CRT TV vs. flat screen image quality

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by TUD1

Dieseljeep, I'm pretty sure it was is current production as they had dozens of them sealed in the box.

As far as phlat skreen sets are concerned, I'm so used to watching a real TV, that watching a phlat skreen looks very distorted and foreign (literally) to me. My hatred for phlat skreen sets cannot be described using real words.

Too bad Philco is out of business. They would've called their sets"Philco Phlats".
Regarding the HD converter, does yours have the built in power supply or the wall-wart AC adaptor. Mine has the standard AC cord and the built in power supply.

[centralradio]

All of my TV's here are CRT except the computer monitors here which one is on this computer that I'm sending this post.I notice I get alot of artifacts on my CRT sets from the cable TV box and it looks like a internet stream or downloaded MPEG1 file at times.Very blotchy pixelize scene movements .The Dell 22 inch here on my Dell is crisp and clear with the videos and graphics.It must be the cheap cable boxes of they compressing the channels to the max to get more channels.The analog signal cable looked 100 percent better then the digital cable signal.Again the public got screwed.

[rca2000]

BUT....with all of the negative baggage that comes with DTV....there is ONE advantage...a WHOLE lot more channels !! I have a LOT of vintage tv channels in this area...Me tv, COZI, THIS, Movies channel, Decades, Grit, Get-tv Comet , Buzzr,and Bounce. Not ONE was available on Analog tv. I watch these channels MORE than ANY others..PERIOD !! Yes--DTV is finicky, troublesome and not great picture detail...BUT it is the ONLY way--to get this many OTA channels...which I have LONG gotten used to.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by rca2000

BUT....with all of the negative baggage that comes with DTV....there is ONE advantage...a WHOLE lot more channels !! I have a LOT of vintage tv channels in this area...Me tv, COZI, THIS, Movies channel, Decades, Grit, Get-tv Comet , Buzzr,and Bounce. Not ONE was available on Analog tv. I watch these channels MORE than ANY others..PERIOD !! Yes--DTV is finicky, troublesome and not great picture detail...BUT it is the ONLY way--to get this many OTA channels...which I have LONG gotten used to.

Yeah, I agree that is one positive thing with DTV. I live in Tiltonsville, OH, moved here to be closer to my gradeschool buddy after I lost my mother in 2013. I live in the Ohio River Valley and I only get two TV station over the air, but at least both have 1 main channel and 2 subchannels. WTRF in Wheeling on 7 carries CBS as their main channel and they have ABC on a subchannel and another channel as well. ABC does not come into the valley too well since the closest affiliate is in Pittsburgh and WTAE, channel 4, does go far very well. The other station is WTOV, channel 9, in Steubenville, I get NBC, Fox and MeTV on there. MeTV is what I watch 90% of the time.

[dishdude]

It depends on what you're feeding it - SD or analog signals the CRT is going to do better. If it's HD programming, the LCD will blow it away.

[andy]

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[Eric H]

Two CRT sets I bought new (79 GE, 90 XBR) needed repairs within a couple years, neither of my Panasonic Plasmas (2008, 2014) has had an issue. Neither did the 2005 Sony LCD Rear Projector. (replaced by the Plasma)

I have a 2007 Samsung LCD that I got with a bad PS cap and repaired, it's been running fine since 2011.

My two HP LCD Monitors from 2007 have never had a problem and they probably get more use than the TV's, the one I'm using now has 13,000 hours on the back light, the monitor itself is always on.

Older CRT sets were probably more easily repaired and parts more available, but that has more to do with the manufacturing process than anything else.

[Jeffhs]

One problem flat-screen TVs with LED backlights cannot have is inverter failure, as LED backlights do not need an inverter as do FPs with CCFLs in that position. That's one less thing to worry about going bad.

