Any one here will still use the C.R.T tv's for every day wathcing tv? (not just for nostalgy).
I will try to use the C.R.T. tv as long as I can. After my 2000 "Sony" Trinitron will pass away I'll try to find an used C.R.T. tv still working...

I currently have a CRT Samsung 26" HDTV that is two years old. I will continue to use it until either I can no longer service it of my wife insists on a flat panel. As far as vintage sets go, I want to always have some kind of converter box even if just a cheap one so I can always use them. I have no plan or desire for a flat panel set. I like LCDs for my computer and portable entertainment devices but for TV at home, CRT is the only way to go.

it's the only kind i own.

it's the only kind i own.

Same here :thmbsp:

Same here :thmbsp:

and the same here.. just bought it new a year and a half ago...

I want a LCD or plasma, but just don't see it happening.. to many other wants that are easier to spend on... guess maybe when this TV goes..

Won't be getting rid of my 4 round screen color CRTs any time soon.

nothing beats a CRT for color reproduction

I have a 27" Philips that is going on 18 years old. Works like a champ and plan on using it till it dies.

Same age as my 27" Zenith that never skips a beat. Plus three other CRT TVs. When they die I'll probably replace them with a flat panel in the LR, but stay with whatever is cheap everywhere else.

Love my Sony FD Trinitron WEGA, but because of space/weight constraints, when it dies, it will probably be replaced by a LCD/Plasma that can be hung on the wall...

Bed room TV is an 1988 Monkey Wards. Have no idea of the manufacturer but it works as well now as it did new.

Yep. Why replace a perfectly good working TV. In fact you can buy really nice CRT tv's off of craigs list for little change right now. Excellent value.

Steve

We have three of them, and I doubt they will be replaced with anything but another CRT when they go, assuming we can find good replacements for them.

Two Sony Trinitrons here, the BR 20" set is over 20 years old. Both still have great pictures, and I'll use 'em 'til they give up the ghost, or I'm forced to go digital.

I only watch on crts as does my whole family. i can easily get the biggest screen I want in my neighborhood just by cruising on bulk refuse day. The crt ends up on the street with the remotes and they usually are next to the large screen lcd empty box. Eventually the lcds will find there way to the curb as they don't last as long as crts.

...

I have a 1991 Sony KV27EXR25, and a KV27TS32 (Both 27" CRT) and a spare junked TS32 for parts, that has a tube that was run for about a year. It will fit in my EXR25, and when the set finally goes, I will install my spare tube.

Dont really care for flat screens. Have seen them just up and die suddenly too often!

Just got an RCA 32" widescreen CRT set for free that needed a new flyback transformer that cost me $22. It works great.

A couple CRTs here, one bought (used B&O) several months ago. The only flat panel screen around here is my computer monitor. For big-screen movies, I use a projector.

I have a Toshiba 36" set is is about 10 years old but works like new. :thmbsp:

I'm using an RCA 32" with the CTC-187 chassis. It was given to me at least 5 years ago and was a dead set. I replaced the horiz output transistor and a few capacitors around the horizontal circuit that checked bad on my ESR meter. It hasn't missed a beat since. Not bad, over 5 years service for around 10 dollars in parts and a little time. Have no plans to replace it unless it crashes too bad for me to fix. I don't see any programs on TV worth the kind of money they want for the new HD stuff. This old RCA looks good to me and the older I get the lower resolution my eyes get. I've got Directv so I think NTSC will be available to me for quite awhile.

C - R - T

Is Good - For - Me

I have about 6 or 8 of them, from a couple of 13" to a 32" main teevee in the LR.

But the teevee I watch most of the time is a 13" RCA in my ManShun. I have to use my reading glasses to see the scores, though!

it's the only kind i own.

SAME HERE !!

Yup. I have a 1995-ish Sharp and a 1998-ish Sharp that both still work great. Why replace them if they still work? Besdies, all these mega-size flatpanels require a whole new living room furniture & sound system arrangement and I'm not willing to go there yet.

I have a 1977 Sears brand 19inch color set with elecronic tuning. Played hours everyday,seven days a week. Never been fixed and still has a good picture. I guess I buy a new set when it breaks, unless I go first.

All CRT TVs here - and all free! Two from freecycle (broken when we got 'em) and two are from Dad. Also have three tube sets - an Emerson B/W, a GE Portacolor, and a Zenith metal cabinet hybrid set - all working, but used only in winter to supplement the heat. :D

My brother recently replaced his 12 year old Sony with a cheapie LCD - damn CRT had the Sony "intermittent" cathode problem. Sony even published a service bulletin (attachment) for the problem - with NO :no: solution! Open set and whack the CRT? Nah gunna do it....

Cheers,

Every night we have ONE TV a Philip's Magnovox 34" we bought from Sears a half dozen years ago. Works great. I'll replace it when it no longer works. With what I have no idea I do know it won't be any wider then 42" cause that is the widest cabinet that will fit in the Cabinet our son made his mom from a kit right before he went in the NAVY.

I watch my four year old Sanyo as well as several 30+year old CRT based sets every day. I have no plans to change.

They will have to pry my CRT from my cold ,dead ,fingers...

I'll stay far away from those flat screened TV's for as long as possible...

Even for my computer...I use a CRT... :banana:

Everyday sets for me are still CRT. Even at work most of the monitors are still CRT we just started to buy LCD sets.

I have a Zenith 32" AVI series, SL3285, from around 1993 still in daily use. Also a Sony 36" wega. Have a total of 11 CRT sets and one Panasonic 3 LED Projector.

I love and appreciate all of my antique TV sets and radios, but my entertainment at this point is nearly 100% digital, except for audio amplifiers/speakers. Over-the-air TV and radio are digital (except for a few analog-only radio stations), movie discs are digital (mostly HD), connection cables are digital (HDMI), displays are digital (flat panel and front projection).

I currently don't even have a tv newer than 1970, newest tv I've ever had was a 1991. And most of the time I still watch b/w, I have to be watching a color program I want to see in color before I fire up a color set. But the one piece of modern technology I do use is dvd players because it lets me watch whatever I want rather than being stuck with whatever's on. I probably would have stayed with older (late 70s-early 80s) vhs units rather than going to dvd, but the widespread availability of older 1950s-70s television shows (which is nearly all I like to watch) on dvd brought about the change for me. As far as computer monitors, I tend to do most of my work on a portable computer with the lcd display, but that's out of a need for portability rather than a desire for the lcd. When I'm at home reading websites like this I use a good old fashioned crt monitor. As far as audio I nearly exclusively listen to records through tube amps (mostly on tv-radio-phono combo consoles).

CRT´s makes better pic`s.:D

In use in my house

1. Bang&Olufsen 32" 100Hz Avant
2. Bang&Olufsen 25" LX4500
1. Bang&Olufsen 28" LS6000

I currently watch a 1976 caddy courner zenith chroma color . It works as good as new and i watch it for hours . My kitchen has a 1960 zenith b/w table top and i have a ge portacolor in the bedroom . They all work just fine with no issues . Being i aint a rich man i seem to be happy with what i got . The flat screens look nice however i wouldnt be spending that kinda of money on a tv that will break in five years . I pick up old sets at flea markets and yard sales for 5 or ten bucks , or even find them in the trash . I fix em up and they work just fine . As long as i can hook up the satalite tv or house antenna to the old stuff , thats what i will have .

I've found some of my best sets in the trash, just needing simple fixes. My line-up goes like this (all CRT by the way):

- GE portacolor 1966
-Zenith system 3 25" miniconsole 1979
-Zenith 19'' system 3 1981
-RCA colortrak 19" 1983 w/osd
-GE 12" b&w, magnavox 12"b&w
-Sony KV1712 1977
-Sony 35" late 90's
-Mitsubishi 1987 21" with the blue-tinted phosphor

All of these still work quite well and I enjoy watching them all. The ctc117 colrtrak is probably the nicest overall color rendition and brightness of em all, followed by the KV1712. No need to get rid of these for an hdtv, i mean I don't even watch much tv

I must have around 75 tv sets around the house. All crt. I might bring home a non-crt tv, if it's free, maybe around the year 2020?

All 49 of mine are CRT. Main watcher is my Zenith color combo. As far as the day I get an LCD or plasma, it ain't coming. THHHHHHHHH to plasma and LCD.

Five CRT sets in the house! Love the picture and the sets have real character - though the oldest in the house is from the early-80s and newest made in '03.

Though I was annoyed when a friend of mine kept recommending me a plasma or LCD sets to replace the perfectly working four year old CRT RPTV with a good picture which does not have HDMI, DVI or even VGA; just component and S-video. I keep telling him to buy one for me, if he's so content of convincing me. He shut his mouth. :D

Any one here will still use the C.R.T tv's for every day wathcing tv? (not just for nostalgy).
I will try to use the C.R.T. tv as long as I can. After my 2000 "Sony" Trinitron will pass away I'll try to find an used C.R.T. tv still working...

Is there something else besides CRT? :tresbon:

CRT here. I buy demo's cheap from where I work. Currently using a Daewoo 27"
that I got for $68 in the living room and a Magnavox 19" which was $33 in the bedroom.

We have only CRT sets in the house... I switched to LCD computer monitors about 2 years ago, but for TV on NTSC, the CRT is still the best that I see.

Charles

From what I have seen at the various stores, CRTS look better on the lower resolution HDTV also. The flat screens look out of focus with lower resolution signals. Of course, they look great(at least when new) when a high resolution HDTV signal is applied.

The problem with CRTs and HDTV would be the aspect ratio. Usually, there are black bars at the bottom and top or part of the picture is lost. However, I have seen a few smaller screen CRTs with the correct aspect ratio.

The only LCDs I own are in my laptops. All my TVs and monitors are CRT. I haven't been impressed enough by LCD or plasma to consider switching. Even the ones that do look good seem such poor value to me especially with the added costs of upgrading everything to provide the HD digital signal they need to look their best.

Same here :thmbsp:

Dittos!!

I own a 13" 1985 or 1986 model Sony that is the "kitchen" Tv. it has the usual "trinitron" quality picture to it. It is digital tune and remote(but the remote is long gone, and who needs a remote for a kitchen tv anyway??) My mother mainly watches it when she wants to watch the news or something, and my sister has the projo in the family room tied up (which is most of the time). It had a bad regulator IC in it about 9 years ago, when I fixed it and put it in there. A"no cost" set, like all of my other sets.

I have a 1992 32" RCA CONSOLE tv in my bedroom, as my "daily driver". I got it about 3.5 years ago, when I worked for CC, it was a "junk" pick up for some sucker who bought some shitty new tv(which has probably died by now..)It is the WONDERFUL CTC 169 chassis, which was the last "good" RCA set made. (The last "OK" set RCA made was the CTC-195/197 series, last made in about 2001.) As is nearly always the case--the CRT is perfect, and the set needed only about $5 worth of caps and a diode to fix(some of which I did as PM for future problems), and I watch it daily, for all of my needs. ALL OSD operation,. S-video and composite inputs, PIP and all--and it was FREE too!! Since it is a 169 parts are VERY easy to get--and will be for a long time to come.

And the Projo is also a CTC 169 RCA sst, that I picked up a couple of months before I got the RCA console in 2004. It was a "shopping" find, and replaced a 1987 RCA projo model that was strarting to lose parts that are getting hard to find. It gets from 8-14 hours of use a DAY, from my sister--but the tubes STILL look wonderful!! Like the other CTC-169--parts are plentiful and will continue to be so, on the rare occasion that something fails.

So no, I own NO LCD or other NT-type sets for my normal watching. the ONLY non-CRT sets I have are my litle handheld LCD sets, (I have 3, one a 1986 model and a 1995 TFT model, both color, and a 1983 model BW lcd set)(the 2 older ones I got for "nostalgic" reasons for very little), and my portable DVD player I got last year about this time.

Curved-screens only here, and it will stay that way! I might get a flat one if I can figure out how to fit a decent fish tank in that narrow profile! hahahaha

We have 5 CRTs here in the house. Would I like a new Plasma or LCD? Sure. But as long as these are working, I see no need to part with already scarce cash. Plus, I really don't watch a lot of TV.

