It really is unfortunate. I'm not alone in this for sure. I tell myself that they are backups and they are but there's probably no way all of them will break.
Plus if you’re sensitive to flicker, you can double the screen refresh rate (if the horizontal refresh is high enough in KHz), at least on a PC. Comes at the cost of some image cross-talk, but I’d imagine it would still look better than VRR on an LCD display. Personally, I’d like to try that at 240P, and then pair it with AMD’s AFMF (which while isn’t great with 3D games, makes 2D scrolling look smoother) to further smoothen how retro games look, would be a really cool thing to experiment with and see how it affects latency.
line doubling is the traditional compatibility mode for VGA monitors to older signals that are below the minimum scanrate of VGA, so e.g. 200p becomes 400p
Great to see this video up! I've been recommending scalers+VGA for years, and more recently as a perfect output for MiSTer (enable doublescan and off you go with perfect refresh rates and 2:1 scaling). Razor sharp images, amazing colour, no lag. Can't argue with that.
Exactly what I do as well: scandoubler with a MiSTer to a VGA CRT. Unfortunately it doesn't work with the PS1 core, and the upcoming Saturn and Jaguar cores probably won't play nice either.
I am surprised no one has hit you with the 'that's not legit 240p 60hz, that's image doubling 240p at 120hz' argument. I have not seen it with my own naked eye balls but from videos that I have seen I would be very happy with it because it looks incredible in my opinion. It makes the picture brighter too.
Cool thing about VGA monitors, is that they support high refresh rates out of the box, and this is not only a good thing for PC games, but that also makes it possible to achieve native console resolutions. Through NVIDIA control panel, I'm able to create new resolutions, like, 256x224@130Hz, and many NES / SNES emulators that I've used recognize that, and play the games at fullscreen with true scanlines, so no need for filters or gamma boost. Sure, the refresh rate is not even integer with the usual 60Hz, but those consoles already use odd refresh rates that require some sort of v-sync for it not to judder / tear the image on any PC monitor, so it plays fine on such a high refresh. It would be cool if it there was a device that allowed to double the vertical refresh signal, instead of just line doubling. 320x240@120Hz uses the same 31KHz signal as 640x480@60Hz, so maybe it isn't that hard to just double the refresh on a VGA monitor while maintaining the same line count that a console would usually send.
It's always a shame that 15 kHz was thrown out the window during those IBM days 480p became a thing. So many dos games ended up 240p line-doubled and no scanlines. Of course DOOM at 240p..... eheh-heh-heh!
Back in the day, I used to hook up my SNES, Genesis, and Saturn to my VGA monitor with the XRGB2. Fell into the RGB hole then and never left. Glad there are so many great new options now.
I bought a 1995 view sonic 15s recently and long story short the guy who sold it to me told me it was his moms who recently passed at 102 years old, 1 owner and shed play solitaire 4 hours a day
I still really wish VGA monitors could handle 15khz and component signals since it would make finding an all in one solution for CRT gaming way easier than looking for rare 480P RGB monitors or using converters.
My 31khz VGA CRT did something weird today that this reminded me of, it suddenly started accepting resolutions lower than its usual minimum. Previously, anything under 640x480 just gave me a “frequency too low” error on the monitor, but today it suddenly stopped giving that warning, at all. So I can transmit any resolution I want to it below 640x480 now with some careful settings. I’ve found it’s most useful for GBA games, I can emulate them and perfectly integer scale it to 480x320, and it looks amazing on my CRT, the scanlines are really well spaced and it looks lovely and bright. But I also managed to run emulators at 320x240 (I needed to do some tinkering in Nvidea settings to make this work, it only seems to understand signals with at least 450x300 pixels, but if I specify the signal so it has 320x240 active pixels and 480x320 total pixels, it just only displays the 320x240, and it’s easy to show it on fullscreen with some adjustment, and it looks really good and super sharp, with proper scanlines that look as thick as a PVM, it’s really impressive, but I personally don’t like that look very much and I find scanlines like that give me eye strain, so I mainly stick with 320x240+ resolutions. If I try to go below 450x300 total pixels (so far, I keep finding new ways around the restrictions.) it just shuts down the monitor, but as long as the total pixels stay at that level I can technically feed it any amount of active pixels, but with numbers less than half of total pixels tends to cause some weirdness, running it at 240x160 for native resolution GBA for example technically worked, but it didn’t fit the screen very well, the image was too small and in the corner, and even with the settings I couldn’t quite get it to fill the screen, and in this mode the scanlines are so enormous that it looks awful to me, I much prefer to line double it with integer scaling and then display it that way. Sadly it doesn’t seem to have actually become a 15khz monitor, but it’s been a lot of fun to mess with. 24khz arcade games look great on it, and it’s awesome to play Model 1, 2 and 3 games at native resolution, and since they are below 800x600 I can run them at 120hz too for flicker free gaming without extra judder from using 85hz or something.
I believe you are correct. The NES Zapper is just a much more primitive lightgun. It only looks for a flash and the NES only cares about the timing. Any lightgun with an aiming reticle is using the video signal's analog timing itself-that's why they have to piggyback off compositive/luma/whatever line sync is on-to figure out where on the screen it is being pointed. The very nature of the deinterlacing being done is going to make that not work.
Gamecube games look fantastic on a CRT monitor at 480p! It's amazing how much better 480p looks on a CRT compared to an LCD television. I didn't like 240p through RetroTINK though, even with scanlines. It just doesn't look authentic enough. My monitor's brightness isn't powerful enough to compensate for the dimming effect of the scanlines so there's zero bloom with the visible lines.
VGA monitors are great for xbox 360 as it natively supports VGA and has official high quality vga cables for low cost. The original xbox is good as well once you flash a VGA bios to it. The VGA bios turns the xbox into a 480p sync on green signal. Most VGA crts support sync on green. Unlike PS2 there is no bullshit. It just always works.
I've been telling people for years that a good quality vga monitor can still beat out many LCD monitors out there. While not currently in use, 1 have 2 21" HP Trinitron CRTs (yes, HP screen, says trititron on the chasis) for the day that I decide to move them over to the game room for more than just the Dreamcast. Also have 2 component to VGA adapters (a Vdigi and a Key Digital) which were highly regarded back in the early 2000s
In my experience only the dreamcast light gun games work on a VGA CRT. Still a bit of a challenge to calibrate the lightgun and get it to the same accuracy as composite on CRT. The vga out of the DC looks amazing for the House of the Dead and Death Crimson OX
The only trouble I've ever had with Dreamcast lighgun games is with a bad gun. Once I got a good one, they work on all CRT's, in all supported resolutions.
@@RetroRGB thanks for the quick reply (What lightguns do you use?) I've tested the madcatz which is meh and the star fire light blaster which is better imho. Its noticable on the corners and perimeter of the screen in calibration where aiming is kinda jumpy. So basically 1 or 2 bosses in the House of the Dead. My Sony Wega Trinitrons even the ones at 60hz are also less accurate than a Panasonic Tau CRT I've tested. Maybe I need to get a new light gun?
When I play Rastan (SEGA Master System) on my consumer CRT, the clouds look rounded. And I mean rounded, not blurry. When I play them on an emulator, even with "scanlines" turned on, they still look pixellated. No one can appreciate what CRTs do to hide pixels until they see it in person. It's a special kind of anti-aliasing.
Use the emulator retroarch and the shader CRT royale filter. It creates that anti aliasing look on all those pixels. I actually use the ntsc svideo preset and it looks very authentic to a CRT through emulation.
@@Domarius64 It does require 1440p and above to look right. I also use an overlay to give an image of a CRT. I use one that has a reflection on the screen for added effect.
@@jason160uk ahh, thanks for the heads up. I don't have a 4k screen but I knew we might get there again one day with enough improvement in resolution and colour to simulate it in a more nuanced way :)
@@jason160uk I might want to hit you up for tips, it's really rare to see someone interested in recreating CRT accurately. Let me know if you have a Discord or something you want to share.
Great video! I picked up a Dell 20” VGA CRT last week and I’m loving it with MiSTer. My other CRTs bother my wife, she can’t put up with the high pitched squeal, but she doesn’t hear anything with the VGA one. Now I can play on a CRT in the living room with her.
@@rat9625 I'm 27 and can still hear it. Of of my 22 yo friends came over and could not remember that whine from when they where younger and asked about it
Great video as always! I was really hoping you'd mention 3x laced mode of the OSSC. 480i x3 is, in my opinion, the best way to play PS2 etc. And the odd line tripled interlaced signal mostly won't work on flat panel TVs. The resulting fine altering scanlines are perfect for a high-res VGA monitor!
I don't think VGA monitors would accept any kind of interlaced signal at all. That's an interesting thought though...I'd definitely like to try it out!
@@RetroRGB well "VGA" monitors would not, if we're strictly talking about monitors capable of 640x480 max. But if the monitor syncs to a high enough scanrate to support 1024x768 it would also support 720p and therefore 1440i. It works very well on a Sony F520 for example. I remember testing 1440i with my D32 as well, but that signal was generated by a Groovymame PC, not by an OSSC. Yes, if you still have everything setup, throw a PS2 game in and test the 3x laced mode :) it looks way better than Bob deinterlacing, IMO.
