I have one but i don't use it i wanna sell it. I also have a 27" sony trinton has component, s-video, and composite outputs. I picked this up for $20.00 off of offer up about 6 months ago I currently use my wega Sony 20" crt it has component outputs and composite outputs which works good for me, not to heavy I like the the consumer crt better in my opinion
How is playing on a 13in pvm? Does it feel like you have to squint to see everything, or is it plenty big enough? Assuming you would set it on a desk like you would a computer monitor and be close to it.
@@letsplayclassicgames5024 I have a 14” PVM that was new old stock. The colors are great but I don’t like playing on it for extended periods of time. I’m not squinting but it’s just not ideal. 20” PVMs are perfect imo.
@@letsplayclassicgames5024 it sits on my desk so I'm about 4ft away - So I don't strain while playing. I need to set up a comfy playing area for my 20 inch though. My chair is currently too far away right now.
@@dauntae24 thanks for sharing. I would love a 20in PVM, that seems like the perfect size to me but the prices are outrageous and I live in a more rural area so PVM's rarely come up for sale locally. I am going to pick up a 32in Wega Trinitron this Monday, I have component/hd retrovision cables for most of my consoles already so I'm hoping that the Trinitron will deliver some good results.
As an adult currently using a PVM...my initial motivation behind it is a petty form of revenge on playing NES using a janky RF adapter throughout my childhood...it doesn't feel the same, however dimming the lights and playing on the best quality possible feels satisfying as heck
The rabbit hole is deep. I get looks for my GVM-2020 and had I taken my extras to SEGE, I could have sold all 12. You're 100% right about it not being for everyone. People see it on forums and YT videos and get FOMO. They don't see the back end where you need adapters, mods, and special cables. Good video, dude!
Yeah it's something I didn't really know about. I know back when these things were cheaper, some of the cables needed to be made by hand. Now they're easy to get but I just didn't want to go all in.
If anyone out there wants a second opinion I have 2 PVM-M4U series 800 line Sony monitors and a Sony Trinitron KVFS series consumer TV. If you use RGB on the KVFS series and set the VM setting to "LOW" in the video menu, it absolutely does rival a Sony PVM. I couldn't believe it myself but it really does. He isn't kidding. PVMs do provide a far superior image compared to typical standard CRTs but the exceptions are the Sony Trinitron consumer TVs with the VM option. If you have one of those I can't truthfully say that you need a PVM. Keep in mind if you're hunting a Trinitron CRT, the VM option is only available on models 20" and above.
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Hello, I request your help please, I have a 29" sony trinitron kvfs but I don't know how to find the VM function in the menu, could you help me please?
I absolutely LOVE the way everyone mentions, "This is how games were meant to be played" when in reality, when these game systems came out NO ONE could afford a PVM/BVM and the average homeowner didn't even know they existed. lol When Nintendo first came out Dolby 5.1 didn't even exist and most people were just barely coming into the color TV phase and those that did have color weren't buying Trinitrons when Zenith system 3 19 & 25 inch consoles were bigger tube and less expensive. Ahhhh, many a day (and night) speant sitting on the frunchroom (It's a midwest thing lol) playing Atari 2600 on our console! Even my Commodore 64 was hooked up (in the beginning) via RF to a 19" Zenith we had in our kitchen I however, at 16yrs old, saved my $$$ to purchase the first Sony Trinitron to have an MTS stereo decoder, it was a 13" KV-1380R. For comparison, it was $450 and our 25" console was $699. I still remember my parents sayingf I was dumb and got 'took'. Well I STILL have it and the picture is STILL stellar. But I had different influences growing up. That being said, I think a CRT is DEFINITELY the way classic games were meant to be played and now that PVM/BVM's are more affordable to the consumer, maybe a viable option. I have one, a 14" PVM14L1 (no RGB, but I don't need it), it looks stellar via s-video. But I also have (2) Sony XBR's (1 40" and 1 32") that I have Xbox 360's and PS3 hooked up to via component and It's hard to tell a real difference on that compared to the s-video on the 14" PVM. Granted, there's a little difference for sure, but the screens are 3x as big too. I enjoyed your perspective and you even touched on my post at 3:52. I like seeing the C64 MAXI in the backround too!! 40yrs this year for that Bad Boy!!
@@SuperNicktendo nice! I’m from Chicago too. Now I live in Lemont. There’s a guy who comes to the VCF/ECCC (vintage computer fest/Commodore convention) and brings his System 3 and hooks up an Atari 2600. Pretty cool.
Indeed, many games were designed with the idea in mind that the pixels would blend in each other. The visual style with sharp pixels that we love today was totally not what people were going for back in the day. It was the opposite of 'realism' and most screenshots in magazines, advertisement and on packaging were blurry as hell. That said, developers probably had PVM's during production, so you could claim that this is how the makers envisioned their games.
I think consumer crts make more sense for most, including myself. I can appreciate what pvms bring to the table and they are probably better suited for people that want more control over settings. But i feel like half the beauty of going crt is the option to keep things very simple with AV hookups without needing to acquire less common cables or console mods or use upscalers and the like, all the while still making even a composite picture look very presentable. I also feel my sweetspot for a CRT is 27in for my seating arrangement, immersion, and convenience for multiplayer. But if I need to start getting particular with cabling and settings and everything else, I tend to prefer the Retrotink 5x to have the option of a much bigger screen along with convenience of not needing an additional monitor around. Great video all around though!
CRT, PVM, & BVM has the perfect natural motions without delays, and faked frames. Black levels are awesome. OLED, Mini LED, & QLED just doesn’t come close enough.
I saw a PVM in the scrap electronics dumpster, I talked with the guy that put it there and it barely has any hours on it and still works, I will bring it home soon and for free
I have the same PVM that you showed in the video. Got it for free, from a science lab in 2005, since they were getting rid of them to switch to HD, just you described in the video. While on the other hand I also have a 32" JVC I'Art, which I got from the side of the road in 2013...Just started reusing them a few weeks ago, and loving it.
I know this is two years later. However, have you recently considered the RetroTink 4K? I know it is a bit of a price bite, but out of the box it has been pretty amazing. So far I've tested it with my PSP and it turned out amazing. I'm going to do more testing with it in the coming days. Meanwhile, I do have a KF-FS Trinitron (27 inch). I've recently invested in a steel rack as a TV stand for it to finally put it to use. Currently looking to get it serviced to fix its allignment. I'll also likely invest in more HD Retrovision cables to accomidate the majority of my consoles on it. I already have a numbe of Retro-Access SCART cables used with the RetroTink 5X-Pro (now the 4K). I also have a breakout cable for my Sony PVM (14 Inch). I plan to maintain each option for different use case scenarios.
I don't have a need for the retrotink 4k at this time. Since this video I picked up another PVM and while I have a 4k Oled I still prefer to play on CRT. But it is a really impressive device and if I had the funds to get one just because, I'd get one to mess around with it.
@@SuperNicktendo Understood. If you decide to get one, I'd be interested to know your thoughts on how it compares to your primary CRTs. If it helps, there is an option to split payments over two months to ease the bite. Not sure if you're seeing this comment. UA-cam keeps deleting them automatically, probably for mentioning the payment option.
@@NateWolfKira yeah I'm currently focusing on my price trend content so hopefully when I'm finished it'll be easier to find and I'l have funds to justify making a video
A Retrotink costs a fortune, has relative little inputs, so NO, thanks. A 50€ MacMini with OpenEmu and customisable scaling filters does the exact same, and since it is all software, you can keep modding it.
@@SuperNicktendo I have a kv310 trinitron, the most sought after consumer set and a lg cx. Cant go wrong. Little dinky pvms can't hold a candle to either
11:30 This tells enough. The 21 inch Trinitron is brighter. Quickly adding the PVM is more true to life is kind of weird. What IS true to life for Outrun, Mario and Sonic? The consumer TV also has pretty awesome stereo audio (for the best ever gaming console the PC Engine) and here those TVs have RGB Scart for effortless hookup to again the best ever console (the PC Engine), so that makes it a no brainer. Regular Trinitron for the win.
I recently bought a Sony Trinitron KV-27FS210 with the factory remote for $30 on my local facebook market place. Pretty nice TV for playing all my old systems.
Not only pretty nice, it is about the best display you can have for retro gaming, way beyond any PVM, and the flat ones have remarkable good geometry too. It even tunes RF signals from Atari 2600 or NES. The only thing I dislike about those late Sony's is their silver painted chunky plastic look, especially US models.
I have an OLED TV and I got the PVM serviced which got better caps and calibrated colors. I don't have an OSSC or RetroTink. If I could borrow one, I'll do that comparison. RetroTInk 4k is just not something I can justify at the moment.
