The CRT is totally gone? They've only been off the market for a couple of years and already they've all but disappeared in the workplace, in the home, and elsewhere. It's even getting tough to dispose of em as we all know.

But with the upcoming TV transition to digital, the inability to have em repaired, and the end of CRT manufacturing (except for a small specialty market) how long will it really be?

Unlike old tube radio's and turntables, every pre-'97ish CRT set will be obsolete without additional hardware, at which point most consumers will toss it or it'll get tossed after it breaks down.

One day, we'll be the only ones with CRT sets.....:smoke:

The only places around here that I see CRT's still in constant use is in arcade game monitors. It's probably just a matter of time before they go to LCD or some other technology. Oh, one of our local hospitals recently replaced the 20+ year old Magnavox sets in the rooms with 19" CRT Philips sets. I've got a feeling those won't be around as long as the previous hospital TV's.

I imagine in 2 years, (and, that's pushing it) there will be no more CRT TV's on the store shelves. Every week, we get a Rex TV and a BB sales flyer in the Sunday paper. All of the sets advertised are non-CRT and have been for months. I have not actually been in these stores to see what is left on the shelf. There is still a very, very small selection of CRT sets at China-Mart; but, nothing I'd consider bringing home!

I read an article several months ago, from the New York Times, that said that the number of CRT televisions sold had actually increased during the first quarter of 2008, due to increasing numbers of Americans not being able to afford the more expensive LCDs and plasmas, because of the bad economy. This leads me to ask the following question, as the economy continues to get worse and worse, how are people going to be able to afford all these expensive LCDs and plasmas? Now, of course, most of us here already know that LCD and plasma TVs are nothing more than big, rectangular pieces of junk anyway. There's no way of knowing for sure what will happen in the years ahead. When tens of millions of poor, bankrupt American consumers finally learn, the hard way, that their pricey LCDs and plasmas are crap headed for the landfill maybe CRT televisions will make a comeback.

Most stores here still have at least a couple of CRT sets on sale, but they are usually no name junk. I did see an LG 68cm 4:3 let listed in this weeks junk mail at twice the price of a 68cm no name set. That store did stop selling CRT sets all together for a while, so I guess they got enough customers asking for them that they ordered some in. At AU$499 that LG set is only $50-100 cheaper than the bottom of the range LCD sets, maybe at least some customers are starting to realise how bad the picture on some of those cheap LCDs are.

I wonder if the downturn in the economy will actually improve the market for used electronics. I've noticed a lot of stores around here have no middle ground. There's bottom of the range crap, a large gap and then the "good stuff" (well at least what the masses consider good). The bottom of the range crap seems to get worse with every shipment as they find more corners to cut. The other day I was offered several pallet loads of warranty return TVs and stereos for almost nothing. I didn't take it because I won't sell people that garbage.

I do wonder what the arcade industry will do. I have seen some new cabinets with LCD displays, but serious players don't like them. The input lag throws the timing off and timing is very tight in most arcade games. I guess things will have to change eventually, but current tournament rules for fighting games specify CRT displays.

i was working with a fellow here in NJ for a few days in his repair shop . He repairs all this modern crap . Anyhow thats excactly how he puts it, modern crap . Some of the boards cant be repaired and you must order a new board and they price the boards so high that they hope you throw it out and buy a new set . I was told and i dont know if there is any truth to this or not becuase i dont really repair modern stuff but anyway i was told a lot of this modern stuff does not even have schematics available for it . I was also told by this tech here in NJ that these plasma and lcd sets are only good for like 2500-2700 hours or 5 to 6 years . I am guessing that is true becuase the other day i stopped at a store called 6th ave electronics and in the back of the store they had all their display tvs which were on their sales floor for months running all day and night for like a 1/4 of what the regular sales price . Someone who didnt know any better would walk in and see a clearance 42 display model lcd for 400 bucks and think he is getting a steal . Not the case .
My old crt tvs , a few are over 40 yrs old with original crts and still going strong !!!!!!

I'd guess it will be a long time before they're 100% gone. They've been part of mainstream technology for about 75 years, and everything from oscilloscopes to medical equipment to airport & maritime radar has used them. They're still the most common means of security monitors too, as I haven't really seen a changeover to LCD in those. Also, there are many people with whom I've talked who just don't like the appearance of LCD or Plasma. (I hate Plasma's picture quality, but a good LCD would be hard for me to criticize). For the CRT people, I'd bet that a high-end TV company will continue to produce them, same as you can still get a new high-end turntable or tube amp (for a price, of course!!!).

Charles

if you're including used items in your question, perhaps never, or as long as the old ones hold out, if anyone else is like me. I can't believe how much the pricks expect people to pay for a new TV. Granted, the technology in newish, but everybody has a TV, basically, and I expected the market prices for entry-level/smaller-sized (at least small in today's market, 30" and under) to be more or less "normal" by now. They're not, by any stretch of the imagination.

As long as they're used in 99.99% of hotel and motel rooms, I'm guessing they'll still be around for a while.

Not forever, though...like rotary dial phones, their time is passing.

Well, in the past year I've stayed in 3 or 4 hotel rooms all of which had 'Vizio' or Samsung LCD's mounted on the wall. I haven't seen a CRT TV in a hotel room since my last cruise.

