Always admired the JVC D-series sets but I think a lot of people don't know about the Toshibas A-series not to be confused with the AF-series (flat). From what I've seen they can be equal or sometimes better than the D-series. Great video btw I like these crt reviews.
@@riggel8804 It does. However, if you're going for the bubble look, the A series is about as least curved as a screen gets without being flat for most models.
@@congokong87 oh. Awesome. I'm trying to find out other high quality tvs that aren't Sonys and do reviews on them. I will add the toshiba a series to the list... I might pick up a sharp today.
Picked up a 36” black d series for $35 recently. It was in a “vacation house” for all of its life. Original owner said it was rarely used. Tested it today and HOLLLYYY I hit the jackpot. Geometry is overall decent and I’m pleasantly surprised, 480i Wii/ GC even looks stunning on it
Gaming on a consumer CRT TV is more nostalgic than gaming on a professional CRT TV. Consumer CRT TV is what we game on back in the day. I play all my retro games on my Sony 32" CRT TV KV-32FS17
I love my Sony FD Wega more than my D-Series but I love the look of the JVC too. I enjoy gaming more when I get to play on different TVs whenever I want to.
The reason curved screens are lighter is because they are resisting atmospheric pressure and holding a vacuum inside the tube, and a dished shape is better at holding pressure (think a dam, or rounded pressurized tank). If you make that area flat, it now has to get much thicker to hold up against the same atmospheric pressure.
JVC tubes made by LG electronics, it's basically written on red label. Looks like good budget sets. Maybe there were no high end shadow mask sets in us? Grundigs, b&o, some Philipa models and others
@@BoxLuxik toshiba and Panasonic made bad ass shadow masks in the usa. I got a couple reviews on them. The majority of jvc tubes I have seen are mediocre
What you said about the geometry is really interesting and I've never heard it before. Ya, curved tubes have better geometry, but the D-series is so curved that perfect geometry on it still looks wack because of the big bubble
@@riggel8804 I love how the big bubble tube renders games, the geometry is usually spot on, 240p games look incredible on them, flatscreens tend to have terrible geometry over 25", maybe you can get good geometry on a 27" flatscreen CRT with a lot of calibrating tweaking, plus 240p games just don't look right on flatscreens to me, they don't have the right asphetic to render them properly, where they really shine is higher fidelity 480i content, anime shows etc. I have a UK model Thomson 33" Black Pearl, and it uses the same tube that is used in one of the JVC D-Series models, it's actually a arcade monitor grade tube, that's also manufactured by Video Colour for arcade cabs, it's incredibly sharp for such a big tube, normally I stick to 25" and under Trinitron tubes as they have such good IQ/geometry/blacks/convergence/etc, the Thomson also has incredible blacks, monitor grade geometry/convergence, it's just a beautiful tube, it also has 4 RGB scart inputs, 3 S-Video, 4 speaker outputs for quad stereo (which is amazing for 16-Bit audio) or Dolby Pro-Logic II audio, the built in speakers are already realy beefy on their own, even the composite video input looks good on it, which is usuallly only the case for PVM/BVM sets. Even my Sony 25" curved late 90s Trinitron with it's thick scanlines, perfect blacks, doesn't look as good as my Tommy Black Pearl when it comes to 240p games, the Sony looks better with higher fidelity 480i games, i.e PS2 and up, but for everything PS1 era and down, the Thomson wins, Thomson and Video Colour is actually owned by RCA, so I guess it's actually an RCA set, RCA manufactured a lot of the 32/36" JVC D-Series tubes, the same tube used in a lot of arcade cabs such as the 33" tube in the Star Trek Voyager arcade unit (often branded as Video Colour, their arcade tube maufacturing arm). Side note: RCA invented the colour TV and Sony's original Trinitron desighn was heavely influenced by RCA's shadow mask, another thing they also invented, beofre learning all that I thought it was the Japanese who invented all the best CRT tech, but it was the USA, Japan just perfected it.
@@olivermood8003 haha. You got a bunch of cool shit! What games you playing right now? I can't stop playing street fighter 2 online. I have different tastes then you. I prefer the flatscreens. I've gotten really good at fixing there geometry so it's really not even an issue for me anymore. I also watch a lot of movies and large flat-screen sonys are the best for that. Your right abot 480i stuff. The sony flat-screens look way better for 480i but for 240p gaming it's really a matter of taste weather shadow mask or aperture grill looks better. I've got a Thompson tube in my 36 inch d series and it looks really good but I think my 27 inch panasonic looks better.
@@riggel8804 Yeah I apreciate that when you know what you are doing you can get even a 36" flatscreen Trinitrons geometry looking pretty reasonable, and I also really like the FD Trinis, but for 240p the big curved screens are just perfection to my eyes, also for a lot of the early 480i games too, but for the newer games, PS2 and up, the flat CRTs are the best for sure imo, but as you say it's just a preference thing, I used to swear the late 90s Sony Trinnis were the best untill I came across the Thomson set, it's also awsome for arcade lighgun games given it's arcade heritage. You are lucky then, you have the Tommy tube D-Series as it's a bit of a lottery I guess, pretty much one of those with a well calibrated FD Trinitron is the perfect combo for retro games. I'm currently playing Fallout 3 GOTY edition on the 360, it's hooked up to my Pioneer KURO plasma untill I get the official component cables hook my 360 up to my Panasonic SR Acuity, which is a 32" widescreen EDTV CRT, it has analogue 480p/576p/720p @ 60Hz, contrary to HD CRTs that are digital only and just scale 540p either up or down with added lag, I'm also playing Dreamfall Chapters on PC, I've just gotten a brand new in box Sony G520 Trinitron 21" CRT monitor, the IQ it puts out is pretty jaw droping, not sure if you have seen a Sony VGA monitor before but shit the bed mate they are incredible CRTs, nothing on the market today can come close, not even OLED. Also I've just recently discovered a game on the Sega MegaDrive called Sub-Terania, it's really addictive, has been between that and Columns for the last couple weeks, recommend Sub-Terania though.
I need to get me another D series. I never played on a calibrated one and after seeing how sick a Sanyo 27 inch flat screen look I know D series is insane.
It seems like having the slight colour bleed and plenty of glow is important for watching 80's and 90's anime as well? Scenes of Akira, Ninja Scroll, Evangelion, DBZ and even Pokemon S1&2 come to mind. Plenty of other noteworthy examples of course. Having the triangular phosphor arrangement helps to make things feel mpre organic as well which is important I think unless you're a real line work obsessive. It also seems to help with perceived depth a ton. Something about later trinitrons just feels too sterile & processed.
I get that. Personally I like the look of super sharp late gen trinitrons with component video. I like the "sterile processed" look. Although I use diffrent words to describe it like, "sharp, clean, high fidelity". I have multiple monitors for watching movies-20 inch bvm, 36 inch trinitron xbr and a 100 inch 1080p projectior. For anime I prefer the 36 inch xbr crt. The 1080p projector does look sterile and processed for anime. Still looks good on the projector, especially with the huge size but my 36 inch crt is big enough and still has the crt look. I like the gritty, dirty aesthetic of rf video on a beat up crt for some anime but for me it's a novelty that is cool to look at for 5 minutes and not how I would want to sit down for 2 hours and watch Cashan Robot Hunter.
I have a zenith intec 32 inch with component, coaxial, composite all the works. Great tv, I put it on a 36D jvc stand, I’ve been looking to upgrade to a 36D to maybe fill my stand more. I can never find one local or cheap enough however. Plus this things require two or more people when moving lol
Def check and see which sets have what working service menu adjustments. I’ve been hunting for a d-series that has all 4 of horizontal size, h-position, v size, and v position. I’ve been through 4 different models now and they’re all missing at least one of these. Like not missing, but making adjustments don’t effect the picture.
Sometimes service menu adjustments don't make an adjustments because of failed components, like bad capps. Sometimes adjustments only work on certain inputs.
@@lullylew9083 they’re not omitted, they just have no effect when changed. I’m convinced it’s only JVC sets smaller than 32” that have these limitations.
The model numbers are like: AV-[Screen Size]D[trim level]0[Year Made + 1] The last number in the model number is related to the year the TV was made. You subtract 1 from the last number. D200 is 1999. 505 is 2004, etc. As for trim levels, 200 series was black and premium, it was only made earlier, made in 1999 and 2000. Then the model split into 100, 300, and 500 series, and I think they are all silver. 500 series was premium w/ higher TVL and picture in picture. 100 and 300 was lower. In practice, it doesn't really matter. The 500 series make mario's butt slightly rounder. They all look great. Toward the end of CRTs, I think in 2004, they only made the 300 series.
Thanks for the info. Do you know anything about the different tubes in the D series? I've read that different d series use tubes from Thompson, Panasonic and a few other brands and that you can tell what type of tube you have based on the letters on the serial # on the back of the shell. I have a link in my video with more info but I don't know if this is true or not. Do you know anything about this?
