Finding a CRT for retro gaming in Europe

[zeroX]

Hello,
I'm searching for a good TV/Monitor to play some old games on, mostly SNES ones.
I can't find any BVMs or PVMs anywhere here in Greece and they are insanely expensive to get from another country.
So, I've decided to get a tv instead.

I can't find any info on European tvs though and I'm having a hard time deciding.
I'm between these three at the moment.

KV-21LS30E
http://www.xe.gr/hlektronika/tileorasei ... 28105.html

KV-21FT1E
http://www.aggeliopolis.gr/peiraias/ixo ... honenumber

KV-FQ10E
http://www.xe.gr/epipla/set-krevatokama ... 44431.html

Do you know which one would be the best choice..?

(I plan on getting an RGB modified SNES Mini to play on this)

[Xyga]

Well the 21" Sony Trinitron TVs are pretty much among the best you'll find.
The picture quality is outstanding.

KV-21LS30E is one of the later models and possibly in better shape.
Just make sure it comes with the original Sony remote (useful to access the service menu and tweak the geometry).

[CMcK]

If you can find a E3000 or E3001 chassis Loewe CRT such as a 20" Calida 5255 you'll be in retro heaven. Great image and surprisingly powerful sound for a smallish TV.

[zeroX]

Well, the only Loewe I can find here is this one:
http://www.xe.gr/hlektronika/tileorasei ... 36478.html

Seems too big though.

One maybe silly question, all these are 4:3 right?

[Xan]

Yes, 4:3 with optional 16:9 modes.

[CMcK]

Well, the only Loewe I can find here is this one:
http://www.xe.gr/hlektronika/tileorasei ... 36478.html

Seems too big though.

One maybe silly question, all these are 4:3 right?

That looks like a Loewe Art. That's an old TV. Probably has too many hours on it now.

[Bancho]

I've got an KV-21LS30E and its a great TV for retro gaming. I used to use it before I bought my PVM's and the JVC.

Picture was nice, sharp and vibrant using RGB. Good service menu also for adjustments.

RGB AV famicom running CV3

[zeroX]

That looks good!

Ok, I'll probably buy that one.
What do you think about the price, 55 euro?

Should I tell the seller to lower it a bit?

[blizzz]

The ad is one month old. At this point the seller might be happy with just getting rid of it. I'd offer ~20€ and just see how she reacts.

[Xyga]

I think the price is okay only if the TV works flawlessly and comes with the original remote (very important).

But yeah you can always try to bargain...

[zeroX]

The ad is one month old. At this point the seller might be happy with just getting rid of it. I'd offer ~20€ and just see how she reacts.

Hey this is strange, how did you know that the seller is a woman?

I'll ask her about its condition and use tomorrow.

[blizzz]

The reflection of her body looks quite feminine.

50€ for a CRT in great condition is not a bad price. So even if the price is not negotiable it's probably better to get this one than keep searching for a cheaper one.

[22point8]

I used to have a Sony LS30U before I got my PVMs, its pretty good, I managed to achieve perfect geometry on it despite it having a flat screen (flat screen CRT are supposed to have inferior geometry because they supposedly aren't deep enough to angle the electron beams properly).

It had a RGB horizontal shift option in the regular menu, and a rotation option to counteract geomagnetic distortion.

I paid £10 for it and it had 11000 hours use.

I went to the trouble of finding an original remote for it but it couldn't enter the service menu, so I used a cheap universal remote I got in either Lidl or Aldi.

[zeroX]

I've decided on getting this one, but I got sick today with fever(just my luck) and the seller lives far from here (half an hour drive and I don't have a car)
Would it be a good idea to organize the transfer with a moving company? Or will it be crazy expensive/not worth it? (About 28 km distance transfer)
I don't think I can lift that thing by myself and carry it through the underground and public bus even if I was 100% healthy

I have a friend who has a car but he isn't the best driver.
Oh well.

[Xyga]

Yeah a moving company would certainly cost a lot lol.

With a hand truck and webbing you could still go pick up the TV yourself on subway+bus (if the bus driver lets you on with that stuff).

[22point8]

Do charity shops exist in your country that sell furniture and electricals? I'd try looking in one, they can't expect people to take home furniture by themselves so should be able to deliver a 20 inch CRT.

[zeroX]

I don't think such shops exist here.
The closest thing we have to that are antique shops.