@@RetroRGB Funnily enough - I've tested this on at least two CRT monitors. A HP P1110 (that I can't further test on atm - repairs pending. I'll need to sub to your Patreon and ask for advice there), and a LG Studioworks 900B. They respect interlacing as long as it's over 31kHz. I should test with my other monitors, but I'm in quite a cramped household at the moment.
Yeah I was really surprised myself when I tested x3 on my Gateway and line-doubled interlaced was working perfectly! It's strange cause I tried this with my LG led and that was the only mode that wasn't recognized. Go figure! The other x3, x4 ,x5 modes for 240p content are great once you start adding vertical scanlines and adjusting them with hybrid. The other line doublers and scalers totally lack this feature, so I had to push for this to be included!
7:15, you can get around this by adding an external scanline generator into the chain. Then you can have both scanlines and the smoothing in N64 games if you really wanted to.
So with the GBS-Control and a decent CRT monitor you can have a really similar image to a pvm for a fraction of the price, i'm glad to know that. The days about dreaming of getting a framemeister are gone lol. Can't wait for the GBS video!
I had some stuff I was doing with the ossc and my vga monitor some time before I started making suggestions that pc crt's are an alternative to the pvm/bvm line. Now I think they're referring to them as "Poor man's bvm" But yeah with ossc, 3x, 4x, 5x, etc can gain even better yields in quality and surprisingly there's a few that can handle the other interlaced modes better as well enough to compete with the tink. Btw, shadowmask lines are pretty neat like a stain glass window vs aperture grille. Get the more glowy shots and they stand out!
One other thing I may be considering a quick upload test on ossc 5x on an led panel just to show how nicely it competes wih the bvm. You can bring up line counts all you want, but in many cases, there seems as if there's no lines at all. Just those razor thin custom scanlines that show we're a step away from total preservation until panel tech catches up properly.
@@voltz15 Hey, I'd like to ask the hdmi to vga adapter that you're using so you can output 1600x1200 (OSSC x5). I believe Tendak one is not compatible. I will try with the Portta one soon. Thanks.
Just search for "Monitor" without "CRT" and sort by lowest price. I got a Lacie electron blue for 20€ and that's a monitor used in photography with a Mitsubishi Diamondtron tube.
Man I still love that intro, it's so satisfying Also, I should break out my dell trinitron monitor and try some of these options. It looks outstanding on my desktop PC, having no issues with even 1600x1200, looking clear as could be
Such a great video, I can tell you put a lot of work into it. I was looking for a VGA monitor and the video is super helpful and gives a good insight in what they can do. Thanks Bob!!
Finally, I have 3 awesome CRT monitors here, one of them being the SyncMaster 1100df, which I use to play Dreamcast on It. Now I know what I can use to play my SNES/N64 on It.
Great video! I just got a CRT VGA monitor and was trying to figured out the component to VGA path. I already own an OSSC, so using that with HDMI -> VGA converter seems like the way to go versus component -> VGA
6:00 is that a slot mask?? I thought monitors were all dot mask (sharper to look closer to the screen) and that slot mask were only use on consumer CRT TVs.
I'm glad I knew all of this information for years! I've obtained VGA PC CRTs before many people knew that you could get them to look just as good as a PVM. I would really love to try the N64 on a VGA monitor with the Retrotink2x smoothing. I think that'll be a gamechanger. Can't wait for the GBS Control video!
I don't get really how you can use Retrotink2x on a older VGA monitor, there's no VGA connector (DE-15) on the device, only composite, component, or hdmi... Or does Bobby use some extra converter? hdmi to VGA?
I’m not saying I would have been able to fix it when I was 13... But knowing what I know now there’s no way I would have given up the Amiga monitor my brother and I used with our SNES when it broke down. Instead of buying or sharing a TV (still only had 2 in the whole house at the time) we used that (I think it was 15”) when our family switched over to a PC and got a whole new setup. The picture was soooooo crisp on that thing.
I FEEL your pain. My Amiga's 1084s died in like 2005, and I let that thing go way too easily. Probably could've had it fixed up with a little bit of effort, but I didn't know better back then!!
Great video as usual! I just want to add that composite consoles look great on my CRT PC monitor when using with RetroTINK 2x + SLG3000 (I don't have the PRO version of RetroTINK 2x that has scanlines).
Would love to know the technical details of the Hdmi to vga converter. Is there a full list of the resolutions it can do somewhere? Amazon listing only mentions 720p and 1080p. Ideally i want to do 2048x1536 @80hz or at least 1600x1200.
PSA: I got the Tendak adapter advertised in this video. Unfortunately it doesn't work too well. The picture flickered and cut off intermittently and sometimes these lines and other artefacts appeared on screen. I tested it on two displays and two cables so I'm pretty sure the adapter is the culprit. I found no rhyme or reason for what caused the issues so it's probably random, but resolution or image mode changes seemed to trigger it sometimes. I recommend reading the 1-2 star reviews at Amazon. I'll probably try a adapter with external power because one major issue could be that the HDMI isn't supplying enough power for it.
My first upscaler experience was with a PlayStation 2 combined with a XRGB2plus hooked up to a Sony Trinitron VGA monitor back in 2002. It was impressive to see way back then. Thankfully there are more options for upscaling and conversion now. If you can find one cheap, the Micomsoft XRGB2 series is still a viable option for upscaling to standard VGA monitors. Keep them away from flat panels though.
Thank you for a very concise video detailing different scalers to use when playing our retro systems on VGA CRT Monitors. I'm thinking of using RAD2x cables for most of my Nintendo and Sega consoles, then Component through my Retrotink 2x Pro-M for my Wii, PS3 and X360.
Don't forget the game consoles with 31khz display modes can be hooked up to VGA using the correct cables and adapters. The Dreamcast works with VGA monitors for most of the library via VGA box or VGA cable adapters. Some games like Plasma Sword lack VGA compatibility. The PS2 works with VGA monitors, but it must be a slimline PS2 as they carry out power through the AV port (which the original PS2 models didn't have). The PS3/Wii VGA cable can play PS2 games on a VGA monitor, but will only work with 480p supported titles like Guilty Gear XX or Tekken 4. However, some games like DanceDanceRevolution X2 and Tekken 5 utilize special button codes that enable 480p mode for use on a VGA monitor. The Wii can be used on a VGA monitor via PS3/Wii VGA cable, but the Wii console's video output must be set to EDTV/HDTV (480p) settings. Most Wii games allowed 480p output, so it's VGA-friendly. Many GameCube games have a 480p display mode, so usually hitting the A button upon booting them up enables the appropriate display mode for the VGA monitor. Several 480i-only Wii and GameCube games like Sega Bass Fishing, Sakura Wars: So Long My Love, Target: Terror and Crazy Taxi won't work with this cable unless you use USB Loader GX or Nintendont to force 480p. Same said with Neo-Geo Virtual Console titles. Even certain GameCube games like the Dragon Ball Z Budokai duoligy don't allow 480p forcing, making those games VGA incompatible entirely. The Xbox is VGA supported since many games allowed 480p and 720p display modes. All you had to do is enable them and use an HDMI-to-VGA adapter once you get your Xbox HDMI adapter. The only downer is that non-progressive games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 won't even work with the VGA monitors since most VGA monitors cannot take 15khz signals.
One ossc and everything's 480p vga standard! That generation missed out so much when the Dreamcast died and nothing was standardized to match it. Gunvalkyrie and Panzer Dragoon Orta.... Ohhhh Yeeeaaahhh...... (Top Hat Gameing man impersonation)
This is great Bob, but I feel there is a missed opportunity to Clearly show how the connection goes from RGB or component to VGA. Do each of those devices you mention output HDMI and then you use the HDMI to VGA adapter you link in the description? Thanks!
I went into great detail about there here: ua-cam.com/video/7VOsOuQ5mhM/v-deo.html There's no "missed opportunity", I just didn't want to waste people's time by showing it all over again.
Another great thing about VGA CRTs is that with RetroArch, you can plug one into a modern PC and with some work you can get TRUE 240p resolution out of the monitor at 120hz. On Linux (With an X11 Desktop environment/Window Manager), you can literally just open RetroArch, enable the CRT Switchres option, choose the 31khz option, and you are good to go! most cores will properly set the monitor's resolution to the original console resolution, and it looks absolutely amazing. On Windows, there are a few steps you need to take. On AMD, You can use the "CRT Emudriver", which is a modified driver for various AMD GPUs which allows all these various resolutions. On Nvidia, you can manually set custom resolutions in the Nvidia control panel. Personally, I'd suggest going with Linux with an X11 desktop, and it's literally just plug in and go. Keep in mind that this method doesn't work with Wayland. Be sure to enable "Black Frame Insertion" or set the "Vsync swap interval" to 2 for the smoothest output.
