Do you still own and use a CRT monitor?

[Ebonsword]

I've been in the mood for playing some late 90's/early 2000's RPGs, but, instead of playing around with trying to get them to work on a modern PC, I decided to get out my old Pentium III PC and 17" CRT monitor and play the games on something closer to "period correct" equipment.

I had forgotten how nice a decent CRT could be. Great black levels, no uneven backlighting, fast response, etc. But what's really awesome for vintage gaming is the way CRTs support multiple resolutions. Some older RPGs are locked into 640x480 or 800x600. On a LCD, these can really look like crap because LCDs hate anything not at their native resolution. A CRT, though, will just roll with it and display it beautifully.


So, it got me curious if any of my fellow Codexers are still using this classic technology.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

I own a 17" CRT back from late 90's (or early 00's), but rarely use it. The last time I had to use it was because my external LCD display died and I needed something until the new one was delivered (and my laptop had a terrible screen anyway).
It's very good for older games, but that's about it. My eyes get tired too fast when I use it.

 

[Delterius]

as a compromise with modernity, I have chosen to have each and every frame of my computer games rendered by a newly restored guttenberg style printing press equipped with a hand motor fashioned by mestre pietro damares de savoya

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

Fuck no

Those things are murder on your eyes. Probably the reason I use glasses today.

I think I got rid of my last CRT in 2007-2010 and for good measure, because fuck CRTs.

The only one who truly liked CRTs at house was our Siamese cat.

What's next, ball Mouse nostalgia?

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

I've got a dinky old Commodore monitor that still works but isn't hooked up. Last time I used it IIRC was probably near a decade ago just 'cause I wanted a screen to dick around with since I was passing out Halloween candy and the lighting was too poor to read. I assume it still works at least but I haven't tried it again in ages. I ended up ditching CRTs for computer use really early 'cause I had a funky all-in-one system I got cheap ages ago which was killed when lightning hit my shack and the insurance company couldn't replace the system since it was an oddity so they gave me some shitbox Dell or HP or Compaq or whatever and an LCD which was $1,000 or something ungodly at the time. Ghosted and looked like ass by modern standards but it was actually super useful for me since I did monthly LAN gaming at the time and dragging a CRT around kills you way more than dragging the PC. Especially when you install a handle on the top of your tower.

 

[Beastro]

No CRT monitor, but I still have a CRT TV~

 

[Melcar]

I had to ditch all my CRTs when I left L.A. Had 5 23" ones and a couple of 19" of I remember correctly. Nice flat screens too. The last CRT I used was and old one we had in the office about 6 years ago.

Sent from my Redmi 4A using Tapatalk

 

[newtmonkey]

I bought a CRT monitor for playing DOSBOX games at native res (they looked great), but when I got a new computer it would no longer output the proper low resolution, so now the monitor is sitting in my closet.

I do have a 14" Sony PVM monitor with RGB support that I use for my 8-bit computers and consoles.

 

[Master]

I have it but i dont use it (the CRT).

 

[Bester]

Do they make new CRT monitors at all? They don't age well as far as I remember, the image goes darker in time.

 

[Melcar]

Do they make new CRT monitors at all? They don't age well as far as I remember, the image goes darker in time.

Yeah, they dim out over time. Burn in eventually sets in too. And since the cable was attached to the unit, a damaged one was a pain to replace. No one is making them anymore (no one is willing to service them either), but it would be awesome if some high end boutique style shop could produce specialty screens.

Sent from my Redmi 4A using Tapatalk

 

[Plaguecrafter]

Don't use it or plan to use it in general, but I'm thinking of getting it just so I can get the authentic feeling when I make a retro gaming machine.

 

[Sigourn]

I own this.

I don't use it because my dad wants to sell it and my mother would berate me for wanting to keep it just to play games.
800x600 resolution, would be ideal to play lots of classics there (Fallout, IE games, and more).

 

[taxalot]

I can't justify owning a CRT monitor to my wife, so no.

 

[yellowcake]

I checked it out recently after couple of years of collecting dust and I was shocked how good dark places look. Dynamic range is unparalelled.

 

[rohand]

Them motherfuckers be heavy

 

[oldmanpaco]

I had a 19 inch CRT in my basement for years. Got rid of it last summer when I realized I had not used it in over a decade.

 

[BarãodoDesterro]

I'm a neophyte when setting old games (even new ones) to run smoothly.

I've recently learned to execute games on DOSBox, but I still don't know how to configure the program. When I played "Ultima VII", the graphics were not that great.

Would you recommend a CRT monitor?

Probably I can get my hands in one without paying for it, so it would not be a great investment if it went wrong.

Would old games look nicer, considering I would have to use an HDMI converter from a contemporary notebook? Would I need to make hard/not obvious configurations on the emulators, or just plug and notice the difference?

 

[Kev Inkline]

I own this.

I don't use it because my dad wants to sell it and my mother would berate me for wanting to keep it just to play games.
800x600 resolution, would be ideal to play lots of classics there (Fallout, IE games, and more).

So you're 35 and live at childhood home playing games?

 

[Sigourn]

I own this.

I don't use it because my dad wants to sell it and my mother would berate me for wanting to keep it just to play games.
800x600 resolution, would be ideal to play lots of classics there (Fallout, IE games, and more).

So you're 35 and live at childhood home playing games?

Correction: I was 27 and lived at childhood home playing games.

Now I'm 29 and live at childhood home playing games.

 

[JamesDixon]

No, I got rid of my Critical Race Theory monitors. They kept putting on white robes with hoods when I wasn't looking...

 

[Strig]

I have a CRT monitor with my 233 MHz, 96 MB RAM and Voodoo 2 PC. The PC barely works (if at all, I haven't actually used it in probably two decades) and the monitor itself was in color but one day went for that goth look and became black and white. I used it as an emergency screen and it came in handy once or twice. They're both tucked snugly in a box in my basement gym. I have two CRT TVs in my home though. I actually got rid of my main CRT monitor, a 17" LG Flatron, in 2014 and still kind of miss it. I do a lot of things for print and found out the hard way that matching color on a cheaper CRT was way easier than on a cheaper modern screen. I now own a pretty solid and properly calibrated NEC and only now it's comparable. Not to mention that my Minecraft FPS dropped from around 300 to a hardcapped 60. Bollocks.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

Yes, I do. A couple of them. But then I also still have my old early 2000s computer with Windows XP on it too. Wish I had bought one of those HD CRT TV back when they were everywhere and super cheap.