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Old 29th Jun 2018, 9:21 pm   #41
andrewn
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Default Re: CRT sets still in daily use?

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Originally Posted by PaulR View Post
Not in a domestic setting but our B&Q uses two CRT TVs as security monitors. They are switched on all day every day and have been for possibly 20 years. The image of the tills must be well and truly burnt into their screens but they still soldier on.
My local B&Q also has one inside the entrance. It was a nice surprise to see it. It looked like a normal TV rather than a monitor.
I have a couple of CRT sets that I still use but not daily.
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Old 29th Jun 2018, 9:50 pm   #42
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Default Re: CRT sets still in daily use?

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The only TV set in the house is a 32" Panasonic Quintrix.

Excellent sets- oddly enough got rid of mine last week - working. It was in the bedroom and got taken away by John Lewis when I bought a new OLED set for the lounge (yes I know, I know, I'm worse than Hitler !!!) and the Plasma was shuffled upstairs (stupidly big set for a bedroom !)
In mitigation, I still have 2 CRT sets, a Bush TV24 and a 1962 Dynatron.

I tried *Really* hard to find a home for the Panasonic, but you can't even shift them on Freegle these days and it's such a lump I haven't got space for it.
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Old 29th Jun 2018, 9:55 pm   #43
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Default Re: CRT sets still in daily use?

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I still regularly use my Hitachi w\s 36in. Just goes on and on, cost silly money new. Apart from the drawback I can't use certain items in my house that are HDMI only it's not going anywhere. And when you compare DVD recordings to VHS the tape format is miles behind but there is a nostalgic feeling when you "see" a wrinkle on the tape. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be!
You can get devices that can convert HDMI to other formats.

I bought one that does HDMI to composite from Amazon quite cheaply, which can be powered from a USB socket & can be switched from PAL to NTSC. It even shows colour bars when it doesn't have an input.

Many VHS tapes seemed to have a fuzzy bottom to the picture that adjusting tracking could never sort out.
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Old 29th Jun 2018, 10:37 pm   #44
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Hi!

For many more years than I care to count, I used to watch "Top Of The Pops", The Roxy, etc., etc., and used to imagine what all the electrons were doing all around the sound, video, frame and line TB output–stages to give me my musical enjoyment!!

Alas to say I have now moved in with a friend who works in Electronics like me, but he never did Consumer Repairs, and having bought a 50–inch LCD, won't even look at a CRT now!

Why can't we un–invent LCD's?!

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Old 29th Jun 2018, 10:50 pm   #45
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I'm currently staying in a hotel in Douglas on the Isle of Man. Much to my surprise, the bedrooms are equipped with 14" CRT TVs with Vestel Freeview boxes. My room has an Alba TV (possibly Daewoo chassis) in a black plastic cabinet, which must be at least 15 years old. Its remote control no longer seems to work, but I can use the Freeview box remote control to change volume and channel (though only a small selection of Freeview channels are available here, just like back home in High Wycombe. In fact, I just re-tuned the hotel Freeview box and gained ITV3 which I never had on Freeview either until a few weeks ago). In another room I've also seen a silver Toshiba CRT set with its original working remote control.

Of course I'm familiar with CRT TVs and set-top boxes, having plenty of them at home. But I wonder what other guests might think.

Perhaps the Isle of Man is a bit of an exception to the "no more CRTs" rule. I have only seen one television shop in Douglas and it appears to have closed down. I guess it's not so easy to buy a new TV or to get an old TV repaired on the island, so they probably have to keep going with what they've got. CRT TVs can last for decades, so it's perhaps not such a surprise to still find a few still in use. I'm rather surprised that the hotel's Vestel Freeview boxes are still working, though - they weren't very reliable in my experience (self-destructing power supplies).
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Old 29th Jun 2018, 11:49 pm   #46
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Default Re: CRT sets still in daily use?

Sometimes some places seem deliberately have older TVs in the rooms, possibly because they have analogue distribution systems & maybe so people aren't tempted to steal them!

I remember in 2011 staying in a room above a pub for a wedding, which had a 14" CRT TV.

In 1987 my family stayed at a holiday camp in Sussex, our chalet had a Granada badged set which looked like it was from the mid-late 1970s.
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Old 30th Jun 2018, 12:03 am   #47
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Our Philips 32" widescreen 100hz matchline set went to the tip fully working ( faultless 15 yrs+) as it was too heavy for the charity shop (who sell them for £33 with a digibox ) & we couldnt give it away. Shame as it was superb. But the 65 " Philips thats replaced it is a ****** revelation! I cant believe the quality of the picture. Sounds not too bad either as its got bass& treble controls & mounted on the wall up the top of the room gives it a pleasant bass.
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Old 30th Jun 2018, 1:12 am   #48
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Default Re: CRT sets still in daily use?

