Buying my first TV for 20 years...

[Max P.]

Yes, it's true. Last time I bought a TV I took my brand new imported US SNES and SFII down to the telly shop to check them out. The old 21" Panasonic is still going strong but for non-gaming reasons it really is time we got a new TV!

All my consoles are wired for full RGB (PC Engine, SFC, Saturn, DC, PS and N64) - have heard dire things about modern TVs and retro consoles - will they be usable? - what about light gun games?

Looking at a 40" LCD, mid range.

[pentarou]

From what I've read, light guns won't work with an LCD. Older consoles sometimes have trouble displaying correctly too, I've tried my Neo-Geo and my SFC on my LCD and both have problems. The SFC is playable and doesn't look too bad despite some weirdness near the top of the screen, but the picture jumps on the Neo making it unplayable.

If you have room, keep the CRT around for retro gaming or the other way you could go is to get an upscaler like the XRGB for your retro consoles.

[Atticus]

All my consoles are wired for full RGB (PC Engine, SFC, Saturn, DC, PS and N64) - have heard dire things about modern TVs and retro consoles

They won't look great but if you're serious about your RGB console gaming and you can be bothered there are a fair few upscan/upscalers on the market which make a huge difference. The xrgb-2, xrgb-2plus and xrgb-3 come highly recommended (I can personally vouch for the supreme quality of the xrgb-2plus). One thing to bear in mind is they're designed for Japanese RGB so you need an adapter for regular/western RGB cables.

[Oldgamingfart]

If you have room, keep the CRT around for retro gaming or the other way you could go is to get an upscaler like the XRGB for your retro consoles.

I agree, just get a decent LCD or Plasma for day-to-day TV viewing/ HD gaming (360/ PS3 etc), and keep the CRT TV for the retro games.
Twenty odd years ago Panasonic used to use mostly Philips FST tubes in their TV's, exactly the same type that were often used in arcade cabinets from the same era.

[Max P.]

Thanks guys - yep - the Panasonic is going nowhere - when I picked it the picture was by far the best from four big TV names and also perfectly 'square' unlike many others. Would still like to get a second bigger CRT too but one that is tateable so maybe a true arcade monitor would be best?