Roundie sitting in water in dumb digital TV commercial.

[Bill Cahill]

I'm still using my 23" 5 year old Admiral chinese tv. It's doing fine.
I am working on my family set now. My 1950 BW RCA Victor tv for my fun.
After that, I'll be finnishing my CTC-7A color set for my color videos, and, whatever.
I hate hdtv, and, the color to me looks like a kids' coloring book.
I don't care much for digital, and, I agree that this modern junk isn't going to last....
Remember, also, that they have now perfected, and, are using chips that will die in a set time by the companies. When dead, you can only buy a new chip from them at a cost prohibitive price so they can force you to buy a new one....
Bill Cahill

Originally Posted by Bill Cahill

last....
Remember, also, that they have now perfected, and, are using chips that will die in a set time by the companies. When dead, you can only buy a new chip from them at a cost prohibitive price so they can force you to buy a new one....
Bill Cahill

Great to have confirmation on that. Not too long ago I told a friend I bet they are doing that just because of all I have learned about general business practices.
Naturally, my friend, like anybody else I say anything to, responded as though I just gave him more of the usual cra_ that proves I'm an idiot on top of being wierd for liking old things.

[truetone36]

I'm using my 13" Samsung with digital cable and its doing fine. My wife has hinted about a new set, but a new set would never last 25 years like this little set has done. Besides, this set has sentimental value, having been given to me by a very close friend just before he passed away. He was a t.v. repairman and he went through the set thoroughly before letting me have it, and it's going to be working for years after this new junk has gone to the landfill.



Dumont-First with the finest in television.

[Jeffhs]

All existing analog TV sets will work after February 19, 2009 if they are connected to cable or satellite service. Cable companies, moreover, do not necessarily or in fact have to carry their channels (even local channels) in digital format. I read in this thread (IIRC), in fact, that the cable companies can carry analog NTSC indefinitely if they so desire or need to (e.g. for financial reasons); only over-the-air TV stations are required by law to transmit digital signals.

Analog TVs do last longer than digital flat-panels. (My own two 19" analog CRT sets are still going strong and making excellent pictures on digital cable after eight and almost 13 years, respectively.) You are right as to your statement that analog CRT sets (such as your Samsung and all other makes of analog sets) will still be in use, and hopefully working well, years after the new FPs have developed serious problems and are thrown out to face a certain death in a landfill.

I personally like the picture on a CRT set better than I would probably like the same image on a FP television. Someone in this thread said basically the same thing not long ago, stating that, to him, the picture on a FP set looked terrible (oversaturated colors, for example) when compared to the same picture on an analog set. I personally do not believe that even the best and most expensive flat panel HDTV produces a better picture than a good CRT set with a strong signal. My feeling is that if you like the picture you get on your analog set, keep it and enjoy it until it dies, the signal format be darned. The government is not forcing anyone to switch from a CRT TV to an HD flat panel; the only thing the FCC has forced on us (and every one of the nation's TV stations) is the change from analog to digital transmission. Even OTA (over the air) digital TV can still be viewed on an an analog set if an ATSC converter is used ahead of it. However, as the new digital TV commercials are saying, all unmodified analog TVs will show nothing but snow on 02-19-2009, which is a fact. Hopefully, these commercials will drive this point home, so that viewers will not have a rude surprise on that date when they turn on their analog sets to watch the news (for example), and see nothing but noise on their favorite news channel.

Fortunately, as I said above, however, if you have cable or satellite service you need not even be concerned about the changeover, as all the changes have already been made or will soon be made by your area's cable company. Time Warner, the cable operator serving northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania, for example, has already converted its entire system to digital, so they (and their subscribers) will definitely be ready when 02.19.09 rolls around.