@@riggel8804 If they outsourced the tube manufacturing, I don't know anything about it. I have tested around 10 JVC tvs and taken the back off of 3 or 4 for deep cleaning. The tubes I've seen are all marked w/ a JVC sticker. The 32 inch models all look good, regardless of their "Horizontal Resolution". Additionally the non-D series JVC tvs of the same time period look fantastic. As the screen size decreases, I notice more electronic problems (e.g. noise in the signal, rippling picture, test patterns that don't look right, etc.). They are all slot mask TVs.
@@cornellouis My understanding is that they all have a JVC sticker on them but the tubes are not JVC tubes however the three I have seen all look very similar and I did not notice a difference and, according to the serial numbers, all the tubes I have seen are made by different companies. Maybe it's an urban myth. It seems to be accepted knowledge on CRTReddit. Thanks for the tip on the non D series tvs. I have come across several, with component video, and passed on them. Maybe I will pick one up and do a review.
Funny how their power consumption in much lower than the wega's, at least if you are to believe the stickers. I think the "over" on the s-video input means it takes priority "over" composite if both are connected, at least that's how it works on some Sony's.
I got a flat screen panasonic as well as a lot of other sets one of which is a real low hours flat screen trinitron and the gemoitry issues are none existant of the flat screen panasonic but always there on the trinitrons, I came to the concustion the issue is more with the high brightness levels given from the triitrons aperture grill where as the shadow mask while not as bright dosn't suffer from the same issues.
@@davidbenning10 I have been playing with it recently and I noticed that reducing the contrast and brightness improved a lot of the imperfections in the geometry on the Sony, I was noticing what seemed to be some almost jagged edges to the squares on the 240p grid pattern before hand.
The bubble is fine with me. Doesn't look as bad as a flat screen Sony Trinitron with geometry problems. I guess it's more natural because the screen is made that way. The Sony on the other hand is a flat screen, so you want straight lines. Bends and bows will be more noticable on a flat screen in my opinion.
I thought I was going to feel that way but after spending time with both flatscreens and bubble tubes I found that the bubble was just as distracting as poor geometry on a flatscreen. It really becomes an issue with 36 inch crts where it looks like you are watching a movie inside a fish bowl.
I think the black one has lighter glass than the silver framed ones. I generally like darker glass better but in this case the slightly lighter glass tube looks better to me.
Ah fuck i don't know. My bvm doesn't have dark glass but it's colors pop like mother fucker. I don't really understand black levels on crts. I think dark glass is only one way to go about getting wild colors
Great video as always! Just a quick question, I have a 29inch Black Sony Trinitron from around 1995/6 with an S-video port as it's best output. I want to connect it to my pc and use crt emudrive for 240p gaming emulation. I have an rx480, which is listed as one of the supported gpus, but I have no idea what I need to connect my gpu to the tv's s-video port or what converter etc I need to ensure it sends the correct 240p signal to the tv. The rx480 only has digital ports and no analogue (the DVI port is a DVi-D port) There is so much information on connecting old consoles with upscalers but very hard to find accurate information on connecting a pc to an old crt for 240p. Thanks!
I beg to differ about d series vs sony flat screen, have u ever played the saturn with hd retrovision component cables no transcoder needed it looks like a straight up arcade monitor bright and beautiful colors right out of the box no tweeking necessary like u said. I own a pvm 2530 and honestly some times I like it better definitely on par with it my fav way to play the saturn actually. Its even on par with my bvm D14h5u. I just prefer the shadow mask look like u said I dont know of another consumer set that can do that other then an curved xbr which is essentially the same as a 2530
I don't see where we differ. I agree with you. I did demonstrate that the Wega produces a sharper image but this doesn't meant that the Sony is better than the JVC D. It just means it's sharper. I believe the, 25 inch "profeel" consumer Sony line has the same tube as the 2530. Which makes sense since they were made at the same time. There are multiple xbrs with curved glass but I don't think any of them have a 2530 tube. They all came later. For example, my xbr48 was made in 1999. Compare that with my pvm2030 which was made much earlier, in 1991. It's also impossible to fit a 2530 tube in the majority of xbrs which were generally 32 or 35 inches.
@@riggel8804 yea bro of course I knew that already I’m from the bay, I would know the Cali accent. I actually drove all the way with my wife to sun valley california to pick up my bvm it had low hours. discord.gg/xU7AaUFh join this bay area discord and just ask the leader (Andy) @terminaior if u can join he always lets people sometimes from the LA area join. I’m sure he can make an exception. Its a cool group chat mainly a lot about pvms and crts and engineer type shit that u talk about on ur channel I am retrosega17708 on there tell him I recommended u
I see what u mean u mean now with scanlines, yea I dont care about that much I care about about color not sharpness. Now I know the difference between apature grill and shadow mask I’m glad u broke it down before I only new the terminology but had.bcb
For what to call the individual elements of a slot mask, I'd call them... slots lol. Maybe they can be called triads too since they're made up of three colored segments.
I definitely like those flattop boxy shaped builds - the Panasonic CT-27D11E i just picked up looks generic at first, but then they have those beautiful flat tops and boxy looks. I love me a Wega but who the hell thought it was a good idea to give then a narrow and curved top? It eliminates functionality for setting anything on top. Maybe by the mid 2000s, the old style of placing a VCR or DVD player on top was considered outdated and modern Entertainment cabinets at the time were designed to have your consoles or players sitting on a separate shelf.
Hey man. RUclips ate your previous comment but I can see the firrst part. You picked up a 27d11e. I still have mine. I haven't used it but I'm going to hold onto it. It's definitely my favorite shadow mask looking set. Ended up getting rid of all my D series except for one 32 inch model and I don't really see myself using the d series when I got the d11e. Yea crt design is all over the place. There is definitely a lot more for an artist to work with compared to an lcd screen. I like the early Wegas/XBRs with the boxy design and the D series personally.
@@riggel8804 thanks for letting me know! Yeah I saw a 27D11E went up for dirt cheap, almost free, and love the tube on it. I will admit that Panasonic service menus suck. With Sonys, especially mid 2000 Wegas, you have a very robust service menu where you can almost calibrate anything to your heart’s desire. With the D11E, the service menu is very slim. It doesnt even support horizontal size adjustments and pin cushion adjustments, which means to fine tune that you have to do it internally. Overall, Im really liking the Panasonic D11E, my only gripe is (similar to yours) it has that side bump in the vertical line geometry. Otherwise, its damn near perfect. I actually am fully convinced it’s a Panasonic quirk. I have owned a couple other similar grade 27” curved screens from Panasonic and I shit you not, they all had the exact same bumps in the vertical line on the left and right side.
@@RetrofIex That's cool your using it. I wish I had the room to set mine up. I would probably hook up a Genesis or something to it and play it from time to time. Have you opened yours up? does it have pots for geometry adjustment?
@@riggel8804 i believe it does, havent opened the back up. Overall its pros outweigh the cons and higher end component CRT tvs in my area are so rare that I will definitely keep this one. I just sold my Trinitron KV27V40 from 1998 for $60, including OEM remote in order to replace with my new Pani D11E, since the Trinitron had a bad filter cap and some geometry issues, along with a completely busted plastic base. The D11E has a bit of red gun conv separation and a bit of that outer vertical line curvature I mentioned, but otherwise blows my mind when I fire up Street Fighter 2 on the SNES via component cables
You did a really groovy video on your D-Series. 😄. I freaking love them. I got 2 AV-27D201s. You're right in that they have a charm to them. I love that they're not as sharp as Trinitrons because then VHS tapes don't look as bad as they do on Trinitrons. Put a tape on a Trinitron, you might as well watch a tape on an HDTV because the aperture grille blocks NOTHING. Slot masks at least block some of the ugliness of tapes. XD. Do you think the 32" is def worth trying to lift alone? 😬. I can move around my KV-27FS210 but man, it's tough. The AV-27D201's like cake compared to it.
If you can lift the 27fs210 than you can lift a 32 inch d series. Surprisingly, I think the 32 inch is a little lighter. I get what you say about the vhs looking better on the d series. One thing you could try is plugging in your vhs through composite, instead of component, the composite blooming actually helps in some cases. Also, the comb filter on the wegas cleans the composite up enough to make it bearable.
I just one manned a 36binch d series 201 down a flight of stairs.. I'll never do it again, almost got hurt worse than I did, but the fact it was possible at all speaks to how much lighter these d series TV's are. Still though, why not get a second set of hands? I know why I didn't, I just wanted to jump on it, but I know I sure shouldve. I am still aching 3 days later, but boy I am happy with my great geometry and popping colors
Riggs what do you think about a 32 inch JVC AV-32F476 with stand manufactured in April 2005. Is it worth picking up? Or keep hunting for a 36 inch Sony Trinitron Wega CRT or both.
Okay thanks. So both the tubes in this video are "A" tubes. Since they have "A" at the beginning of the model number. Is that correct? It's odd that someone said that some D-Series have "m" tubes. That doesn't jive with what your saying. If a certain model D-Series tv had a broadcast quality tube in it I think we would all know about it. It would be really obvious.
