CRT Insecurities

Video Games
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This post may seem dumb… but I’m done worrying about that:

I just got a Magnavox 20MT1331/17. I finally got a CRT. I got it from a guy near me who repairs crts and he was able to calibrate it for me as well. I was lucky to get because curved screen CRTs that are the right size for my place (20") is not too common where I live. It is only composite with mono video (and RF) but it was what was available at that time I got it. I grew up playing N64, PS2, and Wii on a crt over composite using whatever cables came with the system and I was hoping to use this TV to play systems and games I missed out on (NES, SNES, Genesis, Gamecube) as well as use my old systems to replay games I still have as well/ new ones I never did (Basically NES generation through Gamecube/PS2/Wii, maybe some DVD via PS2 and VHS as well). I even played Wii and PS2 over composite on my old smaller HDTV as well (I did get component cables at one point for the PS2 but I didn’t like how progressive scan made games look, like jagged and pixelated edges).

I think I’ve been lurking on the crtgaming subreddit for too long, because now I feel that the consensus is that using anything less than S-Video I wont be able to to get the best out of these systems and enjoy and appreciate the games.

There are no TVs being sold around me that have anything better for the size I need (unless I spend 300-500$ on a RGB modded TV).

Am I overreacting and overthinking? Is this TV good enough for the systems I want to use? I didn’t care when I was a kid and just used whatever cables came with the system, but that subreddit kind of ruined it a bit for me (my fault, not the subs). Just was on my mind while at work today, it’s the slow season.

PS: I’ll probably get external shielded speakers to get stereo audio

Also, you guys got great setups from what I’ve seen. All the crazy TVs like PVM/BVMs and such.

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The best CRT is the one you have already!! Love the one you’re with :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Composite is great - and it’ll be accurate to what you remember! Plug in and play.

No joke - playing games is fun!! Don’t get lost in the details or comparison stuff. That TV is perfect!

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Composite is plenty good enough, don’t overthink these things. That subreddit has too many people hyper fixated on small imperfections, as long as your set doesn’t have any glaring issues with geometry or otherwise, you can still enjoy the low lag, amazing motion clarity, and scanlines/blending of pixel art

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If you can’t appreciate games the same way you played them as a kid it’s not a problem with the TV it’s an attitude problem.

You want the truth? If you keep chasing better quality there’s really no end to the rabbit hole. You end up spending way, way more time (and money) trying to get a better setup than you do playing games.

If you plug in a console via composite and you can sit and have fun why let anyone else spoil that for you?

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For me RGB and composite are two different styles on CRT, enjoy the one you have.

All my consoles are RGB but I still play with rca cables sometimes, it’s even my favorite way to play the N64 or F-Zero SFC.

Definitely take a stereo output, very important on my own opinion, and I recommend to put the sharpness setting of your tv, if you can, to zero. It reduce drastically the noise of composite. The color setting must be lower compare to an RGB setting too (in the end as you prefer).

Composite is authentic too, enjoy the way your great CRT works!