CRT in 2023

[natr0n]

So I have many crt tv's. Toshiba, Sharp,Panasonic and giant Sony rear projection and somehow 1 lonesome crt monitor a Dell e773c.

They are all used for watching tv (wrestling/sports) or playing Saturn/DC/PS2 with s-video or component.

Today I wanted to actually play with the Dell its basically new I had it for years packed away.
I used a asus strix 980ti(dvi to vga adapter) / 9600k system

Long story short from 640x480 to 1280x1024 looks amazing on this dinky dell
It's like an oled experience deep rich colors/blacks and contrast

After a while I got disorienting/motion sick though.

So what I learned today. It's not good to sit in front of these for too long. It's nice to have but you have to deal with nightmare screen tearing... and its pretty hard to not notice it even with all the tricks one can do.

For TV/console game use CRT are great as for PC gaming depends on you.

 

[KrazyT]

Voted : No
I can't remember the last time i use / (even see) a CRT TV / monitor :/

*edit : maybe i still have my 17" NEC monitor ...

 

[lemonadesoda]

I think i have a CRT oscilloscope in the attic. So got one, but not actively used = voted No

 

[sLowEnd]

Rarely. I still have an old 17" Daytek CRT monitor in the basement I sometimes (if you can even call it that anymore) use with my older computers, but I can't be arsed to lug it out of storage much these days. LCD monitors with VGA inputs are much more convenient. The last time I used the CRT was...almost 2 years ago. Just plugged it in and used it for an hour to see if it was still fine.

 

[8tyone]

I do have crt TV, havent used it since 2010. I last used CRT monitor in 2007. If companies starts making crt monitors with new innovations, I would definitely buy.

 

[JackOO7]

Maybe explain to the younger readers what a CRT is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode-ray_tube
(Google thinks it short for its critical race theory).

 

[Courier 6]

I still have two LGs, one 14" flat screen and a 15" Studioworks something, not in use, both in the boxes

 

[PLAfiller]

I think i have a CRT oscilloscope in the attic. So got one, but not actively used = voted No

Took the words out of my mouth. I had one white Compaq sitting in the attic, not sure if it's still there.

 

[R-T-B]

Maybe explain to the younger readers what a CRT is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode-ray_tube
(Google thinks it short for its critical race theory).

Yes, acronyms can be shared.

 

[Wirko]

I think i have a CRT oscilloscope in the attic. So got one, but not actively used = voted No

I regularly use one but don't play DOOM on it = voted No

 

[bug]

I do have crt TV, havent used it since 2010. I last used CRT monitor in 2007. If companies starts making crt monitors with new innovations, I would definitely buy.

They would need to innovate a lot, because bulk, power draw, image retention, geometry issues... who'd want all that back?

 

[Dr. Dro]

Own two black LG StudioWorks 710E's I picked up BNIB a few years ago. One is still BNIB in its sealed box, the other I opened to use and play with. It took a while to find a VGA converter, but I found one DisplayPort to VGA from Dell that works with my 3090. So I bought two of those and have one spare, alongside the BNIB monitor.

They're low end monitors, but seem to from one of the last batches of CRT's (the one I opened was manufactured August 2008 in the LG factory in Taubaté, São Paulo, Brazil) - but remain a delight to watch anime on. Nothing beats a fresh low hour tube! With my recent rerun of Dragon Ball, it just broke over 100 hours of use.

They would need to innovate a lot, because bulk, power draw, image retention, geometry issues... who'd want all that back?

Image retention issue is never going away on CRTs because of how the phosphor reacts to the electron gun, but can be mitigated with improvements in the chemistry. Power draw isn't too far from a large monitor nowadays so it's not a big deal, really.

Geometry issues are bad on monitors with only manual controls such as mine, and often the native resolution just doesn't look right, but improvements in software could likely be made to bring auto adjust to them like early analog input LCDs had.

In general they're no longer made because they're pricier to build and don't meet modern environmental standards I suppose.

 

[Chomiq]

Nope, haven't used one since 2007 or so. I still would like one for retro gaming and watching old TV shows.

 

[TheLostSwede]

It's at least 16+ years since I used anything CRT related.

 

[Remeca]

I still have a 32" Toshiba for the NES, Wii/Gamecube, and PS3, as well as VHS. Yesterday it played Skyward Sword.

 

[Wirko]

They would need to innovate a lot, because bulk, power draw, image retention, geometry issues... who'd want all that back?

There once was a promising technology called SED, basically a CRT in a thin flat panel without hot cathodes, but patent trolls shot it down from the sky.

 

[lemonadesoda]

Maybe explain to the younger readers what a CRT is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode-ray_tube
(Google thinks it short for its critical race theory).

Anyone who doesn't know what a CRT is, hasn't got one!

Google needs retraining.

 

[bug]

Image retention issue is never going away on CRTs because of how the phosphor reacts to the electron gun, but can be mitigated with improvements in the chemistry.

CRT tech has been improved over half a century. I'm skeptical about how many more improvements chemistry can still bring to the table.

Power draw isn't too far from a large monitor nowadays so it's not a big deal, really.

