Something that many people building a vintage PC gaming rig don’t take into consideration is that before the LCD monitor became common, games were designed for CRTs first.

For example, one of the creators of Super Mario Bros. even noted that the blurriness of a CRT was a large consideration when originally designing the game – and that the crispness of today’s screens make the places where they tried to "fudge it" due to technology limitations stick out like a sore thumb. 

Another example is the game Counter-Strike (released 1999), which does play optimally on a CRT at 800×600 resolution. I can say from personal experience that yes, the game feels much more real when on the tube.

Unfortunately the knowledge for which CRT to go with is becoming a bit of a lost art, so here are my personal recommendations for which to go with and why for your vintage PC gaming rig.

Size

The best size to use for a CRT is 17 inches diagonal. No more, no less.

Reason #1: Weight

CRTs do not truly start to get really heavy until you pass the 17-inch mark. On average, a 17 will weigh anywhere from 30 to 40 pounds (13 to 18kg). Go 19 or over and you’re in 50/65-pound (22/30kg) territory easily.

Reason #2: Depth

The bigger the tube, the deeper it goes. A general rule of thumb is that whatever the size is on the diagonal is how deep it will be, meaning is 17-inch monitor will usually be 17 inches deep.

Reason #3: Staring-into-a-light-bulb factor

You’re directly staring into a light source when viewing a monitor. With CRTs you’re staring at a highly-reflective glass surface which is really not that much different from staring at a light bulb. 17-inch monitors do not throw as much light as over-17s do, and therefore will be easier on your eyes.

Reason #4: Ignoring the border

With a 15-inch CRT you’re going to notice the border. With a 17 you won’t and will be able to immerse yourself into the game better. With 19 you’re going to deal with too much light thrown at you as mentioned above which will take away from the gaming experience.

Reason #5: Motion blur factor

All CRTs naturally blur whenever something is moving quickly on-screen. The 19 for most people blurs too much – especially if you’re used to LCDs, which you probably are. The 17 on the other hand doesn’t cause your vision to have as much eye travel and won’t give you a headache.

Brands

Sony Trinitron

This is arguably the best CRT monitor ever made. Trinitron technology is amazing and gives a very good picture. However it is very important to note that you will always see two very dim horizontal lines in the ‘thirds’ of the picture. This is normal as it’s part of the way Trinitron works. It’s easy to ignore the lines given how dim they are.

The only drawback to Trinitron is that you’re trading color for crispness. The color will look slightly duller compared to other CRTs, but the picture is outstanding.

One other minor note: Trinitrons do typically start up with a loud "BRRRRMM" noise. That’s the self-degauss (demagnetizing) kicking in; it does that when powered up cold and is a big reason they last as long as they do.

Viewsonic

The Viewsonic brand of CRT monitor arguably had the best color representation compared to any other CRT. Many graphic designers back in the day swore by Viewsonic monitors for this reason. Not only was the color vibrant but also true.

Philips

The Philips brand of CRT is a workhorse monitor. While it’s true they were typically "cold" (as in a bit ‘stark’ with its blues), as a gaming monitor it handled itself admirably. Picture crispness was almost on par with the Trinitrons.

Samsung

This is the all-purpose do-everything CRT and usually the easiest one to come by if hunting for a tube-type monitor. You might even find one new-in-box if you look hard enough. CRTs by Samsung have a solid track record for very long life and excellent color representation. Its only drawback is that they, like so many other CRTs, are a bit ‘milky’ because they really can’t do a good black.

Case Color

General rule of thumb: Go for the putty.

The majority of CRT monitors have two colors of casing. "Putty" and "Light Putty". That’s obviously not the official names for the colors, but that’s what they look like. Sonys and Viewsonics are putty-colored, Philips’ and Samsungs are light-putty-colored.

I generally recommend to avoid black-colored CRTs, because it’s usually true the money that went into making those was put into the casing and not the electronics. Ask anyone who’s ever had a black Dell monitor. Oh, the horror. Black CRT cases were never cheap, after all. As said above, go for the putty.

If for whatever reason you must have a black CRT monitor, paint it. I’m not kidding. The casing will actually take paint quite well as long as it isn’t not too thick. The paint should be slightly thicker than water but not much more than that. Do not spray because paint will get in the vent slits/holes. Use a modeler’s brush.

Built-In Speakers?

Avoid CRTs that have speakers built into them. They sound awful and add useless bulk to the chassis.

How to set up your OS with a CRT?

This one’s pretty basic – don’t use font smoothing, a.k.a. anti-aliased fonts, a.k.a. ClearType in Windows.

Anti-aliased font rendering technology is designed for LCDs and not CRTs. You purposely want "blocky" fonts on a CRT as it will result in the best readability.

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