Newest is a 36" Sony from about 7 years ago. I have two 27" Magnavox TVs from back in the late 80s. Both have been in use daily for 20 years. Funny thing is, both broke while under warranty. Both were fixed, and have worked flawlessly since. The kids have a couple of cheapos (Sanyo 25", and 19" Magnavox TV/VCR combo).

JD

3 CRTs: A 27" Sanyo, a 25" GE, a 20" Panasonic. Why? Because they all still work just fine. My family is the type that if anything breaks, we try to fix it first to keep it going, and only buy new when the repair cost would be more than a new item.
Tom

My main living-room TV is a Zenith 25CC50 (mostly tube) hybrid.
I just put a new rebuilt CRT in it in April, so I don't plan on getting rid of it
anytime soon...
My other sets in active use are 70's / 80's vintage solid state, the newest
is an '87 Samsung 12" B&W in the kitchen.
Mike

CRT All the way!! Too much crap happening with plasma displays, besides tube tv's are the original heat makers!!! Plasma's scare me when they get hot! Besides, who wants to be hangin a hot item on the wall anyway! I'd be in fear that it would burn my house down!!

Sony 36" XBR HD CRT circa 2001 in the living room, works great when the power supply aint busy blowin rectifiers diodes every 6 months...
(I have 6 more of these on hand when I get the notorious 4 flash 3 flash 4 flash sequence from the front led) lol

Zenith space command 19" solid state 1979 in the bedroom, love this set, it's quality is second to none...

My 64 RCA roundie in the game room, along witn all 8 of my gaming PC's, all crt! I can't stand the lag of LCD's when Im playing Call of Duty..

The Only LCD im forced to use is on my laptop....

I totally refuse to buy any kind of flat panel display device...

My daily watchers are all vintage sets:

1976 Philips K11 26" in the lounge
1975 Philips KM2 26" in my bedroom
1979 Philips KT3 16" in the kitchen, another one in my basement lab
1976 Philips K11 22" in the horse's barn
1985 Philips K40 21" stereo, hooked to my AV setup...

Nothing beats 70s to mid 80s Philips sets... they're built like tanks with top quality, durable Philips capacitors, they're extremely easy to repair, and i have yet to see an original Philips-made CRT going weak...

I once got a couple of scrapped late 70s railway station monitors fitted with Philips color CRTs, and apart from the severe screen burn, the guns themselves were still very strong...

Sony crt :D

All CRTs in my house. Even using a CRT 19" VGA monitor on a Samsung ATSC tuner for HDTV.

27" Sony Wegas. I love the look of CRT. I have one LCD. It's a Panasonic LH-2600 HD Broadcast monitor.

I have a 1982 Zenith 25" System 3 console as a daily watcher with a 19 inch Zenith BPC from 1998 as a backup. I also have a 1970 Zenith 23" Chromacolor console I plan to tinker with, hopefully get it going again. B&W TV's a 1975 RCA 12" portable and a 1964/66 Sony protable TV/VTR monitor. Rounding things out, I use a 1984 Commodore 64 monitor with a VCR as a tuner for my bedroom TV.

1999 Toshiba 60in in the parents room
1997 Magnavox 32in for the front room
1982 Sony 14in for the sisters room

Hi,

Yes, we still use CRT TV sets. In our Knoxville house we have a 1962 Zenith combo set in use. It's our daily watcher too. In Chattanooga, we are using a RCA CTC-9 roundie as a daily watcher. Our plasma is a special occasion use set. We like roundies and have 6 Zeniths. We have RCA, Admiral, Motorola, Curtis Mathes, GE and a Packard Bell roundie (last 3 under restoration). We are also restoring a Magnavox roundie too.

Nothing but CRT's here. They use less energy, cots less, produce less heat. I have a 26 in RCA (Indiana built) I bought to celebrate my 2nd year of sobriety. been moved 3 times, I'm in my 20th year and it just keep going. After I bought it I found out is uses the same crt as the Bang & Olufsen. It shows NO sign of giving up so I'll just plug in the digital adaptor and keep on trucking.

Can't wait to get my vintage Fisher restored and hooked up to it!

B

B

it's the only kind i own.

Same here. I don't want a flat-panel TV in any way, shape or form. I like my CRT's better.

Using a 20" JVC iArt TV now....works just fine.

Someday I'll have enough technical expertise to work on an old color Zenith (seventies model, weighs a TON), and get that back up and running....IIRC the focus is bad....that would be COOL to have.

and the same here.. just don't see it happening.. to many other wants that are easier to spend on...

Me too. I still have never spent money on a TV. I'm 41 and on my second freebie 19" CRT. (The first one still works, I just was offered a better one.)
As soon as 30+" flat panels are under $200, I'll start shopping. But that'll be a while (or never)

All the TV's and computer monitors I own are CRT based.

CRT's may be big, bulky, use a lot of electricity and generate a lot of heat, but only OLED can compare to their display quality, and OLED is far far FAR too expensive as of the time of this posting.

We still have all CRT for TV except for a small Sharp 10" LCD in the kitchen, but all LCD for computer. Oh, and a 12" LCD TV for the camping trailer bedroom due to no room for a CRT. Main daily set is a Sony KX-1901 profeel, and then in the TV room (where we never seem to watch TV,) is a 40" Sony Wega flat CRT KV-40XBR800.

I also have a Sony Bravia XBR LCD set which we're going to use as a target in our rifle range. I'll make a YouTube video when we do that ;)

Charles

Vinyldavid, the Zenith focus adjustment, the g1, is typically a very easy adjustment, and can breathe new life into many a monitor.

I use all CRT too. I won't watch lcd's or plasma, since they are often misadjusted and look bad, on top of being a slower-responding device.

My CRTs include RCAs, Zeniths, Motorolas, a Quasar, an old Sony trinitron, and amodern trinitron.

100% CRT usage over here. A 19" CTC97 RCA XL100 in the living room, a mid '80's 19" Sony Trinitron in the computer room, a '69 Zenith B&W console in the shop, a 13" KTV from '86 in my bedroom, a mid '90's Sharp 19" in my Mother's bedroom, a 13" Sharp in the kitchen, and a '76 Zenith Chromacolor II in the basement. I've also got a few '60's and '70's sets that are on my "to fix" list. I like these older TV's and I'm trying to build my stash of them so I won't have to buy a new TV.

Unlike most people my age, I'm not interested in LCD, Plasma, DLP, or whatever the "new must have" technology is. Most of my "friends" that are buying this new crap are just trying to keep up with their buddy down the road. Some of these sets look pretty good and some don't. None look good enough for me to pay what they cost. I know someone who dumped $3K on an LCD set 2 or 3 years ago and the picture is not as good as any of my CRT sets. The only LCD set here is a broken 20" Emerson that was free from the TV shop.

Someday I'll have enough technical expertise to work on an old color Zenith (seventies model, weighs a TON), and get that back up and running....IIRC the focus is bad....that would be COOL to have.

Most of us on here love Zenith's of that era and we would be more than happy to help you with it.

Is yours solid state or tube? Floor model or a table model in a steel cabinet?

I used to get a lot of those monster Zenith's from the '60's and '70's and they were good sets. I'm still trying to find an all tube or mostly tube Zenith color TV in either a steel cabinet or a console.

100% CRT here, too. First, I find the prices of the - as radiotvnut put it so well - "new, must-have" stuff way way too high. Second, I'll wait a few years until I'm sure the technology is as robust and dependable as the proven oldschool CRT stuff. Frankly, I still don't trust it.

Both the kids have a smaller CRT unit in their room with a cheapo DVD and we have a 29" mid 90's Sony in the LR for the main unit with DVD, VHS and satellite and they all serve us just fine.

One thing I didn't like about the new plasma units: the front surface of the screen gets quite warm. I was looking at them in walmart a few months ago and was actually shocked at just how hot the screen was. I could feel the heat radiating off the screen from 3 or 4 feet away and touching it was akin to touching a warm stove.

EDIT: Our computer monitors are LCD, but all our TVs are CRT.

Two CRT's here. A 27" JVC in the den that I use with a Pioneer DVD player and a small set of horn loaded loudspeakers and a 13" Emerson in the bedroom that gets played when I get up in the morning (Weather Channel), when folding laundry and just before retiring to bed. Picture quality is excellent on both sets and both are several years old with nary a problem. Used to have a cute little 9" GE in the kitchen, but it had a very short life. :(

http://www.videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=177737&d=1359998875
http://www.videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=172721&d=1325437383

I have a 36" Sony that I got in 1999. It still works well. As long as it works, I don't plan on upgrading anytime soon. My brother has a 27" Magnavox from 1997 that works well. In my bedroom I have a 14" Sears color TV from 1986. It is not hooked up since I don't watch TV that much. I like listening to music.

We don't have cable. My friends have satellite and cable, and what I seen on there I don't care for the programming. I like the programs that are available over the air in Chicago or we rent movies or go to the local library to rent them for free. I plan to add a converter box and I will upgrade my outdoor antenna.

Most of us on here love Zenith's of that era and we would be more than happy to help you with it.

Is yours solid state or tube? Floor model or a table model in a steel cabinet?

I used to get a lot of those monster Zenith's from the '60's and '70's and they were good sets. I'm still trying to find an all tube or mostly tube Zenith color TV in either a steel cabinet or a console.

Table top, plastic cab. No idea as to whether it is SS or tube...it has an ultra-sonic remote that works.

I'll try to find the thread that I did on it a while back, as I might have a place for it in a couple of months.

I plan to stick with a CRT as long as I can. I don't like the coloration in the LCD/Plasmas, it looks too cartoony for me.

Still using my beloved WEGA every day. Hope it will last me another 10 years...

http://users.telenet.be/kristof.haezebrouck1/sony/HT/DSC00325_rs.jpg

I own a Toshiba 36'' CRT HD television. I love the picture!

We have in daily use (by decreasing order of actual operating time) :

Mid nineties Hitachi;

1977 portable Toshiba 15-inch;

Sony Trinitron KV-20TS30 (circa 1989);

1984 Toshiba 12-inch.

Even one of my two computers has a CRT monitor, the other
one has a LCD screen (but loaned from my boss, so this may
still be a 100% CRT household).

I'm still running two 27" Sony Trinitrons. One from 1988, the other from 1998.
The older one has recently developed an area at the top that's faded. I presume from the satellite upper display. I'll probably eventually replace it with a Sharp Aquos set. But I'm not in any big hurry, partly because video is far less important to me than audio. If I want to see a really big screen, I can always stop at the local movie theatre.

I recently got a PC widescreen LCD monitor to toy around with for the HD videos.

I'll keep using my CRT 36" Sony til it gives up the ghost. I HOPE that's not for a LOOOONG time as I detest those gawdam fancy Etch-A-Sketch doohickeys..They ain't REAL TVs, if you ask me...Hmmmmpf !

Still use CRT monitors and televisions here and no plans to change over to new tech any time in the foreseeable future! Of course there's the semi working LCD I got for free and my laptops, but beyond those it's all tubes!

My current primary set is a 29" 1991 Zenith. I also have a 27" 1993 Sharp, ~17" 1981 Teknika, and a 20" 1989 Zenith. Don't know any of the model numbers offhand, I keep meaning to make a note of them. :p:

Here's a picture of my main setup.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=94317&stc=1&d=1212979035

I have a spare lcd computer monitor, that one day i would like to find a tuner so i could watch tv on it. Logan

Parents still have their 27" Sony WEGA. No plans to replace it.

"It works"

Yeah, that's one way of saying it. Still a beautiful TV after 8 or so years of use.

Still using a RCA XL-100 ( CTC-89) console made in May 1978 in my workroom, and a 20" Philips in the living room. The RCA will shortly be moved into the living room as it recieves more channels with just a piece of wire hooked to it than the other does on my rooftop antenna! The Philips will probably end up out in my shop to use with a VCR. I don't see myself ever giving up my CRT t.v.s.

