View Full Version : why old classics?


aidynphoenix
09-10-2010, 12:15 AM
i understand the thrill and feeling of great accomplishment of restoring a beautifull piece of history to its origional condition and glory..

but i dont quite understand what you can use them for..
i know some of you use these old black and white classics with the tiny screens in your living rooms.. and watch old movies on them..

but why this over a large color crt or flatpannel? :scratch2:

Phil Nelson
09-10-2010, 01:05 AM
Well, if you have to ask . . . :)

Seriously, some vintage TVs have screens that are big enough to be perfectly watchable. One of those that's properly restored, with a bright, crisp picture, might be enough to convert you to black and white.

If you think about it, much of the content watched on TV benefits little from being in color. 80% of what we watch is talking heads. You could watch them in black and white -- or purple and white -- without missing anything. Who cares if the newscaster is wearing a red tie or a blue one?

It's interesting how TV/movie watching has become such a background, or medium-ground, activity. In our family, it's rare that we'll all sit down and watch a movie or TV show without doing anything else. More often, our kids keep half an eye on the screen while tapping on their laptops, texting on their phones, etc. In today's paper, I read that the big complaint about 3-D TV is that the glasses make it impossible to do anything else while watching. If you're only half paying attention in the first place, is color or screen size really that important?

For me, much of the interest in these old sets is in the technology as well as the history. If neither of those subjects interests you, then I guess vintage TVs are not for you. Find a flat screen at Wal-Mart or wherever, and watch away (or half-watch, anyhow).

Phil Nelson

oldtvman
09-10-2010, 08:38 AM
for those of us who lived during the transistion to color it was a magical time. Color tv in the 50's was a technology that was a technical achievement that had no rival in the consumer world. Seeing color tv was very special back then.

Now even the HD technology doesn't hold the same excitement that color did back then. Owners of early color sets treated their sets like royalty and anyone who was invited to watch them walked away feeling they just experienced something very special for that place in time.

compucat
09-10-2010, 11:11 AM
Even in the Seventies getting a color TV was a big deal. Televisions then were not treated like appliances as they are today. It was a prized household possession that was generally treated with care if you did not want someone to get mad at you. An expensive 25" console color TV in a nice wood cabinet was a piece of furniture and you didn't dare set a drink on top of it. I think the trend toward black plastic cabinets even in large sets has caused most people to forget how much we used to value television sets.

Einar72
09-10-2010, 12:02 PM
Some of us simply came of age with these very sets being discussed on this site. My parents had a 17" Bendix, then a 21" GE with a book-sized remote. Our two Silvertone 23-inchers, bought in 1962 and 1967, were the typical "big screen" sets seen in most homes at the time. My grade-school had Admiral 23-inchers on tall carts. Dad bought a CTC-38 in 1969 when I started high school.

I watch what little TV I find relevant on my PC monitor. A YouTube video image is no bigger than a vintage portable TV image. Why should I spend 1000+ dollars to see TV in a format I find no more useful than what I grew up with. Sure the resolution is finer, but I'm not looking for a lost contact lens or a needle in a haystack, I'm simply being entertained by whatever I'm watching.

Imagine, if you will, spending the first 40 years of your life NOT having internet, cell phones or HDTV. I worry your head would explode from the boredom!

Personally, I have little use for the current economy based on importing TV's once manufactured by people right here in the USA. It's harder every day to keep the economy moving when the engine of manufacturing has been removed. You may have a Yamaha for your avatar, but I hope you aren't thanking them for your freedom. Free trade isn't free, it has cost us dearly.

andy
09-10-2010, 12:14 PM
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jeyurkon
09-10-2010, 01:09 PM
"Why old classics?" Because we enjoy them.

I enjoy the set I grew up with. It's the same age as me.

I really do enjoy my WD-60C9 1080p DLP set. However, it spoils standard definition. I mostly watch HD shows on it.

Some things just look ugly blown up. Watching DVDs of classic shows on a large HD set is not enjoyable. Seeing them on a 12" or so B/W set that they were intended for is great! Some are hoke by today's standards, but for the most part I enjoy them more than current programming.

