How do I make my photo look like an old TV?

Upload your photo to the free CRT Converter, pick a preset (NTSC, PAL, Soviet SECAM, or a P31/P26/P4 phosphor look), then adjust the scanline, phosphor glow, noise and interlace sliders. Download the finished image at sizes up to 3x the original. Runs locally in your browser, nothing is uploaded to a server.

Make your photo look like an old TV

CRT / Old TV Converter

NTSC Colour PAL Colour Soviet SECAM P31 Green P26 Amber P4 White HDTV 1080i

Turn any photo into an authentic old TV screen. Scanlines, phosphor glow, barrel distortion, interlace artifacts and noise, all adjustable in real time.

Open CRT Converter

How to make your photo look like an old TV

Getting a convincing result is mostly about starting from the right reference point, then nudging sliders instead of maxing them out:

Upload a photo

Drag and drop it onto the screen or use the Upload image button. Photos with clear highlights and shadows show the phosphor glow and scanlines best.

Pick a starting preset

NTSC/PAL/Soviet SECAM emulate broadcast colour TVs, P31/P26/P4 emulate monochrome terminal and monitor phosphors, HDTV 1080i emulates a modern interlaced CRT, try and around see if it matches the era or device you're going for..

Fine-tune, don't max out

Real CRTs were subtle. Small adjustments to interlace, glow, jitter and noise read as authentic; pushing every slider to the end can read as a cheap filter. That said, moving a slider to max is a way to learn what it does, push it up to see the effect clearly, then dial it back down to a realistic level.

Check interlace and persistence

Interlace comb artifacts look right on video-sourced or motion content, but can read as wrong on a still photo shot with a modern camera, dial it back for stills. Persistence emulates phosphor afterglow, adding a soft ghost trail behind bright highlights, and it can look good on stills too, just watch that it doesn't get so strong it smears detail.

Pick an output size and save

Use the size selector above the screen — from Small up to X-large (3×) — then hit Save PNG to download the full-size, full-resolution converted image straight to your device.

Everything above happens entirely inside your browser. There's no upload, no server processing and no account your photo never leaves your device, and you can download the converted image in whatever size you need.

Open CRT Converter

Seven CRT presets

NTSC Colour — American colour TV. Full YIQ colour space conversion with chroma compression and a warm phosphor cast.
PAL Colour — European standard. Slightly cooler, more accurate colour reproduction with subtle chroma smear.
Soviet SECAM — Heavily desaturated, greenish cast, crushed blacks, high noise, severe barrel distortion, long persistence and burn-in enabled by default.
P31 Green — Classic green-phosphor terminal (IBM 3270, DEC VT100). Monochrome image luminance-tinted to phosphor green.
P26 Amber — Amber phosphor (Hercules cards, European terminals). Warmer, more burn-in, higher persistence than P31.
P4 White — Cool white phosphor (standard TV tubes, early PC monitors). Higher noise, more barrel distortion.
HDTV 1080i — High-definition interlaced. Even modern CRTs showed combing on fast-motion sports and action content.

Open CRT Converter

Conversion examples

Before

Soviet SECAM

Before

P31 Green Phosphor

About interlacing

Interlacing was how CRTs avoided flicker without doubling bandwidth. Instead of drawing all lines top-to-bottom in one pass, an interlaced CRT drew two fields per frame: odd-numbered lines first, then even-numbered lines. At 25 fps (PAL) this meant 50 field refreshes per second — fast enough to appear smooth to the eye.

On still images interlacing is invisible. On moving subjects, the two fields captured slightly different moments in time — producing the characteristic comb effect of horizontal teeth along motion edges. The converter simulates this by dimming alternating scan lines, with higher values adding brightness variation between odd and even rows.

At low values (0–20) it adds a subtle shimmer that makes images feel alive. At high values (60+) the comb structure is clearly visible — wrong on a still image, but authentic on video-sourced content. The Soviet and HDTV 1080i presets have high interlace enabled by default for period-accurate results.

Try it yourself →