Suppose it is about right to say the only downside LCD has is the response time. But the best LCDs have addressed this issue. I still find it unsettling that the backlight(s) are rather shortlived, especially for the households who keep the sets on 24/7.

I didn't think to factor in this crappy economy..... Guess more people are indeed looking for bargain sets. The used market really should be better, but there goes the DTV changeover again....

As for arcade machines: I've never played a game on an LCD machine, nor have I seen any. The old CRT games from the 80s seem to soldier on after so many years of constant on-time. Personally, If I was in charge at Sega or Midway or whatever I would continue to use CRT.

Well, in the past year I've stayed in 3 or 4 hotel rooms all of which had 'Vizio' or Samsung LCD's mounted on the wall. I haven't seen a CRT TV in a hotel room since my last cruise.

Suppose it is about right to say the only downside LCD has is the response time. But the best LCDs have addressed this issue. I still find it unsettling that the backlight(s) are rather shortlived, especially for the households who keep the sets on 24/7.

I didn't think to factor in this crappy economy..... Guess more people are indeed looking for bargain sets. The used market really should be better, but there goes the DTV changeover again....

As for arcade machines: I've never played a game on an LCD machine, nor have I seen any. The old CRT games from the 80s seem to soldier on after so many years of constant on-time. Personally, If I was in charge at Sega or Midway or whatever I would continue to use CRT.

The last motel I was in, which was about 2 years ago, had 27" Philips-Magnavox sets of late '90's vintage. There have been a couple of new motels built here and, according to the pictures I've seen, they have LCD sets. BTW, it wasn't that many years ago that some motels still had old knob tuned sets! I'll bet some of those "rent by the hour" motels still have knob tuned sets!

I didn't think to factor in this crappy economy..... Guess more people are indeed looking for bargain sets. The used market really should be better, but there goes the DTV changeover again....

That is exactly why I thought that Goodwill was being stupid, Those sets would sell IF they chose to sell them. When was the last time you or any one for that matter, hooked a 90's analog tv to an antenna? Everyone I've seen has cable or satellite. Those sets are far from "useless" as they call them. The video I made was taken from the '98 Panasonic 27" analog set in my living room hooked to a satellite with a beautiful picture on it.

I don't know but I saw these really cool commercial advertising the flip to all digital.

They had this old 50's tv with a digital box hooked up to it stating that you can still use your old tv to watch when everything switches over. Use just need the converter box to do so. It may not be ideal but it's nice to see that they aren't trying to scare people into having to buy a new tv when everything switches.

I liked it even better that they used such an old tv to demonstrate their point.

I've stayed in a couple decent chain hotels this year and both had crt sets. My wife laughed at me in the last one as I poked around the back of the late-model Zenith they had, to see where it was made. (Mexico) I was trying to see who made the crt through the vents...

I've been in several stores in the last couple weeks that have converted to LCD security monitors-we were in a brand new drug store Saturday and they had them.

I don't shop the "big boxes" much. The most recent crt sets I've seen for sale have been at bottom-of-the-barrel places like Roses and Big Lots, and they were mostly factory reconditioned junk.

When was the last time you or any one for that matter, hooked a 90's analog tv to an antenna? Everyone I've seen has cable or satellite. Those sets are far from "useless" as they call them.

Exactly!!

For what it's worth, I have no satellite, no cable-antenna only. Newest TV in the house is a '91 model. I realize I am the exception and not the rule. Anyway, with a little antenna work I will be ready for the digital switchover, and will be running nothing but CRT sets for many, many years to come.

Me too Bryan! NO FLAT SCREENS PERIOD. No CRT, no tv for me.

When the cost of a LCD or other flat screen display costs less to manufacture than the same sized CRT the CRT will be no more.

True, but I have so many CRT sets I could never use them up in my life time, even If I only got one year from each or maybe less. So, I have no worries. Time marches on and so does progress, sometimes blindly like lemmings but marching on nonetheless. Nice signature BTW.

As long as they're used in 99.99% of hotel and motel rooms, I'm guessing they'll still be around for a while.

Not forever, though...like rotary dial phones, their time is passing.

I forgot about hotels... I think they'll be there for awhile, simply because they're more durable than LCD or plasma. Some hotel sets get rough treatment. I've fixed a few of them over the years for local hotels in the Los Angeles area.

I've stayed in probably 10 hotels/motels in the past year, and all were CRT, including the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, Canada... You'd think at their prices, they'd have had an LCD set if any did. Our room had a Phillips 27" CRT set. That was the only luxury hotel I was in, but others like Days Inn, Motel 6, etc etc., had 19" Zeniths, 20" Phillips, and so forth. Also the cruise ship we were on last summer (Celebrity Infinity) had 20" tube sets, but we were in a mid-priced stateroom. Not sure what was in the higher-priced rooms and suites.

Charles

I don't travel as much as I did before I've retired, but I still do 10-12 nights a year in hotels, some nice, and I've never seen anything other than crt's.

Of course, I haven't stayed in any Presidential Suites!:D

Well the hotels I stayed at were nothing fancy.... Motel 6 in upstate NY, Days Inn in NJ, and a Ramada near Atlantic City and they all had LCDs. Last cruise was on Royal Caribbean (Explorer of the Seas) and the sets were 19" made in Mexico BPC. On Carnival cruises, the midpriced rooms had Zenith BPC crt as well. They'll be around for a long time I guess in these applications.

And for arcade games I hope they stay TUBE.