+fdr4prez Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 my tube tv is on the fritz and I am contemplating connecting my INTV to my big screen and/or get a Flashback with the El Ultimo treatment from Byte Knight. I recall way back in the day that there was a debate whether playing Asteroids on a smaller or larger screen was better for getting higher scores or longer playtime. I recall seeing the footage comparing game play of the smaller displays and larger displays. I don't recall if they used the same person to play each type repeated to garner an average of each display type, or not, but IIRC playing on smaller screens resulted in higher scores. Does anyone else recall the Asteroids large/small display study or reports from like the '80s or '90s? So my question is this: For those of you that have connected the INTV to modern large screens, have you noticed any real changes to game play? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheel Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Nothing beats a tube TV displaying scanlines in all their glory. With some warm analog fuzz to soften the pixel edges. I'm not being sarcastic, either. I really dislike playing anything pre-crash on an LCD. Especially widescreen - you get to choose from stretch ugliness, black bars, or some ungodly attempt at simulating arcade bezels which invariably distracts from the game itself. I don't see how screen size would have a huge effect, unless you're talking a 10' projector screen where you couldn't actually see the entire playing field without turning your head. My go-to retro screen is a 27" CRT, which would have been considered fairly large in the 80s. I can't say that I notice any worse performance on it. Gameplay is the same regardless of screen size. I often play retro system X on the big LCD, whether via emulation or the real thing, and the only negative is the ugliness of LCD. Well, that and the not-exact controller (ie: playing Super Mario Bros. on a Wii. Close, but no cigar). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BBWW Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 (edited) I don't think I'd but a used 25 inch color CRT TV just to play video games. LOL Well, maybe if I had an extra gaming room. But I have a small house with a big collection. :-) Just add a bad cable to get all the analog static you want. Edited September 30, 2015 by BBWW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpmaul69 Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Nothing beats a tube TV displaying scanlines in all their glory. With some warm analog fuzz to soften the pixel edges. I'm not being sarcastic, either. I really dislike playing anything pre-crash on an LCD. Especially widescreen - you get to choose from stretch ugliness, black bars, or some ungodly attempt at simulating arcade bezels which invariably distracts from the game itself. I don't see how screen size would have a huge effect, unless you're talking a 10' projector screen where you couldn't actually see the entire playing field without turning your head. My go-to retro screen is a 27" CRT, which would have been considered fairly large in the 80s. I can't say that I notice any worse performance on it. Gameplay is the same regardless of screen size. I often play retro system X on the big LCD, whether via emulation or the real thing, and the only negative is the ugliness of LCD. Well, that and the not-exact controller (ie: playing Super Mario Bros. on a Wii. Close, but no cigar). if you have a raspberry pi with hdmi the games are beautiful in 1080p. The intellivision picture is "widescreen" in the first place. With the pie you get full screen gaming without the border and no stretching or black bars. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheel Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 if you have a raspberry pi with hdmi the games are beautiful in 1080p. The intellivision picture is "widescreen" in the first place. With the pie you get full screen gaming without the border and no stretching or black bars. That's... not actually possible without some kind of stretching. At least in terms of what it originally looked like on a regular TV - 4:3 is very different than 16:9. You could argue that it was originally "squashed" horizontally, because yeah, it did kind of have a widescreen resolution. Still not quite 16:9 though. If your pi is showing no borders, it's because it's stretching things horizontally, at least to some degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpmaul69 Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 (edited) Its stretched so slightly that you would not even notice. Worth it in my opinion by how much you gain losing all that border you are stuck with on a tube tv. Any other system is far more noticeable so i play them in 480. I dont care about black borders on the side to gain clarity and size. Edited September 30, 2015 by pimpmaul69 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Classic gaming like this is best done on 27" CRT or smaller IMO. 20" is just about perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Its stretched so slightly that you would not even notice. Worth it in my opinion by how much you gain losing all that border you are stuck with on a tube tv. Any other system is far more noticeable so i play them in 480. I dont care about black borders on the side to gain clarity and size. image.jpg You're not going to win any competitions with that score! Wow, how the mighty have fallen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 (edited) Classic gaming like this is best done on 27" CRT or smaller IMO. 20" is just about perfect. Idunno, I play on my 32" Sony Triniton and it is a dream! EDIT: I will admit, though, that I prefer the crisp and smooth rendering of a modern HDTV rather than all the ghosting and colour artefacts of those CRT's. Why can't they just make nice and warm HDTV on a CRT? Edited September 30, 2015 by DZ-Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpmaul69 Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 You're not going to win any competitions with that score! Wow, how the mighty have fallen. what are you talking about? I made it so far the score, color and level flipped over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpmaul69 Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Idunno, I play on my 32" Sony Triniton and it is a dream! EDIT: I will admit, though, that I prefer the crisp and smooth rendering of a modern HDTV rather than all the ghosting and colour artefacts of those CRT's. Why can't they just make nice and warm HDTV on a CRT? they do. Problem is a 32" hdtv crt weighs like 300 pounds. They suck trying to move. I had a friend who had one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted September 30, 2015 Author Share Posted September 30, 2015 Thanks all for the input. sounds like I shouldn't be afraid to go big For now I'll connect my INTV to my old VCR and that can go composite into my flat screen. My screen is only 37" or 42" (I don't recall) so it isn't huge. I'll look into doing an RCA mod output. Has anyone done this one from eBay? The instructions look easy enough and it is a complete kit. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intellivision-A-V-Composite-Video-Mod-Kit-NTSC-PAL-DIY/181043125890?