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What *don't* you miss about CRTs?


BillyHW

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There are many things I hate about modern screens, but this thread is about things you definitely don't miss about CRTs. I'll start it off:

 

1. I don't miss bad convergence.

 

2. I don't miss badly centred and rotated images.

 

There are more, but I'll leave it for others to answer. These are the two that bother me the most.

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I hate the fact that they discontinued all the user serviceable (or reachable) adjustment pots, particularly horizontal and vertical size. Sure, some TV's feature a hidden service menu, but they're cryptic and clumsy at best and some are extremely limited in their functionality. As someone who sold TV's throughout the 90's and much of the 2000's, have to agree about the convergence, rotation and centering thing. Was RARE that you'd ever see one perfectly aligned. In this regard, the quality of CRT televisions definitely got worse as time marched on. A shame, as some manufacturers were trying to put out some really nice sets. Even Sony's Trinitron often suffered the same problems. :(

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Size, really. Well, yeah I do agree with Eltigro about weight. My desk has so much on it already, I was afraid to put on a CRT for risk of breaking it (it's glass and metal).

 

The perfect solution I've found are broadcast monitors. I have an AV to BNC converter attached to an AV selector (can switch between 3 systems). In the future I'm hoping to have a couple more, but they're small, don't weight much, and their color/picture is nothing short of astounding.

 

The one I have is a 9" JVC. Looks as good as Sony ones I've shopped around for, and only cost 40 bucks shipped.

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The bulk is the first thing that comes to mind, and naturally they are heavy as hell. The thing I don't miss most is RF connections. Not purely a CRT problem, but one that started going away quickly after CRT went away. I always hated having to snake my arm to the back of the TV and screw those things in. I swear most companies did everything they could to make it as hard as possible. I still deal with it because of classic gaming, but HDMI and such plug in connectors have made my life a good bit easier these days.

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I don't miss their high power consumption, I don't miss their back-breaking weight, I don't miss their massive footprints, and I don't miss the risk of being electrocuted when you open one. There's a lot I DON'T miss about CRTs, honestly. They do have one advantage over modern flat screens, though... they're more light gun friendly. With an LCD screen, you can pretty much forget playing any light gun game unless you've got a Wiimote handy.

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And now Goodwill won't take perfectly functional CRTs, I just discovered when trying to give a 19" Sanyo away today.

I definitely hate on the size and bulk; I've got a 27" Trinitron that I love; moving it up and down stairs is something that, even if I have 2 people, I would only want to do every five years or less. It's a nightmare.

And definitely with the power consumption. Related, the way the lights temporarily blink in a room when you turn a big CRT TV on, yikes.

 

All that said, I love Virtua Cop and Virtua Cop 2 on Saturn, and the Wii never got a Virtua Cop collection. So I gots to keep my CRT forever. :)

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And now Goodwill won't take perfectly functional CRTs, I just discovered when trying to give a 19" Sanyo away today.

I definitely hate on the size and bulk; I've got a 27" Trinitron that I love; moving it up and down stairs is something that, even if I have 2 people, I would only want to do every five years or less. It's a nightmare.

And definitely with the power consumption. Related, the way the lights temporarily blink in a room when you turn a big CRT TV on, yikes.

 

All that said, I love Virtua Cop and Virtua Cop 2 on Saturn, and the Wii never got a Virtua Cop collection. So I gots to keep my CRT forever. :)

We used to have a 32" that was just a beast getting up and down the stairs. The 37" LCD replacement is easy as pie to lift. Progress.

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I still have mine, a 20" Panasonic circa 2003. I remember at one point in the mid 00s at getting a bigger CRT, since LCD/Plasma were still pricey and $300 would get a nice flat tube CRT. Even in 24" or 27" size they were already pushing 100 lbs. No thank you, especially as I was younger and moved pretty much every 12-18 months. My 20" is just light enough and small enough that it is not a complete pain to move. But the next size up no way. And the 32" Trinitron my brother had was in the neighborhood of 150 lbs.

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I'm sure most of us have had to do that careful balancing act where you would slide your tv to the edge of your tv stand to get it away from the wall . Then tilt it over the edge at a 45 degree angle. You would be holding the tv with one hand keeping it from falling to the floor while your other hand is trying to blindly connect the rf adapter to the back of the tv just by feeling for it. I actually got really good at this but I sure don't miss it.

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How can I miss something I haven't gotten rid of?

 

Exactly. I understand the weight issue but, honestly, who moves large TVs all the time? I have a Sony KV-36HS420 Trinitron TV and it's a beast. But it hasn't moved since the day I bought it (except to clean behind it once in a while). I move my refrigerator more often. Moving a TV upstairs? Get another TV. There are some very reasonably-priced flatscreens out there, much easier solution. My TV is 1080i with an HDMI connection (and component and S-Video) so I don't understand the RF connector complaints, either. I do agree about the adjustment/distortion issues, along with the overscan. I ordered a service manual for it and adjusted some of the settings through the remote, that did improve the display. But it's not simple.

 

Once OLEDs become affordable I might consider a change since those TVs will be the first with black levels comparable to CRTs. Not until then, though. My Atari 5200 (with the composite video mod) looks fantastic on it. I just wish that SED development hadn't ended, that would have been the best answer (much like lasers as needles for vinyl records would have been wonderful).

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The weight is the main thing that I don't miss, though the size is a close second. Moving my old entertainment center was a daunting task, due to the number of systems hooked up - but the 37" CRT made it significantly more difficult. That said, I do still have a CRT - but it's a "secondary" television & I think it's a 27", so it's not too bad to move around.

 

-Rob

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Size, weight, heat, power consumption.

 

Although that said, I have my 32" LCD in the same cabinet (modified to fit) that I had the CRT in, although I'm able to move it closer to the wall.

 

Power - actually it's probably close to double the Watts for the LCD but it's probably triple or more the screen size. I've got 3 LCD monitors which save power vs the slightly smaller CRT I used to have on.

 

Other stuff like the occasional high-pitched hiss are good to be rid of.

 

Also, LCD monitor = significantly less eyestrain. Probably a combination of things like less emissions, no flicker and much easier to read small characters.

 

Forgot to mention - curvature, glare. There's probably more.

 

The downside of LCD is nothing compared to the advantages. Also throw in price. In 1998 I bought the 53 cm CRT for about 500 bucks, which is around the same I paid for the 32 inch LCD TV about 5 years ago.

Edited by Rybags
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I miss nothing about CRTs because every display I own, that isn't on a portable, is still a CRT. I'm rocking an NEC FP2141SB on my main computer. An old Dell on my vintage VGA computers. Tandy CM-11 on my Tandy 1000TX. 1081 on my Amiga. The consoles are hooked up to a 32" Sony Wega Trinitron, and I have a widescreen Samsung CRT HDTV(1080i) for TV.

 

CRTs have better contrast, zero lag, and support any resolution without scaling. The only real problem I have with CRTs is that they die eventually. And they cost money to throw away. Most of these monitors cost me less to buy than they will to get rid of.

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