CRT Thread

[Ravl]

Though modern filters on high resolution modern displays can somewhat replicate the look of a CRT monitor, there are still many of us who love the look and feel of a real crt, prefering to use these old displays to play our favourite retrogames to this day.
How do you use your crt? do you play on original hardware or did you connect it to your pc?
Post your setups/monitor/games you are playing.
I use a SONY PVM 14l2 connected to my pc with crtemudriver and Retroarch SwitchRes.

I'm currently playing through the Turbografx-CD version of Ys I & II

 

[NakaGX]

Got my hands on a CRT again recently for really cheap and it feels like I've entered a dream (or woke up from a nightmare after 15 years of LCDs). I've got it hooked up to all my consoles using some component and s-video switchers. Forgive the rough look of things as I recently did a room swap right after I got the CRT, but having a setup like this has been the stuff of my dreams for a while.

I'm currently playing through the Turbografx-CD version of Ys I & II

Absolutely beast. Ys I & II TGCD rules, and is one of the first games I demo'd on my CRT when I got it (on Wii via component cables heh). Lilia is the best.

 

[Don Patch]

Got my hands on a CRT again recently for really cheap and it feels like I've entered a dream (or woke up from a nightmare after 15 years of LCDs). I've got it hooked up to all my consoles using some component and s-video switchers. Forgive the rough look of things as I recently did a room swap right after I got the CRT, but having a setup like this has been the stuff of my dreams for a while.

View attachment 618

Absolutely beast. Ys I & II TGCD rules, and is one of the first games I demo'd on my CRT when I got it (on Wii via component cables heh). Lilia is the best.

That setup is beast-mode!
Props on the Japanese Saturn, too.

 

[Ravl]

Got my hands on a CRT again recently for really cheap and it feels like I've entered a dream (or woke up from a nightmare after 15 years of LCDs). I've got it hooked up to all my consoles using some component and s-video switchers. Forgive the rough look of things as I recently did a room swap right after I got the CRT, but having a setup like this has been the stuff of my dreams for a while.

View attachment 618

Absolutely beast. Ys I & II TGCD rules, and is one of the first games I demo'd on my CRT when I got it (on Wii via component cables heh). Lilia is the best.

Great setup honestly, I give you additional points for Konata. Putting a NES there would make it perfect though.
Ever tried hooking that up to your pc?

 

[NakaGX]

Great setup honestly, I give you additional points for Konata. Putting a NES there would make it perfect though.
Ever tried hooking that up to your pc?

I actually haven't looked into that. I imagine it can be done daisy-chaining displayport > vga > component?
I considered buying an AV-modded Famicom but I kinda filled the space there already in a way that doesn't feel too crowded so I'm content with NES emu on my Wii for now.

 

[Ravl]

I actually haven't looked into that. I imagine it can be done daisy-chaining displayport > vga > component?

Unfortunately it's not that easy. A Consumer CRT like yours will only take a 15hz analog signal, which your current and modern gpu will not be able to natively output without some software and even hardware thinkering.

There are many other methods you can find online, but this is the one that I actually use so I can vouch for it:
To send a 15hz signal you need graphic card that is compatible with Calamity's driver package (aptly named CRTemudriver) which combined with VMM (VideoModeMaker) will allow you to trick your graphic card into displaying a 240p resolution. Retroarch's switchres must also be setup correctly so that whenever you boot up a game it automatically switches the monitor's resolution to the correct one.
I highly suggest taking a look at these guides, the first one has all downloads for the stuff you need and is actually made by Calamity himself, while the second also explains how to correctly set up Retroarch with this.
https://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?id=295
https://cdcruze.com/2019/03/retroarch-and-crt-emudriver-setup-guide

While this sounds very complicated, you just need to buy an old, cheap Radeon Card and plug it into the second PCIe slot of your main desktop. Also remember that good cables do make a difference.
My setup is: Amd Radeon 5450 > vga > VGA2SCART adapter > scart cable > BKM-129X input card of the PVM

 

[NakaGX]

Unfortunately it's not that easy. A Consumer CRT like yours will only take a 15hz analog signal, which your current and modern gpu will not be able to natively output without some software and even hardware thinkering.