Anyway I'll probably ask my friend's help.
I wonder what he'll say when I tell him I want to go on half an hour drive to get an old TV,
he'll freak out! hehe

[Lawfer]

Oh you are in Greece, well though luck, when it comes to electronics in Europe the place to be is either England or Germany, everything else sucks.

You will probably need to import. Unless you just want an old consumer TV, I am sure someone somewhere in Greece wants to get rid of one, oh and be sure that the TV you are getting supports NTSC 60hz!

[zeroX]

Well after looking around for a bit it seems that the crt i'm going to buy supports both Pal and Ntsc.
Can any owners confirm this?

[Fudoh]

yes, it does. But it doesn't matter once you use RGB from a source. A TV doesn't need a NTSC decoder to display 60Hz RGB in color.

[Ed Oscuro]

(flat screen CRT are supposed to have inferior geometry because they supposedly aren't deep enough to angle the electron beams properly).

That's part of it - many flat screen TVs (monitors typically have close to perfect geometry) had short tubes. However, there's also problems because mapping the beams onto a flat surface is much more difficult than the previous traditional curved screen, which is a portion of a sphere. Up to 20" or so I'd expect a flat screen to have very good geometry (certainly CRT monitors typically do). My 27" Wega does have some geometry shenanigans but it doesn't prevent me from gaming.

[Xyga]

Agreed, geometry is not a big problem on flat tubes up to 20"/21", most of the time geometry controls of the service menu will be enough to correct the small flaws.
I know a guy who bought a KV-21LS30E with a slight visible upwards curvature, he corrected it from the service menu in minutes. Then the picture was perfect, and I mean perfect.

I own a 27" trinitron as well, but the geometry is fucked up and would require a lot of work, and not from the service menu. Sometimes I regret not buying a 21" instead, because I'm lazy. ^^

[lettuce]

Yeah defo get a Sony Trinitron, in fact the older model are probably the best to go for as the newer models added processing to the picture and thus had less of a 'pure' picture qualuty, look for something around late 80's early 90's

Recently ive been toying with the idea of getting a new tri-sync arcade monitor and getting a beat up CRT off ebay and sticking the tri-sync in the CRT case....i dont know if this is a completely idiotic idea or one of the best ive ever had!?

[Lawfer]

yes, it does. But it doesn't matter once you use RGB from a source. A TV doesn't need a NTSC decoder to display 60Hz RGB in color.

Indeed, but it still is better to get a TV that support NTSC 60hz over one that doesnt. Say he wants to play with an NTSC Nintendo 64, that one doesnt support RGB (well it could if you could find a Nintendo 64 with the RGB chip and have it modded) or other consoles like the FM Towns Marty.

[Xyga]

Don't worry pretty much all European TVs past 1994/1995 support 60Hz.

[Lawfer]

Don't worry pretty much all European TVs past 1994/1995 support 60Hz.

Well I dunno what year the TV he wants to get was manufactured in, was just telling him in case.

[Xyga]

It's one of the later models produced, somewhere between 2000 & 2006.

[Ed Oscuro]

Recently ive been toying with the idea of getting a new tri-sync arcade monitor and getting a beat up CRT off ebay and sticking the tri-sync in the CRT case....i dont know if this is a completely idiotic idea or one of the best ive ever had!?

Maybe some other kinds of boxes would make a more appropriate case. You're not the first person who's thought about this. Should be a snap since the arcade monitors are meant to be installed basically anywhere.

[lettuce]

Recently ive been toying with the idea of getting a new tri-sync arcade monitor and getting a beat up CRT off ebay and sticking the tri-sync in the CRT case....i dont know if this is a completely idiotic idea or one of the best ive ever had!?

Maybe some other kinds of boxes would make a more appropriate case. You're not the first person who's thought about this. Should be a snap since the arcade monitors are meant to be installed basically anywhere.

Im not sure how the a tri sync would handle systems like the PS1, as i believe the boot screen is 31khz and most games 15khz so the monitor would be switching on the fly a fair amount which i understand isnt good for these monitors??

[Bancho]

Recently ive been toying with the idea of getting a new tri-sync arcade monitor and getting a beat up CRT off ebay and sticking the tri-sync in the CRT case....i dont know if this is a completely idiotic idea or one of the best ive ever had!?

I'm currently thinking and planning of doing something similar with a 25" Hantarex Polo monitor I have available to me. A friend of mine has 3 and has offered one to me for free

I'm really just thinking of building a box out of MDF and somehow incorporating the plastic bezel into the front.