The thing I found funny was the use of professional CRT monitors as opposed to common TVs. Makes sense as the splitter equipment will just be spitting out standard video signal. I never had an N64, but the NES and Atari 2600s had to have an RF modulated signal and impedance matcher to connect to an antenna port. If they did that kind of connection with this setup, then I'd really be impressed at their collection of memorabilia. Wondering when the consoles started coming out with the discrete RCA style video/audio connectors? Not enough to look it up though ;-)
I have a pro grade CRT and a few others, including an amber relic from the early days.
The N64 could output a composite signal, which looks great on the high end CRT. A NES can output composite, Genesis, SNES, all could. Pro CRT displays have great circuits and fine pitch tubes. SD content looks amazing.
The consumer grade sets had composite and better inputs growing more common in the late 80's, early 90's. They look good.
It was fun to get pro gear and look at what we all could have been watching! I had a consumer set that I tuned to peak capability and the tube being normal pitch was it's only real limitation. Really, it means 80 column text was hard. Gaming looked very good.
The NES had its modulator external to the unit. It did RF right at the TV for best performance. One could get composite right out of the system and that is what my kids gamed on.
Using high end gear with retro computing and gaming is a great experience! Recommended.
PVMs (pro CRT monitors) are fairly common in the retro gaming space. I suspect it’s a combination of higher image quality plus higher build quality meaning more are likely to still be functioning (as opposed to, say, N64-era consumer TVs).
As for output options:
The NES had composite video out, in addition to the RF out (which you most likely needed in that era, unless you had a fancy TV).
The SNES kept the RF out, but added a proprietary AV multi out connector. This exposes composite video (and stereo audio) at a minimum, and older models did S-VIDEO and RGB component as well (cut in later-production models to cut costs).
The N64 used the same multi-out connector, but RGB’s always unconnected on the N64 and S-VIDEO only works on NTSC models. And RF’s gone on the N64, so you needed a separate RF modulator if all your TV had was an antenna input.
> I suspect it’s a combination of higher image quality plus higher build quality meaning more are likely to still be functioning (as opposed to, say, N64-era consumer TVs).
I bet it has a lot more to do with them being avaible for cheap now because NOBODY cares except retro nerds. Back when they were actively being used, they were only in the realms of professional use as they were so damn expensive. Sony's professional monitors have average in the price range of $1000 per inch. Of course these are going to look good for retro gaming, they have way more resolution than the normal consumers had access.
Almost nobody. While I agree with your general sentiment, CRT displays are still being used in some professional settings. High end movie production will maintain some for color grading, for example.
As for "retro nerds", we are seeing a generation, who were last to use the CRT as kids, seek them now. They care, at least for a while. They want to pass their roots along to the next generation.
My own kids have asked about it, and I am gaming with my granddaughter on both a high end CRT and a very low hour consumer set that is just sweet for retro gaming. She is 6 and notices.
I also scored an awesome Disney VHS collection, that is basically the catalog plus a few notables, like Rugrats. Bright orange VHS tape, BTW. The reports are in!
She hates rewind. She likes all the noises and that the machine will take a tape and give it back to her when done playing. She did ask whether one says thank you.
Cute as all get out. I said her call, and she does thank it. "Thank you movie machine."
I happen to know a ton about TV's from the tube era, up through the 00's. Consumer circuits got really good near the end. The big difference was the CRT itself. One can connect a VGA tube to a consumer set and, for the most part, get a much higher resolution image. That was my first "PVM."
I agree with you on availability. The consumer grade sets are running strong. The reality is enjoying the pro grade gear is a real treat. The people modifying US sets to take RGB are going to put high quality within reach of many more people. And there are plenty of buyers.
A well aligned consumer set from the 00's will look great for gaming. In my opinion, the pro gear can deliver a bit better and or can handle signals from around the world. That's why I have mine. PAL viewing of games and movies is interesting and does explain a few differences in preferences I have seen between the EU and US.
My problem was that I was always around professional gear. I got into video production while still in high school. Once I got to college, I started working at a film lab/post house. Everything was the high end gear. I saw what the image looked like straight from the film negatives in the transfer suites while being recorded to digibeta. The images at that point looked amazing for SD. You'd then see the content you worked on in the edit bays at home on consumer TVs, and it'd look like total crap.
Consumer gear and media sources really were crappy. In my case, I was not around pro gear much, but did see it some. I was good at electronics and would get consumer grade devices, sometimes swap tubes in, and other times optimize the device for the single purpose it would serve.
In the case of computer display, that might be adjusting everything to work well for a computer, but you might not want to watch a movie on it. Even some of the older tube type sets I worked with could perform reasonably, hitting 400 lines or so. Just enough to work with 80 column text reasonably, but not with excellence. At the time though, it was pretty nice compared to the default many people worked with.
The pro grade CRT market is crazy! When I got mine, it was essentially a giveaway. Got lucky too. Was a low hour unit that did not live on a primary production path.
That same model is selling for a few hundred bucks!
Workstation monitors are spiking now too, and in my opinion are the way to go. User gets to view a fine pitch tube and the circuits are fast, geometry consistent enough to not be a worry.
It remains possible to get in cheap, but damn! Bet that fades in about a year.
The first model Famicom (Japanese NES) had RF output only, but later toploader and Twin Famicom models had RCA connectors. The first model NES and in the US had RCA connectors, and the Mark III/Master system was the first Sega console to have them (although I think the breakout cable for them was an optional accessory).