All crt tvs in my house! All my 200+ television sets are crt and I should have enough crt stuff should i live up to 100 years! My daily watchers are:
Bang&Olufsen Beovision 1
Bang&Olufsen Beovision 3
Bang&Olufsen LX 6000
By the way, the only tv shows I watch are old ones from 60'/70'/80.
Cathode ray tubes: anything else is a compromise!

ge 31" upstairs,27 toshiba in my son s room,ctc68 in my room with ctc15 roundie,zenith 25" chromacolor,sylvania gt matic.all crt s and all work well. we dlp and lcd,however not much use.

My bedroom has a 2001 sanyo 25", '98 Panasonic 27" in the living room, The one I watch movies on is my '65 Zenith roundie combo, I also have this one hooked to digital broadcast, satellite, DVD,VCR eMac computer and Analog antenna until it's gone.

We are a CRT only household. Maybe we will buy a flat screen when the new technologies improve to match the quality of a CRT and the prices drop.

I still like my CRT HD TV a lot.. the Zenith just keeps plugging away at 1080i with amazing color and contrast... accurate blacks that flat panels only dream of. ;)

Yeah, the black levels on every LCD I've seen were pretty washed out. That's the downside! CRT is a fine device for my uses. :thmbsp:

CRT for life here.

Seems like there might be a niche market for CRTs one day, just like the way Panasonic (Technics) markets the SL1200's...

my 1999 32" TOSHIBA, still going strong...


http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/DSCF0584.jpg

I do believe the CRT will make a nostalgic comeback one day also. Face it: when the stuff isn't around anymore, demand will go up, up, up!

And we'll have our huge collections of battle-ship 70s color sets!

I do believe the CRT will make a nostalgic comeback one day also. Face it: when the stuff isn't around anymore, demand will go up, up, up!

And we'll have our huge collections of battle-ship 70s color sets!

Look what is happening to vintage Hi-Fi equipment. 15 years ago, I used to see '60's tube Hi-Fi stuff at the hamfest & antique radio swap meet that no one was interested in. Now, those old tube Hi-Fi units are often going for big bucks. I should have bought that Fisher 500C back when the price was low. Even some of the solid state stereo equipment from the '70's is soaring in price.

Catalin radios are the same way. 20 years ago, most collectors turned their noses up at Catalin sets. Now, they are a high demand item. I'm even seeing radios from the '50's and '60's go for high prices. This is especially true of the colored ones in good condition.

I suspect the same thing will happen with the TV's that most people think are worthless now. It may take 30 years; but, I'm sure it will happen.

I still have my RCA CTC185 and Zenith Sentry 2 19" CRTs, both working extremely well. CTC185 has eight years on it, original CRT, Zenith Sentry 2 has almost 13 years on it as well, also original CRT. Both sets make a wonderful picture on cable. The Zenith isn't being used much at the moment, but it will be moved into my living room (set is currently in my bedroom and unplugged--presently only used for cross-checking when I have cable trouble, and to back up the RCA) when the RCA set goes bad. The RCA set makes such a good picture right now, however, that I don't see it going West any time soon. The only repair I ever had done on that set was to have the RF connector on the tuner PC board replaced/resoldered when it snapped off (twice) the first year I had the set. The technician who repaired my set the second time also resoldered the ground points around the onboard tuner, which was troublesome in the CTC185 and other RCA/Thomson sets made in the late '80s-'90s. The TV has been working great ever since--in fact, I read somewhere that once the tuner grounds were resoldered properly on this chassis, the set will run for years virtually trouble-free. I believe it. It's been seven years since I last had this TV serviced and it still works as well as it did the day I purchased it.

I don't want an HD flat panel at this time, not as long as my analog sets are working as well as they are. I agree with the others in this forum who say that FPs are no match (yet, anyway) for CRTs, especially in the area of black level and so on. Flat-panel high-definition TV is a good idea, but the technology is still very new and has a long way to go before it will really catch on with the American public, in most areas of the country except the West Coast (particularly the Los Angeles/San Diego/southern California area, where they always seem to have the latest of everything as soon as, or at least shortly after, the stuff goes on the market). I live in the Midwest (northeastern Ohio near Cleveland), and I'll bet there aren't more than a small number of HD flat-panels in this entire area even as I am writing this. This may well change when the old analog sets eventually develop serious problems such as defective CRTs and defective circuit modules that turn up NLA (no longer available), but for the time being most folks in my town (a village 33 miles east of Cleveland), including myself, are sticking with analog CRT televisions. Come February 2009 the TV signals will be digital (analog will go off the air for good), but with over-air STBs (set-top boxes) and digital cable there is no real need to get a FP set unless you want one--again, at least for now. The day will come when every TV in the country will be a flat-panel high-definition set, but I don't see that day coming for quite some time (read decades) as there are far too many perfectly good analog CRT televisions in use at this time (millions).

Come February 2009 the TV signals will be digital (analog will go off the air for good), but with over-air STBs (set-top boxes) and digital cable there is no real need to get a FP set unless you want one--again, at least for now. The day will come when every TV in the country will be a flat-panel high-definition set, but I don't see that day coming for quite some time (read decades) as there are far too many perfectly good analog CRT televisions in use at this time (millions).

Some people around here have got it in their head that their current TV will be worthless next year. The main reasons behind this thinking is a lack of understanding & sales people telling people a bunch of garbage in order to push a new HDTV off on them. I tell these people that they will only be effected if they use an antenna for reception. Many of these people are not aware of the converter boxes that are available and/or the converter box coupon program, even though PSA's are run all day and night on all TV stations. If you are on cable, the worse that will happen is that you'll have to rent a cable box if the cable company drops analog. That may present a problem over here, since I have seven TV's connected to cable. Paying rent on seven digital cable boxes might get expensive. I've heard that Comcast is going 100% digital sometime in 2008; but, it has not happened in my area yet.

Some people around here have got it in their head that their current TV will be worthless next year. The main reasons behind this thinking is a lack of understanding & sales people telling people a bunch of garbage in order to push a new HDTV off on them. I tell these people that they will only be effected if they use an antenna for reception. Many of these people are not aware of the converter boxes that are available and/or the converter box coupon program, even though PSA's are run all day and night on all TV stations. If you are on cable, the worse that will happen is that you'll have to rent a cable box if the cable company drops analog. That may present a problem over here, since I have seven TV's connected to cable. Paying rent on seven digital cable boxes might get expensive. I've heard that Comcast is going 100% digital sometime in 2008; but, it has not happened in my area yet.

I'm curious what Comcast is going to do since we have them. Mom and I were discussing that and if they get too high, we just get all the basic analogue channels, we might even dump cable and go over the air, especially with us getting Retro Television Network and so on. Comcast did say, "we got you covered" se we shall see.

Yep, vintage stereo gear has gone way up in price. Nothin beats the sound of tubes!!

I've been enjoying over the air DTV lately. The Zenith box is fine, and I get nice signal with a bowtie UHF antenna.

I'm curious what Comcast is going to do since we have them. Mom and I were discussing that and if they get too high, we just get all the basic analogue channels, we might even dump cable and go over the air, especially with us getting Retro Television Network and so on. Comcast did say, "we got you covered" se we shall see.

If Comcast goes digital, we will do one of two things:

1. Only rent a couple of boxes for the two most watched TV's and run the rest off OTA converter boxes.

2. Dump the cable and go 100% OTA.

I'd be in hog heaven if RTN was carried by a local station. I looked on their website; and, the only station in Mississippi currently carrying RTN is WJTV out of Jackson. WTOK carries ABC, FOX, and CW on their digital signal. WMDN (CBS) and WGBC (NBC) do not have any subchannels. WMAW (PBS) has 3 different PBS channels.

If Comcast goes digital, we will do one of two things:

1. Only rent a couple of boxes for the two most watched TV's and run the rest off OTA converter boxes.

2. Dump the cable and go 100% OTA.

I'd be in hog heaven if RTN was carried by a local station. I looked on their website; and, the only station in Mississippi currently carrying RTN is WJTV out of Jackson. WTOK carries ABC, FOX, and CW on their digital signal. WMDN (CBS) and WGBC (NBC) do not have any subchannels. WMAW (PBS) has 3 different PBS channels.

Well, I talked to my father today and he heard rumors that they are going to kick some of the basic channels to digital, again, this is only a rumor. He already got his two boxes, a couple of Magnavoxes, so fat, he hasn't used them, keeping them for in case if he "gets to be too poor for cable TV." I know myself, as long as we have RTN and the three PBS channels, I can find things to watch OTA. I think once we get the bugs worked out, such as providing translators for rural areas and so on, perhaps DTV is a good idea if we get more choices like that.

I saw something today that reminded me why I need to keep my CRT set. We took the car in for an oil change and, in the waiting area, there was about a 15" LCD TV sitting high on a shelf where a 13" CRT set used to be. I was not able to see what brand this set was; but, the picture was terrible. Looking at the set at an angle, I could barely tell there was a picture there and what I could see was just a big blur. Standing in front of the set, the picture looked like what one might see on a 20 year old bigscreen with weak CRT's. Their old 13" CRT set looked much better. I don't know if the lousy LCD picture was because the set was defective, misadjusted, or if that's as good as it was supposed to be. My eyesight is not the best and I've always sat very close to the TV at home. Even though I could not really make out the picture on their old CRT set from across the room; I could tell it was bright and vivid like a TV picture is supposed to look. The LCD just looked dull and blurry, regardless of where I tried to view it.

Hello, as a video trader and vintage TV program collector myself, I only use 4:3 ratio aspect CRT TVs myself, all 4 of my TVs I use are 4:3 ratio aspect. I can never really get into these new LCD or Plasma TVs unless it's strictly for watching widescreen movies or other widescreen content only. I grew up on 4:3 ratio aspect CRT TVs and will die by the 4:3 ratio aspect as well for tvs. Really, most of the shows on TV today are those junk Reality Shows and that just vexes me from even buying a 16:9 ratio aspect TV for that junk alone. All the old classic shows are only in 4:3 ratio aspect.
Really, the TV sets get so sophisticated and the programing goes right in the toilet for qaulity entertainment and ohh, there's just soooo many commercials too these days-yikes:-(

I STILL think HDTV is an answer to a question nobody asked...For 95% of TV watching, regular NTSC is just fine, IMHO. And being the iconoclast I am, I intend to keep a CRT TV around as long as possible...

I STILL think HDTV is an answer to a question nobody asked...For 95% of TV watching, regular NTSC is just fine, IMHO. And being the iconoclast I am, I intend to keep a CRT TV around as long as possible...

I couldn't have said it better myself!!

I STILL think HDTV is an answer to a question nobody asked...For 95% of TV watching, regular NTSC is just fine, IMHO. And being the iconoclast I am, I intend to keep a CRT TV around as long as possible...

Really, the only people I know that are hung up on HD, flat screens, etc. are the people in my age group (20's and early 30's). I think they discovered it was easier to get a wife/GF if they had all the so-called "latest and greatest gadgets" (sorry, I couldn't resist saying that). It's really sad that people are now ranked according to what they've got in the way of material possessions rather than the type of person they are. As for me, I just post a picture on Facebook of every "new toy" that I bring home just for fun!

They will have to pry my CRT from my cold ,dead ,fingers...

I'll stay far away from those flat screened TV's for as long as possible...

Even for my computer...I use a CRT... :banana:

I have two CRT TVs, a 19" RCA CTC185 (eight years old) and a 19" Zenith Sentry 2 (almost 12 years), which still work as well as when they were new. The RCA has only had one repair in all that time and the Zenith, none. I have no intention of giving them up as long as they work as well as they do. I also have an HP-branded CRT monitor on my computer.

I agree with the person who said, in another post, that CRT televisions make better pictures than FPs. I've never seen a flat-panel set up close, but from what I've read in this forum, FPs have a long way to go before they even come close to the picture quality of a good CRT set. Plus, CRTs last much longer than FPs (10-15+ years vs. two years or less, respectively). That's a shame, considering the prices of flat-panel HD televisions; if you go out and buy one for $1,000 or more, it probably will last until the warranty expires, then either the panel itself will go bad or one or more of the video driver ICs, which are molded into the cable connecting the panel to the chassis, go bad. The only recourse when either happens is to trash the set and get a new one.

Good grief.