John

TheNixer
09-10-2010, 02:19 PM
Which looks better to you?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3515/3959560070_83eb6e4ac0_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2759/4204045628_1d4f6a8362.jpg

If you laugh at the first picture then maybe old TV's aren't your thing. I think they're great. And they take you to a different time where things aren't as complicated. That particular Admiral TV puts a smile on my face.

Jeffhs
09-10-2010, 02:40 PM
Some of us simply came of age with these very sets being discussed on this site. My parents had a 17" Bendix, then a 21" GE with a book-sized remote. Our two Silvertone 23-inchers, bought in 1962 and 1967, were the typical "big screen" sets seen in most homes at the time. My grade-school had Admiral 23-inchers on tall carts. Dad bought a CTC-38 in 1969 when I started high school.



Imagine, if you will, spending the first 40 years of your life NOT having internet, cell phones or HDTV. I worry your head would explode from the boredom!


I am 54 years old and did in fact spend the first 41 years of my life without the things you mention; however, I was not bored in the least.

I grew up with black-and-white TV, as that was all we ever had until 1972. I had a Silvertone (Sears) 21" roundie I got from one of my neighbors in 1970, but that set was in the basement most of the time. The first color set in our living room (a Silvertone 25" console) actually belonged to my grandmother, who moved into our house in '72 (very long story and OT).

The elementary school and middle school I attended in the '60s-'70s also had RCA Victor "New Vista" b&w 23" TVs on carts in the classrooms, fed by a master antenna system in grade school, but my middle school was still using rabbit ears on the sets. My grade school is long gone (the building was demolished several years ago), so I don't know what happened to those RCA NV sets; as to my middle school, I don't know whatever became of its TVs, either. They also had RCA New Vista TVs, 25" table models on carts. My fondest memories of those sets are of watching the morning news (the last few minutes of NBC's Today Show, decades before it went to four hours [!]) in my world-affairs class on one of those TVs in the back of the classroom. Being b&w and of course analog, there were no reception problems on any of the sets, even on indoor antennas; however, today, I would think (and would not be the least bit surprised if) the local high school, middle school and elementary school in my hometown are now wired for cable, and use flat-panel HDTVs.The RCA New Vista sets, unfortunately, may have been trashed, sent to a landfill, or goodness only knows what, :scratch2: when the elementary school was demolished.

zenith2134
09-10-2010, 03:08 PM
For me there are only two reasons:

They're built better.

and two,

They were built here.

wa2ise
09-10-2010, 04:26 PM
The elementary school and middle school I attended in the '60s-'70s also had RCA Victor "New Vista" b&w 23" TVs on carts in the classrooms

I'm a couple years older, and we had TVs in the classrooms in my grammar school. The TVs were rarely used. Usually once a year for us to watch some badly written anti-drug shows.
http://www.wa2ise.com/radios/classtv.jpg Mrs Murphy showing the secondary use of a blackboard pointer...

RitchieMars
09-10-2010, 07:32 PM
I think that if you understand the feeling of adventure and accomplishment that comes with restoring a classic, then understanding the reasoning behind those who actually use them as originally intended should come quite naturally. To me, the concept that antique electronics are merely "novelties" rather than being of any real use in the modern world is absurd. I mean when they stopped broadcasting in digital around here, they kept going on about converter boxes and reminding everyone about it. Still, some people continue to look at me and my old television as if they're completely clueless about these things. "But... can you even watch anything on that thing anymore?" Of course you can! It's a television!

As for why you'd choose to have an antique television in your living room, it's all up to personal preference. I'd imagine that many collectors have a favorite set that they like to watch a lot, and once you become entranced into the hobby, it's hard to look at a flimsy, black plastic, Japanese-made flat-screen television the same ever again. Many grew up with a simple black and white television and for them, they don't feel like they're missing out on very much.

