Old CRT TVs and monitors are the best option for retro gaming, but they aren’t made anymore.
These are the repairmen keeping them alive.
As a trained engineer, he found himself compelled by the intricate machinery of these displays.
What he found changed his life almost overnight.
“I found a local seller who was a CRT recycler,” Nutter explains.
This was in 2015, back when they were getting recycled from hospitals and medical clinics.
The owner explained to me that they had issues finding enough space to store them.
Some wouldn’t even turn on.
I thought I had made a big mistake.
But once I started working on them, suddenly everyone wanted them."
What makes a high-end CRT like a PVM or Trinitron better than your childhood Zenith?
As Nutter puts it, it’s all about the use-case.
“There’s definitely an element of hype to it,” Nutter says.
“But a properly-adjusted PVM is the climax of 100 years of analog video technology working together.
It’s sharper, it just looks better.
(His current backlog extends well into 2023.)
He documents the repair process with photos, so that the client knows exactly what he did.
Nutter isn’t the only CRT expert trying to help others learn the dark art of tube repair.
It also featuresa guideto adjusting any CRT’s color prefs, which is useful for any retro gamer.
“We were using hand-me-down bedroom TVs…
The average job is working through all those steps and photographing the results.
That’s basically it.”
King explains that CRTs that refuse to turn on are often the most complicated to remedy.
Though Nutter’s main focus is retro gaming, the utility of his expertise extends beyond that realm.
Nutter even gave a seminar on the topic at the Houston-based Museum of Fine Art.
Nutter says that there are several repairmen who specialize in repairing these art exhibits, but most are retired.
“They weren’t sharing this information on the highest-end machines with anybody.
It’s amazing what he knows.”
“With the right console and the right cables, it can look great.
Zero latency, a bright image, playing the games on the hardware they were designed for.
That’s really all that should matter.
If you want a PVM, that’s great.
Just know what you’re getting into.”
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