My plans for the gameroom are changing a bit. I've decided to ditch the PVMs because it has proven darn near impossible to get them serviced. Replacement PVMs are also much harder to come by than they used to be. As such, I have decided to future proof my retro gaming setup as much as I can by switching to modern displays and consumer CRTs.
I'm going to do most of my gaming on my HDTV from here on out. However, with the use of some matrix A/V switches, I have reconfigured things so that I can output most every console to either my HDTV or a consumer CRT with component inputs. That way I will still be able to have lightgun support and a second TV for gaming with guests and my kids.
One of the first things that I did with the new setup was determine exactly how much display lag my HDTV has. Since I can do a side by side lag test using the 240p test suite, I was able to get a pretty close estimate. It seems to be about 3.5 frames. Not the best but not awful either.
I also properly calibrated the colors on my HDTV using the SMPTE color bars and blue filter THX glasses.
I attempted to adjust the brightness using the 3 vertical black/gray bars in the bottom right. Unfortunately, it looks like the black levels of my TV are crap so the bottom right looks like one giant black bar no matter what brightness level I use. For now I am just going by what "feels right" on my N64 which seems to have the darkest output of all my consoles.
I'm waiting on a replacement remote control to arrive so that I can calibrate the CRT that I recently got for free. It isn't anything that special but it does have a 2005 manufacturing date so it probably doesn't have a ton of hours on it. It is a 24" Philips - model number 24PT6341/37.
If all goes well, I am hoping to have the money to finish the basement before the end of the year. So maybe by this time next year, I will have a fully completed gameroom.