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I dont know anyone who uses a CRT tv regularly and my last one from the bedroom came out at the weekend in perfect order (vestel) only replaced by a skip-find lcd 1080 freeview...because it was free and only needed a capacitor.
It must say something about my friends and acquaintances, but several of them still have CRT TVs as their main set.

Our bedroom TV is a 14in noname CRT with a Vestel PVR underneath.
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Old 30th Jun 2018, 8:57 am   #49
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Default Re: CRT sets still in daily use?

A mate of mine still has a Toshiba CRT set the tube is looking past it's best now though and it has a patterning effect when first switched on until the capacitors warm up a bit.. he won't give it up though!
We have a flat panel Sony in the lounge which replaced a huge heavy 32" Sony widescreen set about 9 years ago. I gave the Sony crt set away to another friend who uses it occasionally to watch DVDs and Video tapes it has never gone wrong but again the tube is a bit soft.

My dining room set is a Marconi 8500 bought new by my parents in 1973 . it is used five days a week on average just for an hour or so. Still an excellent picture, the repair record card is tucked into the back cover. It's been very reliable really in it's 35 years service. The tuner mech needs fixing now though a job I have been putting off for about two years. it's still useable so tends to get left alone.
I still have a 10" Panasonic that was the kitchen set. it spends most of it's life on a shelf in the spare room but it's handy to watch the occasional video tape on as it gives such a good picture from VHS something the 8500 is not happy to do.
I have a complete 8500 in the spare room which I have never powered up I got it years ago in case I needed any unobtanium parts for the Marconi. But now I would be reluctant to rob it unless I really had to..

I am surprised by the amount of members who still have CRT sets as main sets though I really thought most had gone by now!

A neighbour has offered me a B&O that has been in his garage for a few years, apparently it has a motorised stand and the set can be positioned by remote.

I keep thinking about taking him up on his offer as it would be a shame if he dumped it I think sets from the 1980's and 90's may become hard to find in the future as the great majority do seem to have gone already (present company excepted)…



Rich.

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Old 30th Jun 2018, 10:50 am   #50
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Having the choice between a SD digital source CRT display and HD digital sourced quality LCD display is really a no brainer.

Whilst I do have a 32" Sony KV32FX68U, now in my Dining Room, it was only after the considerable use of bar magnets to give the correct geometry and an additional sub woofer both now with X-over rather than the inbuilt sub-amp did it meet expectations.

The Sony black level is very good but there is no getting away from it, 625 line resolution was fine for 4:3 but 16:9 is streatching it. No pun intended. It is true that on a high quality monitor, I use a Ikegami, SD is fine but on a domestic screen both the CRT resolution and circuit compromises are noticeable.

On both Plasma and LCD the "video engine" and display type is the key to what you see. I have an early Sony 1920 X 1080 LCD 42"TV and the issue is not resolution but dark scene clouding, not seen on Panasonics, but OELED appears to be the future.

Sorry to say it but the CRT is a historic display and as with my hobby, it is the improvement/changes in technology and its application which makes it, for me, so interesting.

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Last edited by simpsons; 30th Jun 2018 at 10:52 am. Reason: detail
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Old 30th Jun 2018, 11:56 am   #51
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Default Re: CRT sets still in daily use?

Still only CRT sets here (most likely not for long any more though).

2001 Philips 82cm/32" in the living room, daily use (32PW9765, Matchline)
1986 Philips 63cm/25" in the dining area, daily use (V6721 Matchline)
1989 Sharp 37cm/14" in the kitchen, daily use (C-3704S)
1985 Philips 55cm/22" V6651 in a room upstairs, TV seldom in use (+ V6150 tuner, Matchline)

All sets, except the 32PW9765, have needed some repair work over the years, but nothing dramatic.

And a lot of collectable B&W sets of course....

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Old 30th Jun 2018, 12:26 pm   #52
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OK, I do know of one CRT TV set that is still in full time use by one of my customers. It is a magnificent Philips Matchline , it's the 32" widescreen model which is housed in a beautiful real wood cabinet. It sits on the matching stand which like the TV cabinet is real mahogany wood. Far better looking than any nondescript black plastic LCD set sitting on a glass stand.

And the picture quality is superb, video supplied from a Freeview box using RGB drive.

However, that is the only CRT I know of around here that is in regular use.
Make no mistake, I don't like flat TVs, in fact I hate working on them, but we have to live in the real world and that's how it is.

DFWB.

