C
athodeRayTubes(CRTs)wereoncetheoneand
onlyoptionforcomputermonitors.Thehulking
greatbeaststookupmassesofspaceondesks
acrossthelandbeforethearrivalofflat-screendisplay
technologiessawthemrapidlyconsignedtohistory.
However,inretrogamingcircles,it haslongbeenheldthat
CRTsarestillthebestwaytoplaycertaingames,andmore
recentlywe’veseena growingwaveofappreciationfor
playingmoderngamesonCRTstoo.So,toseewhatallthe
fussisabout,wetooka stepbackintimetofindoutjustwhat,
if anything,we’vebeenmissingoutonalltheseyears.
What’ssogoodaboutCRTs?
ThereasonCRTshaveremainedpopularcomesdownto
severaldifferentimagequalitycharacteristicsthatcome
aboutduetothewaytheywork,andthefirstoftheseisthe
scanlinenatureofthewaytheyformpictures.
Becausetheimageona CRTisformedbya beamof
electronsthat’sscanningacrossthesurfaceofthe
screen,thewholeimageisnevervisibleallatonce.
Asthebeamleavesbehind
anygivenareaofthescreen,
thephosphoronthescreen’s
surfacecontinuestoglowfor
a shortwhilebeforefading.
However,becauseoureyes
takea momenttoprocessthe
imagethey’rereceiving,
there’senoughtimeforthe
beamtocomebackaround
againtorefreshtheimage
beforewenotice.Incontrast,
LCDandOLEDdisplaysshow
thefullimageforeachrefresh
ofthescreen.
Now,thekeyhereisthat
thosemomentswheremuch
ofthescreenisshowingnothing
butblacktricktheeyeinsucha waythatit reducesthe
appearanceofjudderandblurinmovingimages.Thisis
particularlynoticeablewithhorizontalmovementasseenin
side-scrollinggamessuchasSonictheHedgehogorwhen
youlookleftandrightina first-personshooter.Theimage
appearscrisperandcanfeelmoreresponsive,evenatfar
lowerrefreshratesthanmodernfastLCDs.
ThesecondadvantageisthatCRTscopemuch
betterwithoddandlowresolutions.Thisisbecause
they,toallintentsandpurposes,don’thavea strict
nativeresolution.WhereasanLCDhas1,920x 1,080
individualpixelsinitsLCDpanel,a CRTsimplyadjusts
thenumberoflinesitsbeamcreatesandhowoftenit
turnsthebeamonandofftocreateitspixels.Assuch,
youdon’tgettheproblemyouhavewithLCDswhen
yourungamesatlowerresolutionswherethescreen
hastospreada singlepixeloftheimageacrossseveral
pixelsofthescreen,oftenresultingina blurrymess.
Instead,whileyoumaygetvisibleblanklinesbetweenthe
linesoftheimage,theimageitselfremainssharp.Thisis
particularlywhyretrogames
stilllooksomuchbetteron
CRTs.Blowingupa game
thatoriginallyranat 640 x
480 ontoa 1,920x 1,080
LCDscreenlookscrummy
butstilllookssharponCRT.
Thefinalpiecetothe
puzzleis viewingangles.
OnCRTs,they’reessentially
infinite– aslongasyoucan
seethescreen,theimagewill
appearasgoodasit does
fromstraighton.OLEDs
largelyretainthesamequality
butLCDs– eventhebestones- sufferinseveralwayswhen
viewedfromdifferentangles.
RETRO TECH / ANALYSIS
The return
of CRTs
Edward Chester takes a look at what CRT monitors may still have to offer
nearly 20 years after they fell out of fashion
The way images
are produced on a
CRT means that at
any moment, only
a small part of the
screen is actually
lluminated