[copr]

I'm into retro video games, and as we all know, they look and play better on CRT televisions. Since I play alot of NES/SNES/N64, I want one that is a 4:3 model.

I recently picked up a Sony Trinitron KV-32HS510 and like it a lot, but I know there has to be something better out there.

I'm looking for the absolute top of the line 4:3 Televisions ever made. The Sony KV-40XBR800 looks really nice, but I've read quite a few negative comments on it as well.

The Sony KD-36XS955 seems to get quite a bit of praise as well, and is a Super Fine Pitch (what does this mean?) model as well.


Are there two models the two best 4:3 CRT televisions ever made? If there are others that are in the same league, please let me know.


Thanks!

 

[Audiophiliac]

You will have a hard time finding a used Loewe, but they brought a bunch to the states over the years. Proton also made some very very nice CRT sets. Hard to find those as well. The Sonys you mentioned are very nice. I used to always want one of the 36"XBR sets I used to deliver all the time. Heavy SOBS though.


I lucked out and picked up a 38" 16:9 Loewe Aconda for a song and even though it is sitting unused in the spare room, I cannot get rid of it. It looks much better than anything I have come across.

 

[copr]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Audiophiliac /forum/post/18259236


You will have a hard time finding a used Loewe, but they brought a bunch to the states over the years. Proton also made some very very nice CRT sets. Hard to find those as well. The Sonys you mentioned are very nice. I used to always want one of the 36"XBR sets I used to deliver all the time. Heavy SOBS though.


I lucked out and picked up a 38" 16:9 Loewe Aconda for a song and even though it is sitting unused in the spare room, I cannot get rid of it. It looks much better than anything I have come across.

Thanks for the reply. I've heard about the Loewe models before, but they are VERY hard to find in my neck of the woods. I'm most likely going to have to drive around 4 hours to get the Sony model that I want (if it ever pops up).

 

[RalphArch]



Quote:
The Sony KD-36XS955 seems to get quite a bit of praise as well, and is a Super Fine Pitch (what does this mean?) model as well.

I have that tv as well as what others consider the pinnacle of crt tvs - the xbr960n 34" 16:9


Although the latter is 1" larger in 16:9 mode (34 vs 33 inches) imo the KD-36XS955 is superior


For many reasons. The linearity in the corners is much better on the 36 inch set, whereas convergence and linearity causes problems in the corners of the 960 - the 36 inch set has none of these problems as it is just shrinking the 1080i lines into a 16:9 letter box (and retaining all info). The zoom is great for HD when you don't care about cutting off edges - but not sure how this will help for your application; for real 4:3 without zoom and overscan you need to feed it 480p or 480i


The SFP means horizontal resolution of around 1400 or so of the HD signals provided 1980 - so you can see all the resolution considering the size of the display and your viewing distance (most crt HDTVs have horizontal resolution around 850-900)


Another place this set shines is for memory stick watching of photos - the resoluton carries through here (photos are 4:3 and look great), as well as output from Digital camcorders) and it is outstanding


The 960 xbr does have some important features missing in the 36kd - including firewire support (which is great for me for archiving HD files with my d-vhs deck.


They both have cable card featuer - so I can save $5 a month and still see all my subscribed content (and record all copy once to the d-vhs on the 960 via firewire)


Both also have HDMI which is an important feature


The KD-36XS955 can be hard to find - but the ones I have seen occasionally locally have not gone for much on CL

 

[copr]

Thanks for the reply!

I'm definitely going to pick up the KD-36XS955 when one pops up nearby. I'm willing to drive around 4 hours in any direction, so one will show up sooner or later (I hope).

 

[Ennui]



Quote:
Originally Posted by copr /forum/post/18263707


Thanks for the reply!

I'm definitely going to pick up the KD-36XS955 when one pops up nearby. I'm willing to drive around 4 hours in any direction, so one will show up sooner or later (I hope).

Check out the 32XBR100 also. It is the best SFP picture in a 4:3 set I have ever seen. Bought it new in 1997 for $3,000 and just got rid of it last year.

 

[RalphArch]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Ennui /forum/post/18315329


Check out the 32XBR100 also. It is the best SFP picture in a 4:3 set I have ever seen. Bought it new in 1997 for $3,000 and just got rid of it last year.