You connect your RGB consoles to your PVM with HD Retrovision cables using the COMP2RGB converter? How is the quality with that as opposed to using RGB straight to your PVM?
@@SuperNicktendo Thanks for the clarification. I’m upgrading my Component compatible CRT to a PVM that only supports RGB. My entire setup relies on HD Retrovision cables. It will be a lot cheaper to use a COM2RGB converter as opposed to upgrading everything to RGB. However, I thought I will downgrade the signal by going from RGB to Component and then back to RGB. Thanks to this video I learned that every CRT converts the signal back to RGB anyway, so I guess it doesn’t really matter if the conversion is done externally.
@@chchris25 yeah each tube uses red green and blue to make the color. If you have a CRT with component the HD retrovision cables work just great unless you want a PVM with 600 lines instead of 400 like most CRTs
This👆🏽I just got a mister fpga hooked up to my PC CRT monitor and using the right settings I get perfect zero latency 240P at 120Hz, the scanlines are just as thick and vibrant as with a PVM and it has infinite TVL, just like PVM. Colors, sharpness and black levels are also just as good. It was cheap too, 30€ for the 20" Sony Trinitron PC monitor with VGA. You can't run native consoles though because it won't accept below 31KHz, but FPGA opens this option up. To be honest though, I much prefer 240P upscaled using the scandoubler on the VGA monitor, the scanlines are thinner and everything looks crisper and you only add one frame of latency. PVM scanlines can look like jail bars imho and I prefer 27" consumer Trinitron with RGB.
I really enjoyed your previous PVM video. I got mine for free since I work in news LOL RGB and everything. Engineering was super cool just getting rid of them because many places wind up dumping them or leaving them in storage rooms with other older equipment. Like I know we have this big Trinitron PVM somewhere, but I'll handle my smaller, more manageable Panasonic PVM.
@@SuperNicktendo Yeah I mean I also have a bigger CRT which is nice, but I also had a similar size Trinitron CRT at one point and sold it because there was no way I was hauling that HEAVY thing around. Idk if people realize the extra weight fancier older tv's have.
I have an Ikegami TM20-90R, it’s a beauty, I absolutely love this machine :) I also have a few 14 inch Sony PVMs as well, one I use for a streaming setup on a desk, but I’m offloading a couple of them.
Most people like collecting retro games because of some sort of nostalgia. Is an extremely small strange looking TV with basically no speakers nostalgic? My setup is a nice 27 inch consumer TV with amazing speakers. Couch co-op games are so great on it. If you find a FV310, it's like getting all the benefits of a consumer CRT with picture quality that is as close to a PVM without being one. Only thing that it's missing is a curved screen, which would've helped its geometry. Also, the closer you try to get to perfection, the more insane you'll become. No CRT is perfect. As long as you have a Trinitron or JVC D-Series, you have a great CRT
I own 2 Professional Monitors. 1. JVC TM-H150CG looks amazing best looking one I own. 2. Sony PVM-20M2MDU not as sharp as the JVC but bigger and easier to look at for longer time. 3. Not a Professional Monitor, but Presentation Monitor Pansonic DT-2730MS This is my favorite, has VGA, S-video, and Composite. I use a VGA to Component Convertor. It can do 240p, 480i/p and even 720p. It basically in between consumer and professional monitor. I use it as my main, because 27 or bigger is more comfortable sitting for hours at a time.
Great video! I like how you compared the PVM to other TVs. I wish more people did this. I feel like PVMs are getting lionized these days. I got a couple things to nitpick. 1) Virtually all CRTs have a built in degauss. Consumer grades CRTs usually degauss when you power them on. They make a, "bwooong!" sound. They don't have a button like the PVMs do but they do degauss. 2) There are generic RGB to component converters that will work on all consoles. Retrotink makes one. This is probably a better, and much cheaper, option to the HD Retrovision cables, which are console specific. I've got a couple videos on my channel where I discus RGB vs component, PVM vs consumer CRTs and similar stuff. I spend a lot of time playing retro games and I use my consumer grade CRTs more often than my professional CRTs, mostly because I prefer a large screen.
Thanks for the info! I mentioned the degaussing as a dedicated feature not something that is done only when the TV is turned on or off. I really enjoy playing on a CRT and will bounce between my PVM and Consumer TV. I do need to figure out how to align the consumer one because now I notice that the picture isn't 100% centered.
@@SuperNicktendo ive got a video on my channel for servicing crts. It can help you align your crt. Sounds like you just need to go into the service menu and adjust the horizontal/ vertical position. If the screen is rotated clockwise it might be a little harder but still easy.
Thank you for explaining this subject so clearly! One question i still have is, are PVMs a good match for using with the MiSTer Pi FPGA? The MiSTer Pi has a VGA port for analog output, so I'm assuming I would need a VGA to RGB adapter? Would this be ideal to do? Would there be any degradation in the video quality or additional input lag introduced by the VGA-to-RGB conversion?
@@lordbacon4972 so I'm assuming that it's similar to the MiSTer with the de10 nano which is a VGA style connector and you can get a VGA to RGB cable from monoprice and be good to go. You'll just need separate audio
@@SuperNicktendo Yes, that's correct. The MiSTer Pi is a clone of the DE-10 Nano board and so it costs a lot less. Only $160 for the whole stack (main board, USB board, I/O board). It is a game changer!
Fantastic video!👏😃 I have bought a 17” JVC PVM for 130 usd, and it really rocks. It only supports s-video and that is abdolutely good enough for me, when the image is this good. I had plans about buying an add on board with rgb and component support, but after I saw the picture quality on the JVC I was blown away❤ So adding all my consoles was so easy. I only bought a couple of very inexpensive s-video cables for my snes, Dreamcast and PlayStation, but honestly, even composite looks extremely crisp on this set. It is a bummer that I can’t run rgb on my old Genesis, but it still looks great and old school just like I remember it from early 90ies.
Its subjective. I’ve seen seen some people that like RF since it’s how they grew up playing games. I like my 19” JVC pro monitor (750 tvl) over component.
@@DanielRivera-on5qh By AV do you mean composite (yellow RCA)? The increase in the clarity of the video signal is a logarithmic curve so the jump in quality from RF to composite is pretty decent.
Hello, I bought a pvm but it has 4 squares for 4 inputs and the letters camera 1 camera 2 camera 3 camera 4 appear and it is annoying, they can be seen even when turned off. Is there a way to remove it?
Monochrome screens are ALWAYS outperforming ANY colour CRT when it comes to sharpness. Those tiny 11" Philips 80 screens (BM75xx) are crazy sharp. No need to even count TVL, as that is nearly impossible.
How does a game on a 480p pvm compare to an RGB or Component capable consumer crt at 480i? I typically play 5th and 6th gen 3D games. PS1, N64, PS2, GCN, DC, Xbox and Wii.
So, if the only things useful in Pvm is rgb support and a greater resolution, why not using a vga pc monitor? Vga is a rgb so a converter should be ok.
I have BVM and PVMs from Sony and Panasonic and they are very nice indeed but I prefer to play on the JVC “iART” consumer grade 32” set I own. It’s big, bright has nice geometry 📐 and flat face glass tube. The sound is fantastic and has RF composite S-video and Component. The speakers 🔊 really kick. Just get a rgb to component converter and you will be a happy camper or use composite. I am thinking of selling most of my pvm and bvm monitors. If you go down the PVM rabbit hole just pick up a 13” pvm and set it on the desk. I think 13” is the sweat spot for most people. Once you are kicking it on the couch it’s time to go with a 32” tv. Oh I have a small flat tube 20” Sony tv from the early 2000’s it’s fantastic. You really don’t need a PVM. I mean think about it. Did any of us use a PVM back in the day?
7:14 i got a crt with hdmi component + scart :) i am a happy retro gamer, but they are getting pretty rare mine is a philips 32pw9551/12 made in Europe, it has some small geometry problems but i will fix that later no big deal. i drove 200 km to pick it up paid 300 euro bit much for an old tv but for this model it was worth it, played bloodborne on 720p that looked crispy :)
Im grow with RF connected NES Clone on a 18" consumer Sharp CRT that broken and then get fixed over and over. So I think Im going to pass PVM and just fine , what I love so much is playing with CRT Geom filter on retroarch , its create the scanlines, and the imperfections of consumer grade CRT that I somehow enjoy.
