Yet still the 'raw' pixel data of old games rendered on modern displays without any filtering also doesn't look anything like they looked on CRT monitors (and even on CRT monitors there's a huge range between "game console connected to a dirt cheap tv via coax cable" and "desktop publishing workstation connected to professional monitor via VGA cable").

All the CRT shaders are just compromises on the 'correctness' vs 'aesthetics' vs 'performance' triangle (and everybody has a different sweet spot in this triangle, that's why there are so many CRT shaders to choose from).

Most of these CRT shaders seem to emulate the lowest possible quality CRTs you could find back in the day. I have a nice Trinitron monitor on my desk and it looks nothing like these shaders.

The only pleasant shader I have found is the one included in Dosbox Staging (https://www.dosbox-staging.org/), that one actually looks quite similar to my monitor!

In theory, good CRT shader emulates temporal and "subpixel" tricks that game developers used to overcome color and resolution limitations.

Mostly, it's retro aesthetic for people who actually did not grow with CRT displays.

Torture.