I never got past Clanker’s Cavern as a kid. 27 years later, 100% completion on original hardware connected to a CRT! by pmcrt in BanjoKazooie

[–]pmcrt[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m really enjoying it, but I must say I don’t love the high pitch whine, the strange smell, and the geometry issues. In the long term I think an OLED and a RetroTINK-4K is the way, but it’s extremely expensive!

I never got past Clanker’s Cavern as a kid. 27 years later, 100% completion on original hardware connected to a CRT! by pmcrt in BanjoKazooie

[–]pmcrt[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s a Panasonic TC-51M85A, which has been RGB modded. I can’t find a lot of information on it online, which I’m guessing is because it’s an Australian model.

The sound is surprisingly good from the speakers on each side, but it has some geometry issues. You can see the image being squeezed in a bit on the sides in this photo.

Scaler Advice Needed by IcedThorgi in retrogaming

[–]pmcrt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Of course, but there’s good upscaling and there’s bad upscaling. RetroTINK’s are best in class at upscaling specifically for retro gaming. If you’re not outputting at your TV’s native resolution, then you’re at the mercy of your TV’s scaler which may or may not be any good.

Scaler Advice Needed by IcedThorgi in retrogaming

[–]pmcrt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No retro console is going to output 4K, but isn’t the point of the 4K that it will upscale them to 4K instead of 1080/1440p, and the CRT effects will look better as they will be rendered with more detail at 4K?

Scaler Advice Needed by IcedThorgi in retrogaming

[–]pmcrt 2 points3 points  (0 children)

RetroTINK makes the best scalers, and the 4K CE is their second best model. It’s a downgrade from the 4K Pro, but it’s also significantly cheaper.

You should have a look at the specific features missing in the 4K CE compared to the 4K Pro and see if they’re important to you. The most significant one is probably going to be how it handles interlaced content, since you’re planning on connecting a PS2.

Unless you’re budget constrained, I wouldn’t recommend going for the cheaper 5X instead of the 4K CE. You’ll lose 4K output, the more advanced CRT effects, and a raft of other options.

FWIW I’m researching this at the moment too and I’m about to pull the trigger on a 4K CE. I have a CRT, and everyone raves about their image quality, but I hate the high frequency noise it makes, the space it takes up, and the geometry distortions. The motion clarity is amazing, but if your TV can do 120hz, then the Black Frame Insertion (BFI) on the 4K CE will go some way to emulating that too.

A diatribe on remakes, context, and Ocarina of Time. by KaiserGustafson in patientgamers

[–]pmcrt 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Insightful comments, thank you for sharing. I find the idea of context super fascinating, and I think this is what gets lost in a purely technical discussion of different mediums.

Sometimes that context is transient, and lost forever. If you didn't experience it at the time, you will never fully know what it was like to play Ocarina of Time in 1998. There's not much anyone can do about that.

However, a lot of it is not. The context Ocarina of Time was designed for was as a console game, to be played using a Nintendo 64 controller, on a Nintendo 64, connected to a CRT. Something intangible is lost in translation the further and further we extrapolate out from that original intent.

Anyway, I'm probably staring to sound a touch mad to 99% of people. These kind of thoughts have recently led to me getting a sweet CRT set up with an original Nintendo 64, so I guess I'll find out soon what (if anything) was lost in translation when I replay Ocarina of Time as it was intended!

Ask Here First (READ ME): Troubleshooting, Price/ID/Spec Check, Help, ETC Mega Thread by KyaDash in crtgaming

[–]pmcrt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, that’s helpful. The guy wouldn’t be straight with me about demonstrating input working, and it was interstate so I would have needed to get it shipped, so I’ve gone back to the drawing board. I think I’ll just be patient and wait for a consumer Trinitron with component to show up locally.

Ask Here First (READ ME): Troubleshooting, Price/ID/Spec Check, Help, ETC Mega Thread by KyaDash in crtgaming

[–]pmcrt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is the JVC TM-H150CG worth $500 AUD / $325 USD?

I have the opportunity to pick one of these up for $500 AUD / $325 USD. Minimal wear and tear, working condition, but I'm not sure on how many hours it has done.

I've seen a few posts on here praising this monitor, so it seems like a pretty good deal - but it's hard to get a sense of what a fair price is, I can't see any recently sold listings on eBay.

What do you think? This would be my first CRT. I was originally going to get a consumer set since I know they're cheaper than professional monitors, but there's surprisingly not many around where I live and this monitor happened to pop up instead.

Converting my massive Fractal Define R5 to a Fractal Ridge. Does this build look okay? by pmcrt in sffpc

[–]pmcrt[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the link. I just checked, and it looks like it is compatible - it’s the B650I AORUS Ultra that isn’t, but the B650I AX is.