@@riggel8804 some of them might have M tubes. It was all about sourcing and cost analysis. The 36” D series that I have also has an A tube installed. I also have a 36” Mitsubishi and that has an M class tube.
@@philexile2954 interesting. Do all tube manufacturers, like jvc, sony, Mitsubishi etc., put "m" in the front of the model number to designate a professional grade tube?
@@riggel8804 it was a standard for tubes after the late 70s I think, so yes. That said: I don’t go crazy about the M vs. A class Tubes. There are very good A class tubes out there - like the JVC, and some mediocre M class ones.
@@riggel8804 yeah I found one on FB Market Place, the guy had left out in the elements, when I asked him for more details about the tv for some reason he had an attitude trip.. Ironically his last name was Kuntz... .. . yeah in California it's been a little over a year I've been checking basically everyday, and the silver one that was left out was only one that came up.. They sure are beautiful, I really like their look even more so than the Sony's, mind you I found a ton of the Sony Trinitrons..
I legit picked one up at a garage sale for 15$ yesterday. Its all because i saw this video to lol. Saw this vid, next day theres the black D. Small world eh
@Tony atin If you ever want to take a road trip to vegas, there are a lot here. I got my D series from a retro game shop. They have more in 32" and 36". I've also seen them on offer up here.
@@wg8561 Thanks. There was a guy who commented on here looking for a JVC in Vegas I think. I hope he found one. I actually took one of mine to the dump recently. I felt bad about it but I needed the space. As usual I posted it craigslist for awhile but no one wanted it. What did the game store charge you? Did they service it?
A lot of those first black JVC D-series have that fish eye effect bad. Mine does and many others do even after I personally recapped it. The 32 inch silver jvc I have does not have this so they must have corrected it in the chassis design. Grid pattern linearity is fine. It must have something to do with the S-COR circuit from what I was told since it only does it during movement. Wasn't impressed with my black jvc d series. Also had a bonded yoke. The focus was never great either even after adjusting it except in the middle like if you drew a circle. Another thing I don't like about these jvc is that their stability isn't the greatest. Very top heavy.
Haha yeah I had to use a tie down to secure one of the tvs in this video because it wasn't sitting on yhe cart perfectly and I thought it might tip over.
Note to self get the silver D series. I had a black one and the fish eye effect actually enhances certain retro 2d games but it can get annoying after while.
I was looking into the D-series but after watching this video I will say that I am not impressed with it. The close up of the shadow mask vs the aperture grill is what did it for me...the Trinitrons just have a nicer look in my opinion. I agree that the overall design is nice but that soft shadow mask picture and blooming is a big turn off for me.
The TVL thing is complicated. It's relative to the size of the tube i.e. a 800 line 36 inch tube is not as sharp as a 600 line 20 inch tube. Also, JVC measures their TVL different than everyone else so an 800 line jvc is more like 450 TVL Sony. The TVL thing gets misused a lot.
I really like the look of the D Series. I got a 32 inch D Series I love. I also got a a few Sony Flat Screens, the Sonys are too sharp to me, looks too close to a modern TV. Also hate the way flat screens distort the image on side scrollers is super nasty looking to me
I love the build quality of the D-Series but I prefer the video output of the flatscreen Sonys. But I get that it's a matter of taste. I'm planning on doing a video comparing the different types of looks that certain CRTs have.
@@riggel8804So many different flavors of CRT, something for everyone. I would love a curved Sony with Componet. I'm always on the look out for one but haven't had any luck yet.
Wow not a lot of people have 3 diff versions of these. Did you notice any difference in bubble between the Dxx1, Dxx2, and Dxx3? I've heard the 202/302 have extra curvy bubble compared to 200/300 or 201/301. Also you may know this already (on the 27in ones) but the xx0 and xx1 have 700 line counts but 2 line comb filter on composite. And the xx2 and xx3 have 600 line counts but 3 line comb filter on composite. The third number determines its age btw. Early numbers are the older ones.
Cool to know. Thanks for the info. I noticed the 36 inch 303 has the most pronounced bubble. This is partly due to the fact that crt curvature is more pronounced on large tubes in general but I also think the 303 model is extra curvy compared to other model numbers. Have you ever seen a d series with a panasonic tube? I acquired a panasonic recently and I was blown away with how good it looked.
Panasonics back in the day were probably top 3 best crts. I’ve seen people mentioning d series with those tubes on Reddit. I believe their serial numbers end in Y. They were pro-grade monitors which mostly meant they were better built but the picture probably wasn’t all that different. The D series had lots of different tubes put into them. I’ve seen one with a Samsung.
@@AwesomesMan cool thanks for the feedback. I should have a couple videos coming out soon with panasonics in them. The one next week will definitely have a Panasonic. I don't see much love on RUclips for them.
Still prefer the D I only play more modern consoles anyway I might be called weird but I play ps3 on crt sometimes I even play ps4 them. I'd like to find a fv310 or xbr48 though
@@riggel8804 yeah like 5 or 6 years ago I've always preferred the "bubble" crts though because flat crts with wonky geometry is much more noticeable than when a curved crt has wonky geometry
@@randomgamer24x65 I get it. It's good to know what you like. I feel like a lot of people like a certain crt just because everyone else says it's good. Bubble tubes definitely got their own charm and the big D's got the biggest bubble around.
Depends on the size. Personally I wouldn't buy a a 14 inch pvm regardless of price. I think they are too small. I would prefer to game on a 27 inch wega. If it's a 20 inch pvm I would say that's worth it.
@@riggel8804 makes sense. A 13-14 inch CRT is useful if you sit at a desk and are very close to the screen, but if you have a large room, you’d be squinting at a tiny screen and it would look stupid
@@RetrofIex That's been my experience. No uses 14 inch screens anymore. Even my monitor at work is about 24 inch and I sit right in front of it. There's also a "wow" factor when you get up to the 27 inch size and above. There's a reason the majority of pvms for sale are 14 and 8 inch. People tend to keep the 20 inch models. People tend to sell the 14 inch models after the novelty wears off.
Got my JVCs in the closet right now. Been doing some early morning interneting to figure out of they do 480p or not without having to lug out a bunch of CRTs at 3am. I've unhooked most of my original consoles at the moment trying to make the most out of PS3 and RetroArch. I did some A/B testing with a real NES and RetroArch on a PS3. Side by side it looks like garbage. With enough shaders and things you can get to a point where you forget how good a real NES is but that weird wobbling next to a SOLID nes image really makes you think "yes, there is a difference". Why am I persistent about RetroArch? Lately I discovered RETRO ACHIEVEMENTS and I can't enjoy a game without them anymore (cringe I know, sorry!). I just subbed. Stopped the video like 2 minutes in to write this, I can tell it's gonna be great.
I use retroarch all the time. I use crtemudriver to get it on my old crts. ...never used achievements....sometimes I record myself getting a 1cc. That's kinda like a retroarch achievement I think.
Maybe. I've only corrected tilt on my d series. It wasn't that hard. There is not a lot of rings or pots to adjust inside a d series so you are stuck with service menu and magnets for the most part.
Hey man, this is probably a non-starter since this video is 10 months old, but since you have three D-series and are hard pressed to find much of a difference between them, any chance you'd be willing to part with one? Not sure where you're located (judging by your accent, I'm guessing somewhere in the US) but I'm in the northeast. If you're interested in talking prices and still have one available, I can provide my contact info.
Haha I would have a couple months back but I already got rid of one and I want to keep the other too. It's kinda sad. I had it posted for 30$ for about a month and no one wanted it so I ended up taking it to the dump.
@@riggel8804 Damn, that's too bad. I just started getting into the scene now and of course I've come at the literal worst time. Sky high prices on Facebook marketplace and craigslist. No local broadcast studios or hospitals have any left. And everyone who owns a good tube who isn't a scalper doesn't want to sell theirs, which is totally understandable. It's my loss and my fault for being a Jonny Come Lately lol. That said, if the situation changes and you happen across another JVC D-series or Sony FV310 (or plan to sell one), any chance you could keep me in mind? I'm on Discord under my RUclips name, and I'm also on Reddit under my alt name BeardInTheNorth. Edit: I posted a "want" comment under the May '22 pinned post on r/CRTgaming, and I'll likely post one every month going forward just in case my voice actually reaches someone out there in the void haha.
@@Konic_and_Snuckles It's not the best time to get into crts but it's not the worst. I see good crts for sale or free all the time. But I don't see the best crts anymore. The d series is uncommon and overhyped imo. There are better crts that are getting slept on. Toshibas, panasonic and sharps are better imo. And a flat screen sony is excellent and you can still find them for free. You don't need a 310. Just get a 36 inch wega. Figure out how to correct the geometry on them and you will be good. There's a bunch of crts I wpuld love to get too but I pretty much gave up on it. All the elite models are gone. Wish I could get an rca proscan, panasonic gau, the 32 inch mitsubish pro model. I can't really help you dude. I live in socal. Good luck!