So what about a younger enthusiast like me? Well, I think it's just that the more I listen to these older folks and read stories about the things that went on decades before I was ever born, I've grown to realize just how cheated I am to have been born in the 1980's. It's not so much that life in past was infinitely better than the present, but it's all in the way that you experienced that life. For instance the experience of putting a needle on a spinning record and hearing that first little crackle of static before the music starts, or waiting for that first little hint of sound to come through as the tubes warm up, or watching that black and white image shrink into a little dot after you've turned off the television. The technology itself wasn't as advanced as it is now, but that's not the point. It's the little things you had to do in order to get it to work. It had more character, both in the way it was manipulated physically and in the way it looked, sounded, and felt to people. I believe these devices left more impact on the people who used them; much more so than their disposable counterparts of today.

That's why I think it's the experience of actually being able to use my television that drives me to restore it much more so than the sense of accomplishment. The feat will have a much more prolonged sense of appreciation if I actually get some use out of it. Not to mention, I didn't grow up with a black and white television like my father's generation did. The experience is completely foreign to me, and I think that also makes it much more fascinating.

Kalamazoo-DJ
09-10-2010, 08:44 PM
Speaking for myself, I get to use the latest state of the art technology all day, its tricky, expensive and unreliable in a majority of applications that are used and many applications that are unnecessary to begin with. When I go home and look at a roundie you know it was a unique time and era when they existed initially as new. Space was a new frontier as well as many other aspects of life, I didnt have a roundie til I was 13 and my friends had the squeeky econo-box 19" Goldstar models. I had a true quality color/sound Zentih roundie console in my room and my friends wanted to watch it and that was in 1977. I can go to Best Buy and look at a 62" Mitsubishi today and say yep its flat and if I zoom in enough I can see the retina and cornea of the actors eyes and that is just what I wanted to see tonight! NO thanks I guess I consider them like the senior picture, its clear, crisp and doctored, I would rather see it like it is because standard is all we can see in reality... so why doctor it? I dont wear HD glasses when I read a book do you?

droptop
09-10-2010, 10:55 PM
So many great points have been made in this thread. For me, the sense of accomplishment I felt when the finishing touches were put on my CTC 7 Grenoble was very rewarding. The challenge of trying my hand at an early color set restoration was the motivation. The adventure began when I acquired the set from the original owner’s family. Narrowing the trouble to the flyback transformer and then managing to find a brand new one in the original 50 year old RCA box still amazes me.

Imagination is what fuels many people’s interests. In my case, I visualized how the TV would look and work when it was finished. Then came the inevitable wondering what the original owners watched on it. What they talked about during the commercials and in the case of my set who held the remote control. What I’m getting at is simple. We live in a world where people are stimulated by input from many sources but that’s all it is- stimulation by absorption. Not much challenge there. At age 50 I’m part of the generation that made our own fun. We didn’t wait for some outside source to come along and lead us to it. Our imagination was the starting point and we ran with it. It’s the same imagination that gave me the desire to own and restore an early color set.

Another part is the pride of ownership. Having a color TV in the 1958 was a big deal. I’ve heard many firsthand stories. It was 1972 when my family got our first color set and yes it was still a big deal. Not everyone on the block can say they have a 52 year old color TV in their home. In 2010 it’s still a big deal to me. Owning, sharing and showing a set like this to friends and family is a great reward and I feel privileged to be able to do it. Many have never seen one and a few remember them from personal experience but either way everyone who sees it has been thoroughly entertained by it and their reasons are many.

I’m sure many of us have “romanticized” much of the nostalgia that accompanies what we collect but it might all disappear if we don’t share our thoughts, feelings and experiences with those that didn’t live in an earlier time in history. I’m glad there are younger enthusiasts like RitchieMars and the way he explained that “it's all in the way that you experienced that life”. It’s also the memories of your life that you carry with you. And we can all do with a few pleasant memories about now.

Aussie Bloke
09-11-2010, 02:06 AM
Why old televisions?

