I just don't get it, I guess.

[dr.ido]

Originally Posted by Arkay

I went out and bought a new TV recently. It's a measly thirty inches or so, and only about 10-12 years old, a higher-end model from B & O. Splurged a whopping hundred bucks on it; roughly a dollar a pound. Clear picture, no digital artifacts or exaggerated contrasts, natural skin tones, smooth motion... Except for the very minor inconvenience of having to deal wtih SCART inputs when most of my other gear doesn't use SCART connectors, I couldn't be happier with it! It even looks almost "flat", at least from the front. For only twenty times the price, I could have bought a really flat one, that would last maybe a whole 5-7 years. Hope I didn't goof!

It probably uses a Philips "super flat" CRT. They don't suffer from the geometery and focus problems of the newer completely flat tubes.

Those SCART inputs will probably accept an RGB signal (not component). If any of your gear has an RGB output (most games consoles, some DVD players, some set top boxes) you'll get a much better picture (no more dot crawl or color bleeding) than using composite or S-video.

[JimJ[VT]]

Originally Posted by Thyratron

Why is it that "flat-screens" have become so overwhelmingly popular with the general tv-buying public? Is it just a trend (the next guy has one, therefore so must I), or is there actually some type of advantage to it? Call me old-fashioned, but I don't find them particularly attractive, myself. Give me a CRT-er with the glowing bottles (or at least some good old big transistors) any day!

I can see some advantages. A screen in the mid 40" range works in some situations, much better than a smaller CRT would. I don't like the idea of stuffing the largest possible screen you can fit and compromising on the rest of the system, but once you get to a certain size, it's just better to go with the "newer" technologies.

[dr.ido]

I'm not in the market, so I haven't been looking seriously. From what I have seen in various stores while looking for other things I've yet to be impressed. The stores I have seen them in are discount stores stocking the cheaper units, so their may be higher end models out there that address some of the problems I have.

They may look okay from a distance, but as you get closer the various flaws become more distracting. I don't see the point in buying a big screen only to sit so far back from it that the picture is effectively smaller than my existing 27" CRT at my normal viewing distance.

[ChrisW6ATV]

I guess I am the oddball here... I have several old TV sets going back to the 40's, and other CRT color sets, but I love the flat panel and other "digital displays" (pixel-based rather than analog scan-based), and I would never want to go back to CRTs for anything more than very casual viewing. The perfect convergence, ruler-flat lines, and "looking-through-a-window" sharpness are very enjoyable to me, someone who has been adjusting and repairing video displays for 25+ years.

Modern signals are full of digital compression artifacts, indeed. That, however, is no more reason to disparage the technology than hearing one poorly-mastered CD is a reason to say "vinyl LPs are better", never mind the clicks and pops, constant cleaning required, no remote track access, etc... A good digital signal (that is, an HD DVD or Blu-ray disc and not the first few BR discs either, or any decent DVD, but certainly nothing from over-the-air or worse yet, cable or satellite) will surprise you if you have not had the opportunity to see one on a well-calibrated modern display.

I had a nice flat screen 36" Sony Wega XBR. Went to a 42" Sharp Aquos LCD about a year ago. No going back...

[dr.ido]

It does surprise me that several stores around here demo their LCD/plasma sets hooked up via composite video. I'm sure that some, perhaps most sets look very impressive when running from a decent digital source. Maybe next time I'm in one of the better stores I'll see one.

Crap in HD is still crap. Crap in HD over the air is highly compressed crap. At the moment there just isn't enough out on BR/HDDVD that's worth the $40+ (local retail price) per disc price tag.