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Author Topic: CRT to LCD...is there a learning curve?  (Read 10256 times)

« on: July 01, 2018, 12:35:54 AM »
At long last, I replaced my CRT television with an LCD. Long story short, the tuner was finally going on the old one so it was time for an upgrade. (It could still play a video game or a DVD fine, but watching actual TV was the problem--same thing that killed my previous CRT).

Yes, I connected my old N64 and GameCube to the new set. Why not keep playing the games I've enjoyed for years?

Here's the problem: everything seems harder on the new set.

MarioKart 64 seems way more finicky with controls. On a baseball game I have for GCN, my timing seems to be way off with my swing.

Granted, I don't play games as often as I used to...I used to play pretty much every day when I was in school and then college, but now I'm way busier with work...and also am not getting any younger, now being on the wrong side of 30...although I know that's no excuse because my dad is still a decent gamer and is 66.

Is there some sort of difference with the signal, especially being analog on a digital set, that is causing my timing to be off? Or...am I simply out of practice?

The Chef

  • Super
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2018, 02:41:22 AM »
Is there some sort of difference with the signal, especially being analog on a digital set, that is causing my timing to be off?

Yes.

« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2018, 11:47:40 PM »
OK...is there any fix for this or should I take one of my old CRTs out of the mothballs? I did keep them.

I'm going to guess muscle memory plays a part here too. I've had MK64 since 1997 when I got the N64 and had it pretty much mastered in a weekend.

Glad to know it's the TV and not me...last time I played MK64 on the CRT I was consistently getting 1st place on 150cc.
« Last Edit: July 01, 2018, 11:49:42 PM by n64forever »

Luigison

  • Old Person™
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2018, 02:38:42 PM »
Go into the LCDs settings and see if it has a game mode or a way to turn off any processing it maybe doing. 
“Evolution has shaped us with perceptions that allow us to survive. But part of that involves hiding from us the stuff we don’t need to know."

« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2018, 07:43:35 PM »
I did find a game mode on the TV, which seems to fine-tune the picture settings more than anything.

Last night, I played about 2 hours of MK64--which has to be the most I've done in a single sitting in ages. Since the TV setting didn't seem to do a ton right off the bat, I worked my way up...going all the way down to 50cc Mushroom Cup. After getting some timing back (or rather re-timing myself), I moved to 150cc and got a perfect 36 on the cup. I then moved on to Flower Cup at 150cc and even had a nice worst to first comeback after spinning out on Frappe Snowland at the start.

Part of the issue there was that I've played other Mario Kart games since and had forgotten the rocket boost is on the GREEN light, not the yellow, on MK64...

After that, I did some time trials. Most of my times were fairly close to my records after a while, and I'm sure if I started playing on an everyday basis I'd be able to match or even beat those.

It seems to me part of it was just retiming myself, and thankfully that happened with a little practice. Perhaps playing other MarioKarts was to blame too? It's unlikely I'll go back to a CRT at this point, so I might as well just get used to it.

The picture, by the way, looks great. I'm honestly not sure if it did much for timing, but it does make the N64 look good on a newer set. Tetrisphere also looked great (and sounded great; we all know a major part of that game's appeal is its amazing techno soundtrack).

Now I just have to get the rhythm back on other games. Now that I'm not dating anyone at the moment I have a ton of free time for video games again, so why not? Besides, my 11 year old niece is huge into vintage Nintendo games right now and wants to take me on in Smash next time she visits, so I have to be ready to try to win there--and maybe lose one on purpose like any cool uncle would do ;)

« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2018, 09:02:46 PM »
If you want to go with basically no input lag on an LCD., you basically have 3 options.

  • Emulate. It won't be a fully authentic experience and you 'll need adapters in order to use your original controllers, but this is the easiest way to play with little to no input lag with old console games.
  • Pull out your old CRT and have it dedicated to old consoles.
  • Get ahold of an external upscaler designed for retro gaming. These things are a bit cost prohibitive, but well renowned by enthusiasts.

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