I don't think so. All 3 TVs in this video are virtually the same in terms of sharpness. 36 inch tubes always have a higher, "line count" vs a 32 inch tube because there is more screen realestate to count the lines. So a 450 line 20 inch is sharper than a 500 line 32 inch... I wish people would just use "dot pitch" instead of line count. That's what we use in medical imaging and it's less confusing.
@@Cathode_Days thats still more then a standard consumer TV set somewhere around 250 max. 500 is still like some pro monitors like a 2530 has 560 lines. it dosent look much different I have both and on a side to side comparison they both look similar. Just that statement alone that a consumer tv looks just like a pro monitor I (can’t tell the difference) is quite fascinating just like an arcade monitor
Not as sharp as a HR pro monitor let’s say a bvmD32 dont know any other pro monitor the same size to compare to to be fair but it still has a lot of color I can’t say more because I never seen a bvm32 in real life but I have a 2530 and it is as sharp and even more colors then it as Sony to me have a more dole. When your talking about a smaller 20 inch pro monitor let’s be fair of course it’s not as sharp it’s a way smaller tv, let’s be honest how many of us own a bvmD32 or can get our hands on one let alone a d24
Lastly i will say this last thing in 480i that’s where a pro monitor like the 2530 looks alot better and more Crispy then the jvc so if u where watching a movie 480i on the 2530 a lot better even video games in 480i look better but 240p virtually the same thing and with my saturn it’s my most preferred way to play is on the jvc
@@gloriadei3400 I forget how to do it exactly but you have to check one of the numbers on the chasi. I think it's the serial number. Ignore the info on the tube. It's googlable.
@@christian1205 haha, yeah that's a long trip. you are probably better off making a Craigslist alert and waiting. but if you want I will sell it to you.
@@riggel8804 do you know what setting? Did try to open the service menu to adjust the overscan. Found a way to enjoy my PS2 2D games by downscaling it to 240p btw.
@@SkyChurch11 Some dude on rddit told me to do this, "Add or subtract lines in the blanking interval" but I would take that advice with a grain of salt. You can also try adjusting V hold. Good luck.
Yes. I watch all movies and video on my CRT. I also watch RUclips on my CRT. I don't have any firsthand knowledge with Oled. I have heard that they can look really bad with old movies that were filmed with film and intended for 480i resolution. I know that my 36 inch XBR CRT looks far supior to my 1080p LCD screen for any movies made before 2000. The D-series don't look as good as the late generation Sony CRTs for movies. The one downside of all SD CRTs is the 4/3 aspect ratio. I use VLC media player to crop the image on my CRT but it's definitely not perfect but I still prefer it over my LCD screen. I recommend large 36 inch late generation CRTs for movies. The aspect ratio issue isn't as big a deal on a 36 inch vs a 20 inch. Keep in mind I got my 36 XBR CRT for free. Oleds cost more.
@@riggel8804 led just like crts have different classes. Comparing a flagship Qled to a run of the mill budget lcd is like comparing the best bvm to a budget consumer crt. I'm definitely not hating on crt. I've owned too many to count and some really high end ones too. I even had a pioneer elite pro 710 rear projection that was calibrated and probably better at movies than just about any tube crt. I currently have a jvc d series in 32 and a 27" trinitron. They are great for retro games but for modern games (hooked up my series X to check it out) really bad. Movies fair better but nowhere close to my samsung Q8fn. It may be hard to believe but the very best leds have near oled blacks and top tier colors and of course incredible contrast. Watching old movies like Jaws and Alien in 4k is one of my favorite things. I will admit though I'm still on the hunt for the perfect retro gaming crt. Maybe someday I'll score a sweet pvm/bvm.
@@riggel8804 oleds look good but have tons of issues, most notably godawful burn in. They are alright for tvs where you dont have any static images, but basically unusable for pc/desktop use. Just tons of compromises no taskbar or other static things, and no matter the quality they will still start showing signs of burn in within a few months of daily use. Hopefully the next evolution of them will be better (microled), unfortunately Oleds are still the only thing to come close to CRT blacks. The other guy is partially right tho, there is an absolutely massive gap between bad LCD monitors and good ones. But at least for watching 4:3 anime, no LED/LCD ive ever seen even comes CLOSE to how good the stuff looks on my 27in Trini. hopefully going to pick up a FREE 32in? D series soon which is why I'm here (why do they never show the model numbers lol)
are you using Raspberry pi or PC on your CRTs? If so, how? CRTEmuDriver into OSSC,.. or RetroTink? I've got a MisterFPGA, several Rpis, several old PCs with AMD GPUs with analog VGA output and some cheap HDMI to component transcoders.. plenty of options but I haven't found any info on what other people are doing. 🤷♂️
I'm using a pc with an old ati graphics card and crtemudriver. I should do a video on it. It's amazing and people ask me about it all the time. I've used the rpi before and did not like it but that was back in the rpi3 days. It might be better now. I use the vga out on my pc to go to a rgb to component transcoder that goes into my tv
@@mrburns366 I hooked crtemudriver up to a d series once and it was terrible. The interlace jitter was the worst I've ever seen. You might have better luck but I would recommend a trinitron. My toshiba and mitsubishi also worked fine But I have less experience with those brands
@@riggel8804 i mainly just want to run 240p stuff so I'm not too worried about interlacing artifacts. Windows usually looks like crap in 480i that's for sure!
@@mrburns366 It's not just that the desktop resolution of 480i looks bad on the d series, it's borderline unusable. At least that was my experience. The whole screen shakes up and down. If all you were using it for was to get into retroarch you would probably be okay since the retroarch gui displays in 240p
![Megan Thee Stallion - Neva Play (feat. RM) [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TpYTyAaTRts/mqdefault.jpg)
Always admired the JVC D-series sets but I think a lot of people don't know about the Toshibas A-series not to be confused with the AF-series (flat). From what I've seen they can be equal or sometimes better than the D-series. Great video btw I like these crt reviews.
Thanks! I've never heard of the A series. I noticed that Game Sack and MLIG both have the AF. Does the A series have component inputs?
@@riggel8804 It does. However, if you're going for the bubble look, the A series is about as least curved as a screen gets without being flat for most models.
@@congokong87 oh. Awesome. I'm trying to find out other high quality tvs that aren't Sonys and do reviews on them. I will add the toshiba a series to the list... I might pick up a sharp today.
Exato. Tem essa toshiba aqui desde 3:47 em ruclips.net/video/_uSj55owDGU/видео.html
Picked up a 36” black d series for $35 recently. It was in a “vacation house” for all of its life. Original owner said it was rarely used.
Tested it today and HOLLLYYY I hit the jackpot. Geometry is overall decent and I’m pleasantly surprised, 480i Wii/ GC even looks stunning on it
Gaming on a consumer CRT TV is more nostalgic than gaming on a professional CRT TV. Consumer CRT TV is what we game on back in the day. I play all my retro games on my Sony 32" CRT TV KV-32FS17
I love my Sony FD Wega more than my D-Series but I love the look of the JVC too. I enjoy gaming more when I get to play on different TVs whenever I want to.
I get that itch to fire up a different CRT once in a while but yea, Sony is top dog.
D Series is my personal favorite consumer set
The reason curved screens are lighter is because they are resisting atmospheric pressure and holding a vacuum inside the tube, and a dished shape is better at holding pressure (think a dam, or rounded pressurized tank). If you make that area flat, it now has to get much thicker to hold up against the same atmospheric pressure.
Maybe but the curved Sony's are heavy as shit too.
I used to have a 32 inch D series with the bubble screen and you are right about that blooming. I thought something was wrong.
JVC tubes made by LG electronics, it's basically written on red label. Looks like good budget sets. Maybe there were no high end shadow mask sets in us? Grundigs, b&o, some Philipa models and others
@@BoxLuxik toshiba and Panasonic made bad ass shadow masks in the usa. I got a couple reviews on them. The majority of jvc tubes I have seen are mediocre
What you said about the geometry is really interesting and I've never heard it before. Ya, curved tubes have better geometry, but the D-series is so curved that perfect geometry on it still looks wack because of the big bubble
Okay. Yeah. I never heard anyone else bring it up before
Glad it's not just me that noticed.
It's bad on the 32 but it's hilariously bad on the 36
@@riggel8804 I love how the big bubble tube renders games, the geometry is usually spot on, 240p games look incredible on them, flatscreens tend to have terrible geometry over 25", maybe you can get good geometry on a 27" flatscreen CRT with a lot of calibrating tweaking, plus 240p games just don't look right on flatscreens to me, they don't have the right asphetic to render them properly, where they really shine is higher fidelity 480i content, anime shows etc. I have a UK model Thomson 33" Black Pearl, and it uses the same tube that is used in one of the JVC D-Series models, it's actually a arcade monitor grade tube, that's also manufactured by Video Colour for arcade cabs, it's incredibly sharp for such a big tube, normally I stick to 25" and under Trinitron tubes as they have such good IQ/geometry/blacks/convergence/etc, the Thomson also has incredible blacks, monitor grade geometry/convergence, it's just a beautiful tube, it also has 4 RGB scart inputs, 3 S-Video, 4 speaker outputs for quad stereo (which is amazing for 16-Bit audio) or Dolby Pro-Logic II audio, the built in speakers are already realy beefy on their own, even the composite video input looks good on it, which is usuallly only the case for PVM/BVM sets.