I’ve actually done quite a bit of testing on 240p120 vs 480p with scanlines. It’s exactly the same. And depending on the emulation, running at 120Hz might add more lag. To be clear, I’m NOT shooting down your comment. I was equally as interested as you when I first heard about that. But many livestreams and lag tests later, I’m back to just doubling to 240p and adding scanlines.
@@RetroRGB I haven't really noticed any latency on my end when I had a VGA CRT (No longer own one), but I can totally understand how this method could add some. Yeah I agree, Just doubling the base resolution and adding artificial scanlines over it would be the best way around it. Easier to do and (I assume) better on the monitor's lifespan.
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I make adapters RGB to VGA all console on my colection. Amazing results.
I just rescued a 17'' Dell CRT VGA monitor that someone put on the curb the other day. Ran it through it's paces with my MiSTer with it's built-in scandoubler and scanline generator. It's definitely close to my PVM, but doubling the frame rate to get games to display properly gave motion a weird, almost _too smooth_ vibe to it. It gave me flashbacks to playing with ZSNES on a CRT monitor back in like '06 lol. Besides that though, it's definitely a good option for people who can't get their hands on a PVM for one reason or another, and I'm definitely keeping mine around as a spare/backup
I wanted to do this, but there is one issue that's not mentionned. If you are in europe, use pal consoles and your scaler doesn't change the refresh rate from 50hz to 60hz, most VGA monitors (LCD and CRT) won't be able to display it. I tried to connect my RGB N64 to different monitors and tv using an OSSC and a cheap HDMI to VGA adapter. (The OSSC doesn't change the refresh rate from 50hz to 60hz.) With my: - 4:3 19" Dell LCD, it didn't work. - 42" inc TV (it has a vga input), it didn't work. - 40" LCD Phillips PC monitor it worked. This is a high-end monitor. - old (late 90's) 14" CRT pc monitor, it worked but the image was heavely flickering. It was unbearable.
Best I ever saw was when I hooked up the Sega Dreamcast in VGA on a 19-inch Sony computer monitor. Played Code Veronica on it, and the guy that owned the computer said the graphics looked better than his PC games!
@@NirnBootMod You're making too much of a point on comparing the same game for your console vs pc war. Dreamcast games were pretty ahead of the curve in many areas back in 1999 and on their own terms they did so much to match quality levels one would have to buy a GeForce 3 card for. Games like SoulCalibur, Spawn, DOA2 opened a lot of eyes for gamers, but killing the Dreamcast and putting us back a few steps with regular av (and non-progressive YUV component) didn't help favors any. I use an ossc on those systems now with my vga setup and it's crazy how much of the best quality we missed. Gunvalkyrie and Panzer Dragoon Orta especially.
Dreamcast was such a great experience during it's time, but right now my vga is adapting the other non-vga consoles (via component) to get that near level of quality and it's a shame because they obviously look just as great, if not better when we got to Xbox.
Did you notice how in the comparison shot of the GBS control there was "bleeding" of colors in between/in the scanlines? I guess it is signaling more voltage to the electron guns, but the result may be desirable as it may round out the graphics seen from a normal distance (and pleasing those who think scanlines look too prominent on these monitors).
I bought a $1.50 vga to s-video adapter from aliexpress & honestly for my use case I’m perfectly happy with it. I have a living room crt but I wanted a way to quickly grab a console & play at my desk
Yeah, a good CRT with a high resolution and refresh rate will blow away most "modern gamers". Playing a PC game at 2048*1536 @ 85hz on a high quality screen looks amazing. And if you need to lower the res for higher refresh/framerate that is no issue because CRTs have no native resolution. Every available resolution is nice and crisp. And you can easily find them that can do 120hz.
Thanks so much for covering this matter. I've been coming at CRTs from as many angles as I can collecting smaller SDTVs for RGB modding, buying a PVM, and the CRT computer monitor route which is a nice medium option between SDTV and PVM. They are still around but heavy shipping cost for their weight, try to find some locally but with the "great CRT purge" people ditched so many like they had herpes on them lol. All the thrift shops in my home town won't take them anymore so that middle man is gone, probably should try the recycling centers. :\
Would there be any lag (or any other drawbacks) using an OSSC line-doubler and deinterlacer for a game like Chrono Cross on a PVM or consumer CRT? Obviously on modern flat panels there's a delay as it switches between 240p and 480i.
I have a Toshiba 32" CRT tv. I have systems all the way from NES, SNES, Wii, PS3 and XBox 360 running on it. Some running on composite and others on component inputs. They all look great on it. The only bad thing about it is it weights close to 100 lbs. I have modern tvs, but I prefer to use the CRT tv.
This is a fantastic and very helpful video thanks, Bob! My father fortunately still has some of his vga monitors in the garage that I'll now go look at. I just have two quick questions. Unfortunately the hdmi to vga converter you've linked doesn't appear to be sold on Amazon in my country (Australia), so i just wanted to quickly ask 1) if there are a couple of vga to hdmi converters you might recommend, and 2) does one need to be quite careful with getting a good one or are hdmi to vga converters considered somewhat quite similar in picture and audio quality across the board? I'll hopefully be connecting my retrotink2x/ Carby to it, maybe coupled with an mclassic depending on the resolution support of the monitors, to play my older consoles. Keep up the fantastic work, take care.
At long as it's JUST an HDMI to VGA converter, almost any of them should be zero lag and work with 480p. Just avoid any one that says it scales the image.
@@RetroRGB I found an emachines VGA Monitor on the street in good condition a few months ago. Searched for how to connect and your channel came up. Subbed shortly after. Thanks again
Bob, do 480p signal work with the GBS 8200? Here in Brazil it's the cheapest (and the only available) way to convert component video to VGA and I want to use Xbox and Wii on my CRT monitor.
Yes, 480p works great! I'll have more videos on GBS Control soon...just make sure to do the mod and not just use the GBS8200's regular firmware. The wifi modules required should be cheap too.
So if I'm understanding the full setup here properly - Bob is feeding RGB out of a console outputting 240p (presumably a SNES) via SCART -> into a device for upscaling (line-doubling) to 480p -> outputting digital HDMI from there -> into a VGA adapter or lag-free VGA converter attached to the VGA monitor. So with a native 240p console output, I understand the need to upscale to 480p, since VGA monitors generally don't accept 15khz signal (SD, 480i and under). I'm interested in playing Gamecube games in 480p on a VGA monitor instead of hunting down an HD CRT. Then with a console outputting native 480p like a Gamecube or PS2 via YPbPr, is the OSSC/RetroTink necessary? Or is it possible to use only a Component>VGA adapter/converter to change the pinout? Perhaps a sync stripper is needed to convert YPbPr's Sync-on-Luma to VGA's HV sync?
For Gamecube, all you'd need is something like a Carby and a cheap HDMI to VGA converter: retrorgb.link/cheapdac insurrectionindustries.com/product/carby-v2/ For PS2, you'd probably want the GBS Control, since it will scale 480i and pass through 480p.
XRGB3 has VGA out (essentially lagless in B1 mode). Mayflash YPbPr to VGA transcoder is actually solid for 480p. Just buy a better power supply due to the poor US adapter. Those are the VGA options I use personally.
hey man I really loved this video thanks for the in depth overview!! Im one of the VERY few idiots that want to use the a VGA monitor in the specific use case that you mentioned at the end of the video: NES and using a light gun! (@9:45) I see that youre using the retrotink but I see that you've got a SCART cable connected to it. is your NES modded for SCART or am I missing something there?
Thanks! Yes, that console has a NESRGB installed. It’ll work the same with a composite video cable and a RetroTINK 2X Pro…but obviously won’t be as clear.
I more or less do the same thing as this. I have a 16:9 CRT TV with a VGA input, so naturally it is 31khz. It is a TV tube, the shadow mask is not like the PC CRT monitor where it looks like circles. I have my PC connected to it at 856x480 60hz desktop resolution. I run GroovyMame and other emulators on it, even modern PC games. With artificial scanlines Arcade games don't look exactly like a legit arcade but it's almost identical to the point where I am more than happy and satisfied with it.
9:10 it may be the light gun itself and not the games. It can be screwy I did some testing with my both my NES (composite) and Original Xbox (component and composite) with the Retro Tink 2x and 2x multi (both with up to date firmware) through a HDMI to VGA dongle, on my Samsung SyncMaster 753DF The Silent Scope Light Rifle for the original Xbox will work (it says supports HD on the box) but the the madcatz blasters don't work properly. It warns about lightguns not working in 480p in the instruction booklet. House of the Dead 3 supports 480p and pass through will work with the SSLR but the House of the Dead 2 won't work with the system set to 480p in its settings. Yet if you ahut off 480p in the video settings and let the Tinks scal 480i to 480p and the lightgun works well enough for both. I still need to test Starsky and Hutch. But the the only other official lightgun game is Silent Scope Complete and they managed to screw up the lightgun code so badly that you have to jack up the in game brightness to around 80% for the game to track where you are aiming the gun, even on standard consumer CRT. I still need to test the Tink 5x aswell.
