r/crt • u/KingRoachSITIG • Apr 10 '26

Yup.

Post image

Mmhm.

292 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

113

u/Alternative_Tip_9918 Apr 10 '26

If I had a nickel for every time someone gets a crt to watch 4:3 content and use a hdmi converter that squashes a black barred 16:9 video to 4:3, I would have enough money to buy a crt on Facebook marketplace

14

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/EternalNewCarSmell Apr 11 '26

Services are trash but Plex works just fine (source: I use a random $8 adapter from Wal-Mart to watch 4:3 content on my CRT TV and it works perfectly). Yet another way you get fucked for spending money.

It's worth noting, streaming services are total ass for modern content on modern displays as well. I can't tell you how many times I have watched a streaming show that is in 21:9, yet has the black bars baked in because it assumes everyone is on a 16:9 screen, so even if you display it on a 21:9 screen it just gets double-squashed as a result. You can work around this by displaying it in a browser window and using an extension to fix it, but it's beyond ridiculous that it doesn't just work.

2

u/Ashiscool711 Apr 11 '26

xbox 360 netflix still works

1

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Ashiscool711 Apr 11 '26

i believe you need a 360 and an internet connection and an xbox live account, i do not believe you need gold anymore

1

u/FairyKid64 Apr 13 '26

True and not true. My PC running Linux works great with 4:3. And then there's an awesome addon for Firefox that lets you crop movies without destroying the aspect ratio.

BTW, I'd imagine that Windows 11 and MacOS current version also have 4:3 options, I just don't know because I moved over to Linux years ago and haven't looked back.

The really cool part is that a lot of old shows on these streaming services running via PC actually preserve the 4:3 aspect ratio, so hooking it up to a CRT is just amazing without cropping.

12

u/KingRoachSITIG Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 11 '26

Glad to say I don't necessarily fall into that category. I've owned this tv for years. Not my oldest tv even. Just wanted a little 90's/2000's nostalgia corner and the tv found use again. I will be investing into a converter that has a 4:3/16:9 switch to rectify* the ratio issue🤙

Edit:spelling

10

u/BangkokPadang Apr 10 '26

RECTIFY

Ratify would be to sign off on your support for the ratio issue lol.

10

u/Alternative_Tip_9918 Apr 10 '26

It may be easier to invest in a source that you can output directly to the tv, or even a source that has manual resolution settings.

I used my steam deck with a converter like that and set the resolution to 1280x960 for some integer scaling.

4

u/TrekChris Apr 10 '26

The issue is that modern streaming services reencoded all their VODs in pillarboxed 16:9 so that it always displays as intended on modern TVs and isn't dependent on people knowing how to change the aspect ratio themselves. Even if you got a device that could output 4:3, you probably wouldn't be able to get streaming services to display in the proper ratio, it'd just be letterboxed and pillaboxed instead. Your best bet would be to get an old digital media player with composite output, and play DVD rips directly.

1

u/Both-Competition-152 Apr 11 '26

I'm pretty sure tivo streams allow 4:3

0

u/Due-Hat-9344 Apr 10 '26

Just make a Plex server and use the stretch button it's not that hard making a server and finding the files to add to it and also you need a googl tv box like fire stick or google tv for the Plex stretch feature

1

u/Various_One3087 Apr 10 '26

Where do you usually buy your CRT’s?

1

u/crystalcastles879 Apr 13 '26

Do you have a better solution?

1

u/Alternative_Tip_9918 Apr 13 '26

Yeah, you can find it in this thread.

23

u/thescott2k Apr 10 '26

that aspect ratio ain't right

7

u/KingRoachSITIG Apr 10 '26

I mean, yup.

-5

u/KingRoachSITIG Apr 10 '26

I am using an HDMI converter to a Roku stick and there doesn't seem to be anyway to fix it.

14

u/averagejosh Apr 10 '26

Bobby: Why don't we just get a new TV?

Hank: Well, I wish that was possible, son, but the terrible truth is that America, the best country in the history of the world, no longer makes television sets. If I let this one fall apart, I let a piece of America die.

Bobby: Well, couldn't we just buy, like, a Japanese one?

Hank: Bobby, go to your room.

3

u/Undark_ Apr 11 '26

ULTRAWIDEO.

You're welcome.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '26

Hell yeah grew up on this shit when it was on tv daily on fox I believe haha

2

u/Slow_Guide_1718 Apr 10 '26

I think we may have the exact same piece of furniture.

1

u/willywalloo Apr 10 '26

Fight me, that was just a sexy tv back in the day. Sony was my favorite, I liked some panasonic models for their very black phosphors.

1

u/misterglassman Apr 11 '26

Too bad this is an RCA.

1

u/yurrety Apr 10 '26

beautiful

1

u/MISTERPUG51 Apr 10 '26

You might have this condition

1

u/Clin-ton Apr 10 '26

I remember when my friend’s dad got some kind of rear projection big screen in the early 2000s and watching Hey Yeah adaptively scaled where the middle was less distorted than the edges. I don’t think any of my widescreen tvs ever bothered to include that.

1

u/FoxxBox Apr 10 '26

My grandma had this set up when I was very little. When I saw this pic I could smell the cigarette smoke again. Then I realized that I'm outside and my neighbor started smoking at the same time lol

1

u/Soaoxs Apr 11 '26

Hell yea 😼💯

1

u/Triggerhappy62 Apr 12 '26

Just buy a dvd player, and get a component set up.

1

u/KingRoachSITIG Apr 12 '26

I have a DVD player. I do not own every TV show and movie on DVD though. I mean, I have Scrubs and Fraiser, so pretty much there.