At $900-1,000+ a throw I would think flat-panel HDTV manufacturers would build their sets to last longer than the warranty period or two years, whichever is longer(!). The Korean off-brands are probably the worst in this regard. Personally, I'm waiting for three things to happen before I even consider getting a flat-panel television: one, the prices come down considerably (I could get one tomorrow, however, if I wanted a picture not much bigger than a postage stamp, but if I eventually get a FP I want one at least as large as my CRTs), two, the sets' picture quality improves so as to approach the quality of a good CRT, and three, the sets are built so they are a heck of a lot more reliable than today's models that wind up on eBay or Craigslist as parts sets, etc. after two years or less. Until that day comes, I am staying with my CRTs as long as they work. No sense in trashing two perfectly good sets just because (as it has been said) HDTV is the best thing to happen to TV since color or stereo sound.

000

Now, I don't think it's quite that bad. If they were that unreliable, the streets would be littered with them. As it is, dead flat panel TVs are very hard to come by. I'd fill a large truck with them if I could find them! The handful I've worked on have mostly been easy to repair. Things like bad soldering, and bad caps are the most common failures. Unlike used CRT TVs, people fight over them to buy them from me.

If you count LCD computer monitors, I would say that they are actually more reliable, and easier to repair than CRTs.

As far as picture quality goes, that's a matter of opinion. Nothing it perfect, even the best CRTs have their flaws (like convergence, and geometry errors, and poor focus, and blooming if you run them too bright). It's a matter of which flaws you're willing to live with. Of recent TVs, I like plasma best. Most CRT TVs made in the last few years have left much to be desired.

I think you are right on this. We have touch screens with the lcd flat panel monitors at work. Some of them have been running non stop for over five years with out a single problem. The 19" panel I have on this computer is four years old and the picture still looks like it did when I bought it.
What I don't like about flat panel sets is the loss of detail in the picture when watching tv. Yes, The contrast and brightness is better than a crt set but still I don't like them. I watch my vintage sets every day so I will be using crt tv till I am six foot under.
Ed

000

I use a 26" philips tube tv on a daily basis. The room is only 9.5' x 12' so I don't need anything bigger.

32" Zenith HDTV 4:3 CRT here.. i love it... last of the tube HDTV's. built in OTA digital tuner. so i'm set for next year when the analog signal goes off.

Really, the only people I know that are hung up on HD, flat screens, etc. are the people in my age group (20's and early 30's). I think they discovered it was easier to get a wife/GF if they had all the so-called "latest and greatest gadgets" (sorry, I couldn't resist saying that). It's really sad that people are now ranked according to what they've got in the way of material possessions rather than the type of person they are. As for me, I just post a picture on Facebook of every "new toy" that I bring home just for fun!

Hmmm, good points there. HDTV isn't really a bad idea, I do like the idea of sub-channels and if I'm ever too poor to afford cable, at least I have a few extra choices like 2 or 3 PBS stations, Retro Television Network and so on. Still, I don't like how it was forced into place. Instead, let the marketplace decide, perhaps divide the channels up into HDTV and NTSC channels and see what happens. I'm sure HDTV would catch on but I think we do need to keep some channels NTSC for emergencies and the like, maybe the VHF channels should stay NTSC and UHF go HDTV.

I think we have a problem in this country of people trying to keep up with the Jones'es where they have to have the latest gadgets and they get into financial trouble vecause of it. The biggest HDTV, the most advanced gaming consoles and the like. Myself, I still use a 1982 Zenith, I turn 42 today, but it has been in use since I was 16. I only have the first Playstation and the like. I'm happy with my "G.I." boxes on my sets, one which is in black and white.

I agree with the person who said, in another post, that CRT televisions make better pictures than FPs. I've never seen a flat-panel set up close, but from what I've read in this forum, FPs have a long way to go before they even come close to the picture quality of a good CRT set. Plus, CRTs last much longer than FPs (10-15+ years vs. two years or less, respectively). That's a shame, considering the prices of flat-panel HD televisions; if you go out and buy one for $1,000 or more, it probably will last until the warranty expires, then either the panel itself will go bad or one or more of the video driver ICs, which are molded into the cable connecting the panel to the chassis, go bad. The only recourse when either happens is to trash the set and get a new one.



I know, if you treat a CRT set very well, have a good tube, and a little luck and help from God (you can't ignore those factors either), they can last a long time. The 1982 Zenith has been going 26 years, I think one secret is we don't run the picture very bright. Mom always notices when we go to most other people's houses, they run their TV's very bright (and high contrast as well) and it hurts her eyes. She always wants me to turn the brightness of our sets down a little. I know when we had the Zenith repaired in 1999, the repairman said our tube "was showing it's age a little" but it is still in great shape. Don't know how long LCD's would last but I'd be leery of the other display technologies, I don't want to buy a TV and have it kick the bucket in 2, 3 or 5 years, especially when I've seen one keep going for 26+.

We use a Samsung HD CRT everyday.
Our 15 year old Fisher 27" gave out last year.
Went looking for a XBR and couldn't find any
Wound up with the Samsung.
It's not bad, we are not real big on watching TV anyway.
Paired it up with an upscaling DVD player and life is good.
Still use a CRT and Flat panel on the computer.
The CRT is for Photoshop use and the flat for everyday stuff.

4 year old Panasonic 27" TV/monitor in the den.

The only LCD displays I own are on my laptop PC, digital cameras, and cellphone. When doing software updates or other maintenance on the laptop, I even connect it to a 17" CRT monitor and I rarely use the LCD panels on the cameras as viewfinders (only to show newly-captured shots that haven't been uploaded to PC yet). I use the "eyepiece" viewfinder, as all of my cameras have those in addition to the display panels. The newest TV sets I use for regular viewing are 90s models, one 20" in the bedroom and a 25" in the living room A/V rack. I have a strong preference for watching CRT sets which also have an all-tube chassis inside, even for regular viewing. The only reason I even use the 25" in the A/V rack is that I wired the room to use that specific set with the Home Theater setup and Surround speakers when I originally bought the house.

My '65 Zenith roundie (24MC32 chassis) has probably had more operating hours in the past month than both my 90s sets have had between them in the same time period. I'm still adding wall ports and pulling cable for setup of a single-point installation of a pair of DTV boxes, DVD players, and VCR that I plan to equip with individual RF modulators coupled to feed into a common network on individual channels to create a kind of home CATV system, using the sets' own tuners as the source selectors. I'll probably have to tweak oscillator frequencies on three or more modulators, or even change a capacitor value or two, but my goal is to put a VCR on 2. DTV1 on 3, DTV2 on 4, DVD1 on 5, DVD2 on 6. I may even try to set up the fictional "station" of my avatar on my "wired" system by tuning a modulator to Channel 1. I'm still experimenting, however, and might need to move some sources to VHF-H channels to place an unused channel between each pair of active sources to avoid interaction, particularly on sets that lack IF traps for Adjacent Sound and/or Adjacent Picture carrier frequencies (early-production RCA 721TS, for example). Early 721TS versions lacked IF traps for both 19.75 and 27.25 MHz which were included in the 630TS and its clones. If I remember correctly, even the late-production 721TS only had a trap for 27.25 MHz and omitted the 19.75 MHz trap.

We're still all-CRT except for a small Sharp LCD color TV on the kitchen counter (rarely used). The flat panels have definitely improved since the 90s, but they're just not a pleasing a picture to me (or my wife), as a tube. Hands down.

Charles

All Sony WEGA CRT's here. Even my computer monitor is on old Mitsubishi Diamond Scan Pro 91TXM CRT.

Well, after 18 years of having a Chromacolor II sitting around more or less non-op, I sat down with it on Friday and got it working again. Darn fine picture it produces (perhaps even rivaling my two Trinitrons). Well, since it's in my garage which is more or less my workshop/3-season patio these days, I cooked out on the grille tonight, and sat back with a beer and the light evening breeze and watched the entire Mets game on that old set which was 10x more enjoyable to me than sitting on my couch watching that same game in High Def on the living room LCD set. My younger neighbors all think I'm a bit odd for watching these old sets out in the garage, but then after a few minutes they'll typically comment on how nice the picture is (most of them are of the BPC TV generation - whereas I grew up in a Zenith console household in the 70's). If I had one of my consoles upstairs in the living room, it would most certainly get more use for everyday viewing (the exception being NFL games, which are quite nice to watch in 1080i).

And I use strictly CRT's for the two computers here, since I have yet to find a flat panel that can adjust for proper greyscale and contrast for photographic processing. The LCD panels we have at work are just too harsh on my eyes, and none have outlived this CRT which I'm using now.

I have a 64 -inch CRT rrear projo for high def, and the rest of the TV's in the house are CRT direct view standard definition. I like the color and lack of display artifacts on the projo, but the tracking is not perfect, and the adjustments are not easily found. Also, the CRT projo suffers from a roll-off of high spatial frequencies due to both spot profile and optics, something that is much less pronounced in DMD projectors.

Laptop computer LCDs are just about hopeless for color quality, due to the contrast (and therefore any grayscale adjustments) being dependent on the tilt angle of the screen. However, for my desktop, I am running dual Viewsonic 20 inch LCDs (which are mostly angle independent), and calibrating (well, at least matching) them with a Spyder 3 Pro colorimeter and its software that adjusts the graphics card look up tables (color profiles for the monitors). These appear to my eyes to be as good as any CRTs I have used in the past, but it would be wise for someone trying to set up a commercial workflow to verify that they really are good all the way into the shadows, which is needed if you are going to judge images whose eventual destination is print media.

I have a 36 inch Toshiba HD CRT that is connected to my surround sound system. I love this tv. I just hope it lasts awhile because at 220 lbs., it is not an easy move.

We have 2 Sony 32" XBR's that are a pain to move, but still have great pictures.
Regards,
Jim

When my pos Apex finally gave out, I was in a quandary because I couldn't find a decent CRT in the stores. I have a son with Autism, CP and several other issues. He has basically no impulse control and regularly handles the TV screen. I fear that a Plasma or LCD would have a very short life in my house.

I found a Sony WEGA 34" HD widescreen CRT (KD-34XBR970) on Craiglist for $400. I didn't have the cash when the ad first ran, so when I called him a week later he said "pick it up today and I'll go $250". So I called up two buddies (it weights 190 lbs) and we went and got it. That was about four months ago and so far so good. I think the picture is better than most thin sets I have seen. It won't move again from it's spot until it dies. I am hoping that is a long time from now.

Darn right!! Every time I See one by the trash I pick it up, most often they work fine!! I have NO desire to buy a LCD/Plasma.................

Also got an extra converter box :yes:

I still watching Tv on wonderfull Sony KV 2252 ET made in U.K. year 1988

Lately I've been using my 1984 Magnavox (N.a.p. with Sylvania CRT) 19inch and i'm happy with it.

An assortment for me, between here & the lake house...two CRT TVs and three CRT monitors, two plasma monitors (both over 10 years old), one LCD rear-pro HDTV, one LCD flat panel TV, two LCD flat panel monitors (one about 9 years old, one new & HD). Each works well for its purpose, but only one CRT actually does everyday-TV watching...the TV in the loft bedroom at the lake, hooked to analog CATV.

We also use two converter boxes running into TiVos for OTA broadcast, their AV outputs are distributed around the house.

je

My TV is a 48" RPTV , but it uses 3 CRT guns. Does that count?

2005 Durabrand 27" in den, 1977 or 78 13" RCA XL-100 in bedroom. Working on a Durabrand replacement ('74 XL-100 console)

I still have a CRT tv and i love it!!

I have a CRT monitor also,much better picture :)

Im my opinion CRT WAS ALWAYS A BETTER ANIMAL FOR GOOD PICTURE..

I still have only CRT based TVs. The production dates for these range from 1950 to 2004. The local Wal-Mart still sells one CRT based model(supprising).

I do have an LCD computer monitor that has ran fine for 6 years, so do not have any qualms about buying a LCD based TV in the future.

