rendering the video fast enough to play, but I still notice some lag. My plasma is the best HDTV that I've used that comes close. A lot of HDTV's don't process the analog signal fast enough to play games that you need zero delay for.
I have a 27" Sony Trinitron from about 1999-2000 that I would rather play on.

[Mavrick]

I hear that the Sony Tritantron(sic?) Are some of the best to use for retro consoles.

I just got a SNES again and I'm going to get an old CRT from storage at my parents place to play it on. I haven't plugged it in to the UHDTV yet but I'm not expecting it yo look great, so I'll need to find a place to put a fat CRT

Dreamcast and OG Xbox look ok on my old HDTV though.

[Derb]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

I hear that the Sony Tritantron(sic?) Are some of the best to use for retro consoles.

I just got a SNES again and I'm going to get an old CRT from storage at my parents place to play it on. I haven't plugged it in to the UHDTV yet but I'm not expecting it yo look great, so I'll need to find a place to put a fat CRT

Dreamcast and OG Xbox look ok on my old HDTV though.

JVC have some great tubes.

I never owned a Sony Trinitron. They were technically flat screens.

[segagamer12]

I am a total nerd when it comes to gaming. My Pong, Atari, 80's era consoles that require the old RCA Radio Shack switch box, I play all of those on an old rabbit ears TV with dials, it's color but I usually set it to Black and White mode for authenticity/retro memories.

For consoles that are limited to S-Video or RCA composite cables I stick to a trusty 27" Sony Trinitron SDTV with RGB Component cables in the back for the consoles that are pre-HD but support RGB.

Everything that supports HDMI is on the flat screen HDTV. '

Here is my custom made "arcade" retro gaming set up.

[Mavrick]

Looks like I'll be getting the old CRT out, can't seem to get an image on any of the HDTVs in the house.

[Canada]

Defiantly break out the CRT.

[CuriousGamer]

Best way to play is RGB on a CRT broadcast monitor, Sony PVM, BVM or similar.
Quite a lot of proper retro consoles output RGB natively (no clones or Genesis 3, etc) and those that don't can be modded to do so.
Famicom/NES, N64, NTSC Gamecube don't natively support RGB but the latter does component which without modding is the best you can get from it but is expensive as hell but backwards compatibilty in the Wii is an option and a lot cheaper Component cables.

Most HDTVs can't handle 240p well and produce a terrible result with some effects but you can fix this with use of something like the XRGB-mini Framemeister.
Not a cheap solution but will solve graphical problems, upscale to 1080p and can reduce lag in cases where the TV's upscaling and processing is causing it.

RGB would be output from the console using a SCART or JP-21 cable, they look the same but are wired differently, don't mix them up or you can damage hardware. Best to pick one and stick with it across all systems.
A broadcast/professional monitor would need a converter from SCART/JP-21 to BNC, similarly with the XRGB-mini needing SCART/JP-21 to XRGB-mini converter.

If you are using a TV which doesn't support RGB then S-Video is a choice but not widely supported by older consoles, composite is more widely supported but some (Mega Drive/Genesis) looks like terrible. Avoid RF!!!!
Not all CRTs are lag free, some HD and ED (480p) actually have digital processing which introduces lag.
Also not many CRTs do 480p from GCN, PS2, Xbox or VGA from DC, even the broadcast monitors.

[voltz]

I'd love to get my hands on a sony pvm/bvm.

[spool]

Does the upscaling make (the widescreen 480p) look nice?
Or does it have some of the same problems as a dvd?

[NegaScott128]

Originally Posted by spool

Does the upscaling make (the widescreen 480p) look nice?
Or does it have some of the same problems as a dvd?

Never tried it, but I imagine it looks the same as DVD. Same resolution and all.

[Chiyo_chichi]

I still have my old CRT saved. It was stored away in my basement until I kept reading how old games look and play better with them than a HDTV. I didn't realize how true that was.

My rule of thumb is any console that was designed to run with composite should be played on a CRT if possible.

I had an xrgb mini for awhile but got rid of it. I couldn't stand the way the device couldn't handle resolution changes. They may have been few, but games that do this (like RE2 on the N64) made the experience unplayable the way the screen would go out. Maybe it's since been fixed with firmware, but, I have my CRT out nowadays so I don't feel bad.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by CoMaToast

I have a vizio 70" m series. Awesome TV, calibrated, no judder and all my games look like poo.. But completely playable. To be honest sonic and streets of rage ( from the sonics greatest hits collection ) look better than some n64 games. As its easily visible it was the start of 3d and polygons

70" screen is entirely too big to play any games on it period! It will be overwhelming. Generally people play their video games on a much smaller screen. A 70" HDTV is intentionally made for movies.