Those of us who grew up with classic gaming systems played them on TVs with phosphorescent tubing. CRT displays had their own unique texture, afterimage, color bleed and noise, all of which are lost in modern emulations of classic favorites.

Admit it, fellow children of the 80’s: there is something soul-less and wrong about high definition Atari, with its crystal clarity and precise lines.

Thus Dr. Ian Bogost, an Associate Professor at Georgia Tech, asked a group of CS seniors to simulate a number of CRT behaviors using an Atari VCS emulator. The results were splendidly realistic.

“[The students] are currently working with the maintainer of the free, open-source Stella emulator to patch their changes into the main build, where the effects will be available as a configurable option. Expect to see it there shortly, where hopefully it will benefit players, creators, educators, and archivists alike.” –Source