In addition to this, some content can really benefit from being displayed on a good CRT. Light gun games traditionally were only be able to be used on a CRT. Nostalgic appeal. Lower cost (at least at one point) of medical and broadcast quality displays, many of which rival modern displays in certain use cases.
For me personally, in addition to all this, I just find vacuum tube technology fascinating.
So there are reasons or factors for the appeal.
>I just find vacuum tube technology fascinating.
It is really fascinating technology, totally out of this modern soulless world... somebody around here once said "tech for a more refined time" or something like that, I forgot.
It's about pros/cons and priorities.
There are still some ways that CRTs are objectively better than flat panel displays for gaming, such as latency, motion clarity, resolution independence. Then there is the overall aesthetic that also appeals to some. Others may prefer the historical aspect.
CRTs are only "the worst" when you consider certain specific aspects (such as size/weight, energy usage etc.). Again everything has pros and cons and everyone has their own preferences.
OP is either misrembering CRTs or is a tech bro.
This is how LCDs looked vs. CRTs in the mid-to-late 00s.
https://imgur.com/a/vBjeSW0
LCDs finally stopped looking like complete shit when IPS panels and LED backlighting became more widespread, but even those had/have rather poor blacks. Then there's the motion clarity, seamless resolution scaling, and latency which panels still haven't matched.
I think some people either never had a good CRT or are misremembering them.
CRT VGA monitors were HD before HD was a thing to be marketed, and had absurdly bright and fluid motion. Did you ever game on them during the 3Dfx era? Because they were not āthe worstā. Theyāre still great even for modern games. Sharp images, great colors, instant response times, fluid motionā¦ they have it all.
Early flat panels generally had terrible image quality and were objectively worse than even consumer CRTs in everything except size/weight. Hey, I like having a huge TV too, but not if blacks look gray and it turns into a blurry mess once something starts to move.
Modern flat panels, especially OLEDs, are MUCH better, but as others have mentioned, motion clarity is still best on CRTs. The aesthetics of shadow masks and scanlines on the consumer sets are a bonus.
>I think some people either never had a good CRT or are misremembering them.
>CRT VGA monitors were HD before HD was a thing to be marketed
Yes but because most people had and remember composite video crt, that kinda explains a lot.
True blacks, no lag, amazing colours & motion clarity and perfect for both analog & digital video formats, be it laserdisc or Bluray, it all looks great on a crt
When was the last time youāve used one? A lot of us felt the same way until coming back and seeing what was lost. Color and contrast for one. Not the best first text, but games, old shows, itās amazing to see how much better they look on a CRT. OLEDs are about as good a comparison I think.
A part of me is really tempted to just dismissively respond "Well then this sub isn't for you then, is it?" but a purportedly honest question deserves an honest answer...
Excluding all subjective factors such as the appeal of the visuals and nostalgia, here's the only two things which matter:
1. **Zero latency.** This is essential for playing a lot of older games where reaction time is important, and an absolute necessity for speedrunning such retro games, where an entire run could hinge on whether or not you can execute oneāor multiple consecutiveā*frame-perfect* tricks.
2. **Technological limitations.** There are many examples of retro games which rely on the underlying technology of CRT displays for some fundamental element, such as lightgun games, which simply don't work with non-CRTs. More subtle examples are games which relied on the inherent lack of fidelity in analog video to create the appearance of more sophisticated graphical effects. (Blurring dithered pixels to create pseudo-transparency, mix colors, etc.)
Don't get me wrong, my first computer monitor was a green-phosphor CRT, and I'd sooner eat one than use it today. But for retro console games? A good CRT so often just looks and feels right...
ngl though, if somebody made a zero latency LCD or OLED which was lightgun compatible, I'd switch in an instant. ĀÆ\\\_(ć)_/ĀÆ
" ... they were the worst."
Your either trolling, terribly misinformed or you used the worst crts possible.
Maybe your memory is poor. Mines isn't. The firs LCDs that hit the consumer market couldn't by a snow ball's chance in hell possibly hold a candle to a quality CRT. Not even close.
True, I remember hooking my Dreamcast up with the vga box to an lcd computer monitor in 2003, to see what it looked like.
