CRT Fetish Thread

[Reclaimer]

The brightness levels in the 360 are fucked up in hdmi no matter the setting, it wouldn't surprise me if vga was the same way.

It generally is.

Try playing around with the blackness levels in the 360 options, and use an AV test disc to test.

 

[BladeDancer314]

Im still trying to figure out how many and which systems Im gonna use on this

 

[ChopstickSamurai]

Im still trying to figure out how many and which systems Im gonna use on this

View attachment 32921

That looks great! It took me awhile to find a proper sized stand to my liking. Building one really seems the way to go if your good at that sorta thing. Me, not so much.

 

[BladeDancer314]

That looks great! It took me awhile to find a proper sized stand to my liking. Building one really seems the way to go if your good at that sorta thing. Me, not so much.

Im not that good either, trust me.

I just have a bunch of tools lol, I guess I should sand and paint it

 

[lolifoxgirl]

Thats a slick setup bladedancer. Did you build that cart?

 

[BladeDancer314]

Thats a slick setup bladedancer. Did you build that cart?

Yes, just finished putting it together earlier today, I really wanted something with wheels so I could move it around.

It's actually much sturdier than I thought it would be, I can stand on it with those PVMs on it also lol

 

[tacoguy]

Sorry im saying this stupidly. How black it is on a solid black screen. Like I was testing around and changing the colors to my preference but for some reason I was using the only thing ive got that is vga right now my 360. The blacks in the menu are all these deepish greys. Or if i look a just a picture of a solid black jpeg to measure richless levels they're not inky black however, in games they are inky black. How or why this happens is beyond me.

Another issue i've got is the screen resolution is insane ( 2304x1440@85HZ ) and i've got nothing that can display that resolution via vga only at the moment until my pc arrives at my destination.

Some of these older PC crt monitors will require you do some calibration. I know for the Sony fw900 it needs calibration using WinDAS

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1830788

And even then it still takes the monitor about 30 minutes to warm up. The procedure takes time and money to do but I think it's totally worth it.

 

[Reclaimer]

Guy came through and I was able to pick up a decent condition BVM 20F1U this morning! Fucker is super heavy... Fun times taking it out to my car.

Had to go buy a power cable. I was able to get it working with my RGB modded NES using RBG to BNC cables without a sync stripper. After changing the input from YUV to RGB it looks pretty good!

Noob question : it seems every time I turn it on I'll need to select the correct sync and overscan options on the physical control box. After turning off and on, they go back to default and I need to press the buttons again. Is this correct? Sort of annoying, but no big deal, and it makes sense if these guys were supposed to be left on basically forever.

Quick pic -

 

[BanishingFlatsAC]

Guy came through and I was able to pick up a decent condition BVM 20F1U this morning! Fucker is super heavy... Fun times taking it out to my car.

Had to go buy a power cable. I was able to get it working with my RGB modded NES using RBG to BNC cables without a sync stripper. After changing the input from YUV to RGB it looks pretty good!

Noob question : it seems every time I turn it on I'll need to select the correct sync and overscan options on the physical control box. After turning off and on, they go back to default and I need to press the buttons again. Is this correct? Sort of annoying, but no big deal, and it makes sense if these guys were supposed to be left on basically forever.

Quick pic -

You can set up different presets and name them accordingly. I don't recall off the top of my head how you do this. If it's not saving at all it's possible the battery died in the control box.

 

[Reclaimer]

You can set up different presets and name them accordingly. I don't recall off the top of my head how you do this. If it's not saving at all it's possible the battery died in the control box.

Nice! I'll dig around. I think I got the external sync set by default now. I'll check the battery out anyway.

The picture is super solid, but with the input not turned on when I press menu the text is a little shaky. Same tiny bit of shake if I go to the crosshatch channel. But again, picture through the RGB input doesn't shake at all. Hoping this isn't an early warning sign.

 

[BanishingFlatsAC]

Nice! I'll dig around. I think I got the external sync set by default now. I'll check the battery out anyway.

The picture is super solid, but with the input not turned on when I press menu the text is a little shaky. Same tiny bit of shake if I go to the crosshatch channel. But again, picture through the RGB input doesn't shake at all. Hoping this isn't an early warning sign.

I was told the shaky osd was ok. The test with BVMs is see if the text streaks. If it does the tube is very worn. Also, if you take the back off you can look inside the casing and see if there are service markings on the tube. Mine was made in the early 2000s but had a tube swap in 2010 according to the writing on the inside.

