Ask a retro gaming forum whether you should buy a CRT or an upscaler and you’ll get a holy war. Ask someone who’s actually set up both, and you’ll get a much more useful answer: it depends on your space, your budget, and which consoles you actually play. Here’s the practical breakdown.
The case for CRT
A good CRT is still the reference display for anything 240p. Scanlines are real, not simulated. Light guns work. Input lag is effectively zero. And for 6th-generation consoles, a quality CRT with component input is arguably the best display ever made for the job.
The catches are significant, though. Good CRTs are getting harder to find and heavier to move — a 27-inch Trinitron weighs as much as a full-grown golden retriever and is about as easy to carry upstairs. Geometry issues are common on aging tubes. And if the tube dies, repair expertise is vanishing. Prices for desirable models (Sony PVM/BVM monitors, late-model consumer Trinitrons) have climbed steadily as supply dries up.
Buy a CRT if: you have the space, you can find a good one locally for cheap or free, and you mostly play 240p/480i consoles. Don’t pay collector prices for your first tube.
The case for an upscaler
Modern upscalers — devices that take your console’s analog signal and convert it to clean HDMI — have gotten remarkably good. The current generation handles 240p correctly (many TVs don’t), adds minimal lag, and offers features like scanline simulation, integer scaling, and per-console profiles. Paired with quality cables, the result on a modern 4K TV can look stunning.
The cost is the obvious downside. A quality upscaler plus good cables for a few consoles can easily exceed the price of a free curb-found CRT. And while scanline filters have improved enormously, they’re still an approximation — convincing, but not identical to a real shadow mask.
Buy an upscaler if: you’re short on space, you want one display for everything, or you play a mix of retro and modern systems. It’s the practical choice for most people in 2026.
The third option nobody mentions
Here’s the secret the forum wars ignore: you don’t have to choose. A small 13- or 20-inch CRT for light gun games and 240p purism, plus an upscaler for everything else on your main TV, covers every base. Small CRTs are still cheap, still light enough to carry, and still plentiful.
What about your specific consoles?
- NES/SNES/Genesis (240p): CRT is king, but a good upscaler gets you 90% of the way there.
- PS1/Saturn/N64 (240p/480i mix): Upscaler recommended — 480i deinterlacing on a CRT is fine, but modern upscalers handle the resolution switching better.
- Dreamcast/GameCube/PS2/Xbox (480p capable): Upscaler or direct digital solutions win outright. These consoles were designed with progressive scan in mind.
- Light gun games: CRT only. No way around it — the technology requires a CRT’s timing.
The bottom line
In 2026, the smart money is on an upscaler for most players — it’s the flexible, space-efficient choice that handles the widest range of consoles well. But if you stumble on a good CRT for free and have a corner for it, take it. Some experiences can’t be upscaled.