The real problem with VGA CRT monitors used for retro arcade isn't so much the signal/input compatibility, you can get really good converters for that but the fact that they are low radiation designed to spare human eyes over long hours of office work which is nice except the overall brightness and contrast these monitors can produce is about one third or less of an older 15khz CRT monitor especially of an industrial/arcade model. The result: an all together dim image with washed out colours that lacks exactly the vibrant colourful crispness that makes arcade games on CRT monitors look awesome. I would also rather recommend using an old curved tube CRT TV with a euro scart instead, those can really come close or even match the original experience.
I'd imagine it's the same. I run my low res stuff 480p and honestly you'd expect the same scanline width as well as the same line count. I think it's a bit funny because those pvm's/bvm's cost so much to produce, yet they just match the grade quality of computer crt's at the low end before resolutions start to jump. When you see your games x4, x5 their original resolution, it gets kinda crazy depending on how well the display handles them before they start running beyond their focus range. Maybe if you could mod the sony tubes for higher resolutions, then that's where we'll see the real comparison.
I used my OSSC with a PC VGA CRT for a while until I revisited my GunCon and GunCon 2 games. While I got Vampire Night to “work” to the point the monitor read a good amount of the shots correctly except at some parts sadly. I just want my PC CRT to run 240p, 480i, and 480p games fine with the OSSC WHILE being able to play my GunCon games well. That’s the dream and a lot cheaper than getting a 14L5 or 20L5.
My display works with 480i's -3 mode (line-double pass thru). I don't have my setup ready, so you can test yourself if it works. For guncon, I hear there's a higher hz mode that can be activated, but I don't have he details. Google-fu will have it.
I'm confused. My PS2 menu won't show up with retrotink and vga adapter (I'm using a HDD/FMB) but if I load a game on my other monitor and switch to the adapter it shows up. Are the menu and game different resolutions or something? and the n64 showed up straigh away. FIXED: it was the menu screen for some reason, used opl settings to jump straight to that, bypassing menu screen.
There's a tendak HDMI to vga converter that adds 0 delay. Unfortunately those games internally render at 16:9, so they will never look "proper" on a 4:3 display.
Hi, what do I need to get an Image from a Radeon HD 9790 ghz edition to a video component crt tv? A dvi to component cable? Or do I need a "scaler"? Or converter or something like that. I want to play groovymame with it.
I literally just picked up a pc crt yesterday to try out with the ossc, wow great video timing! The VGA cable is hardwired tho so I have to wait for a female to female adapter first.
Love your videos. I've always been a fan of quality RGB on CRTs, and lately have been collecting CRT monitors. Where were you able to find that new IBM!
@@RetroRGB Awesome, thanks. I recently also picked up a new old stock crt monitor. It's pretty cool how it's been preserved after all this time. Focus and brightness are all great on these new sets.
What about this? I was thinking about a CRT HDTV with a retro PC passing a VGA signal to a VGA to HDMI converter. You can also use this TV's composite port to connect a console directly. How would it look?
As long as you're sending the HD CRT 480p, it'll be the exact same as what I showed in this video - Enable basic scalines and it'll look 480p. In my opinion, that's a great solution. Just keep in mind many HD CRT's add lag.
As PVMs are getting harder to find, I thought about using a VGA monitor instead. What’s the best way to get the signal from something like an OSSC or RetroTink into a VGA monitor? I thought there was the whole 15 kHz vs 31 kHz problem.
15 kHz and 240p are just doubled up to 31 kHz 480p vga and higher. Hdmi to vga adapters are under $20 these days. Even my Gateway accepts 480i passthru as line doubled 31 kHz (Mode 3). Who would have ever thought to see that on a pc display!
Did anyone try this and find the screen going blank every 5 to 15 seconds? Getting lovely image but its flicking to blank and bank. I've ordered same hdmi converter and tried it with laptop just to see if it was the crt.
I use PC CRT VGA like 10 years ago, for retro gaming with amazing results. I just convert my retro consoles from COMPONENT or SCART to HDMI and then to VGA . All is just up to find the proper converter, thats the only trick, and the best: IS SUPER CHEAP!!! I compared with a PVM and to be honest the quality is much better on the VGA CRT ; is clear , but you can´t see the pixels easily. So is like having the best of DIgital screens and CRT tvs mixed up. There are scanlines but they are non visible easily cause they are much more and very thin, and the pixels are not too clear, so the softness at the pixel borders is not too clear, instead soft whitout the need to be blurred, is PERFECT!! and about lag, whit the proper converter you will have 0 lag or if the converter is not that good 2 or 3 pixels of lag. PVM and CRT Tvs are only needed for me, for retro LIGHTGUNS. And btw my VGA monitor also need to adjust the image, but after I do it 1 time it seems like it save the configuration for each console.
Funnily enough, this is EXACTLY why I got an OSSC several years ago. I wanted to be able to run the 240p/480i consoles through my CRT monitor. Of course, the only real issue is that 480i is still 480i, and that's going to suck no matter what. Even if a solution involving a "Fake 480i" signal at 480p and running blank scanlines for the 'missing' ones in the interlaced signal, you'd just wind up with a flickery as hell picture instead. =/ The big irony that all of my CRT monitors will do high-resolution interlaced signals. It looks as awful as you can imagine. :D
I've been using a VGA Monitor for a few years with RetroArch, but never real consoles. My VGA is 15" and my CRT is 27". I wish it wasn't so insane to get RetroArch on the 15Khz screen... still haven't figured out converting the VGA to Component. Hooking real consoles to the VGA is cool, and I'll have to check it out, but it's like the opposite of what I am looking for haha.
All the PVM & BVMs are so rare because everyone that actually owns them OWNS LIKE 57 OF THEM
It really is unfortunate. I'm not alone in this for sure. I tell myself that they are backups and they are but there's probably no way all of them will break.
"I am looking into your future, I see you living alone, I see you have lots of crt's.... my that's a lot of crt's....."
I hate them
I only have 2
I have 2 now
This is the video the community needed.
PC CRTs are criminally underrated.
Plus if you’re sensitive to flicker, you can double the screen refresh rate (if the horizontal refresh is high enough in KHz), at least on a PC. Comes at the cost of some image cross-talk, but I’d imagine it would still look better than VRR on an LCD display.
Personally, I’d like to try that at 240P, and then pair it with AMD’s AFMF (which while isn’t great with 3D games, makes 2D scrolling look smoother) to further smoothen how retro games look, would be a really cool thing to experiment with and see how it affects latency.
PC CRT Monitores are far supperior to PVM's, they have the same quality as any BVM, and can go up to 4:3 4K resolution. Also way way cheaper
line doubling is the traditional compatibility mode for VGA monitors to older signals that are below the minimum scanrate of VGA, so e.g. 200p becomes 400p
Great to see this video up! I've been recommending scalers+VGA for years, and more recently as a perfect output for MiSTer (enable doublescan and off you go with perfect refresh rates and 2:1 scaling). Razor sharp images, amazing colour, no lag. Can't argue with that.
Exactly what I do as well: scandoubler with a MiSTer to a VGA CRT. Unfortunately it doesn't work with the PS1 core, and the upcoming Saturn and Jaguar cores probably won't play nice either.
And the best geometry available if that matters to you. I know it does for me with older tile heavy games and anything with lots of menus.
I am surprised no one has hit you with the 'that's not legit 240p 60hz, that's image doubling 240p at 120hz' argument. I have not seen it with my own naked eye balls but from videos that I have seen I would be very happy with it because it looks incredible in my opinion. It makes the picture brighter too.
Cool thing about VGA monitors, is that they support high refresh rates out of the box, and this is not only a good thing for PC games, but that also makes it possible to achieve native console resolutions. Through NVIDIA control panel, I'm able to create new resolutions, like, 256x224@130Hz, and many NES / SNES emulators that I've used recognize that, and play the games at fullscreen with true scanlines, so no need for filters or gamma boost. Sure, the refresh rate is not even integer with the usual 60Hz, but those consoles already use odd refresh rates that require some sort of v-sync for it not to judder / tear the image on any PC monitor, so it plays fine on such a high refresh.
It would be cool if it there was a device that allowed to double the vertical refresh signal, instead of just line doubling. 320x240@120Hz uses the same 31KHz signal as 640x480@60Hz, so maybe it isn't that hard to just double the refresh on a VGA monitor while maintaining the same line count that a console would usually send.
In the Rpi scene i'm pretty sure i've read about use of 240p @ 120hz but I think you are referring to original hardware
It's always a shame that 15 kHz was thrown out the window during those IBM days 480p became a thing. So many dos games ended up 240p line-doubled and no scanlines.
Of course DOOM at 240p..... eheh-heh-heh!
Back in the day, I used to hook up my SNES, Genesis, and Saturn to my VGA monitor with the XRGB2. Fell into the RGB hole then and never left. Glad there are so many great new options now.
I've been using CRT VGA monitors for classic consoles since February this year. I use the OSSC and an HDMI to VGA adapter. Looks beautiful.
That's not true. That combination will cause an electrical fire.