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131017132637%26meid%3De2caebf02e3d41f582e931a74eb37af7%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D371450903777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpmaul69 Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Thanks all for the input. sounds like I shouldn't be afraid to go big For now I'll connect my INTV to my old VCR and that can go composite into my flat screen. My screen is only 37" or 42" (I don't recall) so it isn't huge. I'll look into doing an RCA mod output. Has anyone done this one from eBay? The instructions look easy enough and it is a complete kit. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intellivision-A-V-Composite-Video-Mod-Kit-NTSC-PAL-DIY/181043125890?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131017132637%26meid%3De2caebf02e3d41f582e931a74eb37af7%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D371450903777 tons of those have been used. They do the job. Picture quality is more dependant on the motherboard than the mod. You can use the mod on one inty and have double vision. Use the same mod on another inty and its clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mthompson Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 (edited) I'll look into doing an RCA mod output. Has anyone done this one from eBay? The instructions look easy enough and it is a complete kit. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intellivision-A-V-Composite-Video-Mod-Kit-NTSC-PAL-DIY/181043125890?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131017132637%26meid%3De2caebf02e3d41f582e931a74eb37af7%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D371450903777 I've installed that one on my Intv and it works well. BTW, I think the two player sports games are really improved by displaying them 16:9. Edited September 30, 2015 by mthompson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+intvsteve Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Thanks all for the input. sounds like I shouldn't be afraid to go big For now I'll connect my INTV to my old VCR and that can go composite into my flat screen. My screen is only 37" or 42" (I don't recall) so it isn't huge. I'll look into doing an RCA mod output. Has anyone done this one from eBay? The instructions look easy enough and it is a complete kit. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intellivision-A-V-Composite-Video-Mod-Kit-NTSC-PAL-DIY/181043125890?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131017132637%26meid%3De2caebf02e3d41f582e931a74eb37af7%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D371450903777 I bought one, but haven't had the time to install it. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaserCat Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 To my eyes that screenshot look absolutely hideous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpmaul69 Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 To my eyes that screenshot look absolutely hideous. anything looking bad is because a camera on a phone cant take a screenshot properly. Trust me it looks beautiful in person and everyone with a modded flashback here would probably agree with me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byte Knight Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Gameplay is the same on the bigger screens. I was blown away by how good jzintv looks on an HDTV in 16:9. It's really hard to go back to the old 4:3 ratio after that. And you can play Intellivision in your living room instead of being banned to the basement where your old CRT TV is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheel Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 To my eyes that screenshot look absolutely hideous. As mentioned, probably a camera issue. I've modded a number of consoles myself - mostly 2600s and Colecovisions, and I find the results to be mixed. If you have a good board, good cables, etc - RF looks damned fine already. My California-built 2609 is gorgeous as all hell. Original 6 switch 2600s often have a very sharp RF picture. But later editions often benefit a lot from a mod. However, some mods can make things worse. These days I avoid modding anything that already looks good, especially if it cuts out the RF circuit - because there's no going back from that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+intvsteve Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Yeah -- the variability on these old systems is shocking. I've got a Super Pro System that's absolutely beautiful - ultra clear, beautiful colors, and no ghosting. Doesn't matter what kind of crap cable I use. A simple RCA F to coax and it's great no matter which TV. Stock RF system. Other systems … sigh… Total crap shoot. I have one that must have a bad capacitor or loose ground somewhere -- it gets more and more static until you power cycle the TV (or the console) and it'll be good for awhile, then fade back in and out over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaserCat Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 (edited) What I need to add to my original comment is "needs scanlines." Edited October 1, 2015 by LaserCat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 What I need to add to my original comment is "needs scanlines." Aha! Very true. When I play MAME on my monitor, I always turn on the visual effects that make it look pixelated in RGB glowing cells. I wish jzIntv had something like that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheel Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Aha! Very true. When I play MAME on my monitor, I always turn on the visual effects that make it look pixelated in RGB glowing cells. I wish jzIntv had something like that too. Rare Replay for the Xbone has scanline simulation as an option, for their older games. It's awesome Too bad half of the games are Speccy garbage... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaserCat Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 (edited) I didn't want to leave a negative comment and run but I seriously thought that I had deleted my original post. How people like their vintage games to look is a personal taste and I am biased towards scanlines. Since I own both sd and hd crts I decided to place them side by side and do a comparison. My hd looked fine but was missing something compared to the sd set which just happened to be the scanlines. Now I kow this is not an apple to apple comparison to the previous screenshot but this is the image I happen to have on my hard drive at the moment. Here is a shot from my 2004 Sony FS100 sd crt through s-video. Not nearly as good as a PVM with scart but this is what I own. The contrast looks a bit blown out but that is an artifact from my phone. I have to mention that one of the deals I made with my wife when we first moved in together is that I would get one room in the house for my own personal use so my sd crt is in the spare bedroom and not relegated to the basement. Edited October 3, 2015 by LaserCat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaserCat Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 (edited) Edited October 3, 2015 by LaserCat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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