Just been blown away by ..........a CRT?!

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Tinders

Tinders

Soldato
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1 Jul 2003
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There's a voice that keeps on calling me.
Just got a new(well second hand!) toshiba picture frame 36" crt for the bedroom, my god i hadnt realised how good crt still was, i have been dabbling with lcd/plasma/projectors/RPTV`s for the last 5 years or so, i hadnt really looked at crt`s at all.I know its all old tech (and heavy as hell) but its spot on!

I really am blown away, i am using component inputs from my dvd player and xbox and my HTPC, admittedly its all 480p but it looks crisp,clear,sharp contrast and colours are so vibrant.

All i can say is wow :eek:
 
This has always been the case... lcd/plasma/projectors/RPTV are rubbish when it comes to quality - the are physically more attractive and fit in the living room better but they have never been up to scratch quality wise. I see them as fashion-technology rather than superior technology.
 
clv101 said:
This has always been the case... lcd/plasma/projectors/RPTV are rubbish when it comes to quality - the are physically more attractive and fit in the living room better but they have never been up to scratch quality wise. I see them as fashion-technology rather than superior technology.
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Dont talk rubbish, if you havent seen a well set up rear projector then dont comment about it, but there are high quality LCD and CRT projectors that can easily surpass any television, yes they may cost a lot of money but if you are talking from a pure technology side they are a lot better without question
 
Ill gladly submit images of even Xbox on my HDTV to any CRT owner for comparison.
No way will you match the contrast and sheer vividnes in colour obtained by good HD displays.

Coming on dissing such technology will only get you in bother, lol.
 
AFAIK you can get HD ready CRT's and they still produce the best moving pictures.

LCD & Plasma are no where as good. High End DLP projectors are but they cost a lot of money. I dont know about RPDLP TV's.

The problem with CRT is the Screen Size has hit its maximum and the amount of space taken up is usually unacceptable Plasma/LCD/Projectors are more attractive because you can put them in the center of a room and not have them dominate the room (Plus you get a bigger screen)
 
Your saying a DLP projector can beat the best Plasmas going on image detail and quality? Man your so wrong i take it this is from an experienced view or are you just assuming. Also HDTV CRTS in most cases even have as high a resolution as many LCDs or Plasma. Sony had one of the best CRTs ever "KD-34XBR960 " with 1400 lines and HDMI but it was an exceptional unit.

Yes they may be 720p and some not all 1080i compatible (the Samsung model available in the UK for example) but the resolution of the tubes isnt close in most cases. Also the fast majority cant accept digital signals which are better than component.

If you want a good article to read this guy was shopping for a new HDTV having owned a 36" Toshiba.

Great Post
 
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hi caged see my edit
CNET said it was their reference CRT HDTV display though youll have bother getting it in the UK. :D
 
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CRT destroys LCD + Plasma ! Just because we cant get HD CRT here doesnt mean it doesnt exist. Only issue CRT's have (bar size + weight) is geometry.

Also Mr Latte - Contrast on a LCD beating a crt, now thats funny !!! Contrast on LCD's is behind plasma and neither can compare to a good CRT - maybe it looked better than your last CRT screen but stick it next to a HD CRT or a CRT projector and you will be stuned how poor your LCD looks.

The best HD feed ive ever seen (well maybe the Sony Ruby came close) was on a Barco CRT projector in my mates loft conversion. Far, Far better than My plasma, any LCD, any DLP and even better than his current 50" Plasma + Crystalio scaler. It was being fed with digital theatre (that is better than BD + HD-DVD bitrate and mb/sec)
So it was a total victory for old skool tech - tape and tube ;)

Now the downside was space and setting up, space is a givern as the barco struggles to fit in an estate car, setting up a CRT projector is time consuming and needs to be done fairly regually.

SED is the only tech that currently claims to better CRT in full HD - check out how they are selling it = CRT black levels, CRT Contrast, CRT brightness etc - they wouldnt be selling it that way if current flatscreen tech was as good as CRT would they now.
 
Kronologic said:
Yes, however they are more expencive
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I dont doubt some projectors can be very good and yes the old CRT models still can raise an eyebrow but their too impractical for everyday TV viewing.

Regarding the best Projectors i doubt these would be any better than the massive 50" + 1080p Plasmas shown at the CES show.

Also a lot of you guys are comparing standard def tv on a CRT to a HDTV thats using a lot of scaling. What your comparing their is HDTVs at their worst. Isnt the whole point of HDTV to eventually use HD sources, by all means your welcome to compare your best DVDs to say the 1080i Gladiator release or other well proven HD material.