I use an old black and white 4" monitor. I use RF adapters. It looks so bad. I love channel 3!
@@jacobprayer8656 now that you've mentioned it, I just noticed my house is on fire.
@@Supervocetubeia64 also be sure to adjust the flux capacitor.
Brilliant how did you hook up a megadrive genesis this way could you send me some links on how to?
Super glad you're covering the GBS-Control project. I picked one up a few months ago and I'm super excited to put it together!
I bought a 1995 view sonic 15s recently and long story short the guy who sold it to me told me it was his moms who recently passed at 102 years old, 1 owner and shed play solitaire 4 hours a day
Love the dot mask PC monitor look. IMO it's nicer to look at than an aperture grille.
I still really wish VGA monitors could handle 15khz and component signals since it would make finding an all in one solution for CRT gaming way easier than looking for rare 480P RGB monitors or using converters.
My 31khz VGA CRT did something weird today that this reminded me of, it suddenly started accepting resolutions lower than its usual minimum. Previously, anything under 640x480 just gave me a “frequency too low” error on the monitor, but today it suddenly stopped giving that warning, at all. So I can transmit any resolution I want to it below 640x480 now with some careful settings. I’ve found it’s most useful for GBA games, I can emulate them and perfectly integer scale it to 480x320, and it looks amazing on my CRT, the scanlines are really well spaced and it looks lovely and bright. But I also managed to run emulators at 320x240 (I needed to do some tinkering in Nvidea settings to make this work, it only seems to understand signals with at least 450x300 pixels, but if I specify the signal so it has 320x240 active pixels and 480x320 total pixels, it just only displays the 320x240, and it’s easy to show it on fullscreen with some adjustment, and it looks really good and super sharp, with proper scanlines that look as thick as a PVM, it’s really impressive, but I personally don’t like that look very much and I find scanlines like that give me eye strain, so I mainly stick with 320x240+ resolutions. If I try to go below 450x300 total pixels (so far, I keep finding new ways around the restrictions.) it just shuts down the monitor, but as long as the total pixels stay at that level I can technically feed it any amount of active pixels, but with numbers less than half of total pixels tends to cause some weirdness, running it at 240x160 for native resolution GBA for example technically worked, but it didn’t fit the screen very well, the image was too small and in the corner, and even with the settings I couldn’t quite get it to fill the screen, and in this mode the scanlines are so enormous that it looks awful to me, I much prefer to line double it with integer scaling and then display it that way.
Sadly it doesn’t seem to have actually become a 15khz monitor, but it’s been a lot of fun to mess with. 24khz arcade games look great on it, and it’s awesome to play Model 1, 2 and 3 games at native resolution, and since they are below 800x600 I can run them at 120hz too for flicker free gaming without extra judder from using 85hz or something.
@@justanotheryoutubechannel I just use Retroarch Super Resolution Switch Res and done for 240p on a CRT monitor, looks awesome.
I have a CRT monitor dedicated for Retro gaming. Its made all of my retro consoles look fantastic.
I'm using a MiSTer FPGA with a VGA CRT monitor and I'm loving it :)
This is exactly my plan. Glad to hear it's working well for you.
I believe you are correct. The NES Zapper is just a much more primitive lightgun. It only looks for a flash and the NES only cares about the timing. Any lightgun with an aiming reticle is using the video signal's analog timing itself-that's why they have to piggyback off compositive/luma/whatever line sync is on-to figure out where on the screen it is being pointed. The very nature of the deinterlacing being done is going to make that not work.
Thank you for making this video. Here in So Cal good 21” VGA CRT monitors are not that easy to come by anymore.
No they're not lol!
They cost $5000 If they come up online
@@alpzerlaken pretty much. Pc crt is over
Gamecube games look fantastic on a CRT monitor at 480p! It's amazing how much better 480p looks on a CRT compared to an LCD television. I didn't like 240p through RetroTINK though, even with scanlines. It just doesn't look authentic enough. My monitor's brightness isn't powerful enough to compensate for the dimming effect of the scanlines so there's zero bloom with the visible lines.
VGA monitors are great for xbox 360 as it natively supports VGA and has official high quality vga cables for low cost. The original xbox is good as well once you flash a VGA bios to it. The VGA bios turns the xbox into a 480p sync on green signal. Most VGA crts support sync on green. Unlike PS2 there is no bullshit. It just always works.
I've been telling people for years that a good quality vga monitor can still beat out many LCD monitors out there.
While not currently in use, 1 have 2 21" HP Trinitron CRTs (yes, HP screen, says trititron on the chasis) for the day that I decide to move them over to the game room for more than just the Dreamcast. Also have 2 component to VGA adapters (a Vdigi and a Key Digital) which were highly regarded back in the early 2000s
I have 2 VGA CRT monitors for my retro computers and I'm glad I can now hook up my old game systems to them.
In my experience only the dreamcast light gun games work on a VGA CRT.
Still a bit of a challenge to calibrate the lightgun and get it to the same accuracy as composite on CRT. The vga out of the DC looks amazing for the House of the Dead and Death Crimson OX
The only trouble I've ever had with Dreamcast lighgun games is with a bad gun. Once I got a good one, they work on all CRT's, in all supported resolutions.
@@RetroRGB thanks for the quick reply (What lightguns do you use?)
I've tested the madcatz which is meh and the star fire light blaster which is better imho.
Its noticable on the corners and perimeter of the screen in calibration where aiming is kinda jumpy.
So basically 1 or 2 bosses in the House of the Dead. My Sony Wega Trinitrons even the ones at 60hz are also less accurate than a Panasonic Tau CRT I've tested. Maybe I need to get a new light gun?
Hello Bob, could you PLEASE make a video about the Wii in both 4:3 and 16:9?
When I play Rastan (SEGA Master System) on my consumer CRT, the clouds look rounded. And I mean rounded, not blurry. When I play them on an emulator, even with "scanlines" turned on, they still look pixellated. No one can appreciate what CRTs do to hide pixels until they see it in person. It's a special kind of anti-aliasing.
Use the emulator retroarch and the shader CRT royale filter. It creates that anti aliasing look on all those pixels. I actually use the ntsc svideo preset and it looks very authentic to a CRT through emulation.
@@jason160uk thanks I will try it out
@@Domarius64 It does require 1440p and above to look right. I also use an overlay to give an image of a CRT. I use one that has a reflection on the screen for added effect.
@@jason160uk ahh, thanks for the heads up. I don't have a 4k screen but I knew we might get there again one day with enough improvement in resolution and colour to simulate it in a more nuanced way :)
@@jason160uk I might want to hit you up for tips, it's really rare to see someone interested in recreating CRT accurately. Let me know if you have a Discord or something you want to share.
Great video! I picked up a Dell 20” VGA CRT last week and I’m loving it with MiSTer. My other CRTs bother my wife, she can’t put up with the high pitched squeal, but she doesn’t hear anything with the VGA one. Now I can play on a CRT in the living room with her.
Only SD CRTs suffer from 15Khz whine. Computer monitors are 31Khz, so no whine.
how young is your wife where she can still hear it?
@@rat9625 I'm 27 and can still hear it. Of of my 22 yo friends came over and could not remember that whine from when they where younger and asked about it
Great video as always!
I was really hoping you'd mention 3x laced mode of the OSSC. 480i x3 is, in my opinion, the best way to play PS2 etc. And the odd line tripled interlaced signal mostly won't work on flat panel TVs. The resulting fine altering scanlines are perfect for a high-res VGA monitor!
I don't think VGA monitors would accept any kind of interlaced signal at all. That's an interesting thought though...I'd definitely like to try it out!
@@RetroRGB well "VGA" monitors would not, if we're strictly talking about monitors capable of 640x480 max. But if the monitor syncs to a high enough scanrate to support 1024x768 it would also support 720p and therefore 1440i.
It works very well on a Sony F520 for example. I remember testing 1440i with my D32 as well, but that signal was generated by a Groovymame PC, not by an OSSC.
Yes, if you still have everything setup, throw a PS2 game in and test the 3x laced mode :) it looks way better than Bob deinterlacing, IMO.
@@RetroRGB Funnily enough - I've tested this on at least two CRT monitors. A HP P1110 (that I can't further test on atm - repairs pending. I'll need to sub to your Patreon and ask for advice there), and a LG Studioworks 900B.
They respect interlacing as long as it's over 31kHz.
I should test with my other monitors, but I'm in quite a cramped household at the moment.
Yeah I was really surprised myself when I tested x3 on my Gateway and line-doubled interlaced was working perfectly! It's strange cause I tried this with my LG led and that was the only mode that wasn't recognized. Go figure!
The other x3, x4 ,x5 modes for 240p content are great once you start adding vertical scanlines and adjusting them with hybrid. The other line doublers and scalers totally lack this feature, so I had to push for this to be included!
@@RetroRGB I used to run Xbmc in 1080i on my modded Xbox with the Neoya (think that's the name) X2VGA dongle. Was a bit dark, but looked amazing.
And this is why I hung onto my old ViewSonic monitor. I figured we'd get to a day where we'd be able to use them again.
