I'd like to point out that if you have a Sony PVM, hooking the NES up to Composite still looks fantastic and waaaay better than an HDTV. Honestly, NES doesn't need RGB that badly. Just use a suitable SDTV CRT like a PVM monitor and you won't be disappointed.
Good to know. Hopefully I can get lucky and score one off of ebay for a decent price with shipping....guess it's just luck if one ends up being decent. Anything to watch out on? Are some of them crappy/worn, or in general fine like most TV's? 19" right?
I don't know, just look at the pictures in the auction and make sure it looks good from that and pray. Also, make sure the shipping is going to be good. Mine was in a cacoon of foam in a large box shipped by some outfit called PAX Global. It arrived in perfect shape and was all gravy. But if it hadn't been in that well packed box, it could have been damaged. so make sure whoever you buy it from understands how to ship an item like that. Also they weigh alot so shipping will cost you. Again about the condition, most CRTs treated decently will hold up well. But check pictures of it in operation for distortion or scratches.
I think the thing you really have to look out for is burn in. Many of these monitors were used for medical applications, ie: Meters and displays...that sort of thing. That means that there were likely a lot of things on the screen that never/rarely changed, making them prime for burn in. Pretty easy to spot in the pictures...or by simply asking the seller.
Last I heard it was literally only Loewe that did, and only on a small number of their CRTs, but I did a quick search on AV Forums and there were rumours of some other sets supporting component over SCART. 99.9% of CRT TVs with SCART won't, anyway. I did a quick search, interesting configuration on the SCART sockets on that set... 3 SCART sockets, of which 3 x S-Video, 2 x RGB, and 1 x Component. SCART is either/or for RGB/S-Video, so they must be auto-detecting the signal on each. You'd have to track down a pinout to see how they wired the Component up, but my money'd be on them using y=G, Pb=B and Pr=R I was wondering why the hell they'd bother adding so much circuitry for the progressive/component support if it was only via a connection nobody had ever used before, but it turns out there was a 5381 with a VGA port on it. So there you have it. I am disappointed, though! Games like Super Mario Bros look nasty as hell. Here's a test: take a picture of the flagpole at the end of the level. I always get copious rolling there, regardless of what set I'm playing on.
I'll take a look, but your PAL output may differ from the NTSC NES output. And you are using Composite and not RF right?
If you're somewhat handy, you might want to consider a trisynch arcade monitor and some wood (to make a case). It's what I have, and is about the most versatile gaming setup you can have. Handles pretty much all the old shit up to 480p. You'll need an XRGB-2, or some type of device to handle different sync. So worth it. I spontaneously blow loads in my pants thinking of mine.
My friend has this problem with his new hdtv looking terrible over s-video. My big crt was built in 2000 and games on it through s-video look amazing. It's regular and not HD in any way. Definitely good enough for my purposes....even looks great with arcade games through s-video on the supergun. Mind you I bought this tv new aeons ago with gaming bliss in mind. And gaming bliss I have! Now I just have to suffer tate-ing such a big screen....
I think it was already pointed out that HDTV's and retro consoles look terrible. That's just how it is and if you can you should keep a good SD CRT around for them.