Can you please help me? I can’t get any answers at all. I have a Panasonic omnivision crt from 1998. I’m using a nes clone, retron 1 av. I don’t have another tv I’ve noticed on some games weird graphic distortion and I’m not sure if it’s my tv or the clone. The clone is very cheap , im ordering a refurbished nes and hoping it will look right on my crt. Have you had any problems with your clone? I notice these problems on only certain parts of some games, always same glitches in same spots. Please help with any information or advice?? Thank you very much
@@Imtired170 I never realize any problem on my NES Clone graphic as far as I remember (and thats as far as 22 years ago), and it didnt help because Im also using RF, probably the worst quality connection existed (the TV support composite but I didnt have the cable at the time)
@@bpcgos wow you have had a nes clone for 22 years, or a original nes? I’ve heard those rf switches aren’t the greatest too. I have never had so much trouble as I’ve had with this $20 clone. I just hope the refurbished nes doesn’t have these issues like the battle screen on final fantasy, only happens on certain terrain on world map, the screen being almost stretched on double dragon. The lines around text on dragon warrior are all weird looking. I really hope it’s not the tv. Thank you so much for your reply, I’ve had trouble finding any information about this
I am nitpicking about details, so PVM was a perfect choice for me. To save the cost, I run Retroarch on PC with modded ATI Radeon GPU to output native RGB over BNC cables from DVI to VGA. It works perfectly and you don't need to mod the console, I run only PS1, PS2, XBOX, XBOX360 on PVM natively.
Sounds like a weird combination. The 360 is a HD console, you need a nice 2009 42" plasma for that. The others are nineties consoles, and best matched with a fairly big set from that time. I got a B&O Avant 32MKII for example for 10€, and it has 4 SCART ports so you can hook them up all at once. 32" with 100W stereo sound with subwoofer. No way a PVM is a perfect choice for those consoles.
@@lovemadeinjapan That 360 was just obscure test of the limits :-D but it looks good, it has SD output as well. I have 55'' Samsung QLED, but games don't look good on it and PVM is hooked to fat stereo as well :-D
@@cyberluke I bet that QLED does not look good, but I can really recommend a 2009 plasma or such for these consoles. Got one for free, it has 3x SCART RGB/S-video+VGA+component+4xHDMI, jack of all trades and looks asthonishing. The colours and contrast on that screen are beyond any CRT. And the upscaling of SD if very decent.
Thanks for great video! I really liked that you also made the comparison with a regular consumer crt. Btw, how does pvm differ from more particual consumer crts like Philips cm8833-II, Commodore 1084S (-D1/-D2/-P) or the Sony KX-14CP1? I often get the impression that these monitors tend to be some kind of middle ground, both in price range and quality. Off course the were not built to be turned on constantly like pvm, but still mainly used for home- and office computing and often come with several handy knobs on the outside for screen adjustments and resizing etc.
I'm not sure about those monitors but looking at them they Sony kx at least has a scart (analog rgb connector). I know the PVMs have more capabilities to adjust the focus and convergence to make a sharper picture whereas consumer monitors don't have those features easily available
@@SuperNicktendo You will probably need to open up the mentioned CRTs if you are to adjust convergence. I don't know about pvm, but most crt can only adjust convergence through configuration on neckboard and yoke (the magneta/purity rings) and with help of a special lens. Same goes for focus/sharpness when it comes to RGB signal (composite can usually at least be saturation-adjusterd through outisde knob) Geomitry settings however (Horizonatal/vertical stretch and reposition) are usually available on the knobs on the mentioned crts (unlike other consumer crt where you might need to open a service menu to adjust).
Not the 1084s, but the regular 1084 is really good. It has a superfine pitch, and awesome inputs: RGB, RGBi and S-video. 80-character text looks better on this than on a PVM. It is also one of the few screens that can handle the worst output of them all, the nasty VIC garbage from a C64.
For me a good condition consumer CRT tv is plenty. I'd even take a widescreen if the geometry is ok and I can have a 4:3 format setting. If I ever end up with a PVM it will be be for free somehow. I think I actually prefer the picture on consumer CRT anyway. I am in the UK though so it all comes with Scart.
I got a pvm and love it but i can see myself selling it in the future. I wish my desk was bigger so it didn't have to fight for space with my gaming monitor. Anyone know of a vasa monitor stand that I can quickly move a monitor up and down with. Keep the pvm on the desk and then slide my gaming monitor fmin front of it when I'm not playing retro games.
I have one but i don't use it i wanna sell it. I also have a 27" sony trinton has component, s-video, and composite outputs. I picked this up for $20.00 off of offer up about 6 months ago I currently use my wega Sony 20" crt it has component outputs and composite outputs which works good for me, not to heavy I like the the consumer crt better in my opinion
Honestly the one with the rgb would be my choice. I now have two 13inch PVMs. One with 600 lines and the other with 450. I can't really tell the difference at that size. You can also see if you can mod the n5e but that's out of my scope of skill.
Great video, i have a Sony Pvm 1442Q ...tried to plug my Snes mini with a chinese hdmi converter ( Hdmi - Rca Video - Pvm ) to the Video In but i got black and white colors...what can i do?
Not really sure. I know when I plug composite into my composite inputs it doesn't want to play nice at all. Some people have used an HDMI to S video converter and got better results. Sometimes those converters don't actually convert the signal, they just change the connector.
My friend got three BVM-20F1E units for free from a TV station a few years ago in my country and he gave me one (as he didn’t realise they were sought after). I decided to sell the one he gave me though as I wasn’t using it as much as I thought I would.
I use Sony screens for viewing my collection of tv shows from 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s (4x3). All my DVD’s are 525/60 US so I need an NTSC-M crt. Sony PVM’s allow me to get SMPTE-C phosphors, IRE of 7.5 and D65 Colour temp, 3.58 trap filter etc so I see the correct Image with 600 lines definition. I am in UK and tv’s advertised as supporting NTSC do not give the full benefit true NTSC sets can deliver.
If you find it for cheap and you are a sucker for quality and dont mind a smaller screen size... Its awesome, I found a new one for less than $100 with RGB.
@@SuperNicktendo I wish they were affordable as well... i would not have shelled out more than 200 bucks for a monitor that would prob arrive busted from shipping.
I own 2 SONY PVM's that I use with Mostly RGB but also Component and Composite. A Sony 20M4U & Sony 14L5 I like them both but have no problem playing on a consumer CRT & LEDTV. I also have a 27” Wega (Component & Composite) I think they look great but can only speak for Trinitrons
I was able to get a Sony PVM-14N5U for free from a local News station. While it isn't an RGB version the picture quality looks really good. Also nice to be able to move it around easily.
@@leonz5020 I gave the news station a call and asked if they had any. The guy I spoke to said they didn't need them anymore so he was fine with getting rid of it.
@@leonz5020 It was around April 2021 I believe. Talked to a couple stations in my area and was lucky to find one available. Picture is dimmer compared to my other crt, but with these tvs being on 24/7 it doesn't surprise me.
Goes on my desk. it's about a foot and a half away. It's the perfect size for that. Back when I was a kid 13 inch was the norm for our rooms so this brings me back as well.
The chances of finding a pvm in your grandparent's basement are low, but they may have PC CRT monitors. Some makes/models can accept a 15KHz signal for 240p on older systems. I've read that the Chungwa branded tubes found in JVC monitors are similar or the same as ones in "basic" PC CRTS. Fun video. Cheers!
LG C1 -C3 OLED with upscalers plays retro games perfectly with filters and has better color reproduction, as long as you upgrade to RGB/scart. or even using mister fpga, i would say it is a better solution than a PVM.
rgb is component with less brightness and more color nobody should be using rgb. component is superior because the color might not be perfect but it's a way better looking image overall color without clarity means nothing
If anyone is looking for a nice braodcast monitor i got the jvc h1400pn / h1300su about a year ago, it has 750 lines supports 480i max, has composite, rgb, component, svideo inputs, panasonic also sell the same unit with their badge instead of jvc. panasonic h1390yn or BTM2090Y/M1950Y (20 inch). These are very very nice monitors and were released around the 2000s. You can probably find them cheaper than a lot of the sony models and they look amazing
I started writing a comment and accidentally closed out of the window. Yeah I definitely don’t need a PVM, I have very little preference on quality as long as this game plays well. I’ve just never bought into the notion that “this is how it was meant to be played.” When these companies made these games, they weren’t thinking most people were going to play these on a PVM . I absolutely agree with you that retro gamers are the only people really interested in these things . Great job on this video man!
I've never been one to shame people if they don't play the way I do. I wanted to make an honest video to make people aware of what a PVM is to a casual and hopefully put them at ease for not spending a lot of money on a TV for just a minor bump in performance
Later Wega and XBR CRT's are the same quality as any PVM, the really really difference is with BVM monitors and PC monitor that some ones have the same quality as BVM's.