7:15, you can get around this by adding an external scanline generator into the chain. Then you can have both scanlines and the smoothing in N64 games if you really wanted to.
So with the GBS-Control and a decent CRT monitor you can have a really similar image to a pvm for a fraction of the price, i'm glad to know that. The days about dreaming of getting a framemeister are gone lol. Can't wait for the GBS video!
Gollot, yes indeed, gbs-control is amazing for the price.
You mean PVM 20L5. 15kHz PVM's like 20L2, 20M2, don't look like that. Color lines are much thicker.
Makes me wish I never sold my old ViewSonic :( But I never thought we would be totally CRTless then.
Thank you for not being obnoxious with your videos. Too many of the other type out there.
I had some stuff I was doing with the ossc and my vga monitor some time before I started making suggestions that pc crt's are an alternative to the pvm/bvm line. Now I think they're referring to them as "Poor man's bvm"
But yeah with ossc, 3x, 4x, 5x, etc can gain even better yields in quality and surprisingly there's a few that can handle the other interlaced modes better as well enough to compete with the tink. Btw, shadowmask lines are pretty neat like a stain glass window vs aperture grille. Get the more glowy shots and they stand out!
One other thing I may be considering a quick upload test on ossc 5x on an led panel just to show how nicely it competes wih the bvm. You can bring up line counts all you want, but in many cases, there seems as if there's no lines at all. Just those razor thin custom scanlines that show we're a step away from total preservation until panel tech catches up properly.
I am agree 👍Vga crt with a upscaler, it is the best option even better than some Pvm, cause better convergence and sharpness.
@@voltz15 Hey, I'd like to ask the hdmi to vga adapter that you're using so you can output 1600x1200 (OSSC x5). I believe Tendak one is not compatible. I will try with the Portta one soon. Thanks.
@@shianchuu I'm using an onn adapter I picked up from Walmart.
nerding out about video signals, love it.
"you can still find them dirt cheap"... well not for long anymore :p
Just search for "Monitor" without "CRT" and sort by lowest price. I got a Lacie electron blue for 20€ and that's a monitor used in photography with a Mitsubishi Diamondtron tube.
@@kraussthrowaway3052 Facebook market place?
Lake Michigan Computers?
They had a Dell CRT monitor for $50.
@@ThomasFan1945ProductionsTMwait til you find out most people dont live in America
Man I still love that intro, it's so satisfying
Also, I should break out my dell trinitron monitor and try some of these options. It looks outstanding on my desktop PC, having no issues with even 1600x1200, looking clear as could be
Such a great video, I can tell you put a lot of work into it. I was looking for a VGA monitor and the video is super helpful and gives a good insight in what they can do. Thanks Bob!!
Finally, I have 3 awesome CRT monitors here, one of them being the SyncMaster 1100df, which I use to play Dreamcast on It. Now I know what I can use to play my SNES/N64 on It.
Dats a good monitor
Bob
Do you have any information to what happened with the PS2 vga adapter aka Playbaby?
Great video! I just got a CRT VGA monitor and was trying to figured out the component to VGA path. I already own an OSSC, so using that with HDMI -> VGA converter seems like the way to go versus component -> VGA
6:00 is that a slot mask?? I thought monitors were all dot mask (sharper to look closer to the screen) and that slot mask were only use on consumer CRT TVs.
I'm glad I knew all of this information for years! I've obtained VGA PC CRTs before many people knew that you could get them to look just as good as a PVM. I would really love to try the N64 on a VGA monitor with the Retrotink2x smoothing. I think that'll be a gamechanger. Can't wait for the GBS Control video!
I don't get really how you can use Retrotink2x on a older VGA monitor, there's no VGA connector (DE-15) on the device, only composite, component, or hdmi... Or does Bobby use some extra converter? hdmi to VGA?
Strange that the scan lines on the GBS do not go through the blue of Link's shield?
Another great video Bob I've been waiting for a good pc CRT monitor video and can't wait for your custom firmware gbs-8200 video
Rust in Peace guitar and retro gaming... You have the best decorations 🥰
Thank you :)
I’m not saying I would have been able to fix it when I was 13... But knowing what I know now there’s no way I would have given up the Amiga monitor my brother and I used with our SNES when it broke down. Instead of buying or sharing a TV (still only had 2 in the whole house at the time) we used that (I think it was 15”) when our family switched over to a PC and got a whole new setup. The picture was soooooo crisp on that thing.
I FEEL your pain. My Amiga's 1084s died in like 2005, and I let that thing go way too easily. Probably could've had it fixed up with a little bit of effort, but I didn't know better back then!!
4:20 oh thats interesting the shield has scan lines but they have color.
Scanlines are the lines that makes up the image. Not the black in-between lines.
@@vinnievincent85 I know that, nerd. Its just people commonly refer to them that way.
your videos are very helpful, and quite informative, thank you!
Great video as usual! I just want to add that composite consoles look great on my CRT PC monitor when using with RetroTINK 2x + SLG3000 (I don't have the PRO version of RetroTINK 2x that has scanlines).
Would love to know the technical details of the Hdmi to vga converter. Is there a full list of the resolutions it can do somewhere? Amazon listing only mentions 720p and 1080p. Ideally i want to do 2048x1536 @80hz or at least 1600x1200.
I've only tested HDMI to VGA in basic resolutions like 240p, 480p and 720p. The one I link to in the description works fine with all of those.
I will test the Portta one soon. I'm also interested in a hdmi to vga adapter with 1600x1200 support.
your intro music is just the best dude
Thanks so much!
Haha so weird to see 240p scanlines on a shadow mask monitor haha. I do prefer the slot mask and aperture grille ones. Anyway, great video!
PSA: I got the Tendak adapter advertised in this video. Unfortunately it doesn't work too well. The picture flickered and cut off intermittently and sometimes these lines and other artefacts appeared on screen. I tested it on two displays and two cables so I'm pretty sure the adapter is the culprit. I found no rhyme or reason for what caused the issues so it's probably random, but resolution or image mode changes seemed to trigger it sometimes. I recommend reading the 1-2 star reviews at Amazon. I'll probably try a adapter with external power because one major issue could be that the HDMI isn't supplying enough power for it.
My first upscaler experience was with a PlayStation 2 combined with a XRGB2plus hooked up to a Sony Trinitron VGA monitor back in 2002. It was impressive to see way back then. Thankfully there are more options for upscaling and conversion now. If you can find one cheap, the Micomsoft XRGB2 series is still a viable option for upscaling to standard VGA monitors. Keep them away from flat panels though.
And high end CRT such as Trinitron monitor or PVM is better than any flat panel with all games still.
We need new CRT displays!
The Episode I have been waiting for!
Thank you for a very concise video detailing different scalers to use when playing our retro systems on VGA CRT Monitors. I'm thinking of using RAD2x cables for most of my Nintendo and Sega consoles, then Component through my Retrotink 2x Pro-M for my Wii, PS3 and X360.
Don't forget the game consoles with 31khz display modes can be hooked up to VGA using the correct cables and adapters.
The Dreamcast works with VGA monitors for most of the library via VGA box or VGA cable adapters. Some games like Plasma Sword lack VGA compatibility.
The PS2 works with VGA monitors, but it must be a slimline PS2 as they carry out power through the AV port (which the original PS2 models didn't have). The PS3/Wii VGA cable can play PS2 games on a VGA monitor, but will only work with 480p supported titles like Guilty Gear XX or Tekken 4. However, some games like DanceDanceRevolution X2 and Tekken 5 utilize special button codes that enable 480p mode for use on a VGA monitor.
The Wii can be used on a VGA monitor via PS3/Wii VGA cable, but the Wii console's video output must be set to EDTV/HDTV (480p) settings. Most Wii games allowed 480p output, so it's VGA-friendly. Many GameCube games have a 480p display mode, so usually hitting the A button upon booting them up enables the appropriate display mode for the VGA monitor. Several 480i-only Wii and GameCube games like Sega Bass Fishing, Sakura Wars: So Long My Love, Target: Terror and Crazy Taxi won't work with this cable unless you use USB Loader GX or Nintendont to force 480p. Same said with Neo-Geo Virtual Console titles. Even certain GameCube games like the Dragon Ball Z Budokai duoligy don't allow 480p forcing, making those games VGA incompatible entirely.
The Xbox is VGA supported since many games allowed 480p and 720p display modes. All you had to do is enable them and use an HDMI-to-VGA adapter once you get your Xbox HDMI adapter. The only downer is that non-progressive games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 won't even work with the VGA monitors since most VGA monitors cannot take 15khz signals.
One ossc and everything's 480p vga standard!
That generation missed out so much when the Dreamcast died and nothing was standardized to match it. Gunvalkyrie and Panzer Dragoon Orta.... Ohhhh Yeeeaaahhh...... (Top Hat Gameing man impersonation)
NES Zapper work. But SNES Super Scope does work?
This is great Bob, but I feel there is a missed opportunity to Clearly show how the connection goes from RGB or component to VGA.