Sorry, that is not an SFP model. Its not even HD but 480i. But it probably did have a nice picture.


Check out the WEGA WIKI for model specs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FD_Trinitron/WEGA

 

[Ratman]

 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1126376

 

[Ennui]



Quote:
Originally Posted by RalphArch /forum/post/18316680


Sorry, that is not an SFP model. Its not even HD but 480i. But it probably did have a nice picture.


Check out the WEGA WIKI for model specs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FD_Trinitron/WEGA

I thought he was looking for a 4:3 CRT system. The 32XBR100 has 800 lines of horizontal resolution. See http://esupport.sony.com/perl/model-...mdl=KV32XBR100 and click on "Specs".


I also have the 46XBR8 and the 34XBR960 CRT. The 32XBR100 had the best 4:3 SD picture quality with the XBR8 and the 960 (recently ISF'd) a tie for pic quality.

 

[Steve S]



Quote:
Originally Posted by RalphArch /forum/post/18316680


Sorry, that is not an SFP model. Its not even HD but 480i. But it probably did have a nice picture.


Check out the WEGA WIKI for model specs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FD_Trinitron/WEGA

No, it doesn't have a totally flat screen. What it does have is the most perfect geometry, color accuracy, etc, ever put into a crt television. For 480i sources it blows any wega out of the water. The XBR-100 was the benchmark against which all other tvs were judged during the time it was in production. Subsequent Wegas may have had flat screens and later HD capability but were still not in it's league with 480i sources.

 

[copr]

I finally found one a KD-35XS955 locally (well 3 hours away anyway), so I figured I'd bump this up.

The guy wants $200, but that includes the Sony stand as well, and he says the television is in perfect shape.

Should I jump on it? Is this a good deal? He originally wanted $400, so he is coming down quite a bit.

I know 3 hours seems like a really far drive for most of you, but I live in a very remote area, and the chances of one popping up nearby is slim to none.

 

[RalphArch]



Quote:
Originally Posted by copr /forum/post/18760280


I finally found one a KD-35XS955 locally (well 3 hours away anyway), so I figured I'd bump this up.

The guy wants $200, but that includes the Sony stand as well, and he says the television is in perfect shape.

Should I jump on it? Is this a good deal? He originally wanted $400, so he is coming down quite a bit.

I know 3 hours seems like a really far drive for most of you, but I live in a very remote area, and the chances of one popping up nearby is slim to none.

I think the price couldn't be better for such a great crt set w stand (you mean 36 - not 35 - correct?). It is far better looking on the SONY stand which mates up perfectly with the TV and has pins to hold in place for safety.



With the drive its much harder to judge. (6 hours at 50 mph maybe equates to $300 plus your time), but still a reasonable deal in your situation.

 

[jacob_coulter]

They also sell new crt "Arcade monitors" that would probably be perfect for what you're wanting:
http://www.xgaming.com/store/arcade-...d9400-monitor/


From the description, it sounds like it's perfect for what you want, the only problem is it doesn't have a cabinet or tuner.

 

[ehgz1]

For those near Cleveland Ohio that want a Sony KD-36XS955, check this out!:

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/for/1763899257.html

 

[copr]

Oops, yeah I ment the KD-36XS955.

Actually, now I found another one that is on to way to NYC, and my wife and I are going to visit her sister in NYC next weekend. So this is much more convenient. The only downfall is that it doesn't come with a stand, and costs the same amount. I really didn't want the stand anyway, as I'll be hooking up 5 video game systems to it, and the stand doesn't have a ton of room (I know this as I already have a KV-32HS510 with Sony stand).

Is this still a good deal? Should I jump on it?

Quote:
Originally Posted by RalphArch /forum/post/18761183


I think the price couldn't be better for such a great crt set w stand (you mean 36 - not 35 - correct?). It is far better looking on the SONY stand which mates up perfectly with the TV and has pins to hold in place for safety.



With the drive its much harder to judge. (6 hours at 50 mph maybe equates to $300 plus your time), but still a reasonable deal in your situation.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jacob_coulter /forum/post/18766502


They also sell new crt "Arcade monitors" that would probably be perfect for what you're wanting:
http://www.xgaming.com/store/arcade-...d9400-monitor/


From the description, it sounds like it's perfect for what you want, the only problem is it doesn't have a cabinet or tuner.