For myself, I do embrace in today's LCD television technology, however I find it more thrilling to see how television looked like back in its earliest years. I pretty much grew up with the 80s and 90s generation of televisions going from silver and fake plastic woodgrain of the 80s to black or silver plastic sets in the 90s and early 2000s, so I saw that as the norm. In my late teens I liked watching modern programs on a late 1970s Thorn colour TV, it was thrilling for me. Around 2006 I got off the street a 1959 HMV B&W TV and had my techo friend restore it to working order and I found it even more thrilling viewing modern programs and my little CCD camera on it. And I have been seeing the wonderful restoration of the oldest colour and B&W sets over the net and I think WOW televisions back then gave very good pictures like the more modern CRT TV sets. For some reason I find it thrilling bridging two diverse eras of technology, seeing modern pictures on televisions that are 50+ years old is amazing!!!

I also find just as thrilling seeing 1950s B&W and colour videotape recordings as I am amazed to see how good quality live television really was, pity most of it exists on kinescopes.

So that's my reason for getting into old televisions, and from that I really learned to appreciate this golden age technology as much as today's top notch LCD technology! :)

marty59
09-11-2010, 02:04 PM
We've become such a throw-away, instant on, gotta have it now society that most appreciation for how things evolved have practically been lost. I cannot disagree or would change any of the comments that have been posted on this topic.

The pioneering spirit involved in engineering, design and producing/manufacturing of these sets as well as the all the employment, activity and support that was in the U.S. will never be again. And will you feel the same way about some new flat panel, plastic set as well as being fasinated about it fifty years from now?...Of course not, times have changed.

Old, "classic" sets were designed around proven (analog) circuits, made to be serviced and most of all enjoyed! And most important, that enjoyment part never gets old!!

I grew up in the sixties/seventies and we had our first color set in the mid-sixties. Before we got it, we were always invited to our neighbor's house (who had color before us) to watch the Bob Hope Specials on their CTC 17 Combo. Wow, the things we recall from our childhoods!!

Dan Starnes
09-11-2010, 03:54 PM
For me there are only two reasons:

They're built better.

and two,

They were built here.
:thmbsp:

Dave S
09-11-2010, 08:29 PM
...why this over a large color crt or flatpannel? :scratch2:

Lots of reasons we like the old sets, (few if any which would have anything to do with practicality :-) But for what it's worth I find that I'm watching almost all of my TV shows on an iPod touch these days. That's a screen just marginally larger than my 3" 1947 Pilot.

--Dave

mbates14
09-11-2010, 10:12 PM
I tell you why I do it. The feeling you get when firing one up that has that nice warm glow, and working fully functional, with parts and designs that go back 50 or more years. just sitting and thinking about that while the set is in operation puts my mine in awe, what we as a society could do and have done in north america at one point in time.

Tube technology is WAY before my lifetime, I'm just now considered a mature adult at the age of 24, getting ready to turn 25 in the next couple of months. Seeing sets like these, especially ones that operate give me a weird feeling inside. I cant explain it, it just does.

Anyway, Try that with todays sets 50 years from now. HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHA

AUdubon5425
09-12-2010, 03:52 AM
Personally, I think a CRT produces a clearer picture than an LCD or plasma screen. While it's interesting, I consider "HD" a gimmick more than anything. Any regular programming ("LD" ?) shown on "HD" sets I've seen looks like crap. Plus, you can't really get the best view of a flat-screen TV unless you're directly in front of it, while a CRT set can be viewed from many angles with no deficit.

oldtvman
09-12-2010, 08:47 AM
Personally, I think a CRT produces a clearer picture than an LCD or plasma screen. While it's interesting, I consider "HD" a gimmick more than anything. Any regular programming ("LD" ?) shown on "HD" sets I've seen looks like crap. Plus, you can't really get the best view of a flat-screen TV unless you're directly in front of it, while a CRT set can be viewed from many angles with no deficit.

while that is true for lcd screens, the plasma technology is a mirror image of the crt technology with no degradation off center. Personnally i own plasma technology. The reason that these sets are near and dear to my heart is the fact that color was a major milestone in technology for the time while hd is simply an extension of technology that has existed for years.

mbates14
09-12-2010, 09:04 AM
the problem with plasma is the expense of serviceability. thats why i wont have one.

old_coot88
09-12-2010, 10:18 AM
For those who actually earned a living in the sales, service and repair of these beasties, there was not the 'nostalgia factor' so evident today. We nursed them through warranty, cussed 'em often, and if a color set lasted 5 years it was considered a good service life. If there was any nostalgia, it was for radios of the '20s and '30s. The fact that everything was made in America was simply a given and taken for granted.

