This scenario is going to happen eventually... CRT in a TV you love is toast, rebuilding it is no longer an option, and replacements are either very expensive, or no longer exist.

What if someone invented a simulated CRT that could be connected to the TV's neck board? Like an OLED screen, with circuitry to adapt it for use in a CRT TV.

I think it'd make the TV lighter for starters. No heavy, fragile CRT to implode. Might use less electricity too. Also, it might last longer then the original did, especally if the old CRT was a 90's Zenith one.

Nope. You might fantasize about projects to modify a chassis to use a different crt. We have an RCA Proscan CTC169 chassis set here for sale cheap, and its tube is superior to anything RCA made after that! Imagine a more modern wide bandwidth chassis modified to use an older crt!

As I have several vintage TVs and watch one at a time, I suspect the CRTs in these will outlast me(unless they get broken).

As to modern TVs, I have nothing against flat screens-especially LCDs. When my 2004 Sanyo goes, I will get one of these.

Doubt it. No company would invest that much money on such a niche product. The people want cheap shit made in China.

Although I've gotta say I think Plasmas (Panasonic in particular) have pretty decent build quality. They're no 70's Chromacolor but I think their reliability at least matches a decent 90's CRT set.

And you never know about CRT's making a comeback. Look at tube audio and vinyl. They were believed to have mostly gone the way of the dinosaur by many, but Vinyl is slowly coming back (it never really died) and demand for (audio) tubes is rising again.

That'd be nice for CRT's to make a comeback, but right now with them on the decline, the new ones still being made are of poor quality, and those who don't know better will think it's just because it's a CRT.

The problem with CRTs these days is the size. I have a 47" Philips LCD that I love. Unless it was a CRT rear projector, a tube that size would stick out to the middle of my living room, and probably fall through the floor.

The problem with CRTs these days is the size. I have a 47" Philips LCD that I love. Unless it was a CRT rear projector, a tube that size would stick out to the middle of my living room, and probably fall through the floor.

Especially if it was a Trinitron CRT...

One good thing about Sony Trinitrons... the big ones are almost never stolen.

Especially if it was a Trinitron CRT...

One good thing about Sony Trinitrons... the big ones are almost never stolen.

My former primary TV (and current bedroom TV) is a 2004-era 27" Trinitron. I'm not exactly small or weak, and it takes everything I can muster to move that thing.

Seems you answered your own question, MRX37.

Doubt such a device would be practical; let alone economical in any way.

IMHO, 1970s and 1980s sets will be very valuable one day since they are being destroyed in mass quantities and we are in the midst of a digital TV transition (34 days!!!!) . . .

In the future there will still be plenty of CRT tubes to go around.

I think a similar thing would be digital conversions for old type film cameras, how many do you see!

>>>digital conversions for old type film cameras

Which would be a marvelous thing!
The lens systems on those cameras can't be beaten, and their bodies are big enough to be useable. (I hate microscopic buttons each with 5 different functions!)

I think a similar thing would be digital conversions for old type film cameras, how many do you see!

I have my dad's Canon AE-1. I still use it for...film.

CRTs will never come back, I think, because the machinery used to make them will likely be scrapped shortly, if in fact it hasn't been already. Plus the expertise will be gone, those folks will be retired & pass on. Look how hard it has proven to be to rebuild the 15GP100s that went in the original 15" color TVs of 1954...I can see them in 2059 tryin' to figger out how to rebuild a 36" Trinitron CRT..Ha, Ha, Ha ! (grin)

>>>digital conversions for old type film cameras

Which would be a marvelous thing!
The lens systems on those cameras can't be beaten, and their bodies are big enough to be useable. (I hate microscopic buttons each with 5 different functions!)

Tried, but commercial failure, for whatever reason:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0209/02091903siliconfilmagain.asp

http://www.dcviews.com/_siliconfilm/10.htm

http://www.dpreview.com/news/9909/99090501siliconfilm.asp

I don't see a lot of difference between a "fake" CRT adapted into an old chassis, and just gutting the old TV cabinet and sticking inside a modern TV/display. Biggest problem would be how to make the modern display not look flat, but more rounded like an old CRT face. Heard of a flexible display shown at this year's CES show. That would get you at least a trinitron look. The flexing would get you a cylinder look, but getting the spherical shape would be difficult if not impossible.