- A new app simulates a CRT screen or TV image for Mac and iOS
- It is incredibly in-depth and realistic and even simulates the chemistry of phosphorus
- Fans are very impressed and the app has a growing following, complete with calls for Windows and Android versions
Ever miss the days of big, big CRT monitors or TV sets? If you do, a new iOS and macOS app gives you the chance to relive those old photos with a seriously in-depth image quality simulation.
A Redditor has developed the retro Analog TV Simulator, which is a passion project that really tries to capture the authentic look of a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and analog broadcasts, including simulating the physics involved.
The Analog TV Simulator app recreates “the entire analog TV pipeline from first principles,” and it includes simulating elements from broadcast picture interference to CRT phosphor glow.
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The developer (Alastair Bor) explains that there are “no post-process filters or shortcuts – every artifact (dot crawl, chroma smear, phosphor persistent, ghosting, etc) comes naturally from the physics (and chemistry of the phosphor).”
You get a simulation of different standards (like NTSC and PAL and much more besides), as well as VCR formats (VHS and Betamax and more) and even historical test charts. (Such as the BBC efforts, which I’m very familiar with from my childhood here in the UK – yes, TV used to stop at midnight in the early 1980s and you’d get a test card or pattern on the screen, complete with an annoying constant beeping tone to force you to go to bed).
On the Mac, you can route any game or video player through the app to display it in CRT fashion, or indeed any window at all, or input from capture cards, USB webcams and the like.
It’s all very cool, and you can download the app for macOS here (costing $2) and iOS here (for $1), or test builds are free via the app website if you want to give it a shot without paying.
Magnet mode and more
This is a truly impressive, in-depth project. There are even controls such as emulated service menu adjustments – with geometry settings like pincushion or tilt – along with various easter eggs.
One of the latter is “magnet mode”, and again, anyone who had an old TV or screen back then will be familiar with what happens if you put a magnet near it (a kind of psychedelic experience on the screen). The developer has even included a simulated demagnetization button to return the screen to normal.
A fellow Redditor notes: “Played on the macOS version – loads of fun and as someone who has made a career out of making crappy video for network TV, has played with many plug-ins, and has also been known to dump HD footage to tape and beat on the VTR while transcoding so I can play it on a year old CfRT at 4-4 cool 30…”
Another Redditor remarked, “Gee, this is like a dream come true for me. Insta bought it on my iPhone and I’m already floored. Can’t wait to try it on the bigger iPad screen later when I’m home!”
The idea is to provide both a fun and educational experience here, and it certainly seems to work well on both of those levels.
The app is currently available for download for Macs and iOS devices, as mentioned. However, there are more than a few requests for the developer to produce Windows and Android versions of the software, and I expect interest to grow. The developer was able to port it eventually, saying on Reddit that: “I might use some AI tool like Claude Code to port it to Windows.”
I still remember the old CRT I used to play Doom and Quake deathmatch on – even though it was ridiculously bulky, that screen delivered very smooth gameplay for a competitive shooter session. And as for my 32-inch Sony widescreen CRT, I still remember that giant of a TV fondly too (my back remembers it too, but not so well across multiple house moves and living room furniture moves).
CRT enthusiasts should note that it wasn’t that long ago that a retro gamer pushed their old Iiyama Vision Master Pro512 CRT monitor to an incredible smoothness of 700Hz. There’s still life in the old CRTs, it seems, one way or another.
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