I have to brag, awesome feebie

[Junai]

Got a kv-36xbr200 for free the other night. Some scuffs on the housing but tube is flawless. If you have never seen one of these monster tubes in action I highly suggest you seek one out if you are big into 1998ish and earlier systems and can't find a decent sized rgb monitor (ie all systems less than 480P). Still fooling with the settings but the picture is 100% better than my normal wega set. Hoping this thing lasts, now I have to ypbpr mod my snes and s-video my genesis.

[rCadeGaming]

I've been posting all over about how great these are and how they can be found on craigslist, sometimes free.  Nice choice of game btw, sometimes I turn that on just to hear the intro music and Terra's theme while I'm working on something.

I've got a KV-27FS120 in my room right now,  In the garage I've got an extra KV27, a KV-24FS100, a KV32-FS120, an RCA I haven't tested yet, and a KV-32HS420.  Last one's not for retro games; only does 480p, 720p, and 1080i.

Don't waste your time modding your consoles.  You can get RGB out of just about everything post-NES with only the proper cabling:

http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/gamescart/gamescart.htm

RGB and component are equivalent, and better than S-Video of course.  Obviously the TV won't accept RGB, so you just use an RGB to component transcoder.  A TC1600 works great and accepts RGBS and RGBHV:

http://www.crescendo-systems.com/transcoder.html

That's more expensive than modding one or two systems, but look to the future when you may have more.  Using different video formats is a mess.  It's very convenient (and best quality) when everything's running in RGB.  It can all be connected like this:

Consoles -> Switchbox -> Transcoder -> TV

Of course there are cheaper transcoders out there, but make sure they're just transcoding colorspace and scaling or any other nonsense. 

The TC1600 can also be modified for a front mounted horizontal position knob, which can be very useful for ~240p stuff where every game runs in a slightly different resolution.

[Junai]

I actually like doing the mods just need to find time, adds a little diy to the hobby. I do travel a good deal so my snes travels with me. I can say I am absolutely spoiled with this tv. It's painful beyond belief to see the lcds at hotels muck up the graphics so much. At best it's just a distorted, stretched, slightly blurry picture with washed out colors, at worst it's nearly unplayable with blurred movement, adding strange waves or shadows, or just in all making the images fuzzy to the point where text and symbols cannot be made out.The other bonus with the big crts is better sound if you don't use a surround sound receiver.

Right now there is a 32" xbr up on craigslist for free if anyone is interested in the Chicagoland area.

[ChadTower]

Nice!  Someone just gave away one of those on my Freecycle list last night.  The quality of CRTs that are available free right now was unimaginable 6-7 years ago.

[rCadeGaming]

The other bonus with the big crts is better sound if you don't use a surround sound receiver.

It's better than an LCD, but an SNES will really benefit from a high quality stereo setup, especially if you're playing something with great music like that.  I run my SNES (and NES/Genesis/etc.) through an analog 10-channel equalizer, into my surround in Dolby PLII Music.  The equalizer can really bring out a nice sound from these old systems.

[Malenko]

I've been posting all over about how great these are and how they can be found on craigslist, sometimes free.  Nice choice of game btw, sometimes I turn that on just to hear the intro music and Terra's theme while I'm working on something.

I've got a KV-27FS120 in my room right now,  In the garage I've got an extra KV27, a KV-24FS100, a KV32-FS120, an RCA I haven't tested yet, and a KV-32HS420.  Last one's not for retro games; only does 480p, 720p, and 1080i.

Don't waste your time modding your consoles.  You can get RGB out of just about everything post-NES with only the proper cabling:

http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/gamescart/gamescart.htm

RGB and component are equivalent, and better than S-Video of course.  Obviously the TV won't accept RGB, so you just use an RGB to component transcoder.  A TC1600 works great and accepts RGBS and RGBHV:

http://www.crescendo-systems.com/transcoder.html

That's more expensive than modding one or two systems, but look to the future when you may have more.  Using different video formats is a mess.  It's very convenient (and best quality) when everything's running in RGB.  It can all be connected like this:

Consoles -> Switchbox -> Transcoder -> TV

Of course there are cheaper transcoders out there, but make sure they're just transcoding colorspace and scaling or any other nonsense. 

The TC1600 can also be modified for a front mounted horizontal position knob, which can be very useful for ~240p stuff where every game runs in a slightly different resolution.

I finally clicked the link for your transcoder.......

are you really suggesting to spend $140-$180 instead of doing a $5 ypbpr mod to a SNES and a $7 Svideo mod to a genesis?

[rCadeGaming]

If he just wants to play SNES and Genesis, I guess not.  Unless he reeeeeally wants needs that extra quality of RGB over S-Video for his Genesis... so yeah not worth it.

BUT as I was saying if you're looking to the future and wanting to hook up a lot more, it's worth it.

Aside from hooking up modern consoles via HDMI, which isn't relevant here because we're talking about CRT's, RGB is the best quality you can get.  Yes component is equivalent but some console's don't offer this, even with modding.  RGB is available from almost everything without any modding to the system itself, just the correct cables.

I've got 9 systems currently running in RGB (including a MAME PC), with 3 more planned, just haven't bought those 3 yet. 

It would be a huge mess to connect and switch all these different things using different types of connections.  With everything unified to RGB, it's pretty simple.

Also, I warned right there that the TC1600 was expensive, and I said you could use another transcoder as long as it didn't scale.  For example, a JROK should work.

[gonzo90017]

So when looking on Cragislist what name should I look up? I assume SONY FD Trinitron? What is the smallest one I can get? I live in a small apartment so the smaller the better. 

[rCadeGaming]

The problem is that most of these sellers don't know what they have and they don't provide very descriptive listings.  I just search "Sony 27" (or whatever size you're looking for) and show only the listings with pictures.  For each one with a picture that looks right, I send a copy-pasted message asking them to check the model number on the back of the set.

[Junai]

A response to earlier, i enjoy hacking my systems but as of right now this tv only does a few systems, nes, snes, n64, and genesis, the systems which i play the most. I have the majority of my other consoles hooked up to another tv that has an enormous entertainment center i built for all my systems, 12 at the moment to be exact on that tv.

As for tv selections from craigslist, yes as previously stated earlier, the standard fd 27" trinitron is pure gold all around. There are 27" xbr tvs out there and would make for a great selection but are really rare and are heavier than the normal fd trinitrons.They are usually to be had for 50 bucks or less, have great picture for old systems, decent sound, plenty of inputs and include svideo, component, composite, and rf/coax, decent size picture tube, and the best part for many, you can move the thing by yourself without shattering your spine. 24" is the smallest for component input if i remember right. If you are going smaller than 24" get a 20" Sony broadcast monitor, they are rare but more common than the other sized broadcast monitors. If you go with a broadcast monitor, you can get rgb input with the right model.