Do you Feel bad for CRT in the trash and want to save them?

[Obiwanshinobi]

I don't think 360 outputs 240p. For what it's worth, 240p with RGB colour isn't blurry (unless the graphics are pre-rendered, then downscaled 2D - see Cave shmups - in which case no scanlines will help much).
Nonetheless, 480p with proper scanlines on a CRT doesn't look any worse than true 240p.

[dave4shmups]

Honestly, one of the main reasons that I even got an HDTV was so that I could read the text in certain XBOX 360 games. But if you have a big enough CRT, like 27 inches, that's not a problem, from what I know.

That's not true unless your CRT is a rare HD set (and I don't think there are really any, maybe a handful, which even do 1080i, let alone the couple that could do 1080p, outside a few stereo monitors maybe), or (more likely) it's a computer monitor with a VGA or DVI input and lines of resolution to match HD resolutions (at least 720p for PS3, 1080p for 360, in most cases). Otherwise you will probably have a SD set with no more than 240 lines of resolution (480 lines...interlaced). There are a few CRT televisions that do 480p (must be nice for the GameCube) but even those are rare because they were caught out by the first wave of HDTVs. Some 360 games have terrible text (Dead to Rights: Retribution is a really bad case IMO, although you don't need to read text most of the time) and some have shimmering problems (Akai Katana for instance).

240p/480i signals to a SDTV is going to be blurry on a big SD connection, just bigger.

CRT and SDTV / HDTV aren't really interchangeable terms. CRT is the display technology type, HDTV is the content specification.

OK, interesting. At the Goodwill closest to where I live, it's pretty hit or miss on CRTs. The last time I went there, they only had a few huge flat screen CRTs, which I'm just not in the market for. Garage sales, once they start up again out here, are pretty good for CRTs. I've heard a LOT of good things about the Commodore 1702 monitor!

[Ed Oscuro]

I don't think 360 outputs 240p.

That I cannot say, but it certainly does 480i (death to interlacing). Next to me I have a 360 connected to a very cheap CRT by way of a cheap composite cable.

Let us refocus on the question at hand: What kind of setup is a person likely to see when they plug their system (in this case a 360) into a teevee with only the cables required? 240p has been seen on some systems, but 480i is standard for plays-on-any-old-wreck compatibility. I would also suspect that playing some 360 games in 240p or 480i will make no difference to legibility of fine elements like text, although I suppose that 480i is more prone to shimmer (this is only a conjecture however).

[dukenukems]

I don't really feel the need to conserve them, but I still have one for retro gaming. Honestly, one of the main reasons that I even got an HDTV was so that I could read the text in certain XBOX 360 games. But if you have a big enough CRT, like 27 inches, that's not a problem, from what I know.

I'd like to get a multiregion CRT. I doubt that many CRTs are actually trashed; the vast majority of them are probably put up for sale on Craigslist, at Goodwill stores, at garage sales, or even on Ebay.

I does seem crazy to me that less then 10 years ago, there were companies still manufacturing new CRTs-and that now there are none!

Luckily i found a multiregion crt off ebay which is an hitachi c-21-rf80sn,which is the only multiregion one i have been able to find and had it shipped to me for 60$ total.There's a neighbor a block from me with one of those old sony crt's that has a sub built in and with some big ass speakers in it.I would love to save as many crt's as possible buti don't have that kind of space and luckily all 7 of my vrt's are able to fit in my room.

[xbl0x180]

My 24" Toshiba CRT was going to be trashed. I got it because my other 12-year 27" Toshiba died. It's the only teevee I use for everything - including watching movies!

[Obiwanshinobi]

Shimmering in recent games, if played interlaced, is a developers' negligence. On PS2-gen consoles, most games are well deflickered (yes, even PS2 games). All GameCube games I've seen in 480i look very clean (CRT, RGB). It's Xenoblade Chronicles that shimmers like a VERY early PS2 title, which makes me think developers just don't give a damn anymore.
With "HD" games, if captions and such are in high resolution, downscaling will obviously produce nasty artifacts. (On PC it's been the case for over a decade.)
Most games appear to favour certain resolution each. Many games are obviously designed with SDTVs in mind. Something like Virtual-On and Rez will look good no matter what. Something like the original Silent Hill verily should stay in 240p. Even the SoulCalibur console port (graphically ahead of its time) doesn't exactly look better on 360 than it looked on DC, does it?