Even my Sony 25" curved late 90s Trinitron with it's thick scanlines, perfect blacks, doesn't look as good as my Tommy Black Pearl when it comes to 240p games, the Sony looks better with higher fidelity 480i games, i.e PS2 and up, but for everything PS1 era and down, the Thomson wins, Thomson and Video Colour is actually owned by RCA, so I guess it's actually an RCA set, RCA manufactured a lot of the 32/36" JVC D-Series tubes, the same tube used in a lot of arcade cabs such as the 33" tube in the Star Trek Voyager arcade unit (often branded as Video Colour, their arcade tube maufacturing arm). Side note: RCA invented the colour TV and Sony's original Trinitron desighn was heavely influenced by RCA's shadow mask, another thing they also invented, beofre learning all that I thought it was the Japanese who invented all the best CRT tech, but it was the USA, Japan just perfected it.
@@olivermood8003 haha. You got a bunch of cool shit! What games you playing right now? I can't stop playing street fighter 2 online.
I have different tastes then you. I prefer the flatscreens. I've gotten really good at fixing there geometry so it's really not even an issue for me anymore. I also watch a lot of movies and large flat-screen sonys are the best for that. Your right abot 480i stuff. The sony flat-screens look way better for 480i but for 240p gaming it's really a matter of taste weather shadow mask or aperture grill looks better.
I've got a Thompson tube in my 36 inch d series and it looks really good but I think my 27 inch panasonic looks better.
@@riggel8804 Yeah I apreciate that when you know what you are doing you can get even a 36" flatscreen Trinitrons geometry looking pretty reasonable, and I also really like the FD Trinis, but for 240p the big curved screens are just perfection to my eyes, also for a lot of the early 480i games too, but for the newer games, PS2 and up, the flat CRTs are the best for sure imo, but as you say it's just a preference thing, I used to swear the late 90s Sony Trinnis were the best untill I came across the Thomson set, it's also awsome for arcade lighgun games given it's arcade heritage. You are lucky then, you have the Tommy tube D-Series as it's a bit of a lottery I guess, pretty much one of those with a well calibrated FD Trinitron is the perfect combo for retro games.
I'm currently playing Fallout 3 GOTY edition on the 360, it's hooked up to my Pioneer KURO plasma untill I get the official component cables hook my 360 up to my Panasonic SR Acuity, which is a 32" widescreen EDTV CRT, it has analogue 480p/576p/720p @ 60Hz, contrary to HD CRTs that are digital only and just scale 540p either up or down with added lag, I'm also playing Dreamfall Chapters on PC, I've just gotten a brand new in box Sony G520 Trinitron 21" CRT monitor, the IQ it puts out is pretty jaw droping, not sure if you have seen a Sony VGA monitor before but shit the bed mate they are incredible CRTs, nothing on the market today can come close, not even OLED. Also I've just recently discovered a game on the Sega MegaDrive called Sub-Terania, it's really addictive, has been between that and Columns for the last couple weeks, recommend Sub-Terania though.
These all look just fantastic.
I need to get me another D series. I never played on a calibrated one and after seeing how sick a Sanyo 27 inch flat screen look I know D series is insane.
It seems like having the slight colour bleed and plenty of glow is important for watching 80's and 90's anime as well? Scenes of Akira, Ninja Scroll, Evangelion, DBZ and even Pokemon S1&2 come to mind. Plenty of other noteworthy examples of course. Having the triangular phosphor arrangement helps to make things feel mpre organic as well which is important I think unless you're a real line work obsessive. It also seems to help with perceived depth a ton. Something about later trinitrons just feels too sterile & processed.
I get that. Personally I like the look of super sharp late gen trinitrons with component video. I like the "sterile processed" look. Although I use diffrent words to describe it like, "sharp, clean, high fidelity".
I have multiple monitors for watching movies-20 inch bvm, 36 inch trinitron xbr and a 100 inch 1080p projectior. For anime I prefer the 36 inch xbr crt. The 1080p projector does look sterile and processed for anime. Still looks good on the projector, especially with the huge size but my 36 inch crt is big enough and still has the crt look.
I like the gritty, dirty aesthetic of rf video on a beat up crt for some anime but for me it's a novelty that is cool to look at for 5 minutes and not how I would want to sit down for 2 hours and watch Cashan Robot Hunter.
Great video! I was planning to pick one of these up soon.
I have a zenith intec 32 inch with component, coaxial, composite all the works. Great tv, I put it on a 36D jvc stand, I’ve been looking to upgrade to a 36D to maybe fill my stand more. I can never find one local or cheap enough however. Plus this things require two or more people when moving lol
Def check and see which sets have what working service menu adjustments. I’ve been hunting for a d-series that has all 4 of horizontal size, h-position, v size, and v position. I’ve been through 4 different models now and they’re all missing at least one of these. Like not missing, but making adjustments don’t effect the picture.
Sometimes service menu adjustments don't make an adjustments because of failed components, like bad capps. Sometimes adjustments only work on certain inputs.
It's odd that any crt with a service menu would omit any of those settings.
@@lullylew9083 they’re not omitted, they just have no effect when changed. I’m convinced it’s only JVC sets smaller than 32” that have these limitations.
12:33
My wife clicked on your time stamp. She spent the last five minutes teasing me without mercy. Thanks
The model numbers are like:
AV-[Screen Size]D[trim level]0[Year Made + 1]
The last number in the model number is related to the year the TV was made. You subtract 1 from the last number. D200 is 1999. 505 is 2004, etc. As for trim levels, 200 series was black and premium, it was only made earlier, made in 1999 and 2000. Then the model split into 100, 300, and 500 series, and I think they are all silver. 500 series was premium w/ higher TVL and picture in picture. 100 and 300 was lower. In practice, it doesn't really matter. The 500 series make mario's butt slightly rounder. They all look great. Toward the end of CRTs, I think in 2004, they only made the 300 series.
Thanks for the info. Do you know anything about the different tubes in the D series? I've read that different d series use tubes from Thompson, Panasonic and a few other brands and that you can tell what type of tube you have based on the letters on the serial # on the back of the shell. I have a link in my video with more info but I don't know if this is true or not. Do you know anything about this?
@@riggel8804 If they outsourced the tube manufacturing, I don't know anything about it. I have tested around 10 JVC tvs and taken the back off of 3 or 4 for deep cleaning. The tubes I've seen are all marked w/ a JVC sticker. The 32 inch models all look good, regardless of their "Horizontal Resolution". Additionally the non-D series JVC tvs of the same time period look fantastic. As the screen size decreases, I notice more electronic problems (e.g. noise in the signal, rippling picture, test patterns that don't look right, etc.). They are all slot mask TVs.
@@cornellouis My understanding is that they all have a JVC sticker on them but the tubes are not JVC tubes however the three I have seen all look very similar and I did not notice a difference and, according to the serial numbers, all the tubes I have seen are made by different companies. Maybe it's an urban myth. It seems to be accepted knowledge on CRTReddit.
Thanks for the tip on the non D series tvs. I have come across several, with component video, and passed on them. Maybe I will pick one up and do a review.
@@riggel8804 CRT discord probably knows. I will consult the elder gods...
@@cornellouis haha. Thanks :)
@10:57 a genuine laugh for this comment....
Funny how their power consumption in much lower than the wega's, at least if you are to believe the stickers. I think the "over" on the s-video input means it takes priority "over" composite if both are connected, at least that's how it works on some Sony's.
Okay cool thanks. That makes sense.
The comment about better geometry on the round ones is hilarious and so true lol. Like bro it's inherently curved
I looked over to check if my TV was on because I heard the high pitch whine. I didn't think a recording would pick that up tbh
I got a flat screen panasonic as well as a lot of other sets one of which is a real low hours flat screen trinitron and the gemoitry issues are none existant of the flat screen panasonic but always there on the trinitrons, I came to the concustion the issue is more with the high brightness levels given from the triitrons aperture grill where as the shadow mask while not as bright dosn't suffer from the same issues.
I concur. My Panasonic CRT had way less geometry issues than my Trinitron.
@@davidbenning10 I have been playing with it recently and I noticed that reducing the contrast and brightness improved a lot of the imperfections in the geometry on the Sony, I was noticing what seemed to be some almost jagged edges to the squares on the 240p grid pattern before hand.
I'm back. Finally found a 36" d series.
