Calling all CRT owners: photos please!

Greatly appreciated! Would it be possible to get it straight on and close up and of something a bit more colourful (if possible)? Like the example images - it’s just it would be difficult to recreate the phosphor and beam shapes from this picture. But again it’s greatly appreciated.

3 Likes

IMHO, Super Mario World’s title screen could probably be a good fast and lazy choice.

2 Likes

I think in my photo is obvious that every pixel has it’s own (characters are 8*8) so the true “resolution” is around 400 x 270 or so (around that core’s resolution). If I use snes9x then every SNES pixel is around 1,5 on CRT (256 stretched to around 400). Scaling SNES9x at 4x and 4:3 we get (rounded for calculation) 1200 x 900 so we need 3 pixels RGB mask (lottes 2). 2 pixels-cgwg would result in 600 horizontal resolution, mostly PVM.

2 Likes

It doesn’t have to be a SNES but it also doesn’t matter if it’s scaled as we’re after how the screen behaves. It just needs to be straight on and something that shows how the three different beams (RGB) behave as they go across the screen i.e something with red green and blue and it transitioning between lights and darks of those colours in a small area of the screen.

3 Likes

Still have this, not so good quality. Not taken with any specific settings, just auto camera of the phone.

2 Likes

Check this out, I think it’s what you need.

Sony KV14LM1E

better quality

compared the last shot with PVM and the PVM has exactly double pixels horizontally, so should be 800 pixels horizontally while a normal CRT is around 400.

2 Likes

Thank you @DariusG! These are much better! So I’m trying to understand what’s going on in these photo’s - is your Sony KV14LM1E really showing the Legend of Zelda that red? Your 240 Test Suite image doesn’t seem to have that skew to red in it?

I see you’re taking the photos with a Sony XZ1 - can you try putting the camera into ‘Manual’ mode and set the settings to those in my first post i.e ISO 100, shutter speed 1/60, White Balance 5000/Auto and then put your zoom right up? Also if could try not to have any tilt to the camera with respect to the screen. Sorry for all the bother - I didn’t realise there were so many Android camera apps.

2 Likes

No it’s more cool in reality, but could be a bit red due to my crappy handmade cable (much cooler if I connect it with Nintendo Wii RGB, the other shot is from Nintendo Wii).

2 Likes

Give me a week and I’ll give you some pictures of a Bang & Olufsen MX4200 and a PVM 20M2MDU :slight_smile:

Thanks for sharing the infos of your camera too, maybe I’ll be able to finally take good pictures with my phone replicating your options

2 Likes

@MajorPainTheCactus My pics are going to be on hold for a minute, I don’t think my phone’s camera can handle it. So I’ll have to ask a friend or something.

1 Like

I am REALLY interested in seeing both of those. The Bang & Olufsen is funnily enough the TV I’m trying to simulate at the moment!

I’m really interested in seeing a standardised photo of this TV.

2 Likes

Want to see one from Commodore 1084S-P. Mine died years ago. I have that memory that pixels looked like tiny shields and I think resolution should be a bit higher than a normal TV.

There was a C64 monitor 13" with 0.64mm dot pitch, Commodore 1701 that info on internet says it was 320 x 256 resolution, and 1084S has 0.42mm at same size so there is definitely a difference in resolution compared to a normal TV, I guess. Probably 1084 is 640 x 480 but I am curious to see.

1 Like

The Commodore 1084 manual claims “640 lines in center” whatever that means.

1 Like

Yes I have read elsewhere that resolution is between a normal TV and a PVM. I don’t think they would sell a normal TV tube as a monitor for an expensive 16bit computer that could do 640 x 512. But should see some shots to clarify that.

2 Likes

Not the best pictures sadly.

5 Likes

Found these, definitely looks like 640 lines. It is way more defined than my Trinitron for sure.

4 Likes

This is basically what an arcade monitor or average 20” TV looks like.

2 Likes

That monitors looked stunning especially when connected to a PS1/Saturn that have more colors, on arcade level (did that back in the day). Or some later Amiga games like Flashback. Looking at the shots the shader that comes closer at 1080 without tweaking is crt-geom, i mean the scanlines have the same look, the mask surely cannot be done at 1080p, at least tries to recreate the same horiz. resolution with trinitron mask.

When i connect Amiga to Trinitron and switch to 640 x 256 there is some blur while i remember being pretty clear on 1084S, now i understand why heh. I also regret last year in a computer shop i found this not working (which is the same monitor actually) and the owner would give it to me for 10 euro, i have a technician that could repair that (he did my Amiga that was destroyed by battery leaking, many lines destroyed etc). That same guy gave me the Trinitron almost for nothing.

Proof: One pixel has 2 x 2 pixels of mask, the game resolution is 320 x 240 so 1084S is a 640 x 480 monitor

Clipboard03

4 Likes

JVC TM-H1950CG broadcast CRT (perspective corrected)

2 Likes

For anybody else willing to donate some CRT photos: here’s what I can hopefully do with a really good close up shot:

Again thanks @DariusG! (Hopefully sometime soon I’ll get around to simulating your Commodore 1084)

2 Likes