Today on these forums, I can vicariously 'work on' the old stuff again and actually always enjoy it. :yes:The greatest satisfaction comes of (occasionally) walking someone through the self-same, obscure troubleshooting problem I had encountered a half-century or more ago.

Although not recognized at the time, it is the Americanness of the old sets that is their most precious asset.
Bill(oc)

ceebee23
09-12-2010, 05:15 PM
I remember the astonishment of seeing colour tv for the first time as teenager at an electronics show around 1968.

Seeing Fred Flinstone in colour was a shock!!

I also remember the very first colour test broadcast in 1974 ..yes 1974 .... and being astounded by how different colour made everything.

rca2000
09-12-2010, 06:31 PM
the problem with plasma is the expense of serviceability. thats why i wont have one.


And they don't hold up worth SHIT!! Believe me I KNOW this...I work on them EVERY DAY, at least one or two, and HATE them, as do ALL of the techs I work with!! Even though they are MUCH less expensive than merely 7 years ago(about 75% LESS than then), and are a bit less power hungry...they STILL break a LOT burn VERY easily(I had a channel on one for a few hours, it had the weather on the bottom, and it DID change some, but it STILL burned the bottom--though it WAS removable), are VERY fragile, and on and on. The Y-sustain boards, Buffers, and panels STILL fail a LOT, just like in 2003 and such. Thank GOD we repair them at BOARD LEVEL.

Admittedly, now you can get a 50" full HD plasma for UNDER 1K, but it it STILL a bad investment, in my opinion.

rca2000
09-12-2010, 06:43 PM
Tube technology is WAY before my lifetime, I'm just now considered a mature adult at the age of 24, getting ready to turn 25 in the next couple of months. Seeing sets like these, especially ones that operate give me a weird feeling inside. I cant explain it, it just does.

Anyway, Try that with todays sets 50 years from now. HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHA[/QUOTE]

And I will be 43 in a couple of weeks.....and it gives me much of the same feeling. I am getting ready to pick up a 1973 RCA console stereo, the BIG one from then, with the 100+ watt amp and 12" 3 way sealed speakers,(and the LAST good one they made--too..) that I have waited for OVER 20 years to get--and it is NOT that far away--or expensive...FINALLY!!

mbates14
09-12-2010, 07:43 PM
hmm. I think there is one upstares being used as a peice of furniture, but i dont know if its from 1973 though. Its not mine, its grandmas she bought new way way back.

mbates14
09-12-2010, 07:44 PM
And they don't hold up worth SHIT!! Believe me I KNOW this...I work on them EVERY DAY, at least one or two, and HATE them, as do ALL of the techs I work with!! Even though they are MUCH less expensive than merely 7 years ago(about 75% LESS than then), and are a bit less power hungry...they STILL break a LOT burn VERY easily(I had a channel on one for a few hours, it had the weather on the bottom, and it DID change some, but it STILL burned the bottom--though it WAS removable), are VERY fragile, and on and on. The Y-sustain boards, Buffers, and panels STILL fail a LOT, just like in 2003 and such. Thank GOD we repair them at BOARD LEVEL.

Admittedly, now you can get a 50" full HD plasma for UNDER 1K, but it it STILL a bad investment, in my opinion.

Oh i know, i remember seeing alot of them on the benches at northgate TV, if they are still around.

and i worked on a couple 50X3s i wish to never work on another one again.

radiotvnut
09-12-2010, 08:01 PM
I can pretty much take everything that's been said above to explain why I like old TV's and other old electronics.