There are many other methods you can find online, but this is the one that I actually use so I can vouch for it:
To send a 15hz signal you need graphic card that is compatible with Calamity's driver package (aptly named CRTemudriver) which combined with VMM (VideoModeMaker) will allow you to trick your graphic card into displaying a 240p resolution. Retroarch's switchres must also be setup correctly so that whenever you boot up a game it automatically swicthes the monitor's resolution to the correct one.
I highly suggest taking a look at these guides, the first one has all downloads for the stuff you need and is actually made by Calamity himself, while the second also explains how to correctly set up Retroarch with this.
https://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?id=295
https://cdcruze.com/2019/03/retroarch-and-crt-emudriver-setup-guide

While this sound very complicated, you just need to buy an old, cheap Radeon Card and plug it into the second PCIe slot of your main desktop. Also remember that good cables do make a difference.
My setup is: Amd Radeon 5450 > vga > VGA2SCART adapter > scart cable > BKM-129X input card of the PVM

Woah. I'll definitely look into this at some point. A little involved but nothing I can't handle, and if I do this I prolly won't even care to bother with one of those mister devices. Really appreciate the info!

 

[Boo Man]

i have a PS1, Point blank, Time Crisis (still sealed) & G-Con45 ready to go!
however the light guns wont work on modern TV's and its impossible to find a CRT these days
they seem to be a relic of the past

really craving that nostalgia hit
but playing these games with a controller is not the same at all

 

[dejiko]

seeing all of this crt awesomeness is making me wanna hook up my dreamcast and play some hotd 2!

 

[Xeno]

I picked up a 13 inch Durabrand CRT. I connected a Raspberry Pi 3 b+ with composite cables and set it to output 240p. PS1 & SNES games look just as I remembered them. GBA games look good too. I hooked up a Steam Deck with HDMI to Composite cables so that I could try PS2/Dreamcast/Gamecube games. It looks surprisingly good. My wife found a Gamecube in storage at her Mom's so I am going to mod that and try it out too.

 

[Lee__Kanker]

I have a couple

 

[Boo Man]

I have a couple

WOW nice!

 

[Ravl]

I have a couple View attachment 907
View attachment 908
View attachment 909

Impressive, you could open a whole store with these.

 

[Xeno]

Impressive, you could open a whole store with these.

View attachment 971

Open up a retro gaming bar.

 

[solidbatman]

i have two crt sets in the non climate controlled shed. giving thoughts and prayers to them when i finally pull them out and test them. and maybe a sacrifice to any and all deities.
i would absolutely love to get them up and running but i also have zero idea as to where to put them rn

 

[GVSE]

I have a couple View attachment 907
View attachment 908
View attachment 909

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat

i wish i had at least one of that, super cool!! All of it still works??? I'd like to see some pictures of how some retro games looks on those tvs, if you can show us :0

 

[CRTRebel]

I used to play exclusively on my two CRTs with original hardware, but lately my laziness has grown to the point that I play on my desktop station and its monitor. The convenience of emulators and filters has reached unparalleled...

 

[Lee__Kanker]

Open up a retro gaming bar.

Impressive, you could open a whole store with these.

View attachment 971

If only man if only; Ive ALWAYS wanted to open my own arcade where people can come and have fun; but theres just no market for it where I live, hell most ppl never even played anything 2d and I had to explain some of my normie friends the difference between super mario bros and any other 2d game

 

[Lee__Kanker]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat

i wish i had at least one of that, super cool!! All of it still works??? I'd like to see some pictures of how some retro games looks on those tvs, if you can show us :0

Thank you!
Yes, all of them work!
There's more than the ones Ive shown you, about...10ish more?

Alright! I'll take some pics of em running games

 

[Kannibal]

Even though the MiSTer FPGA can handle the majority of 5th-gen consoles and older, arcade support is still lacking. Thankfully, someone has taken advantage of the MiSTer FPGA and created a core that essentially turns it into an analog converter. The project is known as Groovy MiSTer, and the goal of Groovy MAME is to allow players to enjoy games at their native resolution. With Groovy MiSTer, people can now enjoy games like CPSIII, the ZN series, and several others available on MAME that don’t have cores on the MiSTer itself.

 

[Zemus]

Would you guys say CRTs feel better on your eyes? That would be my reason for getting one.

 

[daratmp+wxqvs]

I will stay blissfully ignorant of what a real CRT used to look like.
Havent used one since probably 2013, all i remember was that it cropped out the hud on my xbox 360 games, and made the dead rising menu text completely unreadable.

I use CRT shaders though on my OLED. But god damn I wish modern monitors could get rid of persistence blur, it annoys the crap out of my when i play pokemon crystal

 

[DanCalibur]

I miss the time you could get good CRTs for free

 

[ShinnAsukaYESTaylorSwiftNO]

my Sony Trinitron KV-27S45 in action

 

[Blamhammer]

I have a Sony Trinitron 14" CRT. Flatscreens just can't match that brightness and deep blacks.


I had a Panasonic 28" as well but the anode cap seal broke and that discharges quite a lot of voltage on shutdown. I was in no mood to try and repair that...