I am looking for a 50+ inch plasma tv for semi-retro gaming. I have some consoles that I want to hook up and I don’t want to deal with smart bullshit and I would like something semi period correct. Does anyone have a recommendation? I remember Pioneer being really nice back in the early 00s but I never knew anyone who had one long term. Is this a terrible idea?
My recommendation is don’t buy a plasma in 2025. I feel the same way about smart TVs, but you can just, like, not connect your TV to the Internet. That’s what I do. It works fine.
I used to own a really high-end plasma and held off on replacing it until high-end 4K OLED screens became more affordable, but I swapped it out about seven years ago and haven’t missed it.
I was playing the original Castlevania on it just the other day. Game mode, RetroUSB AVS, and an 8bitdo N30 wireless controller, and the lag is only like 10-12 ms. I can play Battletoads just fine with this setup.
Fair warning plasmas are really heavy, and they are susceptible to burn-in.
FWIW I had a 42" Samsung plasma from 2008 that I gave to a friend and is still working great, but it was only like 1024x768. Lots of ports though.
I don’t think plasma TVs really did well long term. Iirc they had big issues with screen burn-in, so if you get one used there’s a chance of that being an issue.
Get a CRT, or buy a new TV and just don’t connect it to the internet.
The difference between a disconnected smart TV and a dumb one is basically zilch.
If you’re getting anything which has a native res higher than 480p, I’d recommend looking into up-scalers like the ossc or some of the offerings from Retrotink. Even modern TV’s have shit up-scalers.
Also make sure you’re using Scart/RGB or Component where possible. Composite, or even worse RF, looks like cookie in most places.
Even if you have to settle for S-Video through a koryuu, it will look better than composite for something like the N64 where RGB or component are unavailable for un-modded consoles.
Don’t forget to set it to gaming mode too. That will usually disable a lot of the smart features in the OS to boost performance.
I would not recommend an older flat screen, there is quite literally zero benefit for your described use case. Modern LCD/LED TVs provide much better image and features, and they can still be picked up for cheap.
Regardless, the TV won’t matter much for any of the consoles you mentioned that have native HDMI output, with the quality of the panel being the deciding factor and not the console attached to it.
For anything without HDMI just use a scaler such as a RetroTink2x (or the also very capable knockoff Retroscaler2x from Aliexpress) so you can both improve the image quality for a modern TV and get the HDMI output.
Yeah, I already have the hdmi scalers/adapters for the non modded consoles I have. I specifically don’t want a modern tv or the features on it.
Not all modern panels have ‘smart’ features, and those that do need not be used. Your use case is literally changing the source on the TV (smart or otherwise) to various HDMI inputs.
Older panels will offer worse image quality, be larger and heavier, likely consume more power (especially in the case of plasma TVs), and not have features that will improve gaming experience such as game mode to reduce input lag, upscaling to improve image quality especially for the X360/PS3 generation, and some sort motion-interpolation like Samsung’s Game Motion Plus especially for 30fps games.
There is no benefit to getting older panels for your use case, except perhaps cost benefits although modern panels can still be found for very low prices. An older panel will not provide any sort of gaming advantage simply because it was manufactured around the time of a PS3 or whatever.
I doubt you can really buy those TVs anymore without it being a “Smart” TV. The best you can do is disable the Internet Connection on your TV. I have heard couple people suggesting commercial TV but I’m not too sure how great they would be for gaming and more made for well… staying on most the time, inside at a shop.
Commercial displays aren’t great for gaming due to latency and refresh rate. Commercial signage displays don’t care about either, so you’re not going to get a good result.
I’m on team “get a smart tv and don’t give it Internet access”. Only complaint I have about my LG C5 ID that switching HDMI inputs is ever so slightly more cumbersome than on my old Samsung.
Seems overkill to me, especially if the console is old enough that it can’t output 1080p or higher. How retro are we talking?
I have a snes, wii, gc, hd modded og xbox, 360, ps3, and an analogue 3d that will exist eventually. So a range of them.
Should be great for the latter half but I’m honestly not sure how good a snes would look on a screen that big. I suspect “not very”.
I still have a samsung plasma and it can change resolution down to those lower consoles. Its not perfect but its the most versatile display I own.
Do you know the model offhand?
PN58B650
Yeah, I am not super worried about the performance of the snes, its really for the later ones.
You might try looking into brands like scepter that offer dumb TVs, but if you have the money you could also check for retail displays since some still lack cloud management features and can be dumb as well as huge. They advertise with different specs than consumer TVs though so it’s sometimes hard to get info around input delay and other things you’ll care about.
Sceptre’s pretty good, but their speakers sound cheap. I recommend using an AV receiver and external speakers if going with them.
Just make sure you can disable any ads or updates before buying.
