Title. Ever since I started collecting retro systems once again, I’ve been getting the itch to grab a CRT. But, I really don’t know a whole lot about them, what to look for, what are common pitfalls. I know from the desk setups there’s a handful on the forums that have a CRT in their setup, any advice or resources on how to find a good one? I’d be curious on perspectives for both monitors & tvs.
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Most common pitfall: Thinking you really get much choice in the hunt.
Really, mainly just get a working CRT. If you’re planning on using normal old retro game consoles, any TV will work. If you want niceties, aim for s-video input. Component is going to be much harder to find (especially for a not-digital - and therefore laggy - TV) but would be amazing.
For monitors, again anything from the late 90s - 2000s will do fine, just check that it’s working and doesn’t have massive burn-in.
But unless you’re paying the big scalper bucks, you’re not exactly able to shop around models or anything, you’re mostly going to be looking on the side of the road, checking Craigslist/Offerup/FB Marketplace etc. and just jumping on whatever you can find.
It’ll probably take forever to find your first, and then suddenly you’ll find like 3-5.
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Honestly it’s a bit of a crap-shoot. I’m not sure what the CRT situation is like in the States, especially with things like RGB Scart being a big thing in Europe but not in the USA.
On the one hand, you could try and save some big money for the best of the best sets, your Sony PVMs and whatsuch, or you could just get what you can. It’s not like buying a new TV where you can deliberate over spec sheets and decide based on which has the best PPI or viewing angle etc.
All the CRT’s I own have been Facebook Marketplace deals honestly. One I got from an office that just had a CRT monitor laying around, although that has some discolouration. The other is a bigger 32” I think it is, that an older lady was just wanting rid of and gave it away. There are deals to be had, you just have to be patient. Over here you can still get a decent CRT pretty affordably.
But like I said, here in the UK, RGB Scart isn’t rare and is the best option for running systems like the PS2/GameCube/Xbox and older. After seeing how good a PS2 looks on a CRT over RGB Scart, I’m not bothered about finding an expensive set with component inputs. Hell my PS2 looks better at 480i over RGB Scart on my CRT than it does at 480p over component on an old Sony Bravia flatscreen
Well RGB and Component are, broadly speaking and measurably not that different in quality. Just differences in regional support.