34 inch Sony CRT high definition (adopted and repaired)
25 inch Sharp (old) works great! (given to me when owner bought his first LCD)
3 inch JVC with converter box in kitchen (bought new in 1976)
These are the daily drivers. There are around 40 others, most work, some waiting for attention.
Zenith roundie in Mississippi on a converter box.
25 inch Emerson (Funai) LCD with a dead tuner on a converter box (adopted also)
And a Haier (LG) 42 inch plasma in the guest bedroom. My girlfriend hates it so it stays tucked away..... (also adopted, replaced the x main module and it works)

Currently, my regular duty color watcher is a mid-80's Curtis Mathes 19" set. I also watch my 50's Philco Diamond D 21" a lot.

As mentioned before, it's too easy to pick up a good CRT set on Craigslist... their a dime a dozen these days. I also find it interesting that there are sooo many HDTV's on CL. Apparently, lots of folks are hanging sets on the wall nowadays because of the abundance of wooden "entertainment center" cabinets listed as well.

While I'm sure I will eventually get something more up to date, it's simply not high-priority for me right now.

Freebe HDTV 32" phillips, one bad cap in the power supply section (22uf 50v) was keeping it from turning on.

Dont have anything but CRT tv's, they seem fine to me, and there is something unnatural about the flat screens tv's at least seems that way to me.

Freebe HDTV 32" phillips, one bad cap in the power supply section (22uf 50v) was keeping it from turning on.

Dont have anything but CRT tv's, they seem fine to me, and there is something unnatural about the flat screens tv's at least seems that way to me.

And if you're going HD, there's nothing better than a CRT IMO. I am in love with my Sony KV-30HS420:yes:
How is the picture on your Phillips in HD? Have you hooked it up to it or are you using a standard signal?

I use the over the air antenna (rabbit ears) and its great!

My daily watcher is a ten-year-old RCA CTC185 XL-100 19" table model, but I also have a Zenith Sentry 2 (same screen size) in my bedroom. The RCA set has given me excellent service over the last decade -- no problems whatsoever except for the antenna port snapping off the tuner PC board (twice) when the set was about a year old.

Other than that, however, that set has been excellent. Very sharp, clear picture on cable, DVD and VHS (even more so now that all TV is digital, and yes, the difference is noticeable on an analog set, at least to me). Say what you will about RCA's initial barrage of problems with the on-board tuners in the CTC18x series chassis, but once those problems are resolved (by resoldering the grounds around the tuner and reinforcing the mounting of the antenna connector, as was done on my set the second time the port snapped off), the TV will operate flawlessly for years to come. Mine still has the original CRT; no matter. Still makes almost as good a picture as it did when it was new--in fact, the picture may even be better since the tuner issues were resolved, as I have a sneaking suspicion that the RF port may not have been soldered properly to the tuner board when the set was made.

My Zenith Sentry 2 19" table model has almost 15 years on it, but still works amazingly well. It only had four years of actual use, from 1995 to 1999, then I moved and bought the RCA CTC-185. The Zenith is now used only as a backup and to cross-check when my cable service goes out.

oh and I forgot, lunch time leave it to beaver is on the Emerson 1965 B&W set, Rockford and Hitchcock Presents is on the 1964 Maggie astrosonic, and as soon as I get one of my color sets put back together I will be watching Rockford on that (the CTC17, Zenith,CTC16 or the Sylvania, prob rotate them thru, but they will be regular at least for a couple hours each week).

My guess is I am going to really like that Zenith for its nice stereo amp.

My B&W Maggie astro sound GREAT, I love the quality sound with the big consoles.

My living room set is over 20 years old and shows no signs of giving up the ghost yet. I use a '72 Zenith in the mancave almost daily as well as a '56 Olympic B/W set.

I do, I have a 1982 Zenith System 3 in the living room, a 1984 Commodore 1702 monitor in the computer room and a 1998 Zenith 19 incher in my bedroom along with a few spare sets.

Don't remember if I posted to this before (old age ain't for sissies hahaha), but the family daily watcher is a 36 inch Trinitron won in a raffle about 8 years ago.
After it bites the dust, I'll buy a flat screen for the Mrs., and I'll watch that, and the vintage sets, more often the oldies, I think. The little Sylvania 15 inch portable, 1970 vintage, that was a dumpster rescue has a super-nice picture, and I sit close lol. REAL deep, dark greens, not yellowish. Good for sports.
Kevin

Yep, all my TVs are CRT. The main one is a 27" Trinitron from around 2000. I do have 3 LCD computer monitors though. It was nice to reclaim some desktop real estate :)

My main watcher is a 36" Trinitron, & I HOPE it never, ever dies... Those plasma/LCD thingamabobs make me kinda sick watchin' 'em...

My 14 year old 27" 'tron died a couple of years ago, so I went shopping with a tape measure to find a set that would fit in the same spot. A 32" Sony LCD set fit with 1/8" to spare on either side of the display. I am fairly pleased with the set, but like CRT displays better. I do like the weight of the set, *much* easier on the back! :thmbsp: The old set was about the same weight as a R-390!

jr

Only flat panel here is a notebook. Daily / regularly used TVs from most used to least:
'90 19" Sony
'84 25" Zenith
'86 19" NEC
'86 26" NAD
'98 27" Zenith
'85 21" Toshiba
'87 25" Magnavox

Nothing collectable, but all were free and only needed minor repairs if any.

i still use a Zenith Chromacolor made in 1975. it's been a hell of a good set. still has the original CRT. right now, i have to put up with watching it without the red color because of a bad part on the video output module. i need to find one soon.

Well, my brother acquired a flat panel set, so he gave us a Sansui DTV-2798 27" he purchased in late 2008. It does have an SDTV tuner. It was made in Thailand by Orion.

We replaced the Durabrand (DWT2704A) in the den with it. It was made in Thailand in 2005 by Funai.

Now, I think both of these sets came out of the same factory. I didn't even have to reprogram the cable box remote.

Orion appears to still be marketing a 27" CRT set, the Sansui DTV2760. It may be the last large-screen CRT television being marketed in the U.S.

Dont have any panel tvs here yet, only because I am broke.

IMO nothing beats the current large screens, I have mainly old 4:3 tvs which is really annoying since they are all on analog so I get centre cut which means missing stuff off the sides. I might get around to getting some digital tuners, but since the DVB-T digital is only HD here there are not any low cost boxes yet.

have picked up a couple of widescreen CRTs (with issues, one needs a PTC, one has eeprom issues) but again, I need to get a digital reciver to not be wasting them on fattovision or missing even more of the image, so they are in the garage in pieces till I get some time to go get bits for them.

I find the flicker of a CRT to be too annoying when in perpherial vision, so never bothered to get a large tv.

Our daily watcher is an RCA 32" CTC-203CX. It does have some intermittant issues with the sound going out but if you unplug/plug it then it comes back . May work fine for months or sound goes out numerous times in one evening you never know. Tuner module been replaced too but thats it.
It does have a nice picture and has good gray scale. Until the newer stuff will outlive the CRT sets then I'll prefer to pass.

All CRT's in this house except computer monitor and little kitchen undercabinet TV. Main ones: 2004 Toshiba 36" and 1996 Magnavox 27".

I still watch a 1988 25" Zenith System 3 CRT. I think it beats any LCD or plasma. It works like new. It has a great picture and perfect gray scale. I have an LCD HDTV but I prefer the CRT. Until they come up with something better in the FP market I'll stick to the old TVs.

I've been saying that it would be 10 years before I'd have a flat panel, and then only because somebody gave me one. Well, somebody just gave me one a couple weeks ago, an LCD Sharp. The audio amp went out and the owner didn't want to put any real money into it. Still works fine if you run the sound through your stereo. I left it up to my wife whether to put it in the living room, and she was indifferent. The clincher was it let us get rid of some clutter: it has outboard speakers on the cabinet which I was able to use in place of the junk stereo speakers I had; I could eliminate the digital converter box; and while I was at it I transplanted the DVD player and VCR with a combo we had in the bedroom (but never used.) This got rid of a lot of wires. I have to admit, I do like it. I've seen some that really look like crap but the biggest complaint I have is the reds tend to look cartoonish. Probably some adjustment I could make to fix that.

I'm not sure what to do with the '90 Sylvania I took out of service. My grandfather bought it new; I hate to freecycle it but I really don't have room to keep it.

Wow, It certainly seems that a lot of people are getting flat screens of one type or another these days. I can't go to an electronics or appliance store without seeing one or more flat screen TVs being carted out. I also notice a proliferation of big TV images in the windows of homes when I'm just driving by.

We have CRT DW sets in two bedrooms (19" Daewoo and 27" Sylvania), the latter was the main DW until only two months ago (and that had been fine with me). The computer monitor I'm looking into as I type is also CRT. Two "almost daily" CRT sets are in the kitchen (13" Zenith) and portable (5" Action B&W kludged to a converter box).

Interestingly, the only other person I know with a flat screen is one of my brothers, the other brother, my mother, and in-laws have only CRTs. My sister and one other relative's family have triple-CRT rear projection sets.

All CRT here too. My main TV is a 1997 JVC AV-27820 27" (assembled in Mexico) that I have had since new and it has never had a problem. It's on all the time and after 13 years the color and picture is still perfect. My bedroom TV is a 2002 Apex AT1302 13"(China) that doesn't get a lot of use, maybe 1/2 hour a week if that. Last set is on top of the fridge in the kitchen. It's a 2001 Curtis Mathes CM13102 13" set(Korea with a Daewoo CRT) that allows me to keep up on the Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics or Patriots while I'm cooking.

As far as LCD TV's longevity...For what it's worth considering the source I had a Sony factory rep that was in a Walmart store in St Petersburg, FL this past holiday season tell me that their factory testing on their Bravia sets show show an average life expectancy of 20 years on them. But this was from a factory rep and the information might be a bit jaded.

A few years ago, one of the major electronics dealers in town was constantly advertising on their TV commercials that the new flat panel TV's were designed to last 15-25 years in the average home. I took it with a grain of salt. We'll just see how many are still in operation in 15-25 years.

I have an old laptop that's 10 years old. It's LCD screen has held up well, but I'm sure it's faded a little. I would think the LCD displays they put out today should be able to outlast the ones made a decade ago... but then, I guess we won't know for sure till we get there. I certainly won't expect to see any "vintage" LCD sets on this website 30 years from now! :D

Just think... back in the day, the people that designed CRT's would have never thought so many of them would still be in use 50 or 60 years later!

In the living room, there is a Sony KV-27EXR25 with a new (2 year old) CRT that I installed last summer. It looks great again.

In my bedroom, there is a Sony KV27TS32 that has had soldering issues... It would go black at anytime it wanted... I think I have it fixed now.

Both CRT sets are tied into large sound systems too. Each system has a VHS, Beta, LD, DVD, and 8mm machine tied into it so I can run just about anything.

I bought the TV's new in 1991, and 1993.

My daily watcher is a RCA combo with a ctc-40 chassis....love it.

I currently watch all my television shows on a 1980 Zenith console. My oldest daughter has a 1970’s Zenith console in her room she watches TV on. I also watch shows on a 1986 Curtis Mathes. Personally I like the old girls and I like my 1988 Lincoln Town car also. I guess I am stuck in the past, but it is better for me there. My mother had a 1978 Magnavox console in her room going 24 hours a day seven days a week. She move out into a apartment but the huge Magnavox is still in her old room ready to play for another marathon.
This is our Zenith in the living-room she is watched every day.
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/8310/zenithd.jpg

Welcome to VK Glenn, thanks for sharing!

I guess I am stuck in the past, but it is better for me there.


Boy aint that the truth, I am with you there brother :thmbsp:

Glenn, glad you posted here-I've enjoyed your threads on ARF. Good to have a resident Curtis Mathes expert!

Here is Grantley and Charis watching one of their show on the 1986 Curtis Mathes.
http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/7474/cmgrantleyandcharis33.jpg (http://img121.imageshack.us/i/cmgrantleyandcharis33.jpg/)
And this is the Zenith Console in my living room that I watch every night.
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/8310/zenithd.jpg
Some times we fire up all three C.R.T tv's in the living room for special nights.
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/5866/zenithanalog.jpg (http://img22.imageshack.us/i/zenithanalog.jpg/)
Charis is drinking nonalcoholic grape juice in this photo.:banana:

I like the TV wall, I will have show that one to my wife, I need that kind of display, could solve my current over stock situation!