Well we can all give our opnions. I base mine on pre purchase testing and research. I dont miss my good ole 36" Panasonic which was a great TV. The only area i feel the HDTV lets me down is imo underperforming "Sky TV quality" (interlaced compressed grrr) Yeah id wish for the black level to be a little better but colours and contrast on my CRT TV just dont compete.

Regarding whites/contrast and colour its no different than the aging CRT Vs TFT monitor debates.

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Notice the rather impressive white level on the 40" Sony to the ibook and compared to a A4 sheet of paper.

(images from Xanderforce system)
 
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Ahh im typing on an ibook aswell ;)

Having seen the bravia lots i think its part of the top 2 Lcd's (Philips being the other) and they are in a different league to old TFT tech, mind they are in a different league to most LCD's imo.

i dont miss my CRT at all, and short of a dedicated room i wouldnt have a projector for practicality reasons.
 
Mr Latte -

You are just sounding completely misinformed with all of your above posts, i think its completely ridiculous to suggest that these new digital displays are as good as a good (or even bad!) CRT display. If you want a comparison compare any digital display that takes your fancy with a 8 or 9" CRT unit, both set up to say 10' screen width.

Shimmyhill is completely correct in everything he has posted and his experience of a decent CRT being the best he has ever seen relates exactly to my experience - ie nothing digital will touch them (yet!).

In a dedicated room you'd have to be utterly mad to have a digital display, i just completely fail to see the point in them for perminent installation. When was the last time you saw a decent featured home cinema without a CRT display?
 
yeah i just love those 36" tosh CRT's. Set up correctly they are nothign short of stunning. Ive seen some lovely hi def LCD's > 30", and while their white levels are extremely good, they still dont do the blacks.

Besides at the end of the day, pushing up the white levels achieves very little - who runs an lcd at full brightness?;)
 
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They are great TV's. I'm not sure where the HD arguments are coming in because it isn't HD. It does what it's meant to do very very well. For the amount of money that you pay for them they are amazing.
 
Jez one question
Did you see the latest 1080p screens at CES with BLU-RAY?

When you figure out a way of getting around HDCP and running 1080p on a CRT projector, then give me a shout. Even if they were compatible I know they wouldnt suit 99% of people as its not what they want or desire, nor do they want to import an almost defunct format such as DVHS cassette as mentioned earlier.

I already mentioned the drawbacks of LCD are the black levels and relatively poor interlaced standard def upscaling. Oh and by all means have a look at that crap 4:3 mode on the Tosh with some classic old console games. I have a friend has the same model im very aware of its abilities.

For me having my 36" CRT running beside my 40" HDTV testing it over the period of a week (had it on appro/local store) allowed me to make my own choice and not a blind purchase.

Would i of spent 2k on something that wasnt better?
Im not here to convince any of you, quality will differ with different products im saying i was convinced when i got mine, its Hidef for x360 PS3 SKYHD and all my 720p 1080 files and a pretty nifty PC monitor, thats what my requirements were.

Do i miss CRT, the answer is no, youll just have to get used to digital displays like them or not thats the way the industry is going.
 
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No, i have not seen a 1080p (by this i am assuming you simply mean a large TFT panel with 1920*1080 native resolution. I am sure it is very impressive indeed and i agree that LCD technology has come a long way. It is still not passable as an alternative to a quality CRT display though, it may well overtake someday (although obviously there will always be scaling issues), but it is not that day yet. You must also consider the price of the decent digital displays, they are well into the thousands and i for one am not willing to pay that for something as menial as a display when there is a cheap superb form of display available in the form of a CRT projector.

Admittidly there are only a handful of large CRT displays capable of 1920*1080, but we find the same with digital. Where we could compare is 1280*720, now here we find that almost every CRT produced within the last 5 years with high resolution video in mind is capoable of it, easily, and more, with the ability to shut off all light producing excellent contrast levels. There is also no issue with scaling.

Theres just no contest at the moment. I dont see what HDCP has to do with anything also, last time i looked component video was quite capable of the bandwidth required for resolutions surpassing 1080p, and all devices i have seen have been able to output in this format, or a format which could be converted.

edit: By the way i am not trying to critisize you, i just think that perhaps you have not considered all your options when it comes to your projected display. With that lovely dedicated room of yours it would make for a much better experience if you ceiling mounted a CRT :) If you havent properly demoed one, then do, really please consider it, i bet you'll buy one!
 
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