I'm thinking of buying an N64 for runs instead of emulator, but I don't have a CRT TV. Is it worth investing in an old chunky retro TV, or just playing on an HDTV? I've heard retro consoles look better on CRT TV's, but I don't get why. Just curious on the specifics and nuances!

It's cool knowing there's like NO latency, I would rather use a CRT. Also check sites like EBay, Craigslist, and LetGo. I've found many o' plenty of CRTs that people want to get rid of for free that way.

cool, thanks!

yess

so crt has less input delay?

Yes cause its old like the console and functions perfectly with it

"For older analog cathode ray tube (CRT) technology, display lag is extremely low, due to the nature of the technology, which does not have the ability to store image data before display." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_lag

Let me see if I can explain this. First off, if you play a fast enough game or run into a situation in a slower game that might require tighter timing or reaction, it can become pretty apparent that there's a significant difference. Casual players don't notice it as much because they're not as attuned to it... this can actually be a small burden/handicap for those who can (I hate versing my friends at Smash. I'm the best but LAG).

A(n) HDTV is best if you want the best look for what you're playing. Combine this with the correct third party accessories for N64 and you can end up with some incredibly crisp HD N64 display, but this comes at the cost of visual delay. HDTVs are designed to take a video input, process them behind the scenes to make them look as nice as they can, then output it (Via LEDs or similar) to the display. Unfortunately, this process takes time. Not long (ranging from 0.05 to 0.3 seconds-ish in my experience), but in some circumstances, this can really mess things up. Furthermore, if you go from one HDTV to another, chances are they'll have different delay times. If you build up muscle memory for one display, it could potentially get messed up and/or undone when you use another. I wouldn't recommend this for Speedgames or competitive games, but it makes for great cinematic experiences in the right room.

Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT) are the best if you want gameplay to be as accurate and lagless as possible. It takes the video input, and spits it out (via photons) to the screen. There's no processing done, no need to remember any pixels, and working with Photons directly helps a lot too. They can be a pain to configure or transport, and they don't typically look very pretty, but I struggle to notice any visual delay when I press a button (no doubt there is some, but it's minute). Using the same muscle memory analogy from the previous paragraph, nothing will be lost going from one CRT to another, making gameplay more consistent. I find that the best benefit that comes from this is that reacting to something in game becomes easier than trying to anticipate something... just remember to lift from your knees.

Anyone who reads this, good on you. Also, correct me on anything I get wrong please. tl:dr IMO, CRTs are more consistent and better for competitive and speed games, HDTVs are prettier and are better for movies.

Thanks, this helped a lot. Obviously, I'm interested in speedrunning so I'll go with a CRT. You, sir, are an enlightened human being.

Some quick corrections on JediJess' earlier post. Not all CRTs are made equal. HDCRTs for example are digital not analogue so those types will be plagued by the same issues modern LCDs are. Plasmas usually suffer from the same problem with some small exceptions.

Simply viewing something on an HDTV does not "make it look better" but rather it's all about how the content was designed to be watched and it just so happens that technology has evolved in a way that makes watching/playing standard definition content difficult to do without compromising on the experience in some way. There are many factors that can make a difference to this like the quality of the TV or monitor you use and the signal strength of the analogue cables - assuming the set you're using even supports the type of cable you're using to begin with. Those are just some examples too, the list goes on; some amount to subjective differences you may not care about while others are objective deteriments like increased input lag based on how the tv/monitor you decide to use processess the standard definition signal - these things arn't usually something you have to worry about in the digital age with modern content these days - it's just when consuming standard definition content where this all becomes a problem.

I could go on but It's going to be alot more efficent to direct you elsewhere rather than ranting here. So with that said, If you'd like to learn more I highly encourage to check out these videos from My Life In Gaming's YouTube channel, they have a wide variety of videos to help you learn about all things Retro Gaming.

The TL;DR is that with the right equipment you can have a lagless speedrun experience no matter what TV/Monitor you decide to play on but it's alot easier and more cost effective to do so on an SD CRT.

Damn, I was going to try to explain that whole thing above but I guess not lmao. I think CRTs are better because of less lag for inputs but they also look more, idk what to say... better with the N64? Idk if this helps but Imma think that for N64, I would go for the CRT instead of HDTV, it just goes along better with inputs and graphics of games and the console itself. The coding of the TV would just look better with the overall style of the N64.

i forgot this was a sm64 thread lmao kappa