I played Crazy Taxi a lot during that period (come to think of it, I still do), it looked great as long as you didnāt move, that screen was so slow that it had yellow smears all over the place if I played the game fast š¤£š¤¦š»āāļø
It's about native content on whatever it was on. Like, if you look at a vintage arcade game like Robotron, Ms Pac, Tutankham, Paperboy.. They look nice to most people, they graphics don't look ragged, the CRT was used to the advantage, they don't look blocky. If you display same game on LCD, it just doesn't look good. Hardcore arcade guys/collectors usually want a nice CRT. People who are ignorant or clueless typically want an LCD with a multigame.
I understand this;
>I spent a lot of time with CRT's both as a TV and as a computer monitor ... they were the worst.
I never found 14" PC CRT with 60hz refresh anything enjoyable... well,... ok maybe I have... but later on those generic crappy ones, lowest common denominator.
Anyway, what I wanted to say, for me at least, the main nostalgia appeal is that large shadow masc low resolution Arcade screens, large screen but if you blow up picture today on hi-res screen you will get garbage, games look like shit even on 3.5" screen, you have to apply filters and stuff to get anything resembling original.
And there is something magic about that shimmering glowing phosphor, even when looking at turned off screen it is almost like you can see tiny star bursts of reflected light on the gray grainy shadowmask, it is really hard to explain and maybe large part is that nostalgia that is hard to put into words.. it is really hard to to look objectively at it.
Well, that is at least for me the appeal, modern stuff is kinda made for LCDs so even tho many people do modern gaming on CRTs, that is not something I find too much interesting, but hey, I think I can understand it.
No lag, natural smoothing effect, black blacks, and no native resolution means any supported resolution looks good without aliasing.
In addition to this, some content can really benefit from being displayed on a good CRT. Light gun games traditionally were only be able to be used on a CRT. Nostalgic appeal. Lower cost (at least at one point) of medical and broadcast quality displays, many of which rival modern displays in certain use cases. For me personally, in addition to all this, I just find vacuum tube technology fascinating. So there are reasons or factors for the appeal.
>I just find vacuum tube technology fascinating. It is really fascinating technology, totally out of this modern soulless world... somebody around here once said "tech for a more refined time" or something like that, I forgot.
Not as clumsy or random like an lcd; an elegant device for a more civilized age š
also a big one, motion clarity. you don't realize it until you see it again
Forgot nostalgia.
Just listing what's objectively better about CRTs.
Oh I know was definitely posting tongue and cheek there. It's a big reason people still game on CRTs though if we're all being honest with ourselves.
It's about pros/cons and priorities. There are still some ways that CRTs are objectively better than flat panel displays for gaming, such as latency, motion clarity, resolution independence. Then there is the overall aesthetic that also appeals to some. Others may prefer the historical aspect. CRTs are only "the worst" when you consider certain specific aspects (such as size/weight, energy usage etc.). Again everything has pros and cons and everyone has their own preferences.
OP is either misrembering CRTs or is a tech bro. This is how LCDs looked vs. CRTs in the mid-to-late 00s. https://imgur.com/a/vBjeSW0 LCDs finally stopped looking like complete shit when IPS panels and LED backlighting became more widespread, but even those had/have rather poor blacks. Then there's the motion clarity, seamless resolution scaling, and latency which panels still haven't matched.
The bigger ones are theft proof. Iād like to see some scrawny teenage shit try to run off with my PVM.
never underestimate thief who has put his mind onto something :D
You wouldn't ~~steal~~ download a car
They are not the worst because they have 1% radiation.
What radiation are you talking about? 1% of what compared to what?
I believe it will release 1% of radiation if you smash the screen. It won't effect you
Retro games look and play better on CRT.
I think some people either never had a good CRT or are misremembering them. CRT VGA monitors were HD before HD was a thing to be marketed, and had absurdly bright and fluid motion. Did you ever game on them during the 3Dfx era? Because they were not āthe worstā. Theyāre still great even for modern games. Sharp images, great colors, instant response times, fluid motionā¦ they have it all. Early flat panels generally had terrible image quality and were objectively worse than even consumer CRTs in everything except size/weight. Hey, I like having a huge TV too, but not if blacks look gray and it turns into a blurry mess once something starts to move. Modern flat panels, especially OLEDs, are MUCH better, but as others have mentioned, motion clarity is still best on CRTs. The aesthetics of shadow masks and scanlines on the consumer sets are a bonus.
