/vr/ - Retro Games

>>1988572

Okay, let me break it down.

So, let's start with signal resolution. This is the resolution of the signal you're putting into the set, pretty self explanatory. 240P is 320x240, 480P is 640x480, etc etc. Pretty easy.

Then you have TVL, or TV Line Resolution. This refers to how fine the phosphor stripes on the surface of the tubes are. 800 TVL means you can resolve 800 horizontal lines before they start to blur together. More TVL = more detail.

Then you have dot pitch, or on a Trinitron, stripe pitch. This is how far apart the vertical apertures in the aperture grille are. This is also a major factor in how 'sharp' an image looks. In a way, your stripe pitch is dependent on your TVL resolution. For example, if you have a 14 inch tube that has an 800TVL resolution, it will have a finer stripe pitch than a 20 inch tube with 800TVL resolution. Smaller stripe pitch = sharper picture.

As you can see, CRTs aren't fixed resolution devices like LCDs and are tricky to talk about in regards to absolute resolutions.

I know someone did the math, a high-end 900TVL, 20 inch Sony BVM can resolve a resolution of 1024x768 without any 'missing' information.

Now let's talk about scanlines. Scanlines are not created from the aperture grille, and have nothing to do with the TVL resolution of the display, it's all about the input signal. Simply put, a 240P signal will have 240 horizontal lines, and 240 scanlines due to the fact that the gun will not scan that section of the phosphor. The higher the resolution gets, the smaller the scan lines get until they aren't noticeable due to phosphor bloom.

In review:
Higher TVL = more detail
Smaller stripe pitch = sharper image
Lower resolution = bigger scanlines

You can't think of a CRT's resolution line an LCD. They do not have single fixed resolutions.

And beam focus is a different thing ENTIRELY.

CRT's are hard.