We knew this was going to happen, but the speed of the transition is catching some by surprise.
The lone conventional television set at Anderson’s TV store sat along a side wall like a castoff. Its screen was dark as dozens of other gleaming flat-panel and big-screen models flashed nearby with vivid color images
The staff at the Redwood City store hadn’t even bothered to turn on the cathode-ray tube TV until a reporter asked to see it on a recent afternoon.
The obvious neglect reflected the wallflower status of today’s CRT TVs, as well as the mature technology’s doomed future. Experts say the old-fashioned boob tube that catered to generations of Americans will soon be all but extinct.
“It’s already dead, but it doesn’t know it yet,” said Jon Paul Belstler, an audio/video consultant at Anderson’s. “It’s just trying to hang on.”
Will CRTs retain any niche in the market, or have they outlived their usefulness?
Nope, its as dead as the computer CRT is.
does anyone know a good reason to keep a CRT around?
Quality – I still find that a good CRT will beat an LCD that is cheap enough to be comparible in price.
I purchased a wide screen CRT two months back (32″) with built in DVD player (with divx, etc). It was 499. The 32″ LCD’s were about 300 more for westinghouse and other such “cheap” brands. But the quality sucked compariably. Since the size wasn’t an issue – sits on a dresser and was the same width as said dresser – I went CRT and have been very pleased.
It also had the HD tuners for cable and OTA. The LCD’s were “monitors”.
So that saved me 5-10 a month for a HD cable box (the OTA channels are unencrypted over cable – little known fact).
Anyway, that’s my 2 cents. Now for my living room, the 36″ tube circa 2004 HD tv needs to go (it’s friking huge and 200lbs). A nice 50″ plasma/lcd on the wall is where I’m heading (but that’s because I want back that whole corner of my living room).
So it really is a size thing (isn’t it always?). That and money/quality.
Tim
(crybaby zounds)
I wanted to buy the Sony XBR 46″ 1920×1200 HD TV, with Sony Suround amp and Sony Progressive DVD with all HDMI ports!
But I can’t because of the DRMs !!!!
What about shipping costs and shipping size? How many 32″ CRT’s do you fit in a shipping container from Taiwan, versus LCD’s or Plasma’s? That must play also.
The real reason is the Wife Factor. Women (well, mine at least) loves to move things around (furniture, not me). LCD’s or Plasmas, in her mind, easy to move around, wall mountable, small & sexy.
Me? It’s just for the graphics!
its true, I have a handful of CRT’s around because I’m not ready to buy more LCD’s. and, my TV is a tube, because it was cheaper.
but cost aside….. [repeat question]?
A couple of years back, all CRT TVs in my local supermarket were on offer. I bought a great 20″ model for €200, while 20″ LCDs were selling for €600 or more. Since I usually only watch the news and the very occasional DVD, I really don’t mind what technology I’m watching, as long as the picture is good.
I used to be 100% in favor of CRT displays. They’re built like tanks, never die, and cost much much less. For the price of a decent flat panel you could get two 19″ CRTs. (I love dual monitors!)
But prices have come down so much that my next monitor will be one of those cheap 27″ flat panel TVs. Which will be great as my computer room is only 9×9 feet!
but cost aside….. [repeat question]?
Better picture quality. Better angle-of-view. Faster. No latency. No ghosting.
And they keep the room warmer in winter.
As far as computer monitors go :
1600×1200 resolution CRT – $200
1600×1200 resolution LCD – $350
and the CRT can go up to 1920×1440…
BryanP, we sound like twins! 😀 😛
(no, I’m not related to BryanP that I’m aware of. And hopefully he’s not a Price as well!)
Thank God….
When searching for a new tv earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a beautiful 30″ widescreen HD CRT. Knowing that CRTs are still superior in all aspects except for size/weight, I was surprised to find a great tv that was so small (in terms of depth) and light. So I went ahead and purchased my Samsung SlimFit TX-S3082WH 30″ TV and have been extremely pleased with it to date.
where does this better picture quality myth come from for CRTs?
Looking at any store the CRTs are fuzzier and muddier than the LCD/Plasma equivalents. The price however reflects that. LCD/Plasma’s don’t have quite as good white-black range, but their colors are so much nicer, and their brightness is usually better (I find anyhow)
So I repeat, where is this idea coming from?
I have two CRT in my house. They are good enough for me. Someday when one or the other quits I might consider flat panel but I expect these to last until Congress finally forbids standard broadcasting.
My 21″ CRT monitor will be with me until it dies. Then I’ll see if there’s a flatscreen that matches it quality wise.
15,
Done well, CRT kicks ass. The next time you’re in a store and there is a HDTV CRT from a leading manufacturer on the floor, play with the picture controls. Most sets are not set optimally out of the factory, and the store sales staff take the time to “dial in” the best sellers so they look best.
Here’s food for thought: The CRT was the last of the tubes in mainstream consumer electronics.
One reason that CRTs are essentially dead is the environment. The process of making a CRT is very pollution unfriendly and that has led to a dramatic increase in cost and decrease in quantity. They are mostly used in very high end applications these days such as professional HDTV monitors where a 24″ goes for about 28K and a 32″ for about 45k.
Tom
#5. No kidding. I have a 6 year old Vega tube TV that is going to be with me until it dies. Not HD, but with component inputs, it looks mighty good with digital cable or DVDs.
We have three computers. My wife and I both use 19” CRTs and the kid uses a 17” CRT. My CRT is used for photo editing and some video editing and I am very happy with it. Much more so then the flat monitors I’ve seen.
We also have three TVs in the house, all CRTs. We don’t watch any of them enough to want anything better then the 25” in our bedroom. Maybe when the price comes down low enough we might reconsider, but not this week.
IMNSHO, the best value is a rear-projection DLP set. If you get an LED-driven one, it will last at least 15 years and deliver 110% NTSC color gamut.
Like this one:
Samsung HL-S5679W DLP with LED backlight
We still have a 19 inch Trinitron. We’ll probably keep using it as long as it works fine with cable.
About the time HDTV tech stabilizes (3 or 4 years down the road, I’d guess), maybe we’ll buy a HDTV. It’s sort of like the Beta – VHS war. VHS VCRs started selling once there was a clear winner.
I’m with #21: I use both regularly. I still prefer a CRT.
Maybe there is a human element here. For example: I like those new LED lights. My wife can’t stand them. She prefers a good old incandescent bulb. So which is better? No telling.
I keep trying to convince myself that a new plasma or DLP would be worth the $2k, but I just can’t do it. I prowl CNET looking at the reviews and every single one in my price range seems to come with some user review horror story.
Should I ever do so, I may wind up overpaying and buying at Best Buy or Circuit City just to be sure that, if I need to, I can rebox the thing and take it back if I get a black screen or weird green hue when I plug it in….
I do appreciate my LCD monitors, on both my laptop and desktop. For reading text, I will definitely take it over a CRT.
doug — just go to BBY or CCY and look at the damned things. Remember that every TV set on the floor of every store has “sharpness” turned up — a quality irrelevant in broadcast video for decades; but, at least they all have the same stupid settings.
Read Robert Heron’s reviews and forget most of the user reviews. Also consider DLP technology if your budget is prime. And remember — if you get it and really like HD, 1080p telecasts will be predominant in another 2-3 years. Time to upgrade, again. 🙂
Floyd — call around and find a store in town that will let you tune to channel 5-1, KUNM’s Hi-Def telecast OTA. One of the best examples of hi-def TV in the state.
the CRT is not dead, as long as we remember…