The bubble is fine with me. Doesn't look as bad as a flat screen Sony Trinitron with geometry problems. I guess it's more natural because the screen is made that way. The Sony on the other hand is a flat screen, so you want straight lines. Bends and bows will be more noticable on a flat screen in my opinion.
I thought I was going to feel that way but after spending time with both flatscreens and bubble tubes I found that the bubble was just as distracting as poor geometry on a flatscreen. It really becomes an issue with 36 inch crts where it looks like you are watching a movie inside a fish bowl.
You're great to listen to, man
I think the black one has lighter glass than the silver framed ones. I generally like darker glass better but in this case the slightly lighter glass tube looks better to me.
Ah fuck i don't know. My bvm doesn't have dark glass but it's colors pop like mother fucker. I don't really understand black levels on crts. I think dark glass is only one way to go about getting wild colors
Loving the videos. Can you do a video on how you adjust/fix the geometry for one of these D series?
Nope. Sorry. Not doing that. But I have a video on servicing CRTs. pretty much everything in that video applies to the D series.
Great video as always! Just a quick question, I have a 29inch Black Sony Trinitron from around 1995/6 with an S-video port as it's best output. I want to connect it to my pc and use crt emudrive for 240p gaming emulation. I have an rx480, which is listed as one of the supported gpus, but I have no idea what I need to connect my gpu to the tv's s-video port or what converter etc I need to ensure it sends the correct 240p signal to the tv. The rx480 only has digital ports and no analogue (the DVI port is a DVi-D port) There is so much information on connecting old consoles with upscalers but very hard to find accurate information on connecting a pc to an old crt for 240p. Thanks!
I beg to differ about d series vs sony flat screen, have u ever played the saturn with hd retrovision component cables no transcoder needed it looks like a straight up arcade monitor bright and beautiful colors right out of the box no tweeking necessary like u said. I own a pvm 2530 and honestly some times I like it better definitely on par with it my fav way to play the saturn actually. Its even on par with my bvm D14h5u. I just prefer the shadow mask look like u said I dont know of another consumer set that can do that other then an curved xbr which is essentially the same as a 2530
I don't see where we differ. I agree with you. I did demonstrate that the Wega produces a sharper image but this doesn't meant that the Sony is better than the JVC D. It just means it's sharper.
I believe the, 25 inch "profeel" consumer Sony line has the same tube as the 2530. Which makes sense since they were made at the same time. There are multiple xbrs with curved glass but I don't think any of them have a 2530 tube. They all came later. For example, my xbr48 was made in 1999. Compare that with my pvm2030 which was made much earlier, in 1991. It's also impossible to fit a 2530 tube in the majority of xbrs which were generally 32 or 35 inches.
@@riggel8804 exactly 2 different tubes. Ur right there we don’t differ said the wrong phrase What state are u in?
@@Yafeu_Fula I'm a couple hours north of LA
@@riggel8804 yea bro of course I knew that already I’m from the bay, I would know the Cali accent. I actually drove all the way with my wife to sun valley california to pick up my bvm it had low hours. discord.gg/xU7AaUFh join this bay area discord and just ask the leader (Andy) @terminaior if u can join he always lets people sometimes from the LA area join. I’m sure he can make an exception. Its a cool group chat mainly a lot about pvms and crts and engineer type shit that u talk about on ur channel I am retrosega17708 on there tell him I recommended u
I see what u mean u mean now with scanlines, yea I dont care about that much I care about about color not sharpness. Now I know the difference between apature grill and shadow mask I’m glad u broke it down before I only new the terminology but had.bcb
For what to call the individual elements of a slot mask, I'd call them... slots lol. Maybe they can be called triads too since they're made up of three colored segments.
Thanks, I've heard "triad" used before. I think I might use that. I've got a video on scanlines coming up so I need to get my terminology straight
I definitely like those flattop boxy shaped builds - the Panasonic CT-27D11E i just picked up looks generic at first, but then they have those beautiful flat tops and boxy looks. I love me a Wega but who the hell thought it was a good idea to give then a narrow and curved top? It eliminates functionality for setting anything on top. Maybe by the mid 2000s, the old style of placing a VCR or DVD player on top was considered outdated and modern Entertainment cabinets at the time were designed to have your consoles or players sitting on a separate shelf.
Hey man. RUclips ate your previous comment but I can see the firrst part. You picked up a 27d11e. I still have mine. I haven't used it but I'm going to hold onto it. It's definitely my favorite shadow mask looking set. Ended up getting rid of all my D series except for one 32 inch model and I don't really see myself using the d series when I got the d11e.
Yea crt design is all over the place. There is definitely a lot more for an artist to work with compared to an lcd screen. I like the early Wegas/XBRs with the boxy design and the D series personally.
@@riggel8804 thanks for letting me know! Yeah I saw a 27D11E went up for dirt cheap, almost free, and love the tube on it. I will admit that Panasonic service menus suck. With Sonys, especially mid 2000 Wegas, you have a very robust service menu where you can almost calibrate anything to your heart’s desire. With the D11E, the service menu is very slim. It doesnt even support horizontal size adjustments and pin cushion adjustments, which means to fine tune that you have to do it internally. Overall, Im really liking the Panasonic D11E, my only gripe is (similar to yours) it has that side bump in the vertical line geometry. Otherwise, its damn near perfect. I actually am fully convinced it’s a Panasonic quirk. I have owned a couple other similar grade 27” curved screens from Panasonic and I shit you not, they all had the exact same bumps in the vertical line on the left and right side.
@@RetrofIex That's cool your using it. I wish I had the room to set mine up. I would probably hook up a Genesis or something to it and play it from time to time.
Have you opened yours up? does it have pots for geometry adjustment?
@@riggel8804 i believe it does, havent opened the back up. Overall its pros outweigh the cons and higher end component CRT tvs in my area are so rare that I will definitely keep this one. I just sold my Trinitron KV27V40 from 1998 for $60, including OEM remote in order to replace with my new Pani D11E, since the Trinitron had a bad filter cap and some geometry issues, along with a completely busted plastic base. The D11E has a bit of red gun conv separation and a bit of that outer vertical line curvature I mentioned, but otherwise blows my mind when I fire up Street Fighter 2 on the SNES via component cables
My trunitron went out on me last week so I ended up getting a jvc av 32d302 for free
Rip Trinitron. The d series is a weird cool tube. I think you will like it.
the little wii chingus 😘
Great video! Just checking, these CRTs don't take in 480p even though they have component IN correct? Thanks!
No. THese only display 480i and 240p.
You did a really groovy video on your D-Series. 😄. I freaking love them. I got 2 AV-27D201s. You're right in that they have a charm to them. I love that they're not as sharp as Trinitrons because then VHS tapes don't look as bad as they do on Trinitrons. Put a tape on a Trinitron, you might as well watch a tape on an HDTV because the aperture grille blocks NOTHING. Slot masks at least block some of the ugliness of tapes. XD.
Do you think the 32" is def worth trying to lift alone? 😬. I can move around my KV-27FS210 but man, it's tough. The AV-27D201's like cake compared to it.
If you can lift the 27fs210 than you can lift a 32 inch d series. Surprisingly, I think the 32 inch is a little lighter.
I get what you say about the vhs looking better on the d series. One thing you could try is plugging in your vhs through composite, instead of component, the composite blooming actually helps in some cases. Also, the comb filter on the wegas cleans the composite up enough to make it bearable.
I just one manned a 36binch d series 201 down a flight of stairs.. I'll never do it again, almost got hurt worse than I did, but the fact it was possible at all speaks to how much lighter these d series TV's are.
Still though, why not get a second set of hands? I know why I didn't, I just wanted to jump on it, but I know I sure shouldve. I am still aching 3 days later, but boy I am happy with my great geometry and popping colors
I disagree, I think 480i 3d gaming looks great on these. Not as good as other options, but still better than what most people had back in the day.
I'm spoiled on flat sonys
Riggs what do you think about a 32 inch JVC AV-32F476 with stand manufactured in April 2005. Is it worth picking up?
Or keep hunting for a 36 inch Sony Trinitron Wega CRT or both.
Both if the price is right and it'snot too bad of a drive. If you don't like it take it to the dump. Pick em up now. They are becoming scarce.
@@riggel8804 your advice is highly appreciated and the channel is much needed for information. Thanks for being awesome 📺
No prob. Your welcome. I got videos already uploaded for the next few months. Next month is probably a video on RGB vs component.
M tubes are higher quality, or support higher resolutions. All BVM tube numbers start with M. A is a more standard, consumer level tube.
Okay thanks. So both the tubes in this video are "A" tubes. Since they have "A" at the beginning of the model number. Is that correct? It's odd that someone said that some D-Series have "m" tubes. That doesn't jive with what your saying. If a certain model D-Series tv had a broadcast quality tube in it I think we would all know about it. It would be really obvious.
@@riggel8804 some of them might have M tubes. It was all about sourcing and cost analysis. The 36” D series that I have also has an A tube installed. I also have a 36” Mitsubishi and that has an M class tube.