Context:Apparently this is professional video monitor or PVM, ppl mostly use them to play retro 8-16 bit video games…they’re selling for $100-300 now since they’re rare.
context: it's actually Pig Vitality Monitor or PVM. People mostly use them to determine when the next mcrib comes out. They are expensive because farmers keep the price so high.
I would have been happy with a regular small crt but have struggled to find one locally after I had to get rid of a large sony Trinitron that I had (too big for the house) Most sellers didn't know if their item had RGB and I was only willing to pay small for the gamble. I got lucky the other day as I saw a sony pvm 14l2 20 miles from my home for £10. Total cost to me was £20 including fuel costs. It was well worth the journey. Just need to spend a bit of cash on some cables.
I’ve watched a third of the video which overall seems to dance around the topic of cost. PVMs don’t have to be expensive but the main consideration I think people should make is the attention that one should make to removing old capacitors. Why? They are probably 30 years by now. This may be the case with many CRTs and old electronics, including consoles which by now are 20-40 years old. You have to be passionate to engage in any of this.
that's a good point that I ran into just last year. The PVM needed to be tuned up by a professional and luckily only cost me $100. That's something I didn't factor in when I made the video.
Do you need a PVM? No, but it's nice to have if you can get one. And while the Trinitron aperture grille picture tube is nice, there's nothing wrong with a good shadow mask picture tube. Both have their pros and cons, but good executions of either one will give you a good picture. If you can't find a Sony, don't hesitate to consider alternatives like Ikegami, Panasonic, Toshiba, JVC, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Sanyo, Sharp, and etc.
I'm going to throw the aesthetics ball into the ring: consumer (Sony) TV's have some excellent looking devices, where as a PVM looks boring, boring and boring. Off course, the design spectrum is wide, some are worse looking than PVMs like those obnoxious silver-painted WEGA giants, but especially the nineties sets look gorgeous. My favourite are the 1352, the16WT1 and the 1610, but also some Loewe and B&O screens like the MX4000. And then there is the no-brainer bargain, the 1440D/1450D. I've 3, they cost me from 0 to 20€, and it is always good. Perfect simple TV with RGB input. It looks more like a monitor, with a simple clean back, and it has a nice deep black tube with good colour.
I wish that Analogue NT Mini Noir could output 480p RGBHV out ---> so that we can use many PC VGA monitor which are widely available at dirt cheap price... instead of PVM/BVM
The "games the way they're meant to be played" argument is probably one of the worst argument ever for PVMs Devs intended for consumer grade CRTs to play these games not PVMs, period. It's like saying you need a Mac to watch movies because its what the editor used to edit it, it makes no sense
@@davidb7016 well i got it serviced by Savon Pat the retired Sony tech, so it should last for many years. thats my future proof CRT. ill use it at a later time
shader presets on retroarch make games look better than a PVM, on oled. and a retrotink 5x can achieve a better picture on oled with og consoles. The retrotink 4k will look even better. Just use a mister fpga and attach a upscaler on a oled
I have a sony pvm and Sony trinitron crt TV.. I love the quality from the pvm... But not all consoles output rgb. The trinitron crt tv works great. I wish I can calibrate it though, get the best image quality/colors
I have a 1442Q and a 14M2E. The PVM experience is great, but so can be a consumer TV (at least in Europe where most TV's had a SCART with RGB capability). I think a bigger consumer TV can give a better gaming experience than a smaller PVM. I would definitely stay away from the smaller PVMs, I used to have a 9 inch PVM and while the image quality was great, it felt way to small and it didn't feel like a PVM because It didn't have the typical prominent scanlines as it only had 450 lines. Just buy whatever the budget allows.
you dont have to mod every console for rgb lots already output rgb natively also you just bought a pvm that doesnt have component input too. but rgb is better anyway so its worth modding consoles for imo.
I have a pvm and a bvm and while i love them, I think a decent consumer CRT is just as good for the casual gamers. The PVM is almost too good in some circumstances like where there’s dithering, etc.
Consumer televisions for life. I don't know who or when this frenzy of saying that professional monitors are the pinnacle of crt technology started. Professional monitors like PVMs, BVMs have huge scan lines that invade the screen, have low brightness due to their high resolution (TVLs), are small and highly expensive. No one who is a purist and grew up in the 70s, 80s, remembers those fat scanlines because they just didn't exist. They only became famous within the emulation boom, thanks to CRT HLSL shaders and so on. So you know. Only see ads posted in your city, like on craigslist. And buy or pick up your consumer home monitor if you want to have the CRT experience of the world.
Yeah, yeah,yeah. All these UA-camrs with their 100 bucks Holy grail price and yet it's impossible to get anywhere. They all must be super lucky. Anyways crt composite enough and it's what I remember.
Not for me on my opinion. I saw on person and didn't car. I ended up with a lgc1 77 and retrotink 4k with some nice large sd and hd crt tvs. All still cheaper than a pvm. lol
Do you have a PVM? Which one do you have? Do you have any plans on getting one after watching this video?
I have one but i don't use it i wanna sell it.
I also have a 27" sony trinton has component, s-video, and composite outputs.
I picked this up for $20.00 off of offer up about 6 months ago
I currently use my wega Sony 20" crt it has component outputs and composite outputs which works good for me, not to heavy
I like the the consumer crt better in my opinion
How is playing on a 13in pvm? Does it feel like you have to squint to see everything, or is it plenty big enough? Assuming you would set it on a desk like you would a computer monitor and be close to it.
@@letsplayclassicgames5024 I have a 14” PVM that was new old stock. The colors are great but I don’t like playing on it for extended periods of time. I’m not squinting but it’s just not ideal. 20” PVMs are perfect imo.
@@letsplayclassicgames5024 it sits on my desk so I'm about 4ft away - So I don't strain while playing. I need to set up a comfy playing area for my 20 inch though. My chair is currently too far away right now.
@@dauntae24 thanks for sharing. I would love a 20in PVM, that seems like the perfect size to me but the prices are outrageous and I live in a more rural area so PVM's rarely come up for sale locally. I am going to pick up a 32in Wega Trinitron this Monday, I have component/hd retrovision cables for most of my consoles already so I'm hoping that the Trinitron will deliver some good results.
As an adult currently using a PVM...my initial motivation behind it is a petty form of revenge on playing NES using a janky RF adapter throughout my childhood...it doesn't feel the same, however dimming the lights and playing on the best quality possible feels satisfying as heck
The rabbit hole is deep. I get looks for my GVM-2020 and had I taken my extras to SEGE, I could have sold all 12. You're 100% right about it not being for everyone. People see it on forums and YT videos and get FOMO. They don't see the back end where you need adapters, mods, and special cables. Good video, dude!
Yeah it's something I didn't really know about. I know back when these things were cheaper, some of the cables needed to be made by hand. Now they're easy to get but I just didn't want to go all in.
If anyone out there wants a second opinion I have 2 PVM-M4U series 800 line Sony monitors and a Sony Trinitron KVFS series consumer TV. If you use RGB on the KVFS series and set the VM setting to "LOW" in the video menu, it absolutely does rival a Sony PVM. I couldn't believe it myself but it really does. He isn't kidding. PVMs do provide a far superior image compared to typical standard CRTs but the exceptions are the Sony Trinitron consumer TVs with the VM option. If you have one of those I can't truthfully say that you need a PVM. Keep in mind if you're hunting a Trinitron CRT, the VM option is only available on models 20" and above.
Hello, I request your help please, I have a 29" sony trinitron kvfs but I don't know how to find the VM function in the menu, could you help me please?
I absolutely LOVE the way everyone mentions, "This is how games were meant to be played" when in reality, when these game systems came out NO ONE could afford a PVM/BVM and the average homeowner didn't even know they existed. lol
When Nintendo first came out Dolby 5.1 didn't even exist and most people were just barely coming into the color TV phase and those that did have color weren't buying Trinitrons when Zenith system 3 19 & 25 inch consoles were bigger tube and less expensive. Ahhhh, many a day (and night) speant sitting on the frunchroom (It's a midwest thing lol) playing Atari 2600 on our console! Even my Commodore 64 was hooked up (in the beginning) via RF to a 19" Zenith we had in our kitchen
I however, at 16yrs old, saved my $$$ to purchase the first Sony Trinitron to have an MTS stereo decoder, it was a 13" KV-1380R. For comparison, it was $450 and our 25" console was $699. I still remember my parents sayingf I was dumb and got 'took'. Well I STILL have it and the picture is STILL stellar. But I had different influences growing up.
