I recently was in the same position and wanted to use my old PS2. There started a series of events that eventually culminated in finding an old Trinitron CRT locally (after a while of searching) and I have to say that’s the best way to play.
I tried my OLED via an AV receiver upscaler - looked OK but too much latency by far. I tried a PS2 to HDMI adapter from eBay and it was garbage. I tried a 4K LCD that took component cables (I have a ps2 component cable) and that was better but quite muddy and picture was off centre and couldn’t be corrected. I tried an old 37” LCD TV via component and that was actually not bad. However something was missing. It never looked as sharp as I remember and there was still something strange as it ‘felt’ wrong and I later realised that was some small latency. Maybe I’m sensitive to it.
I found this Sony Trinitron CRT for sale for a fair price locally and I plugged in via composite (unfortunately no SCART on this model for some reason). At first I forgot how flickery these old TVs were (and how bulky). However you get used to it again very quickly. Started some games and wow. The response time and latency are just instant. The picture (once I adjusted with a test grid) is not too bad and somehow the PS2 and PS1 games just look better without upscaling. This is on a pretty poor composite connection! I can play timesplitters respectably again. Driving in GT2 feels good like how I remember. I ended up putting the screen in a cupboard that I can sit outside to play, so it’s actually quite unobtrusive. Other old consoles also look great on this, even the Wii looks and plays great.
Appreciate it’s not for everyone but if you really want that retro fix I’d recommend a CRT if you can get one. They are getting rare and some crazy prices out there already. These older consoles were designed for them and I could not find another TV that really felt right to play them with.