 

[Electric Grave]

Im still trying to figure out how many and which systems Im gonna use on this

View attachment 32921

That looks great, I was thinking of doing the same exact thing 'cause I have the same set of CRTs and some of the same consoles.

My suggestion to you besides sanding and painting would be to get 3 wood slats of finished trim, it'll make the presentation way more pro, easy to do and very cheap. I'tll look phenomenal when you're all said and done, great work. I also was thinking of adding lighting to the shelves, just two small fluorescent bulbs under the panel, it'll look awesome, cheap enough too. Strap the power bricks upside down so you can connect everything on the spot, maybe 2 barrier strips and then one extension to go to the wall. It would also be cool to mount the speakers to the cart, top corners below the TV panel, just set your consoles properly and it should be perfect. You can always make a smaller cart companion for those extra consoles or PCBs you wanna play.

Dude, I miss working with wood and making stuff, it's been years...

 

[BladeDancer314]

That looks great, I was thinking of doing the same exact thing 'cause I have the same set of CRTs and some of the same consoles.

My suggestion to you besides sanding and painting would be to get 3 wood slats of finished trim, it'll make the presentation way more pro, easy to do and very cheap. I'tll look phenomenal when you're all said and done, great work. I also was thinking of adding lighting to the shelves, just two small fluorescent bulbs under the panel, it'll look awesome, cheap enough too. Strap the power bricks upside down so you can connect everything on the spot, maybe 2 barrier strips and then one extension to go to the wall. It would also be cool to mount the speakers to the cart, top corners below the TV panel, just set your consoles properly and it should be perfect. You can always make a smaller cart companion for those extra consoles or PCBs you wanna play.

Dude, I miss working with wood and making stuff, it's been years...

Yeah its still not finished, I need to figure out some other stuff.

I really wanted to have 3 levels for the consoles but the height required for consoles with the CD lid open and the tall Neo-Geo made it a no-go

Edit: Also maybe make the back with some swinging doors, that way its easy to get back there and change up stuff.

 

[DragonmasterDan]

Im still trying to figure out how many and which systems Im gonna use on this

View attachment 32921

I like the wooden cart, it makes for a very aesthetically pleasing and mobile setup for PVMs and systems.

 

[Metlcub]

Oh so nice, I cant afford a good CRT so what I do is RGB Scart to HDMI on my 42" tv and my Neo CD, Saturn, SNES all look amazing.

 

[Reclaimer]

Oh so nice, I cant afford a good CRT so what I do is RGB Scart to HDMI on my 42" tv and my Neo CD, Saturn, SNES all look amazing.

If you are happy, you're happy, and that's all that really matters.

But you can likely get a good component in Sony trinitron TV for free via Craigslist, and that's likely a decent step up frrom what you have now, at least for 240p games. Now being able to haul the behemoth home is another matter.

 

[lolifoxgirl]

If you don't mind electrocuting yourself, you can mod a wega to take scart.

 

[Vigormortis]

A decent RGB to component encoder is probably a much better choice than trying to hack RGB into a Wega. The quality difference between component and RGB is minimal.
composite -> s-video = huge increase in quality. No more nasty rainbow and dot crawl artifacts.
s-video -> component = small but definitely visible increase in quality. Gets rid of color bleed.
component -> RGB = pause the game and analyze those pixels closely

 

[BanishingFlatsAC]

component -> RGB = pause the game and analyze those pixels closely. Take picture of monitor, turn system off, screenshots have become more important then gameplay

FTFY

 

[DragonmasterDan]

A decent RGB to component encoder is probably a much better choice than trying to hack RGB into a Wega. The quality difference between component and RGB is minimal.

Generally speaking doesn't this add some delay?

 

[BanishingFlatsAC]

Generally speaking doesn't this add some delay?

No.

 

[Vigormortis]

Generally speaking doesn't this add some delay?

No more than the rgb to composite and s-video encoding that occurs inside the console, which is virtually none.

 

[GohanX]

A RGB to HDMI converter would introduce lag, a rgb to component converter does not.

 

[Stellarola]

Any recommendations on a quality RGB to Component convertor? I have a friend questing for one, who hasn't had any luck sourcing an RGB monitor.

 

[aaronmjr]

Any recommendations on a quality RGB to Component convertor? I have a friend questing for one, who hasn't had any luck sourcing an RGB monitor.

The one everyone gets is the CSY-2100 or it's clone. About $50, good results. You need to open the case and use the pots to fix the color usually upon first use.