That being said, I think a CRT is DEFINITELY the way classic games were meant to be played and now that PVM/BVM's are more affordable to the consumer, maybe a viable option. I have one, a 14" PVM14L1 (no RGB, but I don't need it), it looks stellar via s-video. But I also have (2) Sony XBR's (1 40" and 1 32") that I have Xbox 360's and PS3 hooked up to via component and It's hard to tell a real difference on that compared to the s-video on the 14" PVM. Granted, there's a little difference for sure, but the screens are 3x as big too.
I enjoyed your perspective and you even touched on my post at 3:52. I like seeing the C64 MAXI in the backround too!! 40yrs this year for that Bad Boy!!
I'm from Chicago so frunchroom is definitely in our vernacular :)
One day I'll track down a Retro Zenith to really get my original set up as a kid.
@@SuperNicktendo nice! I’m from Chicago too. Now I live in Lemont.
There’s a guy who comes to the VCF/ECCC (vintage computer fest/Commodore convention) and brings his System 3 and hooks up an Atari 2600. Pretty cool.
Indeed, many games were designed with the idea in mind that the pixels would blend in each other. The visual style with sharp pixels that we love today was totally not what people were going for back in the day. It was the opposite of 'realism' and most screenshots in magazines, advertisement and on packaging were blurry as hell. That said, developers probably had PVM's during production, so you could claim that this is how the makers envisioned their games.
I really like the message you had at the end about enjoying these sorts of things however makes one happy. It's good to keep that in mind, so thanks!
I think consumer crts make more sense for most, including myself. I can appreciate what pvms bring to the table and they are probably better suited for people that want more control over settings. But i feel like half the beauty of going crt is the option to keep things very simple with AV hookups without needing to acquire less common cables or console mods or use upscalers and the like, all the while still making even a composite picture look very presentable. I also feel my sweetspot for a CRT is 27in for my seating arrangement, immersion, and convenience for multiplayer. But if I need to start getting particular with cabling and settings and everything else, I tend to prefer the Retrotink 5x to have the option of a much bigger screen along with convenience of not needing an additional monitor around. Great video all around though!
Thanks for going over this Had no idea that a PVM could be such a pain to setup.
It's a learning curve but once you get it set up it's second nature
CRT, PVM, & BVM has the perfect natural motions without delays, and faked frames. Black levels are awesome. OLED, Mini LED, & QLED just doesn’t come close enough.
I saw a PVM in the scrap electronics dumpster, I talked with the guy that put it there and it barely has any hours on it and still works, I will bring it home soon and for free
I have the same PVM that you showed in the video. Got it for free, from a science lab in 2005, since they were getting rid of them to switch to HD, just you described in the video. While on the other hand I also have a 32" JVC I'Art, which I got from the side of the road in 2013...Just started reusing them a few weeks ago, and loving it.
Just found a HR Trinitron at work and took it home for free!
I know this is two years later. However, have you recently considered the RetroTink 4K? I know it is a bit of a price bite, but out of the box it has been pretty amazing.
So far I've tested it with my PSP and it turned out amazing. I'm going to do more testing with it in the coming days.
Meanwhile, I do have a KF-FS Trinitron (27 inch). I've recently invested in a steel rack as a TV stand for it to finally put it to use. Currently looking to get it serviced to fix its allignment. I'll also likely invest in more HD Retrovision cables to accomidate the majority of my consoles on it.
I already have a numbe of Retro-Access SCART cables used with the RetroTink 5X-Pro (now the 4K). I also have a breakout cable for my Sony PVM (14 Inch).
I plan to maintain each option for different use case scenarios.
I don't have a need for the retrotink 4k at this time. Since this video I picked up another PVM and while I have a 4k Oled I still prefer to play on CRT. But it is a really impressive device and if I had the funds to get one just because, I'd get one to mess around with it.
@@SuperNicktendo Understood. If you decide to get one, I'd be interested to know your thoughts on how it compares to your primary CRTs.
If it helps, there is an option to split payments over two months to ease the bite. Not sure if you're seeing this comment. UA-cam keeps deleting them automatically, probably for mentioning the payment option.
@@NateWolfKira yeah I'm currently focusing on my price trend content so hopefully when I'm finished it'll be easier to find and I'l have funds to justify making a video
A Retrotink costs a fortune, has relative little inputs, so NO, thanks. A 50€ MacMini with OpenEmu and customisable scaling filters does the exact same, and since it is all software, you can keep modding it.
No you don't need a pvm. They are over rated. I owned a few and sold them off. Just not worth it for the stupid prices they are going for
That's what's weird to me. Unless you want to flex, I spent money on an LG Oled instead
@@SuperNicktendo I have a kv310 trinitron, the most sought after consumer set and a lg cx. Cant go wrong. Little dinky pvms can't hold a candle to either
No you don’t ”need” a tv at all... You know what’s overrated? Playing old 240p games on a modern tv.
@@andersgunnarsson2489 240p games look like shit played on any tv
@@RavageReeves Well, in my opinion not on a CRT. But that is of course highly subjective.
I think just about all consumer grade CRTs have automatic degaussing when you turn them on.
11:30 This tells enough. The 21 inch Trinitron is brighter. Quickly adding the PVM is more true to life is kind of weird. What IS true to life for Outrun, Mario and Sonic? The consumer TV also has pretty awesome stereo audio (for the best ever gaming console the PC Engine) and here those TVs have RGB Scart for effortless hookup to again the best ever console (the PC Engine), so that makes it a no brainer. Regular Trinitron for the win.
I recently bought a Sony Trinitron KV-27FS210 with the factory remote for $30 on my local facebook market place. Pretty nice TV for playing all my old systems.
Not only pretty nice, it is about the best display you can have for retro gaming, way beyond any PVM, and the flat ones have remarkable good geometry too. It even tunes RF signals from Atari 2600 or NES. The only thing I dislike about those late Sony's is their silver painted chunky plastic look, especially US models.
11:08 Am I blind or does RCA look actually better with more vibrant colors? Have you compared PVM to something like OSSC to OLED setup?
I have an OLED TV and I got the PVM serviced which got better caps and calibrated colors. I don't have an OSSC or RetroTink. If I could borrow one, I'll do that comparison. RetroTInk 4k is just not something I can justify at the moment.
You connect your RGB consoles to your PVM with HD Retrovision cables using the COMP2RGB converter? How is the quality with that as opposed to using RGB straight to your PVM?
As far as I can tell there's no difference. I'm sure someone will tell the difference but I can't and it makes for convenient source swapping
@@SuperNicktendo Thanks for the clarification. I’m upgrading my Component compatible CRT to a PVM that only supports RGB. My entire setup relies on HD Retrovision cables. It will be a lot cheaper to use a COM2RGB converter as opposed to upgrading everything to RGB. However, I thought I will downgrade the signal by going from RGB to Component and then back to RGB. Thanks to this video I learned that every CRT converts the signal back to RGB anyway, so I guess it doesn’t really matter if the conversion is done externally.
@@chchris25 yeah each tube uses red green and blue to make the color. If you have a CRT with component the HD retrovision cables work just great unless you want a PVM with 600 lines instead of 400 like most CRTs
I do have 2 PVMs but im definitely getting similar performance out of my VGA monitors, and with more vibrant colors.
This👆🏽I just got a mister fpga hooked up to my PC CRT monitor and using the right settings I get perfect zero latency 240P at 120Hz, the scanlines are just as thick and vibrant as with a PVM and it has infinite TVL, just like PVM. Colors, sharpness and black levels are also just as good. It was cheap too, 30€ for the 20" Sony Trinitron PC monitor with VGA. You can't run native consoles though because it won't accept below 31KHz, but FPGA opens this option up. To be honest though, I much prefer 240P upscaled using the scandoubler on the VGA monitor, the scanlines are thinner and everything looks crisper and you only add one frame of latency. PVM scanlines can look like jail bars imho and I prefer 27" consumer Trinitron with RGB.
@@karoo_bushman6880 those old black Dell monitors are soooo good bro, they're also Trinitron monitors
I really enjoyed your previous PVM video. I got mine for free since I work in news LOL RGB and everything. Engineering was super cool just getting rid of them because many places wind up dumping them or leaving them in storage rooms with other older equipment. Like I know we have this big Trinitron PVM somewhere, but I'll handle my smaller, more manageable Panasonic PVM.
Having a large CRT has such diminishing returns
@@SuperNicktendo Yeah I mean I also have a bigger CRT which is nice, but I also had a similar size Trinitron CRT at one point and sold it because there was no way I was hauling that HEAVY thing around. Idk if people realize the extra weight fancier older tv's have.
I have an Ikegami TM20-90R, it’s a beauty, I absolutely love this machine :) I also have a few 14 inch Sony PVMs as well, one I use for a streaming setup on a desk, but I’m offloading a couple of them.