[xbl0x180]

Soooo, we should keep old teevees for old consoles and new teevees for newer-gen stuff

[Skykid]

Soooo, we should keep old teevees for old consoles and new teevees for newer-gen stuff

For sure!

Although scan converters like the XRGB series produce amazing pictures on HDTV's. I still don't think you can beat the special glow of dat phosphor though.

[Friendly]

HD resolutions (at least 720p for PS3, 1080p for 360, in most cases)

What do you mean? Both PS3 and 360 can output 720p and 1080p just fine. Few PS360 games natively run at 1080p, they are mostly upscaled. However, there are actually more 1080p games on PS3 (Wipeout HD is a well-known example; on top of that it even runs in 3D).

[BPzeBanshee]

I did get this feel once when I saw what looked like a nice CRT TV on the way back from walking to the local shops. However, being in Darwin's wet season, it'd already been rained on. Fortunately I got a good one from Cash Converters that's allright for my needs but I'd like to figure out how to get the computer to display to it someday (has no VGA port so composite conversion of some sort is the only way).

[dave4shmups]

I've seen some really nice flat screen CRT TVs, but I've heard that you can have problems with a light gun, like the NES zapper, on a flat screen CRT.

[BryanM]

My 19" died a couple weeks back.... had been waiting until OLEDs were old news before getting a new one.

The irons in my fire look like shit on a LCD. When in motion. "16-bit" tiles hide it much better, but when you're scrolling tiles with sharp lines in them like:



Siiigh.

(That image is a test prototype with every doodle crammed into it - which is why it looks like a hobo shanty town btw)

[Fudoh]

I've seen some really nice flat screen CRT TVs, but I've heard that you can have problems with a light gun, like the NES zapper, on a flat screen CRT

problems is an understatement. They simply don't work. You need a 15khz CRT without digital processing for classic light guns. The DC light gun works with 15khz and 31khz CRTs (but again CRTs only).

[MR_Soren]

I went for a bike ride on Monday night and noticed a CRT next to the dumpster by my apartment. Hauled it inside after my ride. 27" Insignia, flat-front, composite, s-video, and component inputs. Hooked up the SNES right away, the TV is awesome. The geometry is a little off, and you need a remote control to adjust that. I'm going to pick up a universal remote sometime and see if I can fix it.

Pretty happy with my find. It rained the next day.

[Ed Oscuro]

I've seen some really nice flat screen CRT TVs, but I've heard that you can have problems with a light gun, like the NES zapper, on a flat screen CRT

problems is an understatement. They simply don't work. You need a 15khz CRT without digital processing for classic light guns. The DC light gun works with 15khz and 31khz CRTs (but again CRTs only).

But there are plenty of 15KHz flatscreen TVs without digital processing.

I really need to get back to my Trinitron to fix the geometry. I also have noticed that during the death fade-out to white in Resident Evil 4 the screen shifts left so the frame clips a bit off the screen, and it's also pulled in from the side (I roughly set overscan on the set for the PS2). I think that's strange because other times when there's an almost all-white screen I don't get the same effect. No idea what that's all about.

[trap15]

Not sure how/if flat-screen affects lightgun performance, but the display MUST be a CRT or it won't work. Lightguns can only work with a CRT.

[Ed Oscuro]

That's been pretty well established already. dave mentioned CRTs in his original post on this.

[brentsg]

I am about to deliver a 27" Proscan to the recycle center.

I might take a 20"Mitsu Diamondtron too. I think it's a 2070SB-BK.

[angryswede]

I pick up a lot of junk, way to much the wife says. Right now I have two B&O sets waiting for new caps, one of them gutted in the living room.
Not sure if this has been posted to death, but this guy's a hero:
http://scarthunter.blogspot.se/