How important are CRT TVs?

[S P O N G E]

I have a HD TV and a lot of people say how much lag there is whilst playing on one. Should I bother getting a CRT TV?

 

[KrIsP!]

If you plan on playing competitively then yes. I played on an HD tv and learned everything finding it very hard. Went to a tournament and I was unable to do any of the techniques on a CRT. After getting one my improvement in basic tech skill got a lot quicker and easier.

 

[Juggleguy]

The difference is night and day. You need a CRT TV, period.

 

[Sephirothxxx]

Absolutely. CRT is the ideal TV to have, even if you aren't gonna play competitively. The difference is, as Juggleguy said, night and day.

 

[R@Y]

Smashing without CRT is like an ipod without headphones. You can still play it, but it's really difficult and you can feel the difference.

 

[S P O N G E]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/large-29-toshoba-crt-tv-for-sale/1043204504, this good? By the way, how bad are LCD's?

 

[R@Y]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/large-29-toshoba-crt-tv-for-sale/1043204504, this good? By the way, how bad are LCD's?

The lag on the LCD is like .5 or .3 seconds or so, but it really feels odd. When you play on a CRT, it feels responsive, smooth and on the point.

Well, at least for me it is

 

[Kadano]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/large-29-toshoba-crt-tv-for-sale/1043204504, this good? By the way, how bad are LCD's?

I wouldn’t recommend getting a 16:9 TV as Melee only outputs 4:3.
Some LCD monitors, like the Asus VG248QE, don’t lag noticeably more than CRTs if they are being fed progressive video. This requires extra devices, especially if you also want to record.
If you want to get a “lagless” LCD setup, you’ll end up paying at least $350 for all the equipment needed. And it won’t have much benefit over a $5 4:3 CRT TV, haha.

 

[JKJ]

CRT's are absolutely necessary. Check out local Thrift shops and garage sales. Even just drive around suburban areas; you'll find CRT's littering the streets as garbage, with the boxes for new flatscreens beside them.

Many have walked this same path, none have succeeded. Once you try a CRT, you can never go back. It's an unbelievable difference; I liken it to taking the weights off of a baseball bat fter taking some swings with them on. Everything is just better, period.

 

[Elyssa Xey Hexen]

After trying to play four different variations on smash and multiple characters as well for so long now. I cannot tell if a CRT or not is the thing screwing me up or simply operator error. When I think about how people are able to get L-cancel timings despite hitting light shields, various hitlags, etc. I think part of a person's ability should be to accommodate for different timings in smash. Especially since so much stuff in this game is improvisation anyway. You are adjusting your timing for all sorts of little things all the time and I seem to see people pull out of it just fine. What's so different about a couple of frames of permanent lag which is easily compared to any sort of hitlag a player adjusts too regularly.

I dunno in the end. I think people naturally never look to themselves first as beginning the thing that ****ing screws up. Especially if there is some sort of bandwagon hype going on about something. Its contagious.

 

[Grizzmeister]

Check Craig's List because you'll often find really nice CRT TV's there for free.

If you're really lucky you'll find one with S-Video input which will give you superior picture quality over composite.

 

[S P O N G E]

One last thing before I buy one, does it matter about the size of the TV? Is 29" good?

 

[SAUS]

After trying to play four different variations on smash and multiple characters as well for so long now. I cannot tell if a CRT or not is the thing screwing me up or simply operator error. When I think about how people are able to get L-cancel timings despite hitting light shields, various hitlags, etc. I think part of a person's ability should be to accommodate for different timings in smash. Especially since so much stuff in this game is improvisation anyway. You are adjusting your timing for all sorts of little things all the time and I seem to see people pull out of it just fine. What's so different about a couple of frames of permanent lag which is easily compared to any sort of hitlag a player adjusts too regularly.

I dunno in the end. I think people naturally never look to themselves first as beginning the thing that ****ing screws up. Especially if there is some sort of bandwagon hype going on about something. Its contagious.

I L-cancel based on what I see. I see I'm going to hit their shield and then stall a bit? I wait. I wait to see my character move down more so that I know I will L-cancel. I play on a laggy TV. I press the button too late. Or maybe I hold it down for 1 frame too long (I am a bit sloppy with L-cancelling I realised but it doesn't matter that much on normal TVs) and then I shield after EVERY SINGLE AERIAL. I improvise stuff all the time, but I absolutely DO NOT L-cancel based on a timing I know in my head. I L-cancel based on sight, and when what I see is 0.3 seconds in the past, I cannot play properly. Even if I force myself to deal with it, it is just horrible and feels painful - much in the way trying to actually play single player is painful (no C-stick ).

Then there's things you do based on reaction. Suddenly, tech chasing on reaction is literally impossible. Don't forget SHIELDING OBVIOUS ATTACKS. Woops! I was 0.1 seconds late... EVERY TIME! It is horribly annoying to hit the shield button, and then watch your character fly away. Don't worry though because your opponent can't tech chase you and they will most likely drop their combo. On another note though, you have a good chance of missing your tech lol

I will absolutely refuse to play on a laggy TV. Even if I kick your ass on it, I believe it can harm your timings and tech skill (if you force yourself to get used to it) and I don't think it leaves any room for improving my gameplay. It is just painful.

One last thing before I buy one, does it matter about the size of the TV? Is 29" good?

Size does not really matter. Some sort of medium size is good (29" is a pretty good medium size imo). If it is really big, it is mostly just annoying to move (CRTs are ****ing heavy) and if it is gigantic, sometimes it is hard to play when the screen is too big (usually cause you are too close though). Small TVs are fine too, but I don't think people would want to play tournament matches on them. They are extremely handy for hosting smashfests though since you can put them away after really easily and people won't really mind as long as you let people rotate TVs fairly often.

 

[Darktega]

Hey, guys, just for the sake of not opening another thread... What about a Wii with a component cable on HDTV? Melee plays in progressive scan mode but I don't really know if it plays with lag.

 

[Zhea]

If there is a goodwill near where you live, They have CRT's (decent ones) for 8 bucks. It's worth investing in for this game if you want to play on a technical level.

 

[milligraham]

CRT's are definitely important so you don't have to deal with the lag. I know some HD tvs are worse than others. I played melee at a friend's house and it was terrible, you could noticeably see the cursor hand keep moving well after you stopped moving. Unfortunately my wii is hooked up to a HD tv at my house (I'll be taking care of this soon). It's a lot better than my previous example but it still isn't a CRT.