clockwise Posted August 8, 2019 Report Share Posted August 8, 2019 I picked up a 20' Sony, PVM (Professional Video Monitor) CRT and some RGB Retrovision cables, recently. I did a comparison and wanted to share the results. Best picture I've ever gotten, easily. Better than any emulator I've played on as well. The comparison LCD is a Dell AIO. Everyone is familiar with these. RCA or RF really doesn't do justice to how great the SNES and Genesis can look. Thankfully, both consoles output RGB natively without any mods. Up until recently you had to use a scaler, like an Framemeister or X-RGB Mini, which are really expensive or get SCART cables to pull this off. I did a post on pixelpuck a few years ago before I took the site down about SCART & RGB on a Genesis. It was a big PITA and I couldn't get near this level of quality. These Retrovision, RGB cables are pretty amazing, especially when combined with the RollsRoyce of gaming motors. SNES Comparison Genesis Comparison If you like to play on old hardware, I would definitely recommend getting a Sony PVM CRT and pair of Retrovision for your SNES or Genesis. The results speak for themselves. There's going to be lot of CRT's at Waves but I will probably be lugging this guy to Toronto for KO94-4. Hopefully it can be put to good use. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockwise Posted August 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Leave your NHL'94 cart under your pillow and the CRT fairy may visit you. guy with tv on head leaves old tvs on front porches of homes 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Congrats bud. I bought a Framemeister years ago when I added an NESRGB board to my NES. RGB made it look like a whole new console. I then bought all the cables for the rest of my systems. Modded my SNES Jr. (only the old SNES outputs RGB without a mod), and was living the life. Then, early last year, I was able to pick up a 20" PVM free from work (looks just like yours). It was in MN, so I packed the living hell out of it and shipped it to myself back in NJ. It's so much more enjoyable to play on there than on the Plasma with my Framemeister. Now, the Framemeister just sits there. It's a sad story for the little guy. Then, a month or so ago, I picked up a 14" PVM for free (well it was broken). Fixed it up and we used it at the tourney. Worked at a museum in Phili last week, they has 2 PVMs and a BVM laying around. I'm not sure if I can take them though. These things went for big money back in the day. Now people just rip you off on eBay selling these. I think PVMs were $2-5k new (depending on size), BVMs (Broadcast Video Monitor) were in the 10k range. The reason they are so much better than a traditional CRT, is the line count and the quality of the tube. A line count on a reg. CRT maybe below 300 lines. On a PVM they are 600-800 lines (depending on the model). And the tubes are made to last a long time. Even playing on a $20 CRT, composite video looks much better than on an LCD. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingraph Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Having witnessed one of these in person at the LI tournament, I am now on the lookout for a 14"-20+ PVM. Heavy as hell, but there is no better picture. BONUS feature on these is that is has an additional output in the back, which saves the need for a splitter when you want to do a livestream at a tournament. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockwise Posted August 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2019 @chaos If they don't want them, Jesus' Salvage, BBQ Towing and Notary Service can oblige. @kingraph Apparently a good way to find one is just to email every local broadcast studio, university and news station in a 30 mile radius and ask them if they have any tube monitors that they no longer need. A lot of people who are persistent have gotten huge hauls. For most of these places, you're solving a problem. I plan to do this next week myself as I'm smitten with these PVM's. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockwise Posted February 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2020 Lost an av liquidation auction for 10 pvms today. Feel gutted I thought I had em for a song for sure. It was in Jersey too. Inflation is crazy high the lot, combined - they were listed two at a time - went for over 3500. If this bubble doesn’t burst they’ll be like 1k a piece in 5 more years. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockwise Posted February 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 Looks like they removed the pricing but I put in $400.00 for all except the single one. Had my Friday after work planned out and all. I'm just bitching because I called over 150 companies in the last 2 months before I came across this auction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingraph Posted February 26, 2020 Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 Two monitors went for $3,500? $1,750 for each? Am I reading that correctly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos Posted February 26, 2020 Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 The best way to get them is looking for govt auctions I’m gonna guess. I thought you already had some @clockwise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edge of '94 Midwest Posted February 26, 2020 Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 We have a bunch of these professional monitors on hand thanks to @LeifErikson for the Minnesota tournament. While most of them will be hooked up via composite initially, we do hope to start introducing more component/SCART hookups for future events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockwise Posted February 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 @chaos I have... 20" inch PVM 20" inch BVM I just picked up recently 40" inch Sony KV-40 32" inch Sony 27" inch Toshiba Haven't had much success with gov auctions over the last several months. Nothing close to this particular auction. @kingraph Actually looking at the pic again, from top to bottom: $750 $450 $900 $1200 $850 $900 I've been on the look out on /r/crtgaming on reddit to see if anyone there got any of these. Felt like these guys got in a bidding war. I'm not chasing these types of prices for something you can find for free if you're lucky or know where to look. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos Posted February 26, 2020 Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 @clockwise quit while you're ahead, you got enough goodies. 20" BVM is a holy grail. Are they all working OK (geometry all good)? My 20" is good, but my 13" I needed to replace some capacitors in it (needs some more new ones actually). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockwise Posted February 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 5 minutes ago, chaos said: @clockwise quit while you're ahead, you got enough goodies. THEY'RE MY FRIENDS. All good except for the 40" which got messed up when it was bumped hard. It's so frigg'n massive. If I'd had gotten the 10 I would have tried to setup a tourney next year in the Philly area. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smozoma Posted February 26, 2020 Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 39 minutes ago, clockwise said: If I'd had gotten the 10 I would have tried to setup a tourney next year in the Philly area. Dooo iiiit Don't let perfection get in the way of doing something great :). Regular CRTs are easy to get for $0-$25. Then if you happen to get some more PVM's you can toss the regulars to make room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos Posted February 26, 2020 Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 1 hour ago, clockwise said: THEY'RE MY FRIENDS. All good except for the 40" which got messed up when it was bumped hard. It's so frigg'n massive. If I'd had gotten the 10 I would have tried to setup a tourney next year in the Philly area. 40"? holy crap. My 20" weighs 70 lbs., cant imagine a 40. 13" CRTs are the sweet spots for tournaments. Easy to carry. Lots of them on craigslist/FB/let it go/offer up. Ask @Mike Gartner. He has a ton of CRTs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockwise Posted February 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 This bad boy weighs 330lbs. Space man is actual size there. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockwise Posted September 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2020 I see this as an absolute win. His and hers exercise. What woman wouldn’t love this as an early x-mas present? Someone please talk me out of this... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingraph Posted September 6, 2020 Report Share Posted September 6, 2020 1 hour ago, clockwise said: I see this as an absolute win. His and hers exercise. What woman wouldn’t love this as an early x-mas present? Someone please talk me out of this... If the left handle can be rewired to a dpad, there can be no greater gift. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos Posted September 6, 2020 Report Share Posted September 6, 2020 @clockwise - you need one of these bud - Intergraph InterView 28HD96 - 1080p CRT Widescreen Monitor. Rare as hens teeth 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockwise Posted September 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2020 38 minutes ago, chaos said: @clockwise - you need one of these bud - Intergraph InterView 28HD96 - 1080p CRT Widescreen Monitor. Rare as hens teeth I’m wet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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