I really like the size of the 13 inch - fits on the desk. I use the 20 inch for sitting on the couch.
Slide me one
Most people like collecting retro games because of some sort of nostalgia. Is an extremely small strange looking TV with basically no speakers nostalgic? My setup is a nice 27 inch consumer TV with amazing speakers. Couch co-op games are so great on it. If you find a FV310, it's like getting all the benefits of a consumer CRT with picture quality that is as close to a PVM without being one. Only thing that it's missing is a curved screen, which would've helped its geometry.
Also, the closer you try to get to perfection, the more insane you'll become. No CRT is perfect. As long as you have a Trinitron or JVC D-Series, you have a great CRT
This! I've a KV-X2121D and a Philips V6850. Look those up.... People have no idea how retrogaming can be from the rabbit hole of PVM videos.
I own 2 Professional Monitors.
1. JVC TM-H150CG looks amazing best looking one I own.
2. Sony PVM-20M2MDU not as sharp as the JVC but bigger and easier to look at for longer time.
3. Not a Professional Monitor, but Presentation Monitor Pansonic DT-2730MS
This is my favorite, has VGA, S-video, and Composite. I use a VGA to Component Convertor. It can do 240p, 480i/p and even 720p. It basically in between consumer and professional monitor. I use it as my main, because 27 or bigger is more comfortable sitting for hours at a time.
I think a CRT PC Monitor might be also an option. You need to require transcoder or adapters to getting the image.
Everytime i see videos like this im so glad that rgb is the standard over here in pal land :D
can you plaese tell me if i need a special cable for the ps1 to connect? Bought a pvm 9l2 Sony.
Man I WISH we could go back to when a PVM was listed for 130 dollars.
Great video! I like how you compared the PVM to other TVs. I wish more people did this. I feel like PVMs are getting lionized these days. I got a couple things to nitpick. 1) Virtually all CRTs have a built in degauss. Consumer grades CRTs usually degauss when you power them on. They make a, "bwooong!" sound. They don't have a button like the PVMs do but they do degauss. 2) There are generic RGB to component converters that will work on all consoles. Retrotink makes one. This is probably a better, and much cheaper, option to the HD Retrovision cables, which are console specific.
I've got a couple videos on my channel where I discus RGB vs component, PVM vs consumer CRTs and similar stuff.
I spend a lot of time playing retro games and I use my consumer grade CRTs more often than my professional CRTs, mostly because I prefer a large screen.
Thanks for the info! I mentioned the degaussing as a dedicated feature not something that is done only when the TV is turned on or off.
I really enjoy playing on a CRT and will bounce between my PVM and Consumer TV. I do need to figure out how to align the consumer one because now I notice that the picture isn't 100% centered.
@@SuperNicktendo ive got a video on my channel for servicing crts. It can help you align your crt. Sounds like you just need to go into the service menu and adjust the horizontal/ vertical position. If the screen is rotated clockwise it might be a little harder but still easy.
@@riggel8804 cool. I'll check it out! Thanks!
@@SuperNicktendo ye
Thank you for explaining this subject so clearly! One question i still have is, are PVMs a good match for using with the MiSTer Pi FPGA? The MiSTer Pi has a VGA port for analog output, so I'm assuming I would need a VGA to RGB adapter? Would this be ideal to do? Would there be any degradation in the video quality or additional input lag introduced by the VGA-to-RGB conversion?
@@lordbacon4972 so I'm assuming that it's similar to the MiSTer with the de10 nano which is a VGA style connector and you can get a VGA to RGB cable from monoprice and be good to go. You'll just need separate audio
@@SuperNicktendo Yes, that's correct. The MiSTer Pi is a clone of the DE-10 Nano board and so it costs a lot less. Only $160 for the whole stack (main board, USB board, I/O board). It is a game changer!
Fantastic video!👏😃 I have bought a 17” JVC PVM for 130 usd, and it really rocks. It only supports s-video and that is abdolutely good enough for me, when the image is this good. I had plans about buying an add on board with rgb and component support, but after I saw the picture quality on the JVC I was blown away❤ So adding all my consoles was so easy. I only bought a couple of very inexpensive s-video cables for my snes, Dreamcast and PlayStation, but honestly, even composite looks extremely crisp on this set. It is a bummer that I can’t run rgb on my old Genesis, but it still looks great and old school just like I remember it from early 90ies.
Great video man!
I love my PVMs of all sizes and manufacturers! Would I say “necessary”? Probably not, but if you’re in, you’re in!!
Nah, not needed . I sold my pvms. A consumer level Crt is plenty good enough and so is s-video.
Its subjective. I’ve seen seen some people that like RF since it’s how they grew up playing games. I like my 19” JVC pro monitor (750 tvl) over component.
@@dauntae24 I can't tell the difference between av and rf lol
@@DanielRivera-on5qh By AV do you mean composite (yellow RCA)? The increase in the clarity of the video signal is a logarithmic curve so the jump in quality from RF to composite is pretty decent.
I think that's the best way to go. I haven't really seen a lot of difference. People were hyping it up as if it was a ground breaking achievement
Hello, I bought a pvm but it has 4 squares for 4 inputs and the letters camera 1 camera 2 camera 3 camera 4 appear and it is annoying, they can be seen even when turned off. Is there a way to remove it?
you'd need to look up the model number to see if there's a service manual that can tell you how to turn that off it at all possible.
I have a 9” monochrome Pelco PMM901 with 700 TVL. Is it considered a PVM?
Monochrome screens are ALWAYS outperforming ANY colour CRT when it comes to sharpness. Those tiny 11" Philips 80 screens (BM75xx) are crazy sharp. No need to even count TVL, as that is nearly impossible.
I like your comparison to music lovers with hd TVs Spotify crt vinyl and pvm reel to reel.. pretty accurate! I’m a music lover and audiophile
How does a game on a 480p pvm compare to an RGB or Component capable consumer crt at 480i? I typically play 5th and 6th gen 3D games. PS1, N64, PS2, GCN, DC, Xbox and Wii.
So, if the only things useful in Pvm is rgb support and a greater resolution, why not using a vga pc monitor? Vga is a rgb so a converter should be ok.
Yeah you shouldn't have an issue. As long as the monitor has the correct refresh rate.
I haven't seen a comparison though
@@SuperNicktendo It will be a nice video ;)
Use to have a 19" Trinitron - the degauss button was fun...
I used to do it all the time with my old pc monitor
Man after my own heart... (Rayman)
Thanks for the vid. Looking for one to recreate some SF2 Hyper Fighting.
Should I get a PVM-8042 for 175? It’s more of a cool desk item to use. I have a sharp crt tv and a crt monitor
Anything under 200 for that size i feel is a good deal
I have BVM and PVMs from Sony and Panasonic and they are very nice indeed but I prefer to play on the JVC “iART” consumer grade 32” set I own. It’s big, bright has nice geometry 📐 and flat face glass tube. The sound is fantastic and has RF composite S-video and Component. The speakers 🔊 really kick. Just get a rgb to component converter and you will be a happy camper or use composite. I am thinking of selling most of my pvm and bvm monitors. If you go down the PVM rabbit hole just pick up a 13” pvm and set it on the desk. I think 13” is the sweat spot for most people. Once you are kicking it on the couch it’s time to go with a 32” tv.
Oh I have a small flat tube 20” Sony tv from the early 2000’s it’s fantastic. You really don’t need a PVM. I mean think about it. Did any of us use a PVM back in the day?
7:14 i got a crt with hdmi component + scart :) i am a happy retro gamer, but they are getting pretty rare mine is a philips 32pw9551/12 made in Europe, it has some small geometry problems but i will fix that later no big deal. i drove 200 km to pick it up paid 300 euro bit much for an old tv but for this model it was worth it, played bloodborne on 720p that looked crispy :)
Im grow with RF connected NES Clone on a 18" consumer Sharp CRT that broken and then get fixed over and over. So I think Im going to pass PVM and just fine , what I love so much is playing with CRT Geom filter on retroarch , its create the scanlines, and the imperfections of consumer grade CRT that I somehow enjoy.
