What is CRT Gaming? Why do gamers return to old TVs?

It would seem that the era of bulky kinescope TVs and monitors (CRT – Cathode Ray Tube) is long gone. They have given way to thin LCD, LED and OLED screens that offer high resolution, larger diagonals and less power consumption. But if you look at the retro gaming community, you can see that many people consciously return to old CRT displays. Why? It turns out that these vintage screens have a number of advantages that make them an ideal choice for classic games.

Modern LCD screens often have an input lag problem that can spoil the gaming experience, especially in fast platformers or fighting games. CRTs do not have this drawback: the image is output instantly, without any delay.

In addition, many old games were developed specifically for CRT screens and took into account the peculiarities of their technology. On LCD displays, such games can look blurry or pixelated, while on CRT they look the way the developers intended.

CRT displays update images constantly, without fixed frames per second (as happens on LCDs that work with clearly specified 60 Hz or 120 Hz). This allows you to get a more natural smoothness of movements and the absence of the effect of "phantom frames" (ghosting).

Also, CRT displays do not have a problem with fixed resolution. For example, playing 240p on LCD can look terrible because of poor scaling, and on CRT it looks perfect because the cathode ray tube naturally distributes light and color.

Old consoles (NES, SNES, Sega Mega Drive, PlayStation 1-2 and others) are designed for analog video output (Composite, S-Video, RGB, SCART), which works great with CRT. Modern TVs and monitors that use HDMI often have problems with delay, signal conversion or picture distortion.

Additionally, many retro games have used CRT features to create visual effects. For example, the game "Chrono Trigger" for the SNES used color illusions that look correct only on kinescope screens.

If you are looking for a quality option, you should pay attention to Sony Trinitron, JVC D-Series, Panasonic Tau, Mitsubishi Diamondtron or PVM/BVM Monitors (professional displays used in television studios).

For a more modern experience (such as PS2 or Xbox 360 games), you can find CRT with support for 480p or even 1080i (HD CRT).

Most CRT TVs have RCA (Composite), SCART or S-Video. If you want the best quality, look for models with support RGB SCART or Component (YPbPr).

To connect a computer or modern consoles can be used VGA or special HDMI-to-Component adapters.

It depends on your gaming experience. If you only play on modern consoles and PCs, there is no point. But if you are a fan of retro games or you care about minimal latency and natural image, CRT – is the perfect choice.

The only minus – CRT displays are heavy, bulky and consume a lot of energy. But if quality retro gaming is important to you, these shortcomings can be experienced.

In the end, CRT gaming – is not just nostalgia, but a way to play old games as they were intended. That is why it remains popular even in 2025.