@@philexile2954 interesting. Do all tube manufacturers, like jvc, sony, Mitsubishi etc., put "m" in the front of the model number to designate a professional grade tube?
@@riggel8804 it was a standard for tubes after the late 70s I think, so yes.
That said: I don’t go crazy about the M vs. A class Tubes. There are very good A class tubes out there - like the JVC, and some mediocre M class ones.
What about the d bvms?
I been looking for a black D-Series, so hard to find..
The D is hard to find in general in my area. I had an alert out for over a year and only found one black one... It is beautiful isn't it?
@@riggel8804 yeah I found one on FB Market Place, the guy had left out in the elements, when I asked him for more details about the tv for some reason he had an attitude trip.. Ironically his last name was Kuntz... .. . yeah in California it's been a little over a year I've been checking basically everyday, and the silver one that was left out was only one that came up.. They sure are beautiful, I really like their look even more so than the Sony's, mind you I found a ton of the Sony Trinitrons..
I legit picked one up at a garage sale for 15$ yesterday. Its all because i saw this video to lol. Saw this vid, next day theres the black D. Small world eh
@Tony atin If you ever want to take a road trip to vegas, there are a lot here. I got my D series from a retro game shop. They have more in 32" and 36". I've also seen them on offer up here.
@@wg8561 Thanks. There was a guy who commented on here looking for a JVC in Vegas I think. I hope he found one. I actually took one of mine to the dump recently. I felt bad about it but I needed the space. As usual I posted it craigslist for awhile but no one wanted it.
What did the game store charge you? Did they service it?
So the largest looks best, then the middle, then the smallest.
A lot of those first black JVC D-series have that fish eye effect bad. Mine does and many others do even after I personally recapped it. The 32 inch silver jvc I have does not have this so they must have corrected it in the chassis design.
Grid pattern linearity is fine. It must have something to do with the S-COR circuit from what I was told since it only does it during movement.
Wasn't impressed with my black jvc d series. Also had a bonded yoke. The focus was never great either even after adjusting it except in the middle like if you drew a circle.
Another thing I don't like about these jvc is that their stability isn't the greatest. Very top heavy.
Haha yeah I had to use a tie down to secure one of the tvs in this video because it wasn't sitting on yhe cart perfectly and I thought it might tip over.
Note to self get the silver D series. I had a black one and the fish eye effect actually enhances certain retro 2d games but it can get annoying after while.
I have the 32d201, I can't believe how small it looks nest to the 36 inch. Especially since I'm watching this video on my 32d201
Also my stand for it is nearly identical to yours
I tried using crtemudriver with a d series but the interlacing was terrible. How is it on yours? Do you use crtemudriver?
casually running little samson
Good looking game. The sound is maddening...I can here it now.
I just got a 36 inch black dseries 202!
very good
I was looking into the D-series but after watching this video I will say that I am not impressed with it. The close up of the shadow mask vs the aperture grill is what did it for me...the Trinitrons just have a nicer look in my opinion. I agree that the overall design is nice but that soft shadow mask picture and blooming is a big turn off for me.
I get it. I prefer the apature grill as well.
Sun GDM-5510 CRT , rev ?
I think I have heard JVC mention 800 to 900 lines
The TVL thing is complicated. It's relative to the size of the tube i.e. a 800 line 36 inch tube is not as sharp as a 600 line 20 inch tube. Also, JVC measures their TVL different than everyone else so an 800 line jvc is more like 450 TVL Sony. The TVL thing gets misused a lot.
I really like the look of the D Series. I got a 32 inch D Series I love. I also got a a few Sony Flat Screens, the Sonys are too sharp to me, looks too close to a modern TV. Also hate the way flat screens distort the image on side scrollers is super nasty looking to me
I love the build quality of the D-Series but I prefer the video output of the flatscreen Sonys. But I get that it's a matter of taste. I'm planning on doing a video comparing the different types of looks that certain CRTs have.
@@riggel8804So many different flavors of CRT, something for everyone. I would love a curved Sony with Componet. I'm always on the look out for one but haven't had any luck yet.
@@Fahrenheit38 I've run across 3 or 4 xbr48s. They got that curved glass and component.I have a review on my channel of one.
@@riggel8804 haha I saw, I only seen one and the dude was trying to get over a grand for it. That's way to much for me!
@@Fahrenheit38 Every one I have seen has been for free. Just keep looking. You live in California? I sell you mine cheap. 100 bucks or something.
what sound did you sample for the beginning of this video ?
That's the capcom logo screen my friend.
@@riggel8804 thanks mang, I knew I heard it a thousand times as a kid, couldn't quite recall where.
@@frankiewylde8812 ye
Why can't i get one? I can't find one in Portugal.
CRTs are drying up.
@@riggel8804 no... A D series. I have several CRT. All Trinis. But I want a D series.
Does the D in D series stand for Dotmask?
D is for dingus
Wow not a lot of people have 3 diff versions of these. Did you notice any difference in bubble between the Dxx1, Dxx2, and Dxx3? I've heard the 202/302 have extra curvy bubble compared to 200/300 or 201/301. Also you may know this already (on the 27in ones) but the xx0 and xx1 have 700 line counts but 2 line comb filter on composite. And the xx2 and xx3 have 600 line counts but 3 line comb filter on composite. The third number determines its age btw. Early numbers are the older ones.
Cool to know. Thanks for the info.
I noticed the 36 inch 303 has the most pronounced bubble. This is partly due to the fact that crt curvature is more pronounced on large tubes in general but I also think the 303 model is extra curvy compared to other model numbers.
Have you ever seen a d series with a panasonic tube? I acquired a panasonic recently and I was blown away with how good it looked.
Panasonics back in the day were probably top 3 best crts. I’ve seen people mentioning d series with those tubes on Reddit. I believe their serial numbers end in Y. They were pro-grade monitors which mostly meant they were better built but the picture probably wasn’t all that different. The D series had lots of different tubes put into them. I’ve seen one with a Samsung.
And thanks for the info about the 303. Hope to find a 202/203 one day. And a xbr48 too haha.
@@AwesomesMan yeah no prob dude. Good luck hunting for tubes!
@@AwesomesMan cool thanks for the feedback. I should have a couple videos coming out soon with panasonics in them. The one next week will definitely have a Panasonic. I don't see much love on RUclips for them.
Still prefer the D I only play more modern consoles anyway I might be called weird but I play ps3 on crt sometimes I even play ps4 them. I'd like to find a fv310 or xbr48 though
Have you played on any high end flatscreen crts?like a toshiba af or sony xbr?
I got a review on the xbr 48
@@riggel8804 yeah like 5 or 6 years ago I've always preferred the "bubble" crts though because flat crts with wonky geometry is much more noticeable than when a curved crt has wonky geometry
@@randomgamer24x65 I get it. It's good to know what you like. I feel like a lot of people like a certain crt just because everyone else says it's good. Bubble tubes definitely got their own charm and the big D's got the biggest bubble around.
Finally saw a Sony PVM go up on Offerup for $195. What do you think of that pricing? Looks like its in pristine condition
Depends on the size. Personally I wouldn't buy a a 14 inch pvm regardless of price. I think they are too small. I would prefer to game on a 27 inch wega. If it's a 20 inch pvm I would say that's worth it.
@@riggel8804 makes sense. A 13-14 inch CRT is useful if you sit at a desk and are very close to the screen, but if you have a large room, you’d be squinting at a tiny screen and it would look stupid
@@RetrofIex That's been my experience. No uses 14 inch screens anymore. Even my monitor at work is about 24 inch and I sit right in front of it. There's also a "wow" factor when you get up to the 27 inch size and above.
There's a reason the majority of pvms for sale are 14 and 8 inch. People tend to keep the 20 inch models. People tend to sell the 14 inch models after the novelty wears off.
Got my JVCs in the closet right now. Been doing some early morning interneting to figure out of they do 480p or not without having to lug out a bunch of CRTs at 3am.
I've unhooked most of my original consoles at the moment trying to make the most out of PS3 and RetroArch. I did some A/B testing with a real NES and RetroArch on a PS3. Side by side it looks like garbage. With enough shaders and things you can get to a point where you forget how good a real NES is but that weird wobbling next to a SOLID nes image really makes you think "yes, there is a difference".
Why am I persistent about RetroArch? Lately I discovered RETRO ACHIEVEMENTS and I can't enjoy a game without them anymore (cringe I know, sorry!).
I just subbed. Stopped the video like 2 minutes in to write this, I can tell it's gonna be great.
I use retroarch all the time. I use crtemudriver to get it on my old crts. ...never used achievements....sometimes I record myself getting a 1cc. That's kinda like a retroarch achievement I think.
Is there a way to fix the bowing the dseries has?
Maybe. I've only corrected tilt on my d series. It wasn't that hard. There is not a lot of rings or pots to adjust inside a d series so you are stuck with service menu and magnets for the most part.