VK member andy makes a very good point regarding the reliability of flat screen TVs. I agree with him that the reliabilty issue has been overblown. As I have mentioned before in previous posts, my Insignia 19" LCD flat screen is five years old now (it was manufactured in May 2011) and is still working every bit as well as it did the day I bought it. I am expecting it to last a few more years, but if it doesn't, I have my 20-year-old Zenith Sentry 2 ready to replace it.

I think flat screens, which have been with us now for some time and have all but completely replaced CRT sets in American and Canadian homes, have come a very long way from the very first ones, which often did fail within two years or less (!) of initial purchase. Today's FPs, except the very cheap no-name ones (Polaroid, Element, Craig, et al.) found at CVS, Rite Aid or bargain-basement discount stores, are much more reliable, with most issues stemming from design flaws and/or from the use of very cheap (read $.05 or even less) capacitors and other parts. These are much more likely to be damaged beyond repair by lightning strikes and other electrical hazards, although any TV (FP or CRT), even the expensive large-screen ones, or other electronic device can be damaged by a close strike and certainly by a direct hit on the AC line from which the set is powered, or a strike on a cable line, although of course the cable box (if used) will likely be damaged first if lightning hits the cable.

[dr.ido]

I've been seeing a lot of cheap LCD sets with bad LED backlights, so I've got my doubts that they'll last longer than CCFL backlights. These have all been under 3 years old (some only just outside of warranty). In these sets the backlight is one string of LEDs in series, so when one fails open the whole panel goes dark. I've yet to attempt to repair the backlight itself. I get enough of these sets with cracked LCDs that I just swap the entire backlight.

I've got quite a few 10+ year old panels with CCFL backlights that are still going strong (though I do have a stash of replacement inverter transformers for a couple that I'm particularly fond of).

LED failures aren't restricted to TV backlights. I was in a building recently full of those 3 LED downlights and every room had at least one out.

[user181]

Originally Posted by dr.ido

LED failures aren't restricted to TV backlights. I was in a building recently full of those 3 LED downlights and every room had at least one out.

But, but, but... LEDs are supposed to last forever, aren't they? They told us we will never have to replace them. They told us they are the wonderful, magic, perfect, green solution that will save the planet and cure all the ills of the world.

Seriously, though, I have observed the exact same thing. I've also noticed their brightness fade over time.

In my house, I joke that we have a reverse incandescent light bulb ban -- anything that ISN'T incandescent is forbidden.

[zeno]

Originally Posted by user181

But, but, but... LEDs are supposed to last forever, aren't they? They told us we will never have to replace them. They told us they are the wonderful, magic, perfect, green solution that will save the planet and cure all the ills of the world.

Seriously, though, I have observed the exact same thing. I've also noticed their brightness fade over time.

In my house, I joke that we have a reverse incandescent light bulb ban -- anything that ISN'T incandescent is forbidden.

We are 95% incandescent, just got in some 75's & 150's.
Only others are 2 spotlights & a few pigtails in closets. Its to us
an expression of freedom & protest. Just like guns & big cars.
Even if not forced I would have them anyways.

73 Zeno

[maxhifi]

LED lighting is awesome, but like any commercially made product there's variations in qa/qc which can affect your experience. I personally wouldn't specify anything else for new construction in most instances.

I hoarded incandescent bulbs when they announced the ban, not because they're superior but because I didn't agree with the government telling people what they can't and can't buy.

[dr.ido]

Those 3 LED halogen replacement bulbs may well be a particularly cheap/poor quality type - likely supplied to the building for free under some government energy saving initiative. At least they're easy enough to replace.

I don't like the ones that are sealed and the whole fixture has to be replaced when it fails (and by a licensed electrician, at least officially).

I've actually repaired a couple that were flickering by resoldering dry joints on the driver board, but to get at the board I had to drill out all the rivets.

[Outland]

Has anyone seen the new OLED displays from LG? Astounding. Best picture I've ever seen.

[jr_tech]

Agreed! still a bit concerned about the life of the blue emitters, but the prices are comming down... likely my next tv will be OLED.

jr