Create a scenario where CRTs make a comeback

[classictv80s]

I know most of you here don't think there's a snowball's chance of new CRT televisions ever appearing again, but if they ever did what would be the circumstances and logistics of this happening? If they did come back, what company would most likely bring them back first? What would they look like? What kind of special features would they have? How much would they cost? In what way would they be marketed? Where would they be manufactured? Will we ever see the day when American consumers start fishtanking their bland and boring looking flatscreens in favor of trendy new picture tube displays? Will CRTs make a comeback with videophiles like vinyl has with audiophiles? Let the discussion begin.

[Eric H]

I don't see it happening, for one thing it's impossible to make a 50" or larger wide screen HD CRT and if you did it would weigh 1000 pounds.

I think the future will bring thinner and lighter technology if anything.

There might be a nostalgia boom in the future where people want existing CRT sets from the 80's and 90's like they had as a kid, or possibly really shoddy knock offs by Funai, Apex and all the other crap makers, whether they have real CRTs or flat screens mounted in a "Retro style" cabinet.

[ctc17]

I cant ever see them being made again. However if a super hot movie or artist/celebrity was to trendify an old crt set they could become desirable on a retro novelty level.

[AndyMack]

This might sound a bit sinister, but i see one scenario where tube technology could possibly be put back into short term use. I don't want to make this a political post, so lets for the sake of argument say 'Country X' decided that the United States needed to be taught a lesson, and that country has developed or otherwise obtained several medium to high yield nuclear weapons: of which three were detonated at high altitude, one over the northeast, one over the mid-west, and one over the west coast. The resulting EMP would more or less cook most every transistor & integrated circuit for a few hundred miles in all directions. The only way to gather information electronically would be by radio or perhaps analog TV, if any such installations are still in place (assuming active DTV transmitters would have suffered the same fate as all other electronics).

Tube technology was found to be much more resistant to the effect of EMP's. So as those flat-screens, iPhones and digital radios would be instantly rendered useless, that CTC-15 or old Philco radio would probably fire up as if nothing ever happened - or at the very least - be much easier to repair.... assuming of course there would be a way to power it.

A little extreme for a scenario perhaps, but outside of something dramatic like that happening, I don't realistically see CRT's coming back into vogue.

[Sandy G]

You read "Warday", too, huh ? (grin) Actually, that was discussed quite a bit on "Boatanchor" sites way back...One R-390A guru stated that unless it was melted by a fireball or otherwise rendered inoperative, an R-390A would prolly function as long as there was electric current. Another thing would be that most automobiles would be rendered inoperative, the only ones still running would be pre-1975 models that had non-electronic ignitions. We would be doubly "Fooked", as not only would all our wondrous gizmotrons not work anymore, neither would the test equipment to fix them...Nor are there THAT many servicemen around who know what they're doing anymore. Terry Dewick, Mark the Fixer, Echowars, those guys would be venerated as Gods-even more so than they are already...(grin)

[andy]

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[Sandy G]

...An' I'd rather have a portable from 1970 as 99.9% of all the flatscreen trash out there...

[electroking]

I trust the supply of existing CRTs will decrease slower than the demand for them.
I just turned 50, and I have to admit I will probably die owning a number of
working CRT TVs that my estate will have to junk for lack of demand...

[radiotvnut]

I really don't see CRT TV's ever being made again. As the years pass, the equipment to build CRT's and people with the know how to build them will no longer be available. The only possible way CRT's may come back will be if there's enough damand from a specialty market; but, I really don't see it happening like it did with tube audio and LP records. I think TV's will continue to become more technically advanced, lighter, and more disposable than they are now.

As far as tube based radio's and TV's surviving a nuclear attack, that is true; but, the majority of transmitting equipment will be useless because most of such equipment is solid state or mostly solid state by now. I think there are some small AM stations that still use 50+ year old tube transmitters; but, most of those have had their rectifiers upgraded to solid state. And, like has already been pointed out, the lack of people who know how to repair such old equipment will be an issue. Most modern day technicians are "board level" and some aren't too good at that. Let's just hope something that drastic never happens.

[ctc17]

Originally Posted by AndyMack

This might sound a bit sinister, but i see one scenario where tube technology could possibly be put back into short term use. I don't want to make this a political post, so lets ..............

The only thing that I can think of right away that would work would be an All American Five running off a bunch of car batteries in series. It should get dx stations at night as all the local transmitters would be wiped out.

I believe all the other stuff has a least one detector diode.

[Sandy G]

...As DREADFUL as a lot of the latter-day CRTs have turned out, makes you wonder sometimes if they weren't made that way on purpose to "soften up" the market for the "Superior" flatscreens...

[Eric H]

Outside of Forums like this I don't think the general public finds HD Flatscreens boring at all, if anything it's high on their list of must have items.

For most it's not about keeping up with the Jones' either, it's about getting a display device that can do justice to a movie and show it the way it was meant to be seen.

They had 60" Projection sets back in the 70's and lots of people wanted one, but they were really expensive back then and frankly they looked like crap for the most part.

A good 50" Plasma can be had today for about what a 27" TOTL Trinitron cost back in the 70's and 80's (adjusted for inflation much less) and the 1080p picture will put them to shame.

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by Eric H

A good 50" Plasma can be had today for about what a 27" TOTL Trinitron cost back in the 70's and 80's (adjusted for inflation much less) and the 1080p picture will put them to shame.

Now if they would make them quality enough to last longer than 3 years...

[jwharris]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

Now if they would make them quality enough to last longer than 3 years...

That is the only thing bad about the progression of television. Unfortunately, that is the problem with most consumer products. Of course, that is also why they are cheaper. If you wanted a 50" plasma screen that lasted as long as a 40s-50s CRT you would have to pay $5000+

[mwplefty]

Originally Posted by jwharris

That is the only thing bad about the progression of television. Unfortunately, that is the problem with most consumer products. Of course, that is also why they are cheaper. If you wanted a 50" plasma screen that lasted as long as a 40s-50s CRT you would have to pay $5000+

Even plasma TV's are starting to phase out. People have been switching from plasma to LCD because of the clearer picture quality (for the most part) and longer lifespan. Of course, their longevity doesn't compare to that of a CRT TV. If someone can create a CRT TV with a digital tuner, it could legally be sold. Keep in mind, the FCC required that all TV's manufactured after March 1, 2007 had to have an ATSC tuner. Is it even possible to create a digital cathode-ray tube TV? We have a nice 2005 Sony Trinitron CRT TV upstairs that, while rather bulky, has that ideal flat-screen HD quality that many American longs for in this materialistic world.

Still CRT TV's, especially those from the 1970's and earlier, have that "look" that no LCD TV could replicate.

Also, believe it or not, a vast majority have at least one flat-panel TV in their homes nowadays. People think I'm a hypocrite for using a laptop and watching TV on an LCD TV. I'm really not. While I do have an Apple laptop (which I have to admit isn't nearly as good as my "old" HP) and a 2006 Samsung LCD TV, I also have a Remington Quiet-Riter Eleven Manual Typewriter from around 1970, a rotary Model 500 telephone, a 1972 Zenith, and a 1974 RCA. It's all about accepting the future of technology, but at the same time embracing and learning about the past.