Hey man, this is probably a non-starter since this video is 10 months old, but since you have three D-series and are hard pressed to find much of a difference between them, any chance you'd be willing to part with one? Not sure where you're located (judging by your accent, I'm guessing somewhere in the US) but I'm in the northeast. If you're interested in talking prices and still have one available, I can provide my contact info.
Haha I would have a couple months back but I already got rid of one and I want to keep the other too. It's kinda sad. I had it posted for 30$ for about a month and no one wanted it so I ended up taking it to the dump.
@@riggel8804 Damn, that's too bad. I just started getting into the scene now and of course I've come at the literal worst time. Sky high prices on Facebook marketplace and craigslist. No local broadcast studios or hospitals have any left. And everyone who owns a good tube who isn't a scalper doesn't want to sell theirs, which is totally understandable. It's my loss and my fault for being a Jonny Come Lately lol.
That said, if the situation changes and you happen across another JVC D-series or Sony FV310 (or plan to sell one), any chance you could keep me in mind? I'm on Discord under my RUclips name, and I'm also on Reddit under my alt name BeardInTheNorth.
Edit: I posted a "want" comment under the May '22 pinned post on r/CRTgaming, and I'll likely post one every month going forward just in case my voice actually reaches someone out there in the void haha.
@@Konic_and_Snuckles It's not the best time to get into crts but it's not the worst. I see good crts for sale or free all the time. But I don't see the best crts anymore. The d series is uncommon and overhyped imo. There are better crts that are getting slept on. Toshibas, panasonic and sharps are better imo. And a flat screen sony is excellent and you can still find them for free. You don't need a 310. Just get a 36 inch wega. Figure out how to correct the geometry on them and you will be good.
There's a bunch of crts I wpuld love to get too but I pretty much gave up on it. All the elite models are gone. Wish I could get an rca proscan, panasonic gau, the 32 inch mitsubish pro model.
I can't really help you dude. I live in socal. Good luck!
wish i could pick it up on my own as a narcoleptic 5:'4 grown man i still can't
The 500 series has a 800 line count where as the 300 and below has a 700 line count, and there’s one other thing but I cant remember
I don't think so. All 3 TVs in this video are virtually the same in terms of sharpness.
36 inch tubes always have a higher, "line count" vs a 32 inch tube because there is more screen realestate to count the lines. So a 450 line 20 inch is sharper than a 500 line 32 inch... I wish people would just use "dot pitch" instead of line count. That's what we use in medical imaging and it's less confusing.
Although Jvc invented their own line count which is actually total bs and they’re all closer to 450-500.
@@Cathode_Days thats still more then a standard consumer TV set somewhere around 250 max. 500 is still like some pro monitors like a 2530 has 560 lines. it dosent look much different I have both and on a side to side comparison they both look similar. Just that statement alone that a consumer tv looks just like a pro monitor I (can’t tell the difference) is quite fascinating just like an arcade monitor
Not as sharp as a HR pro monitor let’s say a bvmD32 dont know any other pro monitor the same size to compare to to be fair but it still has a lot of color I can’t say more because I never seen a bvm32 in real life but I have a 2530 and it is as sharp and even more colors then it as Sony to me have a more dole. When your talking about a smaller 20 inch pro monitor let’s be fair of course it’s not as sharp it’s a way smaller tv, let’s be honest how many of us own a bvmD32 or can get our hands on one let alone a d24
Lastly i will say this last thing in 480i that’s where a pro monitor like the 2530 looks alot better and more Crispy then the jvc so if u where watching a movie 480i on the 2530 a lot better even video games in 480i look better but 240p virtually the same thing and with my saturn it’s my most preferred way to play is on the jvc
How does the D302 compare to the D800 (I have the 32")?
Not sure. It probably is more important what tube it has in it. The Panasonic tube is probably the best.
@@riggel8804 Is it labelled inside before I check?
@@gloriadei3400 I forget how to do it exactly but you have to check one of the numbers on the chasi. I think it's the serial number. Ignore the info on the tube. It's googlable.
Hi, is still available to buy it?
Ye
@@riggel8804 I'm in Las Vegas, so is a long trip...
@@christian1205 haha, yeah that's a long trip. you are probably better off making a Craigslist alert and waiting. but if you want I will sell it to you.
@@riggel8804 Thanks. I will contact you if I decide to buy it.
@@christian1205 sounds good. Good luck.
I got the 32D501, 240p game are awesome however got a lot of flicker on 480i. Can’t even play Need for speed or GTA on PS2😒
I noticed a lot of 480i flicker with my D series as well. I have heard that this can be adjusted in the service menu but I haven't messed with it.
@@riggel8804 do you know what setting? Did try to open the service menu to adjust the overscan. Found a way to enjoy my PS2 2D games by downscaling it to 240p btw.
@@SkyChurch11 Some dude on rddit told me to do this, "Add or subtract lines in the blanking interval" but I would take that advice with a grain of salt. You can also try adjusting V hold. Good luck.
500s have better speakers
Cool thanks for sharing.
Do people still watch movies on these? I mean yeah retro gaming all day but movies? A flagship Qled or Oled is way better for movies.
Yes. I watch all movies and video on my CRT. I also watch RUclips on my CRT. I don't have any firsthand knowledge with Oled. I have heard that they can look really bad with old movies that were filmed with film and intended for 480i resolution. I know that my 36 inch XBR CRT looks far supior to my 1080p LCD screen for any movies made before 2000. The D-series don't look as good as the late generation Sony CRTs for movies. The one downside of all SD CRTs is the 4/3 aspect ratio. I use VLC media player to crop the image on my CRT but it's definitely not perfect but I still prefer it over my LCD screen. I recommend large 36 inch late generation CRTs for movies. The aspect ratio issue isn't as big a deal on a 36 inch vs a 20 inch.
Keep in mind I got my 36 XBR CRT for free. Oleds cost more.
@@riggel8804 led just like crts have different classes. Comparing a flagship Qled to a run of the mill budget lcd is like comparing the best bvm to a budget consumer crt.
I'm definitely not hating on crt. I've owned too many to count and some really high end ones too. I even had a pioneer elite pro 710 rear projection that was calibrated and probably better at movies than just about any tube crt.
I currently have a jvc d series in 32 and a 27" trinitron. They are great for retro games but for modern games (hooked up my series X to check it out) really bad. Movies fair better but nowhere close to my samsung Q8fn. It may be hard to believe but the very best leds have near oled blacks and top tier colors and of course incredible contrast. Watching old movies like Jaws and Alien in 4k is one of my favorite things.
I will admit though I'm still on the hunt for the perfect retro gaming crt. Maybe someday I'll score a sweet pvm/bvm.
@@wg8561 Good to know. Oleds will probabley be free by the time all my CRTs die. Maybe I will pick one up then.
Some movies only came out on dvd
@@riggel8804 oleds look good but have tons of issues, most notably godawful burn in. They are alright for tvs where you dont have any static images, but basically unusable for pc/desktop use. Just tons of compromises no taskbar or other static things, and no matter the quality they will still start showing signs of burn in within a few months of daily use. Hopefully the next evolution of them will be better (microled), unfortunately Oleds are still the only thing to come close to CRT blacks.
The other guy is partially right tho, there is an absolutely massive gap between bad LCD monitors and good ones.
But at least for watching 4:3 anime, no LED/LCD ive ever seen even comes CLOSE to how good the stuff looks on my 27in Trini.
hopefully going to pick up a FREE 32in? D series soon which is why I'm here (why do they never show the model numbers lol)
are you using Raspberry pi or PC on your CRTs? If so, how? CRTEmuDriver into OSSC,.. or RetroTink? I've got a MisterFPGA, several Rpis, several old PCs with AMD GPUs with analog VGA output and some cheap HDMI to component transcoders.. plenty of options but I haven't found any info on what other people are doing. 🤷♂️
I'm using a pc with an old ati graphics card and crtemudriver. I should do a video on it. It's amazing and people ask me about it all the time. I've used the rpi before and did not like it but that was back in the rpi3 days. It might be better now.
I use the vga out on my pc to go to a rgb to component transcoder that goes into my tv
@@riggel8804 ahh ok cool. I have all the stuff I need to get that going and just saw a free 32" D Series on FB marketplace. :)
@@mrburns366 I hooked crtemudriver up to a d series once and it was terrible. The interlace jitter was the worst I've ever seen. You might have better luck but I would recommend a trinitron. My toshiba and mitsubishi also worked fine But I have less experience with those brands
@@riggel8804 i mainly just want to run 240p stuff so I'm not too worried about interlacing artifacts. Windows usually looks like crap in 480i that's for sure!
@@mrburns366 It's not just that the desktop resolution of 480i looks bad on the d series, it's borderline unusable. At least that was my experience. The whole screen shakes up and down. If all you were using it for was to get into retroarch you would probably be okay since the retroarch gui displays in 240p
I've never owned a d-series but I can say from the one I've owned, Sony trinitrons are overrated! At least the flat ones. Geometry is shit. lol
Some have good geometry and many can be fixed with a little work.