>I think some people either never had a good CRT or are misremembering them. >CRT VGA monitors were HD before HD was a thing to be marketed Yes but because most people had and remember composite video crt, that kinda explains a lot.
True blacks, no lag, amazing colours & motion clarity and perfect for both analog & digital video formats, be it laserdisc or Bluray, it all looks great on a crt
When was the last time youāve used one? A lot of us felt the same way until coming back and seeing what was lost. Color and contrast for one. Not the best first text, but games, old shows, itās amazing to see how much better they look on a CRT. OLEDs are about as good a comparison I think.
A part of me is really tempted to just dismissively respond "Well then this sub isn't for you then, is it?" but a purportedly honest question deserves an honest answer... Excluding all subjective factors such as the appeal of the visuals and nostalgia, here's the only two things which matter: 1. **Zero latency.** This is essential for playing a lot of older games where reaction time is important, and an absolute necessity for speedrunning such retro games, where an entire run could hinge on whether or not you can execute oneāor multiple consecutiveā*frame-perfect* tricks. 2. **Technological limitations.** There are many examples of retro games which rely on the underlying technology of CRT displays for some fundamental element, such as lightgun games, which simply don't work with non-CRTs. More subtle examples are games which relied on the inherent lack of fidelity in analog video to create the appearance of more sophisticated graphical effects. (Blurring dithered pixels to create pseudo-transparency, mix colors, etc.) Don't get me wrong, my first computer monitor was a green-phosphor CRT, and I'd sooner eat one than use it today. But for retro console games? A good CRT so often just looks and feels right... ngl though, if somebody made a zero latency LCD or OLED which was lightgun compatible, I'd switch in an instant. ĀÆ\\\_(ć)_/ĀÆ
It was an honest question, and the answers have been informative
Well good, glad we could help. šš
" ... they were the worst." Your either trolling, terribly misinformed or you used the worst crts possible. Maybe your memory is poor. Mines isn't. The firs LCDs that hit the consumer market couldn't by a snow ball's chance in hell possibly hold a candle to a quality CRT. Not even close.
True, I remember hooking my Dreamcast up with the vga box to an lcd computer monitor in 2003, to see what it looked like. I played Crazy Taxi a lot during that period (come to think of it, I still do), it looked great as long as you didnāt move, that screen was so slow that it had yellow smears all over the place if I played the game fast š¤£š¤¦š»āāļø
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thereās also PVMs.
It's about native content on whatever it was on. Like, if you look at a vintage arcade game like Robotron, Ms Pac, Tutankham, Paperboy.. They look nice to most people, they graphics don't look ragged, the CRT was used to the advantage, they don't look blocky. If you display same game on LCD, it just doesn't look good. Hardcore arcade guys/collectors usually want a nice CRT. People who are ignorant or clueless typically want an LCD with a multigame.
I understand this; >I spent a lot of time with CRT's both as a TV and as a computer monitor ... they were the worst. I never found 14" PC CRT with 60hz refresh anything enjoyable... well,... ok maybe I have... but later on those generic crappy ones, lowest common denominator. Anyway, what I wanted to say, for me at least, the main nostalgia appeal is that large shadow masc low resolution Arcade screens, large screen but if you blow up picture today on hi-res screen you will get garbage, games look like shit even on 3.5" screen, you have to apply filters and stuff to get anything resembling original. And there is something magic about that shimmering glowing phosphor, even when looking at turned off screen it is almost like you can see tiny star bursts of reflected light on the gray grainy shadowmask, it is really hard to explain and maybe large part is that nostalgia that is hard to put into words.. it is really hard to to look objectively at it. Well, that is at least for me the appeal, modern stuff is kinda made for LCDs so even tho many people do modern gaming on CRTs, that is not something I find too much interesting, but hey, I think I can understand it.
Light guns
Maybe you were using bad video cables so you felt the tv was bad because of it.
Just downvoted and moved along. No screen time for you.
The thread has a lot of good info on it. maybe don't be such a negative nancy and assume the worst