Thoughts on CRT TVs/PVMs vs Modern TVs

[madmodder123]

What do you guys think about using a CRT TV vs a modern television for retropie?

I was either thinking about picking up a free CRT TV from good ol' craigslist or if I have some money to spend, buy a Sony PVM (Professional Video Monitor) from ebay or something.

PVMs seem to be pretty spendy (8" for 60-100$ish. 19"+ for 200$+) when I could get a regular CRT TV that is 28"+ on craigslist for free.

[Rion]

@madmodder123
If you're serious about retro gaming you can never go wrong with a Crt TV. I keep coming back to this article i read on tested many years ago.

In Search of Scanlines: The Best CRT Monitor for Retro Gaming

The games emulated where made with a Crt TV in mind.

Edit: Science proves gaming is better on CRTs than LCDs

[madmodder123]

@rion
Thanks for the links! They were good reads.

I think i'm gonna go with a craigslist free CRT and then possibly upgrade to a PVM in the future :)

[Rion]

@madmodder123

Great! Be sure to have look at RetroThink for setting up a Crt TV.

[madmodder123]

@rion Dayum, 95$ plus shipping for the complete model! I guess I will have to go with the Pi's built-in composite until I have some money to spend.

Also your link is messed up here is the correct link

[Pupsenlalala]

I have a pi2scart connected to my Rpi3 and to my BVM and let me tell you: Once you've gotten that, you'll never want anything else.
It was a hassle to setup (mainly due to the image settings of each PVM) but once you get the hang of it, it's easy peasy and worth it.

See the photos for yourself: Those scanlines are just plain perfect and not generated but from my PVM.

PIC1
PIC2

[madmodder123]

@pupsenlalala Damn that looks sexy, what model TV is that?

[Pupsenlalala]

@madmodder123 said in Thoughts on CRT TVs/PVMs vs Modern TVs:

@rion Dayum, 95$ plus shipping for the complete model! I guess I will have to go with the Pi's built-in composite until I have some money to spend.

Also your link is messed up here is the correct link

It's the Sony PVM-14M4E.
I also have the Sony PVM-20M2E which is 20" and has 400 lines. the 14" has 800 lines and is therefore a little crispier.

[jcook84]

@madmodder123
CRT's are definitely worth checking out. I've spent $25 total for the thriftstore Trinitron and composite cables for the pi. Right now, it's in the parlor room "for the holidays" (AKA I don't want to wrestle it up the stairs just yet!)

(even Kodi works, with some effort)