We could save a lot of space in landfills if more people would go with the TV wall look. I think it is a show of pride in the good old stuff made in America if will try to save as many consoles as we can. :music:
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2844/kararhandcora.jpg (http://img85.imageshack.us/i/kararhandcora.jpg/)
I can proudly say that both Karah and Cora are expert at the art of salvage and retrival of vintage items from dumpsters and landfills.

You sure have raised 'em right!

My little 13" Sony KV-1371R is NOT the "kitchen TV" anymore.

It now serves me daily on a converter, to watch RTV and THIS , along with some network programming. It typically runs from 6-9 and then from 10-11PM every weeknight, and sometimes all afternoon, if I am not working(which has been a LOT lately). RTV is showing some nice old shows every day. THIS sometimes shows good movies, and such.

The 25 year old Trinitron set still works like new. The tube looks like new, with great "trinitron" color. I turn it on, and it works EVERY time!! l It has outlasted probably 5-7 flat panels!! ONE repair, about 12 years ago, to replace the regulator IC, and do some "PM" resoldering.

Thank you bgadow,
Karah just loves her 1960 Curtis Mathes Radio! She rescued this big beauty just in time before it was about to fall into a trash compactor. Some folks in this world would throw solid 24kt gold bars away, I just do not understand it.
There was nothing wrong with it at all, the sound is wonderful. We just gave it a good cleaning. I guess since it was old and made in Texas and not China the nuts just threw her away.
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6986/cmandkarah.jpg[/URL]

Thank you bgadow,
Karah just loves her 1960 Curtis Mathes Radio! She rescued this big beauty just in time before it was about to fall into a trash compactor. Some folks in this world would throw solid 24kt gold bars away, I just do not understand it.
There was nothing wrong with it at all, the sound is wonderful. We just gave it a good cleaning. I guess since it was old and made in Texas and not China the nuts just threw her away.
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6986/cmandkarah.jpg[/URL]

I have one that is like that big one on the bottom, I think. A NICE table radio, with a pretty big woofer, I think 8", and maybe a 3" tweeter. An SE 6BQ5 amp, and a cold chassis with a 6CA4 rectifier I think !! Mine was a flea--Mkt. find about 10 yrs. ago, for maybe $15 or so. never seen another like it it, till now. I can't BELIEVE someone tossed that!! Idiots!!

At least now it is safe, and will be appreciated.

Thank you bgadow,
Karah just loves her 1960 Curtis Mathes Radio! She rescued this big beauty just in time before it was about to fall into a trash compactor. Some folks in this world would throw solid 24kt gold bars away, I just do not understand it.
There was nothing wrong with it at all, the sound is wonderful. We just gave it a good cleaning. I guess since it was old and made in Texas and not China the nuts just threw her away.
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6986/cmandkarah.jpg[/URL]Absolutely beauitifull :)

I hope she holds onto them AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!!


Thanx for sharing :)

That Curtis-Mathes radio looks like a treasure. I've never seen a table radio that big in my life, except perhaps for my Zenith MJ-1035; in fact, I never knew CM made stand-alone radios until now--I always thought Curtis-Mathes was mainly a TV manufacturer. I knew someone in the '60s-'70s in my hometown whose family had a huge CM color console TV with the works--television, AM/FM stereo radio, phono--and they kept it for years. I've been away for ten years (moved to my current residence in late '99) so I don't know whether they still have the TV in their basement, etc. or even if they still live where they lived when I knew them. :scratch2:

Did you have to do anything with the CM, such as recapping, or did it work as soon as it was plugged in the first time? Most of my vintage radios are eBay scores and have worked as soon as I took them out of their shipping boxes--no recapping or anything else was required to get them working. The only exception to this was my Zenith H511, which was the radio that started my vintage radio collection. It was an eBay score, and when it arrived here, I plugged it in--and the pilot light behind the Z crest on the cabinet promptly burned out with a bright flash. I think that must have been because the main 3-section filter cap had become deformed from years of disuse; my best guess is this radio must have been in storage in the former owner's basement, garage, etc., unused, for years or decades.

However, when I replaced the pilot light, the radio worked perfectly, and still works to this day, almost five years or so (and almost six decades after it was made) later. Sounds great too. Typical Zenith. :yes: Now, if there only were more music stations on AM, I would be using it a lot more than I do (I don't care much for talk radio).

BTW, what is the unit Karah's CM radio is resting on? Looks to me like a combo DVD/VHS player. Does she have a flat-panel TV to go with it? Just curious. :scratch2:

My Zenith radio collection to date:

MJ1035 (1965)
H511 (1951)
K731 (1963)
C845 (1960)
H480W (1980)
R-70 (1980)
Royal 1000 T-O (1958)

All are keepers--I would not dream of throwing any of those radios away or giving them away. I've had a liking for Zenith radios, TVs, stereos, etc. for many years; my first Zenith TV was a K2739 23" b&w console from about 1963. When I found it on a curb in my hometown, it was missing all its tubes but the CRT and the 1K3 HV rectifier. Long story short, I replaced the missing tubes and was rewarded with an excellent picture and fantastic sound on all three (at the time, late 1960s) Cleveland TV stations. The audio section of that TV was so good I patched in an old FM tuner across the volume control, and made myself a nice mono sound system. It nearly broke my heart to have to give up this TV three years later, after all the work I put into it, when we moved. Haven't had a TV since that had such wonderful sound, although I could patch the audio output from my VCR or DVD player into my stereo system to get sound approaching that from the old Zenith. I may just do that one of these days; I have a 12'-long audio cable I used to use with the stereo when I had digital cable and its 30 CD-quality music channels. Looks like I may be putting it into service again soon.

I can proudly say that both Karah and Cora are expert at the art of salvage and retrival of vintage items from dumpsters and landfills.Ah they take after you :)

Im proud of both of them...... They look young but they know what "GOOD" is.. I hope they dont ever lose that gift :)

Glenn Waters: congratulations. I like to see younger persons taking care of old stuff. I will teach my kinds (when I will have one) I will teach them to respect the past.

We still watch our 1970 RCA XL 25 inch TV on an almost daily basis. They don't make them like that anymore.

I only have CRT TV's. I'm trying to keep it that way. The only non-CRT displays in my house are my laptop screen and the desktop computer's monitor. I actually use a 15" CRT monitor at my desk with my laptop.

Daily use (TV):

1973 Zenith Chromacolor 16" portable... rec room. majority of my TV watching

2010 "RCA" 20 inch CRT.. upstairs TV room, recently bought to replace 1997 Panasonic 20" with failing picture tube.

Weekly use (Movies)

Circa 2000 Runco DTV 930 3 CRT video projector with 120" screen. Awesome picture, huge pain to get convergence right. Do not have this connected to TV in order to preserve life of CRTs. At this rate should last a long time.

1979 ~17" Sony Trinitron Commercial TV, bought at Boeing Surplus in Tacoma for $15. Has BNC video and VTR inputs, and is hooked up to a DVD player. Used for children's movies. Must have been used infrequently, as picture is perfect, way better than my new "RCA"

Daily use (computer)

2003 LG 17" Flatron

Can't imagine abandoning the CRT in my house any time soon.

We still watch our 1970 RCA XL 25 inch TV on an almost daily basis. They don't make them like that anymore.No they sure dont!!

I am glad you can see that bud!

How do you spell CRT?

I only have CRT based sets, so far. A Sony 35" direct view HD set, and a Mitsubishi 65" projection set HD....and an old J.C. Penny (RCA) 25" Monitor-type set in the Bedroom.

Hi Guys,

Guess i will pitch-in also with my viewing setup. Because of space limitations, a 53 Sq meter Office/Lab, screen sizes are severely limited.

Living in France, most TVs operate via OTA NTSC & PAL B/G signals generated locally. Sources are OTA DVB-T, DVB-Cable, UK satellite & DVDs.

Vintage TVs - Really old:
Oldest: RCA CT-100, 1954, working, weak Red gun.
Motorola VT-71 "suitcase"
Sentinel TV-400, 7" B&W - "Singer-like sewing machine" aspect.

Sony KV-1310DF, 11" Trinitron, French, 1976
Sony KV-8000, 8", USA transformed to PAL/SECAM, 1980
Sony KV-5000 (8x), 5", USA
Sony KV-5200 (2x), 5", USA
Sony KV-9000, 9", USA
Sony KV-5300, 11", USA

Vintage B&W:
Sony TV5-303W (USA) + Euro CCIR version + French "M" version
Sony TV9-406, mid 1960s, 8" screen, Euro-multistandard.
Celard, French, 1961, 9" transistor TV, 819/625

Panasonic TR-xx miniature "TravelVision Series"
several of each - all 1.5" screens.
Panasonic TR-1000 & TR-1001
Panasonic TR-1010
Panasonic TR-1020
Panasonic TR-1030
Panasonic TR-1030AP
Panasonic CT-101 - 1.5" NTSC Color TV

LCDs: about 30 units, all brands, all countries. I favor later generation TFT screens from Casio, Sony, Philips.

Original & "Far-out":
3 x Sony KVX-370 Indextrons, all rebuilt & operationnal.

Modern - l like to try new technologies:
Fujitsu 42" 1999 Plasma Pro monitor - outdated today but still still works fine.
Sony XEL-1 OLED TV - HD + SD, really beautiful pictures

Aiptek Pocket 20 Lumen LED projector: TV in bed projected on the ceiling, fine for full-darkness TV viewing. FYI, the Oscars are 1:30AM to 06:00 AM Euro time, nicer to watch in bed! - in case you fall asleep!
For those with girlfriends, other applications possible - use your imagination...

6 x RCA/Hitachi 1.5" Beam-Index color viewfinders, all with NTSC standalone tuners - tip: car TV tuner units.

JVC CX-500 series, PAL B/G 1980s combo: 5" color tv (Great dot-type CRT) + radio/audio cassette combo.

Vintage Sharp video projector, XV-P10U, early 80s, had pixels the size of peas, but many fond memories of watching LaserDisk movies on it

Best Regards

jhalphen
Paris/France

I am still using a sony KV-2680R bought in 1987 and had CRT replaced in 1994. Red gun went south on original crt. Honestly since 1994 picture is perfect!!! My daily driver big,heavy,26"beast. The RM-720 remote went south, TV lives on! dave

How do you spell CRT?The last i knew it was spelled Cee Are Tee :D

And it is beautiful :)

Well ive ONLY crt tv's for use. My "big" tv is a 1981 25" magnavox console in the bedroom. Just really wish my 4 year old nephew hadnt lost my remote for it.. Cant seem to find out how id get a replacement for it. Then ive an ugly black plastic 21" panasonic i bought in 2004 that still works great in the living room.

Though my brother did give me a 2004 sony 52" hdtv that the right bottom corner turned a bit fuzzy and the cat sharpened its claws so many times, ruined the built in speakers cloth covering... if i figure out the problem with the picture(or realize i dont care), thats going to be my garage tv. (hey, we all need places to hide at, the garage is my best friend these days).

i got a 1996 rca 36 inch crt this set stopped after 6 years then again 8 years later just recently but i repaired it myself both times, saved money doing it myself not to mention having to buy one of those flat face tvs,lol. this rca plays so well and the clearity is just of the charts even at 14 years old, although known for flybacks, hot, disc caps, and a few resistors the stuff is cheap to get. now i got spares of the known things that go bad for next time it stops so i should be good for another 6-8 years.

I bought a Zenith console from the waning days of such things in 1997. Against all odds, the picture tube is bright as new, but it's definitely had some rest in recent years as I enjoyed the fruits of my restoration labors. For instance, until recently a 1956 Zenith console was sitting in front of its descendant.

All i have are CRT's and that's all i'm going to have for the forseeable future.

Nick

My Sony KV36XBR400 with a Samsung HDTV tuner. Love it!

I have a mid 90's Panasonic Superflat that has a top-notch picture. I do not own any flat screens aside from a lousy 7" portable. Tuner in it sucks.

the only tv I have is a 1968 Magnavox Theatre Combo- color all-tube set, with the concealed sliding doors. I dont watch tv everyday, but I watch a few times a week for about two hours. With the digital converter the is picture is actually pretty good. I was thinking about getting a flat screen but I realized I dont watch tv that much and it might clash with the living room decor.

