Sorry your browser is not supported!

Hey all. Thanks in advance for any suggestions/comments. So...

How common are 4:3 displays (LCD, not CRT) in the civilized world these days (They've all but disappeared in South Africa)? Also, I'm looking for something that can go real low-resolution too (It would be nice if there was something below 640x480 but I know that's asking too much). I'll include LCD-televisions in this query.

Okay, so why do I want something low-tech? Well it's not to play something like Dead Island on, I promise. I'm actually planning on building a dedicated "All-In-1-Emulator" with a focus on really retro consoles like NES/SNES/genesis/etc. It's going to be a dedicated machine with a built-in display(I'm gonna custom-build the tower to support this). I want a display that'll get as close as possible to the glory days of my youth as I can. Hence I need low-res (Yeah, I know there are filters for hi-res but it must look as accurate as possible and those filters, IMHO, actually look yucky and kill detail).

So, any product suggestions?

Unfortunately, a low res screen won't help you get the image quality you're looking for. TVs have a bit of a blurring effect on the input image that can't be replicated by LCDs (without some filter), and this blurring effect was used by the game artists to make their art look as stunning as possible.

A low res lcd screen will look exactly the same as a high res lcd screen, because on these old games, the resolution is lower on the input image than you can probably find an LCD screen for.

Your best bet is to get a high def screen and create filters that mimic TV output. I agree with you too though, I've never seen a filter that did a TV convincingly. I usually use sal/super eagle filtering for my emulator needs.

If you were to want to replicate a TV screen, perhaps a really high input refresh rate (120hz, higher?) could make it easier to make a proper filter. I'm not really sure how a CRT tv works in detail, and I don't know what it would take to come close to emulating one, but it could be an interesting selling point for a product and could be worth researching the possibility.

Tks for the quick response Jerico. Matching the "console's" output res was actually kinda my last resort. I'd looked at existing filters and had no luck.

I've noticed one other thing that does help image quality a lot and that's the scanlines on TVs. They take the "edge" off jagged pixel edges. Some scanline filters are decent, but most are way too intense though.

Have started considering going with a projector now. The cheaper ones actually give a nice TV-alive blur. The only problem is the impracticality of it... Oh well, nothing worth something comes easy. Maybe I'll look into the idea of writing my own filter.

How often do you find any kind of screens in the not civilized world?

Edit - I misunderstood, apologies.

Kay, sorry, I think you guys are misunderstanding. Perhaps I used "uncivilised" a little outta context in that I could've used "Dump" instead. I live here (hopefully not for much longer) and while it is really a beautiful country, it is run poorly by a corrupt and, worse still, stupid government. Here's a shortlist of some of the joys of this place:

A) 1 Gig Cap internet package 189 ZAR pm (That's around 24 loaves of bread).
B) 3 Gig Cap internet package 280 ZAR pm (you do the math)
C) Power failures lasting 2 - 5 hours at least once a month (Durban only though, everywhere else seems to have their act together).
D) Julius Malema - He's the ANC Youth League president and the biggest racist you could wish to meet. He's also a moron. But a dangerous one. He sings a racist song instructing black people to kill white people. There's also a chance he may end up our next president.
E) Our current president, Jacob Zuma, has multiple wives and a rape charge under his belt.
F) Just about every day there's a news item on some official up for corruption charges.
G) Terrible public transport system (almost non-existent in some areas)
H) The cost of living has reached a point where the middle-class and lower-middle-class will dissappear soon.
I) The state hospitals are meat factories. I've countless times been laid down on a filthy bed (once with dry blood on it) to wait a good six hours for a doctor to see me (I have epilepsy and often dislocate both my shoulders). As a result I've learned to relocate my shoulder if I only put one out simply to avoid that misery.

...I could go on. Don't get me wrong, I love this country and Cape Town is the most amazing place in the world. But the people in charge are a bunch of idiots who have done nothing beside make promises they can't keep. Now I'm sure that South Africa got lots of international recognition thanks to Mandela, the World Cup Soccer, Tourism, etc. But the South Africa that the rest of the world sees and the real South Africa are two different things. I'm not getting political here or anything, I'm just relating my personal experiences having been born here and lived here all my life. And a tough life it's been.

Hell, maybe I'm wrong about the rest of the world and maybe it's just as messed up but I know many family and friends in the UK and they are all shocked by what I have to say about my homeland.

EDIT: Some people have told me they don't know what a Cap is (You all prolly do know, but just for the sake of anyone who reads this thread: A cap refers to the total amount of bandwidth you can use in a month. So a 1 GB cap would be wasted after a few youtube vids)

@Idicium:



It's cool, no need for apologies but I appreciate it anyway. It's a normal reaction for somebody outside SA to have, more so if they've read up on it or actually traveled here (ironically). Btw, excuse my verbosity in the previous post, I have a huge problem summarising and explaining things in a simple fashion