Those monitors looks pretty sweet, but what the heck would I do with one? LOL. Also, they are a bit on the small side.

 

[brandonp514]



Quote:
Originally Posted by copr /forum/post/18259005


I'm into retro video games, and as we all know, they look and play better on CRT televisions. Since I play alot of NES/SNES/N64, I want one that is a 4:3 model.

I recently picked up a Sony Trinitron KV-32HS510 and like it a lot, but I know there has to be something better out there.

I'm looking for the absolute top of the line 4:3 Televisions ever made. The Sony KV-40XBR800 looks really nice, but I've read quite a few negative comments on it as well.

The Sony KD-36XS955 seems to get quite a bit of praise as well, and is a Super Fine Pitch (what does this mean?) model as well.


Are there two models the two best 4:3 CRT televisions ever made? If there are others that are in the same league, please let me know.


Thanks!

You don't want to play PS1 generation games and older on a Hi-Scan 1080i CRT. They don't properly upconvert the 240p signal of older games and make the picture look blockier. If you want to play retro games get a retro TV, simple as that. I just purchased a 27" KV-27V42 off craigslist and the geometry on it is almost perfect and the picture quality is great. Got it for 40 bucks.


Now you can play PS1 games on a 1080i CRT via a PS3 because the PS3 will properly upconvert the signal and display it on the high scan TV correctly and actually makes for a nice picture without the scanlines you find on 480i TVs. But, I love the "V" series Trinitron. It was made in 1999 and is a pre-WEGA non flat screen Trinitron. Almost flat though because it is a Trinitron.


I have a super fine pitch KD-34XS955 that I bought off craigslist for $100 bucks. Trust me, the super fine pitch is AWESOME. I love it for watching HD Television. I really don't want to play videogames on it though. I think the HD LCD I bought plays PS3 games real well. I just don't like the blur that LCDs have.


So in conclusion, for retro games, get a retro Trinitron TV. They seem to be made to a better standard than the newer SDTV WEGAs. Just hope that they took good care of the Trinitron when you check it out because it may have been treated bad and therefore have the settings all messed up and trashed the TV. Luckily for me that wasn't the case.

 

[copr]

Alright, so I picked the KD-36XS955 today on my way back.


I have one concern though. The guy I bought it from said that he used to clean the screen with windex, which I know is a big no no. The screen looks really good, and I couldn't see any visible damage. Could there be damage that can't be seen with the naked eye?

Also, is this model supposed to have an anti reflective coating, because I honestly can't see it if it is there.

Please help.

 

[RalphArch]

I have cleaned my for years with eye glass towlettes and also things like windex


It doesn't have the external anti- glare coating that comes off like on some 960xbr's

 

[copr]



Quote:
Originally Posted by RalphArch /forum/post/18804342


I have cleaned my for years with eye glass towlettes and also things like windex


It doesn't have the external anti- glare coating that comes off like on some 960xbr's

Thanks for the reply! I'm glad to hear that the windex shouldn't have damaged the screen. The screen appears to be in perfect condition, at least to my eyes and also when shining a flashlight at the screen from all angles to look for any damage.

I didn't think that it had the coating, but I wanted to be 100% sure.


I was able to get it in my basement tonight (thanks to my powerlifter friend) without causing any damage to the screen or front of the set. We did however hit the back of the set against the wall very lightly. It didn't appear to do any damage really, but I think some paint came off the wall and onto the television. I tried to just wipe it off with a wet cotton rag, but it didn't come off. Does anyone else have any suggestions? I was thinking maybe Magic eraser? It really doesn't matter all that much anyway, but I was just wondering.

 

[copr]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Ennui /forum/post/18315329


Check out the 32XBR100 also. It is the best SFP picture in a 4:3 set I have ever seen. Bought it new in 1997 for $3,000 and just got rid of it last year.

I'm actually looking for one right now, but they are very hard to find compared to the high end HD CRT models. Maybe less people bought them, or they don't want to get rid of them or something, but I couldn't even find a single one on Craigslist.


The KV-32XBR100 should have the best SD picture for retro video games, right? I'm thinking that since it has S-Video hookups that the picture for Gamecube/Wii should look pretty good as well.