Setting up a CRT TV as 2nd monitor?

[GoldenToken]

Is it possible to set up a CRT TV as a 2nd monitor on my PC for older games?
I have been playing a lot of NeoGeo games lately via Fightcade and would love
to play them on a CRT as I did when I was younger. Something just feels off
about these older games on an LCD.
Getting a CRT monitor seems to be the simplest straight forward solution
but I was curious if it was possible with a CRT TV without any extra sort
of delay added in the process.

Thanks!

[evil_ash_xero]

You mean like having an XRGB hooked up to a CRT, as well as your LCD?

If that's the case, I would bypass the XRGB for the CRT. But you should be able to have two displays, if you have the right gear.
If that's too much trouble, you could probably have the XRGB hooked into a CRT. But if it's a mini, you'll still have that lag that it causes. And the CRT wouldn't cause any additional lag.

I have every SD system hooked into two different CRTs. I could easily make that one LCD, with a different switch, and a couple of cables.

[kamiboy]

That is not what he is asking about.

He wants a CRT hooked up to his PC as a second monitor, prolly for playing mame and the like.

It should he possible, but it is not straightforward. You will need to configure your PC to output 15khz on one output, then get hold of a VGA to BNC or SCART cable with a sync combiner, if needed. Of course the TV in question would need to have RGB inputs, either BNC or SCART.

It would no doubt be a bit of a pain in the ass to get working. Consider rather to use a regular CRT PC monitor as your second screen and configure mame to display fake scanlines.

[evil_ash_xero]

Ah, OK.

[gray117]

Nah you can do it, fairly easily... options I use:

1.
pc @ 640x480 (custom res in nvidia card settings) > emotia > crt
Actually as a 3rd monitor on my 'proper' computer - got the crt all setup to 640x480 no fiddling with size etc. Same as what I do for 360.

2.
arcadevga > crt

Most flexible solution for all kinds of resolutions and since this is on my 'old-games-and-stuff' computer doesn't matter if the graphics card isn't ideal for work or newer games. [If you'll be mucking around with exact resolutions etc you'll also be adjusting crt size too]

[BazookaBen]

Just don't use the analog "TV out" on your video card. Use the VGA out and convert to component if you're in the US.

I say that because I've heard that the TV out can't be modified to do 240p, though I've never tried it myself.

[kamiboy]

That is true, you get blurry 480i via composite, or S-video if you are lucky, when using TV out on older graphics cards that had these.

[mvsfan]

you could also get an old large gateway 2000 or dell crt monitor. ive seen them 32".

the 32s cost a fortune when they came out but now they arent that expensive.

[shmuppyLove]

If you have an older graphics card with an analog TV output (s-video or composite) it's very easy to run a TV as a secondary display, and MAME allows you to configure which display to use in the default options (not sure about Fightcade/FBA)

If you have a new graphics card that doesn't have a TV output, it's going to be tricky. If you've got a VGA output, you can actually use the RGBHV output with a sync combiner (already mentioned) and the right cables and connectors and get RGBS output for an RGB monitor (professional CRT or arcade monitor), though you might have to fiddle with timings and the like depending on the display.

So an important question is, what kind of outputs do you have available, and which are you using for your primary display?