Apologies if I'm posting in the wrong section, I'm fairly new to posting but was genuinely curious about what is used nowadays as far as this thread goes. I personally own a few old CRTs, one Acer Predator XB252Q 24.5" 240hz & one ASUS ROG Swift PG248Q 24” 180hz. I like to play almost everything and my curiosity with this has been getting the best of me and am seeking help in finding the best answers. I feel it's better to ask here than reddit, if there is a better place to post this I am truly sorry. I find CRT a bit dodgy because of the size & really not knowing if it does or doesn't have an impact on you as far as headaches and eyestrain because it's been so long since I've even used them. I say size as in the obvious elephant they leave in the room as far as weight and the shape isn't friendly in limited spaces, I hope you guys understand what I mean when I say that. I named my specific peripherals for if it is any help in responding to my long post. I looked into OSSC also and was wondering if that's something I should consider? I do stream and want the best experience for myself and any viewers, all around looking for feedback and believe the best place is here :3

I can't talk about specifics but I can my situation.

I only GB games, on my SNES, on a CRT. so it's easy for me to justify having one. If you're running retro games, then modern TVs can come with anywhere from some to a tonne of input lag. CRTs avoid this issue. I don't think I would do much retro running if I didn't have a CRT. Upscalers can often advertise low latency, but I think some latency is inherent to upscaling.

Talking about size though, my CRT is only 11 or 12 inches, so it's pretty easy to fit on a side table in my room and not have it take up a tonne of space. (Technically, I have one of my monitors on it. So Im not even losing the desk space). I also dont personally suffer any more physical issues using it than I do any screen.) I paid 15 bucks for mine, but price varies with location.

For your personal set up, I suppose it depends on how much, specifically retro, speedrunning you plan to do and how much of a deal breaker input lag is for you.

I've only ever had the luxury of the bigger ones seeing a good amount of the game at the expense of the size taking up a bunch of space. Are there any specific TVs or anything that give different quality, difference in quality between runners at an event is something I've noticed is why I ask. I wouldn't mind looking around for a good CRT, I would just want to know what I should be looking for exactly if I do get CRT. Thank you for your patience with my questions.

If you're willing to sink some money, PVM (Professional Video Monitors) are generally the best CRTs you can get for retro gaming.

If you just search around for 'retro pvm' you can find a lot of first hand experiences people have had with their specific models.

I just use a regular cheap CRT, so I don't have any first hand insight on specific ones.

I use a Panasonic CT-1386YD CRT for normal runs. You can find them for pretty cheap ($50 or lower with shipping included on ebay, largely dependent on location, but in Pennsylvania that shouldn't be a problem) and they can be shipped relatively safely. They have input and output connections for composite and S-Video, and there might even be a few high-end models that support RGB or Component (at a higher price point). The picture quality isn't as nice as a Sony PVM, but you're speedrunning on it, not doing analogue video editing, so the picture is honestly more then good enough.

I also own an NEC XM29 plus which is GLORIOUS, but 100+ pounds, expensive and nigh impossible to ship properly. Got mine for free from a client of mine that was about to put it in a dumpster! It had less than 200 hours of use clocked when it came into my possession. My wife justly doesn't let that one come out of the basement.

If you go the CRT route, try to get a CRT that was made in the late 90s to early 00s. Assuming you'd be buying online, there's less of a chance that there's burn in or other defects that you might not initially notice in pictures.

If you're wanting to just use the newer screens, use the OSSC and then just HDMI into the monitors. This would be my personal way to go about it.

Because the signal is already being spat out in HD they won't apply any extra delay in trying to convert it. It means you get a clear picture, and it means easier to capture for stream.

If you choose to go the CRT route, just look for Sony Broadcast PVM or BVM monitors. Just Google around for them, usual places, or goodwill or similar. Always check the monitor specs on the net though, certain models will only takes certain inputs.

Now it also comes down to what you are wanting to put into the OSSC, but that it something for another thread. CRT damage/eye strain is a thing, but not so much that it warrants concern. Each person has their own tolerances.

So i personally used to play all my games exclusively on a Asus LCD pc monitor with the games being upscaled via rgb+OSSC, since then i play on a sony 14"PVM crt , I have to say as long as you have a 1ms lcd monitor and use a ossc you can def get used to playing on it and not have any issues. I switched to PVM just for pure nostalgia of playing on crt and maybe piece of mind knowing that theres no lag on crt at all. It definitely not a issue to play on low lag lcd though.

As for CRT eyestrain, i dont get any playing on a 14" at about 3 feet away from it, but as AMVX stated each person is different.