Well ive ONLY crt tv's for use. My "big" tv is a 1981 25" magnavox console in the bedroom. Just really wish my 4 year old nephew hadnt lost my remote for it.. Cant seem to find out how id get a replacement for it.

Have you tried a universal remote? If your set is 1981 vintage a universal may work every bit as well as did the original, except you may not be able to use some of the advanced features of the TV with anything other than the set's own remote.

I'd look around the bedroom for your set's original remote. Perhaps your nephew just hid it somewhere. I think the remotes for that vintage Magnavox TV are good-sized units and are not easy to lose track of.

Good luck.

I daily watch a 31 (I think) inch Sanyo from WalMart that has been one of my best purchases, ever.

It must be 10-12 years old?

My kid is watching the "Sylvania" (Funai) 6427GFF as I type this, a 19" Daewoo is still used daily in another bedroom, and a 13" Zenith color ($6 at a thrift store!) not-quite-daily use in the kitchen,

I'm watching my typewritten words on a CRT monitor right now, and do so at work.

Almost everyone around me uses CRT's as well:

Mother: 20" DVD/VCR/TV combo daily, older 25" in basement when grandkids are over.

Brother 1 & fam: 25" Sanyo in living room and two 13" in bedrooms (not only a CRT-only home, but an OTA-only home as well)

Sister & fam: Not sure if 51" rear projector is three CRT or "light engine", not DLP.

(Brother 2 and fam are plasma-only)

In-laws: 27" CRT in family room, 19" CRT in bedroom.

Childhood friend: 32" in living room, 27" upstairs, both OTA-Only.

The only non-CRT displays here are for the computers.
My daily drivers are a Silvertone roundy and a Zenith CCI hybrid.
If I can get my freshly homemade computer to send a signal from it's S-video output I just may store it's FP monitor and use one of my CRT sets.

since i got the sliders from bryan,i am currently watching my rca xl100 from 1973.retired the chromacolor II and in my garage the watcher is a zenith system 3 remote console with an inline crt.the picture is amazing!

36" trinitron fd phillips 27 and insignia lcd the sony has the best picture

No flat panels unless you count the Nokia e71 in my hand. No computer for eight years either. 27" Philips from Craigs list with component inputs for daily watcher. 20" first Sony XBR from thrift shop for $17 in spare bedroom. Two 12" crts in the kitchen and basement (storm tv). My home is a hybrid of cable and OTA, I can quit cable whenever I want or need. The funny thing is I'm 41 and was one of the first to drop my land line and computer, although I'm thinking of DSL to preserve our bandwidth and stream Netflix.

I still use a CRT telly, a 2000s Tevion 68cm stereo colour TV set which is my main set for watching programs in colour. For B&W I use my 1969 PYE 12" B&W TV. The main reason I still use a CRT for viewing is because:
A- most of what I watch is 4:3 and predates the 1990s
B- CRT tellies hide most of the visible digital artifacts in compressed DVDs unlike digital flat screens that show them warts and all
C- I really couldn't be bothered upgrading for the above two reasons
D- not within my budget range

My daily driver is a Sony KV-20FS100 with a flat faced CRT manufactured May 2002, and it has a great picture. I also have a 1977 Magnavox console with T-995 chassis, still working with it's original parts, and remote control. I usually watch it once a month. Last I use my first tv, a 1976 Panasonic CT 216A given to me by my Mom in 1985 or so for NES gaming.

GE post-Portacolor but skinnier on top of the kitchen fridge. Early to mid-80's 9" or 10". All click VHF/UHF tuners running on a Comcast mini-box. Stripe CRT and all SS. Screams Toshiba. No hope of digging out the model number up there. Remember Fibber McGees' closet. The most accurate color reproduction I have ever seen and strong after 25 years. Ebay find for pocket change three years ago. Runs daily AM and PM.

And the den set is a Sony KV-34XBR910 Superfine Pitch CRT HD set...and has a ATSC/QAM tuner. Works fine with basic Comcast must-carry HD. Bought it from a Sony exec. Not much viewing there during the summer baseball season. Whatta pic. Phosphers forever! It does tend to loose the channel lineup after no use. Re-scanning fixes that. And if anyone knows how to do a electrostatic focus adjustment, let me know. It is a bit soft and I do not want to mess with the menu adjustments...unless I have to.

I still don't own anything modern. In the living room, I'm either watching a 1984 Curtis Mathis or a 1957 Philco Diamond D with Dish TV box. Simply don't have a need for anything new yet.

Right now, my daily watcher is a Toshiba 14" flat screen CRT set. Bought it at the GW for the Princely sum of $6.50, including tax. It must have been one of their higher end sets, as it has three sets of input jacks. Built in February, 2004. I use a Harmon-Kardon Computer speaker system plugged into the earphone jack, as the internal speakers are tiny, and a low power output stage.

I have two analog CRT sets: Zenith Sentry 2 (1995) and RCA CTC185 (1999). Both sets are now in storage since I bought an Insignia (Sylvania) 19" flat screen HDTV for my living room last month. I still use a 17" Hewlett-Packard CRT monitor, however, on my computer; as long as it works, it stays.

[QUOTE=Dave A;3013936]GE post-Portacolor but skinnier on top of the kitchen fridge. Early to mid-80's 9" or 10". All click VHF/UHF tuners running on a Comcast mini-box. Stripe CRT and all SS. Screams Toshiba. No hope of digging out the model number up there. Remember Fibber McGees' closet.

Oh heavenly days, Fibber!
:lmao:


Sorry I coulden't resist.

Tom C.

I still use a 17" Hewlett-Packard CRT monitor, however, on my computer; as long as it works, it stays.

I'm an IT contractor so I spend a lot of time going to lots of people's offices and fixing their computers. I actually had a bit of trouble remembering the last time I used a CRT monitor... I think it was 2 months ago on a server stuck in a small closet. Personally I haven't used a CRT for one of my "main" computers in probably 5 years :eek: I was using a Zenith System3 CRT TV 2 years ago.

-J

Love my 32" proton for a daily watcher.

I still use a 17" Hewlett-Packard CRT monitor, however, on my computer; as long as it works, it stays.

In my case, the computer monitor was the first to be changed to a flat screen, nearly 10 years ago. Today I mostly use laptops, with LCD screens... very convenient!
The one exception is this 1986 Mac+ that gets regular use for playing vintage games such as "Gunshy". Much fun! This is the first computer that I ever owned that I did not build myself, back in the "stone age".

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6182/6150508987_67191fa315_z.jpg

jr

Is that a monochrome monitor in that mac?

Is that a monochrome monitor in that mac?

Yep! More about the Mac "plus" here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Plus
The box sticking out behind is an external hard drive, a 40 Meg LaCie.

jr

I'm still using my ten year old Admiral color tv with pix tube. 23".
I think this is one of the last ones made in Japan. It's still playing. I have broken button bracket issues, but, works fine with remote.
I use it everyday.
I hate flat screen.
Bill Cahill

I have panasonic sets in 4 sizes, 12-20-27-36 inches all from the 90's except the 27" is 2004. plus a 1991 Toshiba 27" that still looks great.

I will always have my RCA CTC 11 as a backup cuz its may favorite!

I have a Mitsubishi 19" from the early eighties in my bedroom that's on every single day. Bought it at an auction for a buck a few years ago. It works flawlessly and has a very good picture. Have a JVC 13" in the garage that gets used alot too.

Hi:

I am more of a lurker than a participant in this hobby. That said I USED to fix older sets, and I highly admire the hard work you all do to keep these ol' beauties going!!:banana:

My daily watcher is a 50" LG plasma set. Love the HD picture detail, but the color reproduction is no match for a 1960's roundie!

Respect to all!:rockon:

Walt Anderson

I still use a Sony KV-1311CR TV/monitor. Bought new around 1986 and watched almost daily since then. It's on right now. In the photo, it's the 13" set on my desk.

http://antiqueradio.org/art/iPhoneOnTv.jpg

After 25 years of trouble-free service, it developed slanty interference lines in the picture. Something creeping in from a bad cap in the power supply. I took this opportunity to test every electrolytic in the set, and replaced about half a dozen. Now it's back on the road, and I expect it to last until its CRT gives out.

We also have a 27" RCA ProScan set in another room, bought in the early 1990s. It was our daily watcher while our kids were small, and logged countless hours during the daytime as well as evenings. Now it's in the room where my wife's computer is located, and she watches a couple of hours a day. Never serviced, still looks very good.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

P.S. I still have a working Mac Plus, as well as Commodore VIC 20, C-64, and Amiga. The Sony was originally purchased as a monitor for the Amiga, which I got before Commodore monitors were available.

Great collection of tv's you have there, Phil N.

And Jpdylon, love that HH Scott integrated atop the Proton!

collection of tv's you have there
But wait -- there's more!

http://antiqueradio.org/televisions.htm

(Too many, actually.)

Phil Nelson

Hey!! That's your site, eh? Never knew that...although I've visited the site often over the yrs.! Great stuff.:yes: The CTC-11 is my fave...incredible raster on that one

Phil, That CTC-11 is one sweet piece! Your site is extra fun with that excellent commentary.

JD, That HH Scott amp looks similar to my 222.

I am about to call an old friend and see if she still has the RCA CTC15 stereo combo set that I resurrected in '79. I last saw it in 84 after installing an antenna there.

Dave 63

I still use a last-gasp Panasonic CRT-based HDTV monitor (26"), that I recently fitted into an old gutted GE TV cabinet with a lifting front door (purchased at rummage sale)> I no longer have Sat TV, so had to dig out an old HD receiver since the set lacks a internal digital (ATSC) tuner. Picture is as good as purchased new 6 years ago.

I still play my avatar set monthly, my chromacolor weekly for news. My used HD set is my daily watcher, very easy on the eyes.

Our daily driver is a ca. 1986 Toshiba 27" CRT that was a hand me down from my parents.
In our bedroom, we have a Montgomery Wards (!?!) "Signature 2000" (NEC OEM, I believe) 12-ish inch CRT that I bought in 1989 when we moved to Milpitas, CA.

Both sets have cheap-jack (Zenith) OTA DTV tuners/converters on them that I bought when I had to -- and use bow-tie arrays in our deep-suburban fringe location.

Can you tell that my wife and I are not really what you'd call "big TV fans"?

That said... I would love to have a fully functional RCA CTC-15 or CTC-16 console... someday.

The CTC-15 and 16 were the last good RCA roundies. The CTC20 roundie was RCA's way of using up leftover 21FJP22's, but it had only two printed circuits versus the earlier four board chassis (CTC 9,10,11, 12, 15, 16) I had a CTC16E and CTC16XL when I was in high school. They were lost during numerous relocations after college. The CTC15 combo I worked on in '84 is gone, so I was told last month.
Still, it was not unusual to see those gems still in regular use 30 years ago. I rescued two ctc11 TRADE-INS when I worked delivering for an RCA dealer. I still have one of the CTC11 RCA's, A blonde upright, that finally needs a re-capping. It was also not rare to see them going to flea markets and thrift stores then, since a new color 19" was $350+. The owners remembered what a novelty they were, so they were almost NEVER at the curb during spring-fall big-item cleanups. I did get many of the later 25" and 25V sets, chromacolor, XL-100s etc at curbs, making the standard repairs and then selling them for 100-150 while in college.
Finally, roundies are recognized for the treasures they really are!

I've got a console xl100 from 1989 I got from the parents. My sister took it when she moved, but gave it back because it had issues locking on to channels.

I lived with it because I didn't feel like pulling the chassis out. Then one day, nice pop and all the blue is gone. So I pulled the chasis, resoldered the tuner connections, replaced the blown gun transistor. Tv was fine...for a while. Red gun transistor died and tuner kept acting up.

I did manage to find a compatible tuner in an old VCR and replaced all the color drive transistors and replaced a few caps. Its been holding channel 3 quite solid for a few years now and the color transistors are holding up.

I do plan on replacing this thing in the next year or so. Its been a good TV, hate to get rid of it.

Parents still use the Trinitron I gave them in the apartment wing of the house, nice set with s uper bright pic.