Can you please help me? I can’t get any answers at all. I have a Panasonic omnivision crt from 1998. I’m using a nes clone, retron 1 av. I don’t have another tv I’ve noticed on some games weird graphic distortion and I’m not sure if it’s my tv or the clone. The clone is very cheap , im ordering a refurbished nes and hoping it will look right on my crt. Have you had any problems with your clone? I notice these problems on only certain parts of some games, always same glitches in same spots. Please help with any information or advice?? Thank you very much
@@Imtired170 I never realize any problem on my NES Clone graphic as far as I remember (and thats as far as 22 years ago), and it didnt help because Im also using RF, probably the worst quality connection existed (the TV support composite but I didnt have the cable at the time)
@@bpcgos wow you have had a nes clone for 22 years, or a original nes? I’ve heard those rf switches aren’t the greatest too. I have never had so much trouble as I’ve had with this $20 clone. I just hope the refurbished nes doesn’t have these issues like the battle screen on final fantasy, only happens on certain terrain on world map, the screen being almost stretched on double dragon. The lines around text on dragon warrior are all weird looking. I really hope it’s not the tv. Thank you so much for your reply, I’ve had trouble finding any information about this
I am nitpicking about details, so PVM was a perfect choice for me. To save the cost, I run Retroarch on PC with modded ATI Radeon GPU to output native RGB over BNC cables from DVI to VGA. It works perfectly and you don't need to mod the console, I run only PS1, PS2, XBOX, XBOX360 on PVM natively.
Sounds like a weird combination. The 360 is a HD console, you need a nice 2009 42" plasma for that. The others are nineties consoles, and best matched with a fairly big set from that time. I got a B&O Avant 32MKII for example for 10€, and it has 4 SCART ports so you can hook them up all at once. 32" with 100W stereo sound with subwoofer. No way a PVM is a perfect choice for those consoles.
@@lovemadeinjapan That 360 was just obscure test of the limits :-D but it looks good, it has SD output as well. I have 55'' Samsung QLED, but games don't look good on it and PVM is hooked to fat stereo as well :-D
@@cyberluke I bet that QLED does not look good, but I can really recommend a 2009 plasma or such for these consoles. Got one for free, it has 3x SCART RGB/S-video+VGA+component+4xHDMI, jack of all trades and looks asthonishing. The colours and contrast on that screen are beyond any CRT. And the upscaling of SD if very decent.
UK here, does this end up being the same as a scart rgb connection ?
Yeah you have to get a BNC to female Scart cable to hook to the PVM then the console has their own scart cable
Pvm 20L5 is the best Pvm?
I didn’t know CRT TV’s convert the signals to RGB.
Thanks for great video! I really liked that you also made the comparison with a regular consumer crt. Btw, how does pvm differ from more particual consumer crts like Philips cm8833-II, Commodore 1084S (-D1/-D2/-P) or the Sony KX-14CP1? I often get the impression that these monitors tend to be some kind of middle ground, both in price range and quality. Off course the were not built to be turned on constantly like pvm, but still mainly used for home- and office computing and often come with several handy knobs on the outside for screen adjustments and resizing etc.
I'm not sure about those monitors but looking at them they Sony kx at least has a scart (analog rgb connector). I know the PVMs have more capabilities to adjust the focus and convergence to make a sharper picture whereas consumer monitors don't have those features easily available
@@SuperNicktendo You will probably need to open up the mentioned CRTs if you are to adjust convergence. I don't know about pvm, but most crt can only adjust convergence through configuration on neckboard and yoke (the magneta/purity rings) and with help of a special lens. Same goes for focus/sharpness when it comes to RGB signal (composite can usually at least be saturation-adjusterd through outisde knob) Geomitry settings however (Horizonatal/vertical stretch and reposition) are usually available on the knobs on the mentioned crts (unlike other consumer crt where you might need to open a service menu to adjust).
Not the 1084s, but the regular 1084 is really good. It has a superfine pitch, and awesome inputs: RGB, RGBi and S-video. 80-character text looks better on this than on a PVM. It is also one of the few screens that can handle the worst output of them all, the nasty VIC garbage from a C64.
For me a good condition consumer CRT tv is plenty. I'd even take a widescreen if the geometry is ok and I can have a 4:3 format setting. If I ever end up with a PVM it will be be for free somehow. I think I actually prefer the picture on consumer CRT anyway. I am in the UK though so it all comes with Scart.
I like the consumer CRT because that's what I remember as a kid. PVM is neat though.
I got a pvm and love it but i can see myself selling it in the future. I wish my desk was bigger so it didn't have to fight for space with my gaming monitor. Anyone know of a vasa monitor stand that I can quickly move a monitor up and down with. Keep the pvm on the desk and then slide my gaming monitor fmin front of it when I'm not playing retro games.
They have gotten way too expensive costing more than OLEDs. Just get a normal CRT from the 2000’s with Component out with some HDRetroVision Cables.
I have one but i don't use it i wanna sell it.
I also have a 27" sony trinton has component, s-video, and composite outputs.
I picked this up for $20.00 off of offer up about 6 months ago
I currently use my wega Sony 20" crt it has component outputs and composite outputs which works good for me, not to heavy
I like the the consumer crt better in my opinion
I like having the PVM but I think I wouldn't be missing much if I didn't have one. Neat little quirky TV with a nice aesthetic
Sell it to me
@@cricketmc5736
The pvm
@@lldjslim yes
@@cricketmc5736
Ok when i get off work I'll send you the model number so you can see the specs i also have the breakout cable and the 20olm caps
Hey bro! I have a choice between SONY PVM-14N2E and SONY PVM-14N5E. 14N5E Higher version but 14N2E has RGB input. I don't know which one is better.
Honestly the one with the rgb would be my choice. I now have two 13inch PVMs. One with 600 lines and the other with 450. I can't really tell the difference at that size.
You can also see if you can mod the n5e but that's out of my scope of skill.
@@SuperNicktendo Thanks for the detailed answer. Wish you happiness!
Great video, i have a Sony Pvm 1442Q ...tried to plug my Snes mini with a chinese hdmi converter ( Hdmi - Rca Video - Pvm ) to the Video In but i got black and white colors...what can i do?
Not really sure. I know when I plug composite into my composite inputs it doesn't want to play nice at all. Some people have used an HDMI to S video converter and got better results. Sometimes those converters don't actually convert the signal, they just change the connector.
@@SuperNicktendo yes probably is that, thanks i appreciate your time
Buy a ossc for it
I just bought 3 more. *sigh* You don't NEED a pvm, but they look sweet.
My friend got three BVM-20F1E units for free from a TV station a few years ago in my country and he gave me one (as he didn’t realise they were sought after). I decided to sell the one he gave me though as I wasn’t using it as much as I thought I would.
I use Sony screens for viewing my collection of tv shows from 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s (4x3). All my DVD’s are 525/60 US so I need an NTSC-M crt. Sony PVM’s allow me to get SMPTE-C phosphors, IRE of 7.5 and D65 Colour temp, 3.58 trap filter etc so I see the correct Image with 600 lines definition. I am in UK and tv’s advertised as supporting NTSC do not give the full benefit true NTSC sets can deliver.
Great video bro!
If you find it for cheap and you are a sucker for quality and dont mind a smaller screen size... Its awesome, I found a new one for less than $100 with RGB.
I wish they weren't so expensive - it would be so much fun to daisy chain them together to make one of those retro wall of TVs
@@SuperNicktendo I wish they were affordable as well... i would not have shelled out more than 200 bucks for a monitor that would prob arrive busted from shipping.
@@xxbyron13xx yeah that's why I picked mine up locally. Too risky to have it shipped
I own 2 SONY PVM's that I use with Mostly RGB but also Component and Composite. A Sony 20M4U & Sony 14L5 I like them both but have no problem playing on a consumer CRT & LEDTV. I also have a 27” Wega (Component & Composite) I think they look great but can only speak for Trinitrons
I have a kv13fs100 and im plenty happy with it
It has composite and ypbpr input so it gets close enough for me
I was able to get a Sony PVM-14N5U for free from a local News station. While it isn't an RGB version the picture quality looks really good. Also nice to be able to move it around easily.
Did you email them or did you go there in person to ask?
@@leonz5020 I gave the news station a call and asked if they had any. The guy I spoke to said they didn't need them anymore so he was fine with getting rid of it.
@@Crzypengu damn that is amazing! When was this?
@@leonz5020 It was around April 2021 I believe. Talked to a couple stations in my area and was lucky to find one available. Picture is dimmer compared to my other crt, but with these tvs being on 24/7 it doesn't surprise me.
@@Crzypengu ah, what exactly did you ask them? Figured I will try my luck on some stations.
the screen is so small, how can you enjoy it
Goes on my desk. it's about a foot and a half away. It's the perfect size for that. Back when I was a kid 13 inch was the norm for our rooms so this brings me back as well.
The chances of finding a pvm in your grandparent's basement are low, but they may have PC CRT monitors. Some makes/models can accept a 15KHz signal for 240p on older systems.
I've read that the Chungwa branded tubes found in JVC monitors are similar or the same as ones in "basic" PC CRTS.