Digital TV. Don't fight it and for heaven's sake don't worry about it. As long as cable companies carry analog NTSC (and even digital, using a converter) you will still get the same channels you receive now, regardless of what kind of TV you have. The only difference will be that, on standard analog televisions, digital broadcasts will be displayed in letterbox format. You will see the same picture you've been seeing all along, only now it will be in 16:9 aspect ratio and will not fill your screen vertically. Don't be alarmed the first time you see this; your TV picture isn't shrinking. If your picture were actually shrinking due to a problem in the vertical sweep system, you would be seeing the station's/network's VITS (vertical interval test signals) at the top of the picture; the latter might be stretched out of shape or compressed as well.

Remember as well that all the hype surrounding HDTV is just advertising hooey, designed to drum up business for stores so they can sell more flat panel sets. Personally, I know only one person (my barber) who actually has an HDTV in his home. I do not think high-definition has really caught on yet in many parts of the country, except perhaps southern California. When people find out just how short-lived FP sets are, they are probably going to wish they would have held on to their old reliable analog CRT sets. I think it's a darn shame that $1,000+ large-screen (and smaller) flat-panel TVs last only a couple years before they go belly-up, but that's the way it is these days. This factor alone is keeping the stores that sell these TVs in business. It's known as planned obsolescence, and there's darned little if anything we can do about it.

[Robert Grant]

Even if you don't have cable or satellite, don't throw out an analog TV.

You can get a tuner for over-the-air Digital TV. Nearly every such tuner offers an NTSC output (in addition to HDTV modes), and can (perhaps with the addition of a very inexpensive RF modulator and a 75 to 300 ohm antenna transformer) be hooked up to ANY american TV set (okay, if you have a very rare RCA TRK-9, you'll have to convert if from 441-line to NTSC, and I assume that's been done already?).

Worried about price? You can get a $ 40 couppn to help pay (or pay outright) for the cost of the converter, whether you have cable or not (go to www.dtv2009.gov).

FWIW, I have used my RCA ATSC-11 STB with my Emerson 1224 B&W set from 1957. I've also fed this box with the output of a Standard-Kollsman UHF converter, giving me a DTV receiving system that not only uses 21 tubes, but offers mechanical tuning!

Rob Grant, Michigan.

[radiotvnut]

I've read on here about a converter that's supposed to be available for $39.99. In the future, there will probably be models cheaper than that.

[andy]

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[3Guncolor]

I don't think that many converters will end up being sold because the price may never drop as low as some think. Most folks don't use "over the air" any more. People that pay for TV don't need to do anything. That will also cause the demand to be low and why would a store make a big deal about selling converters it would be better for them to sell a new flat panel. As far as I can see the whole thing is a joke about the converters even my dad was confused about it. He was already to throw out his bedroom set because he has seen the PSAs about digital and does not have cable on that set. I told him it will work for another year. The only watch the news on it.

[edison64]

just look on ebay, type in tv repair or television repair, you will find all the dead flat pans you want. most people think they can sell them off to unsuspecting novices.CRT FOREVER!!!!!!

[andy]

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[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by andy

They seem to sell them quite successfully. I assume people use them for parts. No one bothers to sell broken CRT TVs on ebay because no one wants them.

Heck, no one (except us) wants WORKING CRT set's, either!

[peverett]

I just wish that they would improve the quality of the shows that are broadcast(along with the advertized signal quality improvement with digital). I have cable in my house but not my backyard shop(where I restore the TVs). Most broadcast TV is pretty bad(at least it does not interest me-I do not care who Donald Trump fires this week).

As far as how long flat screen TVs last, I do not know. I have heard that plasma loses contrast fairly quickly and have had a good experience with my flat screen LCD computer monitor. This, plus an article in the IEEE magazine about how complex flat screens are, is the limit of my experience.

[Rental Limo]

Originally Posted by edison64

just look on ebay, type in tv repair or television repair, you will find all the dead flat pans you want. most people think they can sell them off to unsuspecting novices.CRT FOREVER!!!!!!

I sold a couple of vintage television repair books awhile back to a person named zipy123cat on Ebay. I read his feedback, and i guess he buys broken newer electronics too. Mainly flat panel Tv's.