I'll add that I have no intention of spending one red cent on a new TV because I'm not that much of a TV watcher and what I do watch is usually old programming. And, I'm not going to spend mega money on something that will be in the dump in 5-7 years (or less). As it stands now, I can pick up an old CRT set for cheap or free, fix it up, and get many years out of it.

I grew up during the '80's and '90's and I remember people that still had tube type color TV's and even a few had B&W sets. Heck, we didn't have anything fancy at home. Until I was 5 years old, we had a 9" GE B&W on rabbit ears and were glad to have it. When I was adopted by my maternal grandparents at the age of 5 1/2, they had a '70's 19" RCA knob tuned color set. Around '84, my Dad bought a slightly used 19" Magnavox cable ready remote color TV from our TV repairman for $150 and we watched that set for years. By the time that set died, I had already started picking up old TV's and repairing them. Any set that was here after the Magnavox died was something that I found and fixed. As far as TV's for my room, I had that 9" GE B&W until I was a teenager. Then, I found a 17" RCA VHF-only B&W, then I got a 19" Philco-Ford B&W with UHF, and various color sets after that. And, they were all used with an antenna and, later, a VCR. We had cable at our house; but, my Dad would not let me run it to my room.

Someone was talking about TV's in school. I was in elementary school from '83-'88 and most of the TV's were 23" RCA CTC39 tube type color sets in metal cabinets and they had an assortment of A/V input jacks on the back. Program material usually came from U-matic tapes and the tape machines were either Sony, JVC, or Panasonic. Around '86-'87, the local Coke bottling plant donated a VHS VCR to the school. In the library, there were a couple of early '80's 25" Zenith system 3 color sets on the same type of metal cart with U-matic tape machines connected to them. I think I remember seeing a few old RCA B&W sets in the equipment room; but, they were never used. Most of what we watched was stuff provided by PBS. Sometimes, if we were good, our teacher would show a "normal" movie or cartoon.

In '89-'90, something called "channel one" came along. It was a 12 minute "news" program that was broadcast, via satellite, to all the schools. The company that was behind this news program donated 19" Magnavox color sets to all the schools with the understanding that the school would show this news program. There was a TV in each classroom and they were all connected to a master control center n the library. If a teacher wanted to show a film to the class, all he/she had to do was tell the librarian to show "whatever" tape at 9 AM to room 222. After those new TV's were installed, that was pretty much the end of the sets on roll around carts. Now, they probably have flat panels with full HD cable in all the classrooms. Back in the old days, the teacher had to reserve the "ETV" (that's what it was always called) at least 24 hours in advance of needing it.

As far as my current TV's, a have a wide assortment of old color and B&W sets that I watch. The only LCD set in the house is a 26" samsung that my Mother bought for her room and she thinks it's the greatest thing ever and thinks I'm crazy for not wanting to upgrade.

rca2000
09-12-2010, 08:33 PM
Oh i know, i remember seeing alot of them on the benches at northgate TV, if they are still around.

.

Not...they are long gone. I got cheated out of OVER 7500 from them last year, AND DENIED unemployment too!! I am STILL dealing with the "tax mess" from them, since they would NOT give me a W--2 last spring!!

Now, I have to get up before 6AM and drive 35+ miles each way, to Hebron KY--to work for LESS than I got there--when "things were good"--which was NOT too often though

But, at least it is paying the bills, and my mom just lost HER job Thursday...so...things are NOT looking too good for me right now...

wa2ise
09-12-2010, 08:46 PM
Personally, I think a CRT produces a clearer picture than an LCD or plasma screen.

As for the LCD vs CRT, a major part of the equation is the light quality of the LCD backlight. Though it looks to be white, it's often just blue and yellow light mixed together. The LCD panel has red, green and blue filters painted on its pixels. Blue comes out fine, but you can't really get decent pure enough green and red light from the yellow of the backlight. This limits how well the display can reproduce color, in the industry it's called gamut. One a computer screen, it doesn't much matter if the red in an excel spreadsheet isn't as red as it should have been, but with video or pictures it does make a difference.

