HDTV vs. CRT

[Kayo12]

Alright, so I recently picked up a copy of melee and brawl (for PM) from a friend. I am aware of display lag, but I got rid of my last CRT before I started following competitive smash so I am stuck with two LCD's atm. After playing on both I realized that one was absolutely unbearable to play on, but I did not notice lag while playing on the other tv even in the absence of component cables or a wii2HDMI converter. Even though the tv seems fine to me, I'm sure it still has at least some lag and I probably am not noticing it because I'm not familiar with playing smash on CRT's. I'm also scared to start playing or practicing techskill on it because I feel that it might screw me up later if I play on lagless displays.

So my question is: is it a bad idea to keep using my current setup (even if i get component cables or a converter) or should I look for a cheap CRT or even a decent gaming monitor + a converter?

 

[EddyBearr]

Practice with what you can, because chances are, you aren't nearly good enough yet to be all that concerned with being frame perfect on invincible ledgedashes.

If you happen to find a CRT somewhere (preferably, free. They're not hard to find), go ahead and get it. The main incentive for me to get a CRT was saving a few dollars whenever I entered a tournament.

 

[Stride]

It's a bad idea relative to using a CRT, but better than nothing; go out of your way to get a CRT as soon a possible and practice on your laggy TV in the meantime. Don't worry about practicing making things worse; your play will be better when you're adjusting what you're doing to compensate for the different lag than it would be from not knowing what to do at all if you haven't even played yet. That said, you should probably focus on practicing things that don't require response to a visual stimulus so as to minimise how much you have to adjust.

If you have a monitor (it doesn't have to be a gaming monitor; any given monitor will probably be better than any given TV), then use that instead of your current TV since the lag will be very low. You should still aim to get a CRT in this case though.

 

[browndunce]

Practice with what you can, because chances are, you aren't nearly good enough yet to be all that concerned with being frame perfect on invincible ledgedashes.

That's not really the only reason to have a CRT. When OP enters into a tournament, he will be thrown off because the minuscule amount of lag on his HDTV will feel different than the CRTs in the tournament. Even if he's using Jigglypuff, and is not relying on frame perfect moves a lot of the times, he still would need it, or else his tournament performance would be deficient.

 

[EddyBearr]

That's not really the only reason to have a CRT. When OP enters into a tournament, he will be thrown off because the minuscule amount of lag on his HDTV will feel different than the CRTs in the tournament. Even if he's using Jigglypuff, and is not relying on frame perfect moves a lot of the times, he still would need it, or else his tournament performance would be deficient.

The OP needs to create muscle memory still, and get some strategies or understandings, or etc. Efficient use of available frames, spacing details, and etc. are probably 6+ months away from being pivotal to their game. "Frame perfect ledgedashes" was meant to represent basically all the more fine-tuned details of play that would be affected by input lag.

Maybe the OP would take one more game in pools if focusing on a CRT, but I think it's greatly over-stated how important CRT practice is.

 

[TobiasXK]

well, muscle memory stuff isn't really affected at all by input lag (which is a delay between what you do and what you see). right. if you can wavedash with your eyes closed, you can wavedash on the laggiest TV in the world. your hands do the input string the same way they always would, and your character on screen will wavedash—just after a little delay.

but ALL the visually reactive stuff gets screwed, like L-canceling (since it's different timings based on whiff, connect, hitting shield, rising onto a platform, etc.), wavelanding, teching, and like 100% of the neutral, punish, edgeguarding and recovery games.

so yea, CRT is pretty essential for learning things properly.

EDIT: you can solo practice absolute timing techniques on a laggy display, e.g. jump-canceled grabs, regular wavedashing, short hopping. just be careful about trying to train anything that requires visual reaction.

 

[Kayo12]

Thanks for the responses. I'll look to pick up a CRT when I can

 

[Dolla Pills]

I played on an HDTV for a long time and got really comfortable with playing with the lag. Then I got a CRT and it felt much faster and smoother, and while I wasn't used to it and messed up quite a bit it only took a few days of practicing vs CPU's for me to adapt.

So don't hold off playing because you don't have a CRT, especially if you're not that advanced yet.

 

[-Philip Coast Philip-]

I really don't think adjusting is that hard; get a crt though.