# Are there any modern displays/monitors which reproduce the CRT effect for retro consoles?



## Xzi (Mar 8, 2019)

Title basically covers it, I'm wondering if there are any modern displays (ie not 500 lbs) that have CVBS (RWY) input and reproduce the picture in a fashion similar to old CRT screens.  Is this a thing that exists at all, or perhaps only at a high premium?  I'll probably end up buying a reasonably-sized CRT from a pawn shop, but I am curious about this nonetheless.


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## Dionicio3 (Mar 8, 2019)

Any 720p display with a scan line generator can be pretty convincing from far away, you can probably look at thrift store for old LCD TVs with the older connections for really cheap


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## tech3475 (Mar 8, 2019)

Personally, I’d consider either going the CRT or converter route.

TVs are starting to drop analogue input and it may be a better long term investment.


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## FAST6191 (Mar 8, 2019)

CRT effect as in full bore http://bogost.com/games/a_television_simulator/ ?

If so then I doubt it and that thing will probably be the domain of external boxes. Afraid I have not kept up with said boxes to suggest anything here, much less for the things on the link above (most people are content to try to copy http://retrogaming.hazard-city.de/framemeister.html or something, a nice toy but less CRT emulation and more input scaling and possibly some deinterlacing and light motion blur/pixel tweaking (think basic emulator filters)).

Some of the late stage CRTs can be pretty light, and even come with component inputs*, but between times and desirability then good luck getting one today.

*few years back I was going past a charity shop. Massive 60 inch monster, flat enough that I would worry about it tipping over if given a good pull, component inputs, 720/1080i res... just did not have the space at the time. Still regret that one though. While they were never unpopular with a certain set of gamers** that set has grown in size in recent years as they realised things.

**7 years ago at time of writing, and they themselves seem to know they are somewhat late to the party and just covering what others wandering in would want to know to get up to speed


To that end I would probably just go with emulators that handle the thing mentioned in the opening paragraph. Not sure if there are any means to capture footage and process like said opening thing in real time.


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## Rahkeesh (Mar 11, 2019)

If you can get the scanlines from somewhere else, an LCD monitor or even Tv with strobing or blur reduction would bring back some of the CRT flicker and cut down on LCD motion blur. Retroarch on PC can somewhat fake it with any 120 hz display by using the "black frame insertion" option. If you are dealing with 60 hz console output you'll have to look carefully for a monitor that can strobe with that input, as its more a feature of recent high refresh rate monitors.


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## bandithedoge (Apr 13, 2019)

If you're okay with emulation and setting some things up, RetroArch has some really sweet shaders. I love the Gameboy-like ones, but the CRT-like ones are some of the best.
https://docs.libretro.com/shader/crt/
Keep in mind though that some are very heavy on CPU.


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## The Real Jdbye (Apr 13, 2019)

Xzi said:


> Title basically covers it, I'm wondering if there are any modern displays (ie not 500 lbs) that have CVBS (RWY) input and reproduce the picture in a fashion similar to old CRT screens.  Is this a thing that exists at all, or perhaps only at a high premium?  I'll probably end up buying a reasonably-sized CRT from a pawn shop, but I am curious about this nonetheless.


Maybe you would be interested in the Framemeister, it has some CRT emulation settings such as scanlines and bloom, and also is an ultra low latency way to play your retro games on a modern display.


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## bandithedoge (Apr 13, 2019)

The Real Jdbye said:


> Maybe you would be interested in the Framemeister, it has some CRT emulation settings such as scanlines and bloom, and also is an ultra low latency way to play your retro games on a modern display.


Nah, OSSC is the king now. The Framemeister isn't sold anymore and I wouldn't call the latency "ultra low". It's balls expensive and you have to import it anyway. OSSC is cheaper, faster and constantly developed since it's open-source hardware.


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## enarky (Apr 13, 2019)

bandithedoge said:


> Nah, OSSC is the king now. The Framemeister isn't sold anymore and I wouldn't call the latency "ultra low". It's balls expensive and you have to import it anyway. OSSC is cheaper, faster and constantly developed since it's open-source hardware.


The only thing the OSSC has post-processing-wise is scanlines, though. I have one and like it a lot, the picture is gorgeous, especially for 240p content it's super sharp in Line5x mode, but it's about the opposite of the CRT effect OP is asking about.


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## bandithedoge (Apr 13, 2019)

enarky said:


> The only thing the OSSC has post-processing-wise is scanlines, though. I have one and like it a lot, the picture is gorgeous, especially for 240p content it's super sharp in Line5x mode, but it's about the opposite of the CRT effect OP is asking about.


Then emulation and RetroArch shaders are the best option. The Framemeister is just straight up not worth it.


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## Xzi (Apr 13, 2019)

I managed to snag a 21" RCA-brand "TruFlat" CRT in great condition for $20 from a small TV repair shop.  Somewhat bulky but surprisingly only weighs about 25 lbs, was probably a late 90s or early 2000s model.  It's really amazing how much better retro games look on these screens, from the Gamecube/PS2 era back.  Such nice crisp RGB lines.


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## The Real Jdbye (Apr 13, 2019)

bandithedoge said:


> Nah, OSSC is the king now. The Framemeister isn't sold anymore and I wouldn't call the latency "ultra low". It's balls expensive and you have to import it anyway. OSSC is cheaper, faster and constantly developed since it's open-source hardware.


It is ultra low, of course it's not zero but it's close enough to play the vast majority of retro games without issues. I heard a specific level of Battletoads is impossible with it though, because you need split second reaction times.


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## Stwert (Apr 14, 2019)

OSSC is pretty good for what it is. But nothing compares to an actual CRT. I just recently got a new (well old, but new to me) CRT for my office, where all of my retro systems are.

Got it for next to nothing, the guy was just glad to get rid of it. It was a bargain, been really well looked after, it’s immaculate. Which is pretty good considering it’s age. It’s from the sort of era where LCD and Plasma were still new to the market and CRT’s were still on sale.

Couldn’t be happier, well aside from the fact he measured the screen wrong. It was supposed to be 26” but it’s actually 32”, so it takes up a bit more space than I wanted.

All of which blathering gets me to, it’s great having an actual CRT again. I’ll hate it when we eventually get to the point where we can’t even pick them up second hand...... looooong time away though I’d imagine.

Man, I shouldn’t start typing when my morphine and gabapentin kicks in


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## Sakitoshi (Apr 14, 2019)

Xzi said:


> I managed to snag a 21" RCA-brand "TruFlat" CRT in great condition for $20 from a small TV repair shop.  Somewhat bulky but surprisingly only weighs about 25 lbs, was probably a late 90s or early 2000s model.  It's really amazing how much better retro games look on these screens, from the Gamecube/PS2 era back.  Such nice crisp RGB lines.


nice catch. the rca truflat are well regarded for retro gaming and as I read they even have component and s-video.
I recommend hooking up consoles like snes, genesis and older to s-video maximum if you want to preserve the dithering and other tricks that rely on blurriness (and even there s-video may be too sharp depending the tv).


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## sarkwalvein (Apr 14, 2019)

> modern displays that can...
If by that you mean pixel by pixel image generation with 0ns delay between the console sending the pixel and it being put into the screen, I think it is impossible due to technological limitations. Stick with the bulky CRTs while you can.

Regarding tricks based on NTSC composite image artifacts, those could be simulated nicely perhaps, but still the grid of pixels doesn't look the same as a sharp beam of electrons hitting the phosphor.


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