Fun video. Cheers!
LG C1 -C3 OLED with upscalers plays retro games perfectly with filters and has better color reproduction, as long as you upgrade to RGB/scart. or even using mister fpga, i would say it is a better solution than a PVM.
RETROTINK ON MY LG C1 made me have a crisis lol, do I even need my trinitron wega anymore?
rgb is component with less brightness and more color nobody should be using rgb. component is superior because the color might not be perfect but it's a way better looking image overall color without clarity means nothing
That's a good perspective. I'm a fan of Sony color science anyway.
If anyone is looking for a nice braodcast monitor i got the jvc h1400pn / h1300su about a year ago, it has 750 lines supports 480i max, has composite, rgb, component, svideo inputs, panasonic also sell the same unit with their badge instead of jvc. panasonic h1390yn or BTM2090Y/M1950Y (20 inch). These are very very nice monitors and were released around the 2000s. You can probably find them cheaper than a lot of the sony models and they look amazing
They're even more expensive...
Scart Cable on a early 2010s widescreen flat screen is an amazing option
Component, too, works fairly nicely on those sorts of plasma sets
@@damian9303 Scart is more common I guess
@@weaponizedknight7316 depends on region, I assume you’re from the UK? Either way, its RGB
@@damian9303 Yeah, scart is the most common, some Tvs only have scart
I started writing a comment and accidentally closed out of the window. Yeah I definitely don’t need a PVM, I have very little preference on quality as long as this game plays well. I’ve just never bought into the notion that “this is how it was meant to be played.” When these companies made these games, they weren’t thinking most people were going to play these on a PVM . I absolutely agree with you that retro gamers are the only people really interested in these things . Great job on this video man!
I've never been one to shame people if they don't play the way I do. I wanted to make an honest video to make people aware of what a PVM is to a casual and hopefully put them at ease for not spending a lot of money on a TV for just a minor bump in performance
Later Wega and XBR CRT's are the same quality as any PVM, the really really difference is with BVM monitors and PC monitor that some ones have the same quality as BVM's.
Context:Apparently this is professional video monitor or PVM, ppl mostly use them to play retro 8-16 bit video games…they’re selling for $100-300 now since they’re rare.
context: it's actually Pig Vitality Monitor or PVM. People mostly use them to determine when the next mcrib comes out. They are expensive because farmers keep the price so high.
I would have been happy with a regular small crt but have struggled to find one locally after I had to get rid of a large sony Trinitron that I had (too big for the house) Most sellers didn't know if their item had RGB and I was only willing to pay small for the gamble. I got lucky the other day as I saw a sony pvm 14l2 20 miles from my home for £10. Total cost to me was £20 including fuel costs. It was well worth the journey. Just need to spend a bit of cash on some cables.
I got a high quality CRT for free on Facebook Marketplace. Not a PVM but this is better imo because PVMs are too small for my taste.
yeah I feel you can't go wrong with a CRT. If I didn't buy a PVM, I think I would have been just fine without one.
I have a 29" and a 32" PVM. They're not small by any means.
They're crazy expensive though. I personally think 13 inch is the sweet spot for me. 20inch consumer crt for everything else
I’ve watched a third of the video which overall seems to dance around the topic of cost. PVMs don’t have to be expensive but the main consideration I think people should make is the attention that one should make to removing old capacitors. Why? They are probably 30 years by now. This may be the case with many CRTs and old electronics, including consoles which by now are 20-40 years old. You have to be passionate to engage in any of this.
that's a good point that I ran into just last year. The PVM needed to be tuned up by a professional and luckily only cost me $100. That's something I didn't factor in when I made the video.
Do you need a PVM?
No, but it's nice to have if you can get one.
And while the Trinitron aperture grille picture tube is nice, there's nothing wrong with a good shadow mask picture tube. Both have their pros and cons, but good executions of either one will give you a good picture. If you can't find a Sony, don't hesitate to consider alternatives like Ikegami, Panasonic, Toshiba, JVC, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Sanyo, Sharp, and etc.
I'm going to throw the aesthetics ball into the ring: consumer (Sony) TV's have some excellent looking devices, where as a PVM looks boring, boring and boring. Off course, the design spectrum is wide, some are worse looking than PVMs like those obnoxious silver-painted WEGA giants, but especially the nineties sets look gorgeous. My favourite are the 1352, the16WT1 and the 1610, but also some Loewe and B&O screens like the MX4000. And then there is the no-brainer bargain, the 1440D/1450D. I've 3, they cost me from 0 to 20€, and it is always good. Perfect simple TV with RGB input. It looks more like a monitor, with a simple clean back, and it has a nice deep black tube with good colour.
How did you only pay $145???
Found it locally on ebay. But that was before they got REALLY expensive.
@ crazy 🤯
Good luck finding any Sony KVFS CRT as well. I dont see any available these days
I wish that Analogue NT Mini Noir could output 480p RGBHV out ---> so that we can use many PC VGA monitor which are widely available at dirt cheap price... instead of PVM/BVM
Too small for me. Not worth the vs. a good looking consumer crt. Just not for me.
i agree. i have the 20L5 PVM which is one of the best you can get and its too small for me. id rather use my 27" Trinitron
The "games the way they're meant to be played" argument is probably one of the worst argument ever for PVMs
Devs intended for consumer grade CRTs to play these games not PVMs, period.
It's like saying you need a Mac to watch movies because its what the editor used to edit it, it makes no sense
My Trinitron doesn't have RGB, but S-Video which is 90% as good as RGB
Yeah svideo is pretty good
i have a low hour mint 20L5 PVM and its way over hyped. 20" screen is too small for me. id rather use my 27" Trinitron
I’ll be happy to take that over hyped monitor in my game room , since you game on your 27” monitor you won’t miss it 😅
@@davidb7016 well i got it serviced by Savon Pat the retired Sony tech, so it should last for many years. thats my future proof CRT. ill use it at a later time
shader presets on retroarch make games look better than a PVM, on oled. and a retrotink 5x can achieve a better picture on oled with og consoles. The retrotink 4k will look even better. Just use a mister fpga and attach a upscaler on a oled
Modern games are more suited for a PC CRT the ones with VGA, some can do up to 1536p.
I have a sony pvm and Sony trinitron crt TV.. I love the quality from the pvm... But not all consoles output rgb. The trinitron crt tv works great. I wish I can calibrate it though, get the best image quality/colors
I have a 1442Q and a 14M2E. The PVM experience is great, but so can be a consumer TV (at least in Europe where most TV's had a SCART with RGB capability). I think a bigger consumer TV can give a better gaming experience than a smaller PVM. I would definitely stay away from the smaller PVMs, I used to have a 9 inch PVM and while the image quality was great, it felt way to small and it didn't feel like a PVM because It didn't have the typical prominent scanlines as it only had 450 lines.
Just buy whatever the budget allows.
Problem is no one was playing on a PVM back in the day. Obviously these games were manufactured to be played on any regular TV set.
you dont have to mod every console for rgb lots already output rgb natively also you just bought a pvm that doesnt have component input too. but rgb is better anyway so its worth modding consoles for imo.
145$ only 2 years ago is wild 😢😢
I have a pvm and a bvm and while i love them, I think a decent consumer CRT is just as good for the casual gamers. The PVM is almost too good in some circumstances like where there’s dithering, etc.
Consumer televisions for life. I don't know who or when this frenzy of saying that professional monitors are the pinnacle of crt technology started. Professional monitors like PVMs, BVMs have huge scan lines that invade the screen, have low brightness due to their high resolution (TVLs), are small and highly expensive. No one who is a purist and grew up in the 70s, 80s, remembers those fat scanlines because they just didn't exist. They only became famous within the emulation boom, thanks to CRT HLSL shaders and so on. So you know. Only see ads posted in your city, like on craigslist. And buy or pick up your consumer home monitor if you want to have the CRT experience of the world.
HDretrovision cables do not convert RGB to component.
then what do they do? i have a RGB modded N64 and i use the HDretrovision component cables to get it converted to component for my tv
If looking to run rf through pvm, you will have to pass through a vcr 😅
I personally prefer consumer CRT TVs and VGA CRT computer monitor to those.
Yeah, yeah,yeah. All these UA-camrs with their 100 bucks Holy grail price and yet it's impossible to get anywhere. They all must be super lucky. Anyways crt composite enough and it's what I remember.
Un less I find a pvm or bvm for cheap I'm fine with an old crt as long as it has composite at the least.
Not for me on my opinion. I saw on person and didn't car. I ended up with a lgc1 77 and retrotink 4k with some nice large sd and hd crt tvs. All still cheaper than a pvm. lol