SW272U Specifications

View specifications of BenQ SW272U 27-inch 4K AdobeRGB 90W USB-C Photographer Monitor

www.benq.com

45W typical, 200W max (that's setting that will burn your eyes in 30-60 minutes). For a 27" screen. 200W was about typical for a 19-21" CRT. So yeah, it is too far.

Geometry issues are bad on monitors with only manual controls such as mine, and often the native resolution just doesn't look right, but improvements in software could likely be made to bring auto adjust to them like early analog input LCDs had.

In general they're no longer made because they're pricier to build and don't meet modern environmental standards I suppose.

CRTs don't have "native resolution", they just have a max. You never know how many physical RGB triads are going into each pixel you see, but it's never 1:1 afaik. So you can't use things like ClearType. On top of that, you always have to compensate for barrel/pincushion distortions, for the electron beam not always focusing where it should.

I mean, there have been a number of brilliant CRT displays, but there's a (lot of) reason(s) we left them behind.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

So I have many crt tv's. Toshiba, Sharp,Panasonic and giant Sony rear projection and somehow 1 lonesome crt monitor a Dell e773c.

They are all used for watching tv (wrestling/sports) or playing Saturn/DC/PS2 with s-video or component.

Today I wanted to actually play with the Dell its basically new I had it for years packed away.
I used a asus strix 980ti(dvi to vga adapter) / 9600k system

Long story short from 640x480 to 1280x1024 looks amazing on this dinky dell
It's like an oled experience deep rich colors/blacks and contrast

After a while I got disorienting/motion sick though.

So what I learned today. It's not good to sit in front of these for too long. It's nice to have but you have to deal with nightmare screen tearing... and its pretty hard to not notice it even with all the tricks one can do.

For TV/console game use CRT are great as for PC gaming depends on you.

My last two CRTs were a Viewsonic 22" G series, and a Dell Trinitron 22". I don't recall having any issues with screen tearing, but the flicker was definitely bothersome if you didn't raise the res and refresh high enough. Fortunately both were easily capable of running at 120 Hz, at which point the flicker was imperceptible to me. One of the biggest benefits for me though was the lack of motion blur. To this day I still am not used to the motion blur of my LCD flatscreen, and I think it's affected my vision some. This is why my next display will be OLED.

 

[Bill_Bright]

They would need to innovate a lot, because bulk, power draw, image retention, geometry issues... who'd want all that back?

Don't forget heat.

Power draw isn't too far from a large monitor nowadays so it's not a big deal, really.

I disagree with this statement because it is not a fair comparison to compare, for example a 25" CRT from yesteryear with a 65" LCD today. You need to go with similar sizes and in that case, the CRT consumes significantly more power and generates significantly more heat. Heat which, in the summertime, would cause the home's AC to work harder too.

Some might compare (and prefer!) the image quality of a quality CRT TV to that of listening to the analog sound from a decent vinyl record played on a quality turntable through a quality cartridge and quality audio reproduction system. I'm just saying... .

 

[Dr. Dro]

I disagree with this statement because it is not a fair comparison to compare, for example a 25" CRT from yesteryear with a 65" LCD today. You need to go with similar sizes and in that case, the CRT consumes significantly more power and generates significantly more heat. Heat which, in the summertime, would cause the home's AC to work harder too.

Some might compare (and prefer!) the image quality of a quality CRT TV to that of listening to the analog sound from a decent vinyl record played on a quality turntable through a quality cartridge and quality audio reproduction system. I'm just saying... .

That's fair enough, if you do a size/W, it is indeed horribly inefficient but regular size PC monitor isn't much out of league, they're mostly under 100 W even with the brightness maxed out.

I like to use CRTs for SD content. Old arcade/console games, anime from the 1980s-1990s... it really looks fantastic on them.

CRT tech has been improved over half a century. I'm skeptical about how many more improvements chemistry can still bring to the table.

SW272U Specifications

View specifications of BenQ SW272U 27-inch 4K AdobeRGB 90W USB-C Photographer Monitor

www.benq.com

45W typical, 200W max (that's setting that will burn your eyes in 30-60 minutes). For a 27" screen. 200W was about typical for a 19-21" CRT. So yeah, it is too far.

CRTs don't have "native resolution", they just have a max. You never know how many physical RGB triads are going into each pixel you see, but it's never 1:1 afaik. So you can't use things like ClearType. On top of that, you always have to compensate for barrel/pincushion distortions, for the electron beam not always focusing where it should.

I mean, there have been a number of brilliant CRT displays, but there's a (lot of) reason(s) we left them behind.

I mean, while you have a good point about how long that these have been developed, there's also the consideration that we've still been advancing in our manufacturing and material creation capabilities. There's room to grow, I reckon. Also true, an analog display works differently from an LCD in terms of native/absolute resolution, I believe it's related to the update frequency of the vertical refresh or something like that - not a 1:1 thing indeed.

Also agree that there's good reasons we left them behind, but I think we may have left them behind a lil' too much. I'd *love* to be able to purchase a small HR Trinitron to play games on without it being some 30 year old decommissioned PVM.