Do each of those devices you mention output HDMI and then you use the HDMI to VGA adapter you link in the description?
Thanks!
I went into great detail about there here: ua-cam.com/video/7VOsOuQ5mhM/v-deo.html
There's no "missed opportunity", I just didn't want to waste people's time by showing it all over again.
Another great thing about VGA CRTs is that with RetroArch, you can plug one into a modern PC and with some work you can get TRUE 240p resolution out of the monitor at 120hz.
On Linux (With an X11 Desktop environment/Window Manager), you can literally just open RetroArch, enable the CRT Switchres option, choose the 31khz option, and you are good to go! most cores will properly set the monitor's resolution to the original console resolution, and it looks absolutely amazing.
On Windows, there are a few steps you need to take.
On AMD, You can use the "CRT Emudriver", which is a modified driver for various AMD GPUs which allows all these various resolutions.
On Nvidia, you can manually set custom resolutions in the Nvidia control panel.
Personally, I'd suggest going with Linux with an X11 desktop, and it's literally just plug in and go. Keep in mind that this method doesn't work with Wayland.
Be sure to enable "Black Frame Insertion" or set the "Vsync swap interval" to 2 for the smoothest output.
I’ve actually done quite a bit of testing on 240p120 vs 480p with scanlines. It’s exactly the same. And depending on the emulation, running at 120Hz might add more lag.
To be clear, I’m NOT shooting down your comment. I was equally as interested as you when I first heard about that. But many livestreams and lag tests later, I’m back to just doubling to 240p and adding scanlines.
@@RetroRGB I haven't really noticed any latency on my end when I had a VGA CRT (No longer own one), but I can totally understand how this method could add some.
Yeah I agree, Just doubling the base resolution and adding artificial scanlines over it would be the best way around it. Easier to do and (I assume) better on the monitor's lifespan.
I make adapters RGB to VGA all console on my colection. Amazing results.
I just rescued a 17'' Dell CRT VGA monitor that someone put on the curb the other day. Ran it through it's paces with my MiSTer with it's built-in scandoubler and scanline generator. It's definitely close to my PVM, but doubling the frame rate to get games to display properly gave motion a weird, almost _too smooth_ vibe to it. It gave me flashbacks to playing with ZSNES on a CRT monitor back in like '06 lol. Besides that though, it's definitely a good option for people who can't get their hands on a PVM for one reason or another, and I'm definitely keeping mine around as a spare/backup
Yeah, as someone who views demos on my Amiga 2000 and 1200, I may just sell the OSSC and get a RetroTink 2x for that.
I wanted to do this, but there is one issue that's not mentionned.
If you are in europe, use pal consoles and your scaler doesn't change the refresh rate from 50hz to 60hz, most VGA monitors (LCD and CRT) won't be able to display it.
I tried to connect my RGB N64 to different monitors and tv using an OSSC and a cheap HDMI to VGA adapter. (The OSSC doesn't change the refresh rate from 50hz to 60hz.)
With my:
- 4:3 19" Dell LCD, it didn't work.
- 42" inc TV (it has a vga input), it didn't work.
- 40" LCD Phillips PC monitor it worked. This is a high-end monitor.
- old (late 90's) 14" CRT pc monitor, it worked but the image was heavely flickering. It was unbearable.
Best I ever saw was when I hooked up the Sega Dreamcast in VGA on a 19-inch Sony computer monitor. Played Code Veronica on it, and the guy that owned the computer said the graphics looked better than his PC games!
@@NirnBootMod You're making too much of a point on comparing the same game for your console vs pc war. Dreamcast games were pretty ahead of the curve in many areas back in 1999 and on their own terms they did so much to match quality levels one would have to buy a GeForce 3 card for.
Games like SoulCalibur, Spawn, DOA2 opened a lot of eyes for gamers, but killing the Dreamcast and putting us back a few steps with regular av (and non-progressive YUV component) didn't help favors any. I use an ossc on those systems now with my vga setup and it's crazy how much of the best quality we missed. Gunvalkyrie and Panzer Dragoon Orta especially.
Dreamcast was such a great experience during it's time, but right now my vga is adapting the other non-vga consoles (via component) to get that near level of quality and it's a shame because they obviously look just as great, if not better when we got to Xbox.
Did you notice how in the comparison shot of the GBS control there was "bleeding" of colors in between/in the scanlines? I guess it is signaling more voltage to the electron guns, but the result may be desirable as it may round out the graphics seen from a normal distance (and pleasing those who think scanlines look too prominent on these monitors).
Yes, however all I had access to for these shots was the GBS8220 without the fix. I bit it would be better with the regular gbs8200.
I bought a $1.50 vga to s-video adapter from aliexpress & honestly for my use case I’m perfectly happy with it. I have a living room crt but I wanted a way to quickly grab a console & play at my desk
Even modern consoles look very good on a CRT monitor.
Yeah, a good CRT with a high resolution and refresh rate will blow away most "modern gamers". Playing a PC game at 2048*1536 @ 85hz on a high quality screen looks amazing. And if you need to lower the res for higher refresh/framerate that is no issue because CRTs have no native resolution. Every available resolution is nice and crisp. And you can easily find them that can do 120hz.
@@jokerzwild00 Yes my HP P1130 handles that pretty damn well
9:46 Does the SNES Super Scope do work?
Thanks so much for covering this matter. I've been coming at CRTs from as many angles as I can collecting smaller SDTVs for RGB modding, buying a PVM, and the CRT computer monitor route which is a nice medium option between SDTV and PVM.
They are still around but heavy shipping cost for their weight, try to find some locally but with the "great CRT purge" people ditched so many like they had herpes on them lol. All the thrift shops in my home town won't take them anymore so that middle man is gone, probably should try the recycling centers. :\
2:00 I just don't understand the appeal of those huge scanlines. The right one looks _so_ much better to me.
That's the wonderful thing about this stuff: There is no "right" answer, only what looks best to you. As long as you don't add lag :)
@@RetroRGB That's a nice way to look at it
Shoutout to the beharbros for their amazing VGA devices
Would there be any lag (or any other drawbacks) using an OSSC line-doubler and deinterlacer for a game like Chrono Cross on a PVM or consumer CRT? Obviously on modern flat panels there's a delay as it switches between 240p and 480i.
I have a Toshiba 32" CRT tv. I have systems all the way from NES, SNES, Wii, PS3 and XBox 360 running on it. Some running on composite and others on component inputs. They all look great on it. The only bad thing about it is it weights close to 100 lbs. I have modern tvs, but I prefer to use the CRT tv.
This is a fantastic and very helpful video thanks, Bob! My father fortunately still has some of his vga monitors in the garage that I'll now go look at. I just have two quick questions. Unfortunately the hdmi to vga converter you've linked doesn't appear to be sold on Amazon in my country (Australia), so i just wanted to quickly ask 1) if there are a couple of vga to hdmi converters you might recommend, and 2) does one need to be quite careful with getting a good one or are hdmi to vga converters considered somewhat quite similar in picture and audio quality across the board? I'll hopefully be connecting my retrotink2x/ Carby to it, maybe coupled with an mclassic depending on the resolution support of the monitors, to play my older consoles. Keep up the fantastic work, take care.
At long as it's JUST an HDMI to VGA converter, almost any of them should be zero lag and work with 480p. Just avoid any one that says it scales the image.
I've watched this video five times already. It's really informative and entertaining
Thank you!
@@RetroRGB I found an emachines VGA Monitor on the street in good condition a few months ago. Searched for how to connect and your channel came up. Subbed shortly after. Thanks again
Bob, do 480p signal work with the GBS 8200? Here in Brazil it's the cheapest (and the only available) way to convert component video to VGA and I want to use Xbox and Wii on my CRT monitor.
Yes, 480p works great! I'll have more videos on GBS Control soon...just make sure to do the mod and not just use the GBS8200's regular firmware. The wifi modules required should be cheap too.
@@RetroRGB Thanks Bob, you are great!
So if I'm understanding the full setup here properly - Bob is feeding RGB out of a console outputting 240p (presumably a SNES) via SCART -> into a device for upscaling (line-doubling) to 480p -> outputting digital HDMI from there -> into a VGA adapter or lag-free VGA converter attached to the VGA monitor.
So with a native 240p console output, I understand the need to upscale to 480p, since VGA monitors generally don't accept 15khz signal (SD, 480i and under).
I'm interested in playing Gamecube games in 480p on a VGA monitor instead of hunting down an HD CRT.
Then with a console outputting native 480p like a Gamecube or PS2 via YPbPr, is the OSSC/RetroTink necessary? Or is it possible to use only a Component>VGA adapter/converter to change the pinout?
Perhaps a sync stripper is needed to convert YPbPr's Sync-on-Luma to VGA's HV sync?
For Gamecube, all you'd need is something like a Carby and a cheap HDMI to VGA converter: retrorgb.link/cheapdac
insurrectionindustries.com/product/carby-v2/
For PS2, you'd probably want the GBS Control, since it will scale 480i and pass through 480p.
