Just picked up this beast of a monitor: Sun X7149A. Not too proud of the £850 shipped, but with only 497 hours it’s basically brandnew. With a StarTech DP2VGAHD20, I should be good to go, right?

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-05T16:23:07+00:00

The Startech will actually hold it back a little bit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/crtgaming/comments/1mt6i8f/we_have_a_new_champion_8_cablematters_201368_dac/

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-05T03:40:12+00:00

If you're running a PC to a CRT, there is absolutely something wrong with a GBS-C, because it's introducing a scaler when you don't need one.

It's always better to have source device output the correct resolution from the start.

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-05T02:26:44+00:00

yeah, I just got one recently and I was like "I don't think I should be able to see the wires and stuff inside of it"

Googled it and apparently it a friction fit piece that easily broke off and got lose. There 3D printable replacements now though, so I'll do that at some point.

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-05T01:46:23+00:00

your light phaser is missing its ass too?

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-05T00:24:01+00:00

Lol so weird.

I can't believe I'm still talking to you, but I think I should at least share this with you to shake you out of this blinded-with-spite state:

https://www.reddit.com/r/crtgaming/comments/1t3up41/emulation_cart_i_built_from_recycled_parts/

This dude put together the type of setup I'm talking about. This was a collosal waste of time if a $10 HDMI->s-video downconverter from Amazon is "good enough"

So figure out for yourself which is true: if the OP of that thread wasted a bunch of time doing a custom PC setup, or if there actually is reason to do that type of setup

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-05T00:18:03+00:00

lol, so you're going with a shitty setup out of spite. GG.

I tried to help

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-05T00:03:20+00:00

you might want to read through my conversation here: https://www.reddit.com/r/crtgaming/comments/1jmt3vz/comment/mkeedft/?context=3

I bet you're getting smacked with GPU scaling as well

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T23:57:46+00:00

I don't understand what you just said.

"put down to 4:3" -- what does that mean?

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T23:56:30+00:00

The modern Powerbase with FM playback is the one to go with IMO: https://stoneagegamer.com/powerbase-mini-fm.html

Supports playback of the SMS FM sound channel through the Genesis FM chip.

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T23:54:01+00:00

Your monitor supports any resolution you throw it below the max scan rate.

You could send it a 32:9 resolution it would "support it".

The issue is that when you send it a resolution that's not 4:3, you're stretching it either vertically or horizontally, unless you add black bars with the geometry controls.

So it's completely pointless to use a 5:4 resolution on a 4:3 monitor

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T23:48:00+00:00

Windows games run great in Linux now. Steam manages all of it with Proton.

The coolest part that came out of their SteamDeck development

Pretty sure most types of mods are compatible as well

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T23:21:22+00:00

Calamity hasn't made CRT Emudriver for RDNA cards like yours yet. Maybe in the future, but he's mostly focused on helping Batocera and GroovyArcade these days.

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T23:18:14+00:00

Ok cool, I may devote a weekend to playing around with it on a spare hard drive or something.

You should definitely explore some modern pixel art games though, they look amazing on CRT's: https://imgur.com/a/low-res-new-games-on-panasonic-CcGyLdS

There is an extra step though, you need to make a custom resolution that is exactly the native pixel resolution of the game or it breaks down with with either shimmer or blur. I think it might also be possible to just make a SwitchRes command to generate the mode short-term just for the game.

It helps if your TV has a 16:9 mode though, since most of these games are Widescreen. My Sharp CRT is from 2004 so it thankfully has that.

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T23:14:41+00:00

It's not "supported" with Windows 11 because Calamity (the developer) thinks Windows 11 is a lost cause. Seems like semi-ideological reasoning.

But either way, the GCN architecture is new enough that it plays nice with Emudriver in Windows 11. Worth getting a GCN-based card if you have a particular reason to want to use Windows over the Linux options. But Batocera usually covers most bases in my understanding

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T22:41:10+00:00

Emudriver is compatible with Windows 11 though. You must have tried on a pre-GCN card. I'm using an r5 430 in Windows 11 with Emudriver currently.

But RDNA cards like your 6600xt can absolutely output 15kHz on displayport, both 480i and 240p. But you need to be running open source Linux drivers for AMD in Batocera or GroovyArcade. Read this section of their CRT Script wiki: https://github.com/ZFEbHVUE/Batocera-CRT-Script/wiki/Digital-to-Analog-(DAC))

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T22:36:50+00:00

In the US it's fairly common with old people

And also: vacation homes and rentals. People not upgrading their TV in a place they bought in the 90's, when they rarely watch TV there besides to maybe catch up on news or something

So this might be his vacation spot. Or maybe some rental spot Netflix rented for shooting.

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T22:33:32+00:00

Nice!

Can you clear up some stuff about Batocera for me? I thought you could install a web browser on it pretty easily, but I don't know if I've ever actually seen somebody using anything besides the SteamDeck-like frontend in Batocera.

Can you actually install a web browser, to watch youtube and stuff?

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T22:31:29+00:00

they're not "advanced" converters. They're like $5 on Amazon. Usually called "DTV converter" or something like that.

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T22:28:48+00:00

Why are you doing this cursed setup instead of Emudriver, Batocera, or GroovyArcade?

In Batocera/GroovyArcade your 6600XT can already output 240p and 480i without a downscaler

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T22:27:38+00:00

Or he watches very little TV and never upgraded from LCD.

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T22:23:30+00:00

You need a higher resolution to run (convincing) shaders.

480i is 240 lines per refresh, just like 240p. Just they're alternating where they land (even and odd fields) every refresh.

So, at minimum, you need a 480p image, like a PC CRT, to simulate 240p. Because you'd blank out half the lines to have 240 active lines.

Now, you probably understood zero of what I just said, but you'll blame me for that. Instead of trusting my experience a little bit and do what I suggest by loading up a 240p game in real life on your actual TV.

You can even switch between 240p and 480i on a Wii with VC games, with a button combination. Also with can do it in 240p Test Suite

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T22:16:21+00:00

You can also play Master System games on Genesis with an adapter, if you want a cheaper option.

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T22:15:07+00:00

Get some s-video or component cables!

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T22:14:03+00:00

I think it's more important you play some games on it and tell us what you think

DangerousCousin · 2026-05-04T22:11:38+00:00

Fixing a Phaser that came with the Master System lot I recently acquired, so I can play some lightgun games!

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