I use a bigger VGA CRT monitor (17 inch IIRC) for over the air HDTV driven by a DirecTV box someone gave me. I don't watch enough TV really to justify to myself to get a flat panel.

DaveWM
09-12-2010, 09:18 PM
Although not recognized at the time, it is the Americanness of the old sets that is their most precious asset.
Bill(oc)

EXACTLY!!

Well said OC...

Just wondering, I recent had my 1st "tech induced error" when I must have moved a part under the chassis, creating color hum bars on a zenith.

Since you worked on them for a living I was just wondering if this was a typical rookie error, esp when a chassis was pulled from a console to be worked on back at the shop (so it had to be handled, and moved a lot).

The zenith seems more prone to this with its mass of point to point wiring, vs PCBs anyway.

NowhereMan 1966
09-12-2010, 09:22 PM
Even in the Seventies getting a color TV was a big deal. Televisions then were not treated like appliances as they are today. It was a prized household possession that was generally treated with care if you did not want someone to get mad at you. An expensive 25" console color TV in a nice wood cabinet was a piece of furniture and you didn't dare set a drink on top of it. I think the trend toward black plastic cabinets even in large sets has caused most people to forget how much we used to value television sets.

I think Mom and myself still see it that way, we love our 1982 Zenith a lot. I know I get joked around and people say, just buy a new TV. I'm of limited means plus why give up a working TV? I can be entertained by a story or movie, I don't care if it is in hi-def, standard def or British 405 line standard, if the story is good, that's all that matters.

miniman82
09-12-2010, 09:46 PM
Televisions then were not treated like appliances as they are today. It was a prized household possession that was generally treated with care if you did not want someone to get mad at you. I think the trend toward black plastic cabinets even in large sets has caused most people to forget how much we used to value television sets.



Trust me, I value every inch of my Mitsu 65" DLP set just as much as the 255 sq inches of picture I get from my RCA sets. :yes:

But, there's a certain satisfaction to be had by bringing these old sets back to life. Especially if it's one you get for a song, like my CTC-9. It cost next to nothing, and after minimal investment (just power supply caps), it makes a surprisingly good picture. My only gripe is that it could be brighter, but I'm still looking for a 21FJP22 to put in it. To me it's just like restoring an old car (which I also do)- they were just plain built better in those days, and it's comforting knowing some child in Indonesia didn't put it together.

Zenith26kc20
09-13-2010, 10:50 AM
My favorite watcher is a Zenith 25NC38. It was pitiful when I "adopted" it for 10 dollars. On top of it is a Motorola VT-71. In the spare bedroom is a 42 in LG plasma. My other half and I put it there after I repaired it (it is adopted too). She hated the heat and the picture unless it was running HD. I hated the fact it consumes around 700 watts. The 25 inch Zenith uses around 350 watts!
Maybe I can get the Zenith an "Energy Star" symbol!

aidynphoenix
09-14-2010, 04:49 AM
Wow im amazed how big this thread got so quickly, and i am even more impressed at how kind and understanding you all are..

thanks to all of you i have more appreciation for the classic televisions. i do remember watching the screen shrink to a small white dot, and i do remember the screen slowly getting brighter as it warmed up when first turned on..
i do recall watching some movies that were black and white (the three stooges, i love lucy, giligans island) and didnt mind at all, actually after i watched the movie (the three stooges) for several minutes i forgot it wasnt in color untill it was over and i saw a commercial again.
although i have never really liked small tv's,, anything smaller than a 17" i find it hard to watch unless i am close to it. i cant stand watching movies on my ipod either. but i think thats due to having to hold it or watch it in a awkward position..

i dont think i could use a classic black and white television for anything other than classic moves, or stand up comedy maybe cartoons.
i cant imagine watching the dark knight or any new movies on one..