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Old 30th Jun 2018, 12:42 pm   #53
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The PYE lv30 in my bed room, and close to it the Firestone 13G3 waiting for some component to get started on a regular basis..
Have a nice week end every ones!
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Old 30th Jun 2018, 1:10 pm   #54
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Only CRTs here too.
Living room: Loewe Xelos 32" Widescreen, immaculate condition, rescued from the bins downstairs recently. My first WS set - I held out but now everything it seems is broadcast in 16:9. I use an Android box and freeview box with it, so as with most these days it's basically a monitor.
That replaced a 25" Sanyo from circa 2005 (found in the street 2 yrs back, symptom st-by only, just needed LOPT resoldering) which had replaced a 28" of same chassis (given to me in 2007) which had developed a short in the tube.

Bedroom set is a late 25" Samsung 4:3 from circa 2006. Before that I had my 1981 Grundig A8400 which is now in another property we use. (I was worried about my other half falling asleep leaving it on every night !). Prior to that I had a 100hz Schneider/Hitachi job that kept blowing frame stages and was a pig to access, so I eventually had enough.

A friend was using a 2001 vintage 28" 4:3 Toshiba with surround sound up until about 2 yrs back when they reluctantly bought a flat screen. His main complaint was with the shift to widescreen format it was a bit of a chore watching the football on it across the living room.

I think the aspect ratio broadcasting change had a lot to do with the demise of many CRT sets. You can either squash the picture horizontally to fit it all in, or display it with black bands (effectively wasted space). If you have a reasonable sized living room, using something like a 21" 4:3 set as a main set isn't something many would put up with now.

WS sets I imagine still would be more useful for watching today's broadcasts on, but their weight and bulk make them too awkward for many people.
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Old 30th Jun 2018, 1:11 pm   #55
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Hi Roger,
my bedroom Pye TV is the model made after your LV30, the FV1 of 1951. My Father bought it for me way back in 1960. CRT is still good, shows the 3Mhz bars on the test card.

Can't imagine someone keeping a LCD TV in their room after fifty-seven years. Old TVs have some sort substance about them. LCD TVs plastic junk, although we now can't complain about the pictures displayed on them.

DFWB.
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Old 30th Jun 2018, 1:15 pm   #56
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Default Re: CRT sets still in daily use?

I love the fact that CRT sets are still being used, embraced and even cherished by people, after all, I'm a 'vintage audio/video man'. However, the notion that any CRT picture is as good as a decent LCD one is a non-starter.
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Old 30th Jun 2018, 1:15 pm   #57
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I still struggle with the lack of 'real' colour tone on the flat screen sets I see in shops or others' homes. Flesh tones still (to me ) don't come near CRT quality.

While resolution has definitely improved, and today's sets don't seem to suffer from the amount of motion blur and black clouding /artefacts of their predecessors, I'm still sticking with CRT for a more 'natural' look
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Old 30th Jun 2018, 1:33 pm   #58
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Default Re: CRT sets still in daily use?

Hello.
I'm not about as much as I would like but last year on many occasions I visited the nearest council waste depot in Kilmarnock. Each and every time there were numerous CRT TV sets for disposal, latterly the number dwindled.
I would imagine that as their numbers reduced then quite obviously less would been seen at the waste depot.
Fenwick and the surrounding towns have a good mix of Private houses and Social accommodation, from those people I know from all walks of life none have a CRT set.
Of course there will be many on here that have old technology CRT sets, that's exactly why we are here but we cannot possibly compare ourselves to the general public.
The latest OLED and even the cheaper LED HD sets give a far better colour rendering and definition than any domestic CRT television, they also don't suffer with flicker, convergence issues and purity problems plus they are far more electrically efficient.
So I am afraid a Flat screen owner, who can easily move the TV to clean behind it, I'd not go back
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Old 30th Jun 2018, 2:13 pm   #59
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I agree with Ben about the skin tone. I have two flat screen HD sets, LG and Sony Bravia. Yes they are clear and crisp with all manner of adjustments contrast,gamma tint warm neutral cool etc the flesh tone is either too red or green whereas my old Autovox with a forty two year old tube just looks better. I know that the tube is a Westinghouse and somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to remember that the shade of phosphors particularly the red had some bearing on the colour tone.
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Old 30th Jun 2018, 2:18 pm   #60
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Default Re: CRT sets still in daily use?

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I still struggle with the lack of 'real' colour tone on the flat screen sets I see in shops or others' homes.
Ah, so it's not just me that thinks that!

I have yet to see a flat-screen set anywhere that has natural-looking colour, or is it that they are never adjusted properly? Or has a whole generation been brought up on rubbish colour and now likes that look?
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