Image from author.
In this day and age, we already have OLED TVs that are leagues better than ancient CRTs, with higher resolutions and those deep blacks. OLEDs (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) are the newest advancement in display technology and are packed with many features, namely black frame insertion and a high refresh rate of 120hz, meaning they have low input lag and native 4K resolution. Its “real” blacks cannot be achieved on LCD (Liquid Crystal Displays) TVs since they use backlights and darker colors lose their detail.
Black Frame Insertion (BFI) is a technique exclusively used on OLED displays that simulates CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) flicker, which displays a fluid picture. Without BFI, TVs default to the sample-and-hold method used in LCD displays, causing unpleasant motion blur.
CRTs, on the other hand, were established as THE premiere display and are still used to this day for avionics, military, and commercial applications. They’re also a favorite of hobbyists who want to play or watch movies at their original standard resolution at 240p (progressive scan), 480i (interlaced scan), and 480p. The way interlaced scan works is really cool: it scans the uneven lines first, pauses the uneven lines, then scans the even lines at a rapid pace, tricking your eyes and making motion smoother since it refreshes frequently. Interlacing is used for DVDs, laserdiscs, most 5th & 6th Gen console games, and VHS tapes. And, we can’t forget about lightguns! These accessories are fully dependent on CRTs and do not work on any flat panel display.
Now let’s get into the real meat and potatoes: visual clarity in retro games. 240p and 480i don’t look good at all on a modern flat panel display, because there are smearing artifacts, or things are upscaled to a degree to where it’s blurry and stretches the image displayed. Retro games on today’s TVs drop frames or show combing artifacts. If you have some pocket change you can buy an upscaler like the retrotink 5x, which completely throws everything bad about flat panel processing out the window and comes with some pretty convincing CRT effects. But, there are tons of menu settings and it can be a bit too complicated to get the picture to look good. A genuine CRT just upscales the image automatically, with no need for an expensive upscaler that still has input lag: CRTs just recognize the difference between resolutions.
Personally, I prefer CRTs just because of their reliability and how inexpensive they are. I have three retro consoles: a sega saturn, a super famicom, and an N64. They scale nicely on my CRT, but of course there are downsides. CRTs take up a lot of space and are pretty heavy. To be honest, you just have to pick a sweet spot between 12 to 18 inches. It’s just right when it comes to weight and how large the screen is, but I didn’t get the memo and picked up a 25” CRT. We wiped it down since it was pretty dusty, and I moved it with my pops all the way upstairs. When we got it up and running, we were playing Goldeneye 007 and TMNT: Turtles in Time and it looks amazing. I was just watching the original Star Wars trilogy on my brother’s PS3, hooked up with component cables, which is the closest thing to HDMI in terms of the best picture quality on my display, and everything just pops: turn off the lights and it’s just like the movies.
Sebastian Hernandez is a junior at Washington High School. He was born in Fairfield then moved to Fremont, CA in 2023. This is his first year with The Hatchet. He is interested in covering music, retro games, physical media, movie reviews, and arcade sticks. His favorite hobbies are hiking, biking, playing basketball, drawing, playing fighting games, and caring for his CRT TV. In the future Sebastian wants to go to college and become a nurse, and a repairman for CRT TVs restoring them to their glory. Going to the Philippines to visit his family members and going to the tropical beaches.