although i would love to repair them. maybe if i knew how, and had done so. i would then have the motivation and interest to sit and watch tv on one, and be proud of my labor.
we have this old black and white television out in the garage, and i just dont know what to do with it.. its still working :D
its tiny, i know its smaller than 17" but i still lack the motivation to do anything with it.. i also have portable, tv/flashlight/radio that is portable and it is black and white too,, although i think thats junk because i cant use a digital converter box with it..

i dont know if i should junk these or not now..

aidynphoenix
09-14-2010, 04:58 AM
My favorite watcher is a Zenith 25NC38. It was pitiful when I "adopted" it for 10 dollars. On top of it is a Motorola VT-71. In the spare bedroom is a 42 in LG plasma. My other half and I put it there after I repaired it (it is adopted too). She hated the heat and the picture unless it was running HD. I hated the fact it consumes around 700 watts. The 25 inch Zenith uses around 350 watts!
Maybe I can get the Zenith an "Energy Star" symbol!

is that another gimmic to make people move to HD??
i mean why should a HD television look funny when displaying the regular rez tv..
i know when i hooked up a television through s-video to my computer to use as a monitor everything was fuzzy, but it looked the same on resoutions between 640-480 up to 1024-768
it actually made badly converted computer movies look better on the television set.

and also HD is just a tv thats like a monitor right? 1280x720 pixels and anything higher is HD..
yet a little 17" computer monitor does 1024x768 which is close to the same, and yet it can still look just fine displaying anything smaller.
same goes for 19 and 21" monitors displaying 1600x1200 and bigger..
what gives?

andy
09-14-2010, 10:14 AM
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jr_tech
09-14-2010, 12:07 PM
Another factor that I have observed is that many people tend to set up the display options to fill the 16:9 display area, resulting in a "stretched" picture when viewing a 4:3 source. Lots of short, wide people on TV :D
This may be done in fear of aging an un-even pattern into the display screen, which can be a problem with plasma displays, but I have seen many LC sets adjusted this way as well. :scratch2:
jr

andy
09-14-2010, 01:37 PM
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Tubejunke
09-16-2010, 11:33 PM
People sometimes think that I'm crazy I think because I have always said that I don't see the big deal with color television or big screen sets. I tell them that as long as I can see a clear image, then I am satisfied. I admit that I probably wouldn't choose to use a 10" black and white as my livingroom set, but a 19" would do, and a 21" is plenty big I think. Some people seem so utterly attracted to having the latest and greatest group of bells and whistles that marketers can come up with. I just don't understand this mindset. No wonder the country is in trouble! Some people would see me, or things about me, and call me poor, but to me I am just fine, not rich (except in God's blessings) though. I just prefer using old things and laughing as people go further in debt so they can look good and looking good IS feeling good in America. LOL! Beyond that, I have long had a strange attraction to tube audio and video equipment. I couldn't explain it to myself! Sometimes I turn on an old radio or TV and have the back cover off to watch the tubes glow and smell a certain smell. Wow! Maybe TV people are nuts!!! LOL!

I am also a musician and an "audiophile," but I can enjoy listening to a 78rpm single on a Victrola as much as a Pink Floyd album through a Marantz amplifier and vintage Sansui speakers, or MP3s on a PC system. Then there is automotive entertainment, and NO that doesn't mean talking on a cell phone or texting, the latter being for IDIOTS only. Anyway, as long as I can hear FM radio clearly I am happy. I don't even want to worry with carrying around tapes or cds in a car anymore. When I was a little younger I did have to carry around "my" music and thought that listening to the radio was just another form of being controlled. LOL! Hindsight?!?!? So, I don't know if I am purely eccentric, overly practical, or just plain boring. Either way, they can keep their flat, big, HD, plastic picture frames, at least until the prices come down after the rich folks market has been saturated. Actually, we are almost there! Mark my words! It doesn't seem like that long ago that mostly the elite had a VCR because they cost several hundred dollars. After several years of tapping the big money, the companies came down to working class price and suddenly everyone had to own one! Just like DVDs and flat screens today, even those on welfare have the latest attraction. Marketing to kids is the ticket these days because they will practically force their softy parents to buy every gadget that Wal-mart can hold....