I do plan on replacing this thing in the next year or so. Its been a good TV, hate to get rid of it.

If you have room in your house (basement, rec room, etc.) for this set, and it still works well (it should, IMHO, after all the work you put into it), why not keep it and use it with a DVD player? You will need an external RF modulator to use most DVDs with older TVs, but if the modulator has a switch on the back to select channel 3 or 4 (most of them do), just put it on 3, hook up the RF output cable to the VHF antenna terminals of your TV, and you're good to go.

http://www.videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=172283&stc=1&d=1322354003
I'm still using this as my HDTV, a computer monitor driven by a Samsung ATSC box in an old RCA CTC19 cabinet (the chassis long gone). Changed the display from letterbox to cropped 4:3 for a bigger picture, albeit with the sides lopped off.

rca ctc197 15 years old this month repaired 2 times over 15 years fly, cap, resistor thats it 36 inch crt bright as the day it was bought. nothing like crt but some people swear by the flat screens.

http://www.videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=172283&stc=1&d=1322354003
I'm still using this as my HDTV, a computer monitor driven by a Samsung ATSC box in an old RCA CTC19 cabinet (the chassis long gone). Changed the display from letterbox to cropped 4:3 for a bigger picture, albeit with the sides lopped off.

I like how you were able to fit the monitor into that cabinet -- looks like a factory job. It also looks as if you now have HDTV with stereo sound, as I saw what looks like two computer speakers at either side of the monitor (if your Samsung converter supports it, which I think it does -- most DTV boxes are built for stereo).

BTW, what happened to the CTC19 chassis -- flyback or CRT failure, lightning damage, etc.? Just curious. :scratch2:

rca ctc197 15 years old this month repaired 2 times over 15 years fly, cap, resistor thats it 36 inch crt bright as the day it was bought. nothing like crt but some people swear by the flat screens.

I have a Zenith Sentry 2 19" TV, 16 years old, still works like a champ with no repairs whatsoever. It's now in storage, however, since I bought an RCA CTC185 (see below). Don't want to get rid of the Zenith unless push comes to shove, as it was a birthday present to me on my 39th birthday in 1995; it has sentimental value to me, even though the gray paint on the cabinet is starting to flake off.

My RCA CTC185 19" table set is also in storage since I finally broke down and bought a flat panel this past August, but it works very well for its age (twelve years). Had two repairs done on the RCA within a year of each other, both for the same problem (broken antenna connector), but wouldn't you know it, neither repair was covered under the manufacturer's warranty. :no: Other than that, however, the RCA set worked very well on cable until the day I retired it. I am keeping this set as well, since it still works as well as the day I bought it; nice bright sharp picture, same as your CTC197. I don't know what brand of CRT RCA used in the CTC1xx series but whatever it is, it must be pretty good, as mine has lasted as long as the set itself and has shown no signs whatsoever of weakening -- and this TV saw a lot of use before I got the flat set.

well rca i think was bought by a japan company in the 90s and there crts seem to be better then usa so it has got to be japanese crts that were put in at some point for the reason they work and last so long.i wonder if japan would take on making new 21fbp22s or xp, fj crts, so we can keep our vintage roundies going for another 45 years or longer since there crts are better, that would be great, and at a cheap price.

RCA was owned by Thomson, a French Company until Thomson sold it to some Chinese company about 5 years ago. I don't think any sets, or CRTS have been built in
Japan in years. Even they farmed it out to China. Even the latter Sony Trinitrons didn't even have a Trinitron tube. Most of the last CRT sets used Orion tubes.
I still haven't gone the flat panel route yet. I have a 32" JVC in the livingroom. A 24" Toshiba in the office, and a 19" Zenith (1981) in the bedroom. If/when the JVC conks, I WILL get a flat panel (probably an LCD or LED) to replace it. That 32" JVC weighs a ton, and I will never lift anything that heavy again. It's worse than a console. lol!

yes those big tube tvs are very heavy like this 36 inch rca i have. the last time i repaired it i didnt move it but rather just turned it around to get to the back and even that was a task.but it still works great, just that this ctc197 was known for flybacks and a 2kv cap which i have a new spare fly and cap for when it may happen again.

HA! You have better repair skills than me. If that 32" broke I would have to take it in, as I am lacking in repairs on "new" stuff, and I know the repir shops left in my area would give one the stink eye, if one were to bring in anything over 5 years old.
I'm not really a fan of the LED/LCD. I think the pix looks good on every plasma I've seen tho... but wonder how heavy they are?
My neighbor got a new Panasonic 3D TV and I thought the picture was horrible. I was polite tho, cause it seems all the "yung uns" think they are so fantastic.
One thing tho... I LOVE my LCD computer monitor. I would never ever EVER go back to a CRT for my computer. My desk is cluttered enough as it is!

I like how you were able to fit the monitor into that cabinet -- looks like a factory job. ...

BTW, what happened to the CTC19 chassis -- flyback or CRT failure, lightning damage, etc.?
Thanks

It was so long ago that I don't remember. My brother used the empty cabinet to store some books and such for about 25 years... Recently I took it back.

There is but a single flat panel TV in my house, and it's a little 15-incher mounted on the wall above my bed. Only used for video games and over-the-air (sadly, ATSC) broadcasts. (In fact, the only reason I have this set is because I bought it in like-new condition with the original remote control at a thrift store for $25! I'd never had a flat panel before and wanted to test the waters, so to speak.)

Every other set in daily use (and there are a lot of them!) are CRT sets. The smallest being 11 inches, and the largest 40 inches. I greatly prefer the picture of a CRT set to an LCD. (Plasma is somewhere in between.) To me, the only real downside to the CRT sets is their size and weight. I practically need a forklift to move the 40-inch Sony! (it's currently preventing me from rearranging my bedroom!)

I actually meant more along the lines of I personally hate to get rid of it. I've been watching that tv since it was new. I've got a cousin who has a 19" set, ill likely pass it along to him (as well as free repairs, although I think I fixed whatever could blow up...flyback is original, but how often do they blow up. (But when they do...lovely green flashes and sparks)

Sent from my Samsung Intercept with Tapatalk

I think its hilarious....

I am in a debate on another site with someone about how much better CRTs look and i provided a link to this thread and the person said this

"This thread is 5 years old and proves nothing, just people unwilling to accept advancements in technology."

Apparently he didnt come to the end of the thread!


And i said this to him "Wrong...People UNWILLING TO ACCEPT GARBAGE WHEN WHAT THEY HAD BEFORE WAS BETTER!!"

I speak QUITE LOUDLY sometimes!!


Long live CRT :)

I think its hilarious....

\

And i said this to him "Wrong...People UNWILLING TO ACCEPT GARBAGE WHEN WHAT THEY HAD BEFORE WAS BETTER!!"

I speak QUITE LOUDLY sometimes!!


Long live CRT :)

Define better: smaller? lower resolution?. heavier?, smaller color gamut?, lasts longer? well, maybe, but there were millions of sets made in the tube era, where are they? in the landfill of course because the majority of them died a long time ago.

The sets we have are the exception, not the rule.


It's like making the argument that 8mm movies are better that 35mm, there is no science to back that claim up.

Computers are all LCD but TV's are still CRT: Sony 34XBR960 and an RCA 19" B&W I bought when papa oscared at my parents (while in college) over sharing the Silvertone roundie color.

All this talk about Zenith... reminds me of the motto, "The parts go in before the name goes on."

What I heard about Philco was "The quality falls out before the name goes on"

Seriously, my LCD computer monitor just died after being on 10+ hours per day over the last 8 years. I cannot gripe about that, what tube tv would do any better? I think the quality of the LCD displays is at least equal to solid state CRT based TVs and much better than any vacuum tube based televisions. I say this, but I do have many vacuum tube based CRT televisions-I enjoy bringing them back to life.

Now the reliability of over the air DTV vs analog NTSC -that is a different story. (of course with the cellphone companies continuing to try to get all the spectrum even DTV may not last long).

The only TV I use right now is the one in my sig and avatar.

Well my late 90s rca bit the dust. I figured one of the guns went since the screen went purple and cant be adjusted. So ive a 2003 panasonic 32" im watching now.

The only TV I use right now is the one in my sig and avatar.Boy thats a beautiful set,i hope she stays with ya for years to come :)

The sets we have are the exception, not the rule.Yes but they used to be THE RULE.. Everything about them Erik is better!! (The quality of picture,the sound produced,the accuracy of colours,etc)

I have four CRT TV's. One is a 13" Radio Shack set, another is a 20" RCA.

The other two are Proton sets, a 619, and a NT2120 in my HT system.

Not crazy about HDTV. As long as I can watch my LD's on the NT2120, I'm happy.

Everything about them Erik is better!! (The quality of picture,the sound produced,the accuracy of colours,etc)

Again I ask, show me the science that backs up this claim.

I had a B&W until about 1984 because I was waiting for colour tv to be perfected. I got tired of waiting so I bought a Sony digital XBR 25" for a huge amount of money then, about a month later, a better and cheaper one became available. Twice, I spent $$$$ to fix that TV and, after the 3rd crash and burn I trashed it and replaced it with a 36" Proscan I bought for $150 which worked flawlessly for 5 years until it spectacularly died because of flyback failure. Now, I am watching a 19" Sony trinitron while I contemplate spending $40 on a new flyback for the Proscan or trashing it and buying a new Panasonic Viera 50ST60 Plasma when it becomes available. Plasmas are also also vacuum tubes so, if I get one, I will just be upgrading to newer tube technology, not abandoning it.

Use two sony 32 inch crts. One is a xbr and the other a v series. Much better picture than most hdtvs. One is a 1995 and a 1999. Got both on craigslist. One for free and the other almost for free. I was told the xbr cost 2500 and the v 1500. Amazing what people will through in the trash now.

Indeed!!!!!!!! -- Picture is superb!!

Yes its sad people do not value GOOD THINGS anymore...... Congrats on your FREE purchase!!

I still do. I use a 1961 CTC 11 about 8 hours a day:) I turn it on when I get home, and off around midnight.

Im proud you of Zenithfan :)

We still have about a dozen of them in use every day at our office...

all but 2 of our 12 tvs are crt, but our everyday tv here is a 1979 19" sony 1941R. I'm the second owner and its been in almost constant use since it was new, but still has a beautiful picture.

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t122/duked_2007/th_5444999F-F49B-4C08-972A-83CA1902DD82-291-00000015DC2A941A_zps6546a17e.jpg (http://s159.photobucket.com/user/duked_2007/media/5444999F-F49B-4C08-972A-83CA1902DD82-291-00000015DC2A941A_zps6546a17e.jpg.html)
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t122/duked_2007/th_CF92933D-26D1-4CDE-8400-CE541A27AFBC-291-00000015DF4485AC_zps0f0b7b32.jpg (http://s159.photobucket.com/user/duked_2007/media/CF92933D-26D1-4CDE-8400-CE541A27AFBC-291-00000015DF4485AC_zps0f0b7b32.jpg.html)

We have two LCD TVs that we never use. Our daily watcher is Hal, our Zenith Avanti. We only occasionally watch Sophia, the SC 300.



http://videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=170251&d=1303741179

http://videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=172900&d=1326665054

I just broke down and bought a 21.5 inch H/P LED/LCD display for my computer. I like it a lot. It's great for looking at pictures and schematics, from online sources.
I still have all CRT TV's. A CRT TV in good condition still has a superior picture on cable and non-HD sources.

I use my CTC10 every day for news and old shows on METV and RTV. Never watch new stuff on it but there's nothing good on network tv anyway.

No your right about that!!!! (TV programming quality is garbage compared to what it used to be)

No your right about that!!!! (TV programming quality is garbage compared to what it used to be)

Some of the programming that was on years ago, wasn't so great either.
ME TV and a few others are showing some shows that were made in the mid to late 60's and early 70's. I'm refering to the ones made for the younger viewers. :thumbsdn:

Any one here will still use the C.R.T tv's for every day wathcing tv? (not just for nostalgy).
I will try to use the C.R.T. tv as long as I can. After my 2000 "Sony" Trinitron will pass away I'll try to find an used C.R.T. tv still working...

I still use a 1954 arvin 21" as a daily watcher!