XRGB3 has VGA out (essentially lagless in B1 mode). Mayflash YPbPr to VGA transcoder is actually solid for 480p. Just buy a better power supply due to the poor US adapter. Those are the VGA options I use personally.
hey man I really loved this video thanks for the in depth overview!! Im one of the VERY few idiots that want to use the a VGA monitor in the specific use case that you mentioned at the end of the video: NES and using a light gun! (@9:45) I see that youre using the retrotink but I see that you've got a SCART cable connected to it. is your NES modded for SCART or am I missing something there?
Thanks! Yes, that console has a NESRGB installed. It’ll work the same with a composite video cable and a RetroTINK 2X Pro…but obviously won’t be as clear.
@@RetroRGB thanks for that!!!
I more or less do the same thing as this. I have a 16:9 CRT TV with a VGA input, so naturally it is 31khz. It is a TV tube, the shadow mask is not like the PC CRT monitor where it looks like circles. I have my PC connected to it at 856x480 60hz desktop resolution. I run GroovyMame and other emulators on it, even modern PC games. With artificial scanlines Arcade games don't look exactly like a legit arcade but it's almost identical to the point where I am more than happy and satisfied with it.
Awesome solution! You may want to try connecting in 540p, to see if latency changes. Some HDCRT's won't matter and others might be a bit faster.
@@RetroRGBI will try that Bob. Thanks for your advice mate.
9:10 it may be the light gun itself and not the games. It can be screwy
I did some testing with my both my NES (composite) and Original Xbox (component and composite) with the Retro Tink 2x and 2x multi (both with up to date firmware) through a HDMI to VGA dongle, on my Samsung SyncMaster 753DF
The Silent Scope Light Rifle for the original Xbox will work (it says supports HD on the box) but the the madcatz blasters don't work properly. It warns about lightguns not working in 480p in the instruction booklet.
House of the Dead 3 supports 480p and pass through will work with the SSLR but the House of the Dead 2 won't work with the system set to 480p in its settings.
Yet if you ahut off 480p in the video settings and let the Tinks scal 480i to 480p and the lightgun works well enough for both.
I still need to test Starsky and Hutch. But the the only other official lightgun game is Silent Scope Complete and they managed to screw up the lightgun code so badly that you have to jack up the in game brightness to around 80% for the game to track where you are aiming the gun, even on standard consumer CRT.
I still need to test the Tink 5x aswell.
The real problem with VGA CRT monitors used for retro arcade isn't so much the signal/input compatibility, you can get really good converters for that but the fact that they are low radiation designed to spare human eyes over long hours of office work which is nice except the overall brightness and contrast these monitors can produce is about one third or less of an older 15khz CRT monitor especially of an industrial/arcade model. The result: an all together dim image with washed out colours that lacks exactly the vibrant colourful crispness that makes arcade games on CRT monitors look awesome.
I would also rather recommend using an old curved tube CRT TV with a euro scart instead, those can really come close or even match the original experience.
Now for PS1/PS2 gun games, how would the GunCon-compatible ones work, since those require the gun to plug into whatever is providing the sync signal?
Probably the same, as they're syncing off 15KHz.
I am curious about Gamecube 480p component output on PVM-20L5 vs VGA CRT monitor.
I'd imagine it's the same. I run my low res stuff 480p and honestly you'd expect the same scanline width as well as the same line count.
I think it's a bit funny because those pvm's/bvm's cost so much to produce, yet they just match the grade quality of computer crt's at the low end before resolutions start to jump. When you see your games x4, x5 their original resolution, it gets kinda crazy depending on how well the display handles them before they start running beyond their focus range.
Maybe if you could mod the sony tubes for higher resolutions, then that's where we'll see the real comparison.
I used my OSSC with a PC VGA CRT for a while until I revisited my GunCon and GunCon 2 games. While I got Vampire Night to “work” to the point the monitor read a good amount of the shots correctly except at some parts sadly.
I just want my PC CRT to run 240p, 480i, and 480p games fine with the OSSC WHILE being able to play my GunCon games well. That’s the dream and a lot cheaper than getting a 14L5 or 20L5.
My display works with 480i's -3 mode (line-double pass thru). I don't have my setup ready, so you can test yourself if it works. For guncon, I hear there's a higher hz mode that can be activated, but I don't have he details. Google-fu will have it.
I'm confused. My PS2 menu won't show up with retrotink and vga adapter (I'm using a HDD/FMB) but if I load a game on my other monitor and switch to the adapter it shows up. Are the menu and game different resolutions or something? and the n64 showed up straigh away.
FIXED: it was the menu screen for some reason, used opl settings to jump straight to that, bypassing menu screen.
Do old consoles ouput full-rgb (0-255) signal by default?
I would love to see a followup discussing how to get 6th-8th gen widescreen games to display properly on a 4:3 crt monitor.
There's a tendak HDMI to vga converter that adds 0 delay. Unfortunately those games internally render at 16:9, so they will never look "proper" on a 4:3 display.
Hi, what do I need to get an Image from a Radeon HD 9790 ghz edition to a video component crt tv? A dvi to component cable? Or do I need a "scaler"? Or converter or something like that. I want to play groovymame with it.
I literally just picked up a pc crt yesterday to try out with the ossc, wow great video timing! The VGA cable is hardwired tho so I have to wait for a female to female adapter first.
Love your videos. I've always been a fan of quality RGB on CRTs, and lately have been collecting CRT monitors. Where were you able to find that new IBM!
Thanks! I actually just found it on eBay for $100. I've seen them pop up for that price pretty regularly though.
@@RetroRGB Awesome, thanks. I recently also picked up a new old stock crt monitor. It's pretty cool how it's been preserved after all this time. Focus and brightness are all great on these new sets.
What about this?
I was thinking about a CRT HDTV with a retro PC passing a VGA signal to a VGA to HDMI converter. You can also use this TV's composite port to connect a console directly.
How would it look?
As long as you're sending the HD CRT 480p, it'll be the exact same as what I showed in this video - Enable basic scalines and it'll look 480p. In my opinion, that's a great solution. Just keep in mind many HD CRT's add lag.
I just got some dell crt that was manufactured in 1998 and only has a hardwired vga cable and most of my consoles only have composite video.
Perfect, this video is what you need. Look into the RetroTINK Mini, or RetroTINK 2x Pro.
@@RetroRGB ok
As PVMs are getting harder to find, I thought about using a VGA monitor instead. What’s the best way to get the signal from something like an OSSC or RetroTink into a VGA monitor? I thought there was the whole 15 kHz vs 31 kHz problem.
15 kHz and 240p are just doubled up to 31 kHz 480p vga and higher. Hdmi to vga adapters are under $20 these days.
Even my Gateway accepts 480i passthru as line doubled 31 kHz (Mode 3). Who would have ever thought to see that on a pc display!
Check the description for the link to the HDMI to VGA converter I used.
Amazing vídeo Bob, thanks for you effort. I waiting the vídeo for The GBS Control.
GBS-control is fantastic, it turns the GBS board 10x better.
Did anyone try this and find the screen going blank every 5 to 15 seconds? Getting lovely image but its flicking to blank and bank. I've ordered same hdmi converter and tried it with laptop just to see if it was the crt.
I use PC CRT VGA like 10 years ago, for retro gaming with amazing results. I just convert my retro consoles from COMPONENT or SCART to HDMI and then to VGA . All is just up to find the proper converter, thats the only trick, and the best: IS SUPER CHEAP!!! I compared with a PVM and to be honest the quality is much better on the VGA CRT ; is clear , but you can´t see the pixels easily. So is like having the best of DIgital screens and CRT tvs mixed up. There are scanlines but they are non visible easily cause they are much more and very thin, and the pixels are not too clear, so the softness at the pixel borders is not too clear, instead soft whitout the need to be blurred, is PERFECT!! and about lag, whit the proper converter you will have 0 lag or if the converter is not that good 2 or 3 pixels of lag. PVM and CRT Tvs are only needed for me, for retro LIGHTGUNS. And btw my VGA monitor also need to adjust the image, but after I do it 1 time it seems like it save the configuration for each console.
Funnily enough, this is EXACTLY why I got an OSSC several years ago.
I wanted to be able to run the 240p/480i consoles through my CRT monitor. Of course, the only real issue is that 480i is still 480i, and that's going to suck no matter what.
Even if a solution involving a "Fake 480i" signal at 480p and running blank scanlines for the 'missing' ones in the interlaced signal, you'd just wind up with a flickery as hell picture instead. =/
The big irony that all of my CRT monitors will do high-resolution interlaced signals. It looks as awful as you can imagine. :D
I've been using a VGA Monitor for a few years with RetroArch, but never real consoles. My VGA is 15" and my CRT is 27". I wish it wasn't so insane to get RetroArch on the 15Khz screen... still haven't figured out converting the VGA to Component. Hooking real consoles to the VGA is cool, and I'll have to check it out, but it's like the opposite of what I am looking for haha.
Out of curiosity, did you buy that monitor from Kende86 on eBay? I have that exact same IBM monitor and absolutely love it, was also new in the box.
Now this is good watching!