CRT, LCD, Video Inputs, Lightgun HD and More Guides

[CRTGAMER]

I was looking around town and craigslist for a nice CRT to hook my laptop up to, as well as possibly hooking up my 360 and DC.

I came across someone selling a 19" Sony Trinitron, which I believe to be a pretty nice monitor. However, I've had no luck in trying to research this particular mode, a HMD-A400.

My only real concern is input lag, as I saw that this monitor has a flat screen, and I know that at some point flat screen CRTs started having input delay issues.

There is no input lag on CRTs
I think this was a myth related to screen draw of HD LCDs that have dot crawl issues with older consoles.

Nice Monitor! Your Manual: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model- ... dl=HMDA400

[dunpeal2064]

Went ahead and picked this up for $10 yesterday. It has quite a nice menu that is accessible via one little knob on the front. Lots of picture options including convergence, pincushion, degauss and geometry settings.

The monitor rotates wthout any issure either!

The only thing that caught me off guard is that this monitor appears to have no scanlines. I had just assumed that it would have them, as I thought all CRTs did, but I can use HLSL to add in really nice scanlines to MAME, so it should not be an issue.

I have this urge to continue to look for cool CRTs now. I'd love a nice 27" or 29" NEC or PVM


Thanks again for your help CRT, and for that cool link. I'll definitely give that manual a read-through!

[CRTGAMER]

The monitor rotates wthout any issure either!

The only thing that caught me off guard is that this monitor appears to have no scanlines. I had just assumed that it would have them, as I thought all CRTs did, but I can use HLSL to add in really nice scanlines to MAME, so it should not be an issue.

VGA CRT monitors are higher resolution then a regular CRT TV so the Scanlines are very "thin". Try a Dreamcast with House of the Dead which needs to read the scanline draw. The DC Lightgun works with VGA CRT monitors!

Be very careful going the Tate rotation mode with the weight of a CRT though. The supports inside are designed for just the normal mode. Not sure on your monitor, but I have an internal view of my Wega. You can see how fragile the holder is if it was rotated.

Note the cradle supporting the tube in the lower left, there is none for Tate.

[CRTGAMER]

Hey, I have a question that I was wondering if you knew the answer to or not.

I found a rear projector Sony Wega HDTV a week ago for $25, so I bought it. Yes, I do prefer CRTs for retro gaming, however I don't have the space for both. So, the HDTV is hooked up and my CRT is stored away until I get a bigger place.

Anyway, here is my problem: the TV only seems to go to channel 69! That means that I can't play my Famicom, which needs channel 95/96 (good them I have the CD-ROM for my PC Engine, or I'd be screwed there as well!). Have you heard of this sort of thing before?

Thanks.

Try manually inputing channel 95 or 96 with the TV remote. Maybe the TV Menu Channel Memory is only set to 69. See if you can do a channel scan with the Famicom plugged in and turn on. I know older pre cable TVs only go so high, pretty sure it was above channel 69 though. In your case, the HDTV is cable ready, but you need to set it to the older pre cable mode for "pre digital off the air" signal.

The problem with rear projection TVs is a dim view from the sides and having to change the expensive lamp ever so often. You might want to give it a good test run before moving it into the room.

[ice445]

Three questions. 1, what is a decent S-Video to component (or some input that won't degrade the S-Video signal) for my HD LCD? Can't seem to find any.

Two, what is a decent switchbox that includes S-video in (if there are any)

Third, what is dot crawl exactly?

Thanks.

[CRTGAMER]

Three questions.

1, what is a decent S-Video to component (or some input that won't degrade the S-Video signal) for my HD LCD? Can't seem to find any.

Two, what is a decent switchbox that includes S-video in (if there are any)

Third, what is dot crawl exactly?

Thanks.

1. I have not used a SVideo to Component myself but have tried a SVideo to VGA adapter to a VGA CRT Monitor. It was okay but the picture will is still SVideo level of quality. The picture does not increase in clarity but is passable, in my case play a N64 console on a computer CRT monitor. That said, you will get similar results as you now get with composite on your LCD monitor. The upscale stretch of the LCD just kills Retro Console non HD imagery.

2. I use Pelican switchboxes, but any Composite/SVideo switch box that is solid will be fine. The shielding is not as critical as RF.

3. Dot Crawl is a term used to show the upscale issues of LCDs on NON HD video. A good indicator if a Retro console will look good is watch a non HD broadcast on your HD LCD to compare. That non HD video that looked so good on an older non HD CRT. I find HD CRTs or HD Plasmas offer the best compromise in displaying both HD and non HD video.

[AppleQueso]

3. Dot Crawl is a term used to show the upscale issues of LCDs on NON HD video. A good indicator if a Retro console will look good is watch a non HD broadcast on your HD LCD to compare. That non HD video that looked so good on an older non HD CRT. I find HD CRTs or HD Plasmas offer the best compromise in displaying both HD and non HD video.

Dot crawl is a composite video artifact. It's visible on CRTs as well, though it's a bit harder to see (due to scanlines I guess). It doesn't actually have anything to do with scaling or HDTVs.

(CRT, i'm a bit surprised that you don't have any info on broadcast monitors or RGB.)

[CRTGAMER]

3. Dot Crawl is a term used to show the upscale issues of LCDs on NON HD video. A good indicator if a Retro console will look good is watch a non HD broadcast on your HD LCD to compare. That non HD video that looked so good on an older non HD CRT. I find HD CRTs or HD Plasmas offer the best compromise in displaying both HD and non HD video.

Dot crawl is a composite video artifact. It's visible on CRTs as well, though it's a bit harder to see (due to scanlines I guess). It doesn't actually have anything to do with scaling or HDTVs.

(CRT, i'm a bit surprised that you don't have any info on broadcast monitors or RGB.)

There is more then one type of "Dot Crawl". For lack of a better word, I use it to describe the upscaling issues of HD LCDs with non HD feeds, the effect of the pixilation.

As for reviewing commercial broadcast displays, I do not have any RGB monitors to give a personal assessment.

[AppleQueso]

I've never seen anyone but you use "dot crawl" to refer to something besides a composite video artifact. Wikipedia also makes no mention of any other types of "dot crawl."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_crawl

You can call scaling issues whatever you want, but if you're going to make big, authoritative threads about video quality, it's probably best to stick to the most widely agreed upon definitions of words like that. Otherwise it will ultimately just create confusion.

[CRTGAMER]

I've never seen anyone but you use "dot crawl" to refer to something besides a composite video artifact. Wikipedia also makes no mention of any other types of "dot crawl."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_crawl

You can call scaling issues whatever you want, but if you're going to make big, authoritative threads about video quality, it's probably best to stick to the most widely agreed upon definitions of words like that. Otherwise it will ultimately just create confusion.

Debatable of what is the right wording, I just use it to describe a similar result. Feel free to contribute with your own Guide instead of criticizing mine.