Coming back to CRT after 5 years of plasma/lcd

[monkeykong]

Gents
I am seriously considering coming back to a CRT for use in my loft where I could bury the rear end of the TV in the wall.

The reason is that I have a very good SD plasma's in the Panasonic PWD8 and Fuji 58 series but every time I go over to my dads house I marvel at how good his picture is. A friend has a Loewe TV and his picture on MOTD is stunning, much better than anything I have ever seen on any flat panel.

Are there any really good sets which I should keep an eye out for? I'd love to roll back the years and get myself an excellent CRT for normal SD viewing.

Or is this just a bad idea???

[AndyCob]

From a technical and picture standpoint CRT has always been and still is superior to plasma and LCD in many ways. The problem is it is prohibively difficult and expensive to make CRTs much over around 36", making a glass vacuum tube that big that won't collapse under it's own weight is a challenge. Someone did make a 40" once (a Loewe I think) but that was years ago and I think was the biggest home model ever sold, on top of that very few have ever been made that accept and display the newer HD formats. There were some Samsungs I think a few years back but they were only little ones 26 and maybe 32" and used a new ultra thin design that was reported as producing all sorts of geometry issues. I'm not sure anyone is even making CRT anymore.

Toshiba/Cannon's SED technology would in theory have yielded a flat screen with all the benefits of CRT while only being as thick as a plasma but patent issues forced Toshiba to give everything back to Cannon and it is languishing in development hell and may now never come to market.

OLED should also mimic all the advantags of CRT but again it's a wait for that to get to a big screen cheap TV.

So if you are not worried about HD, don't mind a display 36" or under and can find one for sale (I suspect you would have to go second hand but maybe someone still makes CRTs for the UK) then CRT is for you. Otherwise it's wait or find a modern plasma/lcd you can live with. I would have suggested a Sony SXRD RPTV like I have (the first screen I thought good enough to move from CRT, I still think it beats any any plama/lcd on the market) but RPTV like cRT is virtually dead in the UK market.

[ufitsy]

Originally Posted by monkeykong

Gents
I am seriously considering coming back to a CRT for use in my loft where I could bury the rear end of the TV in the wall.

The reason is that I have a very good SD plasma's in the Panasonic PWD8 and Fuji 58 series but every time I go over to my dads house I marvel at how good his picture is. A friend has a Loewe TV and his picture on MOTD is stunning, much better than anything I have ever seen on any flat panel.

Are there any really good sets which I should keep an eye out for? I'd love to roll back the years and get myself an excellent CRT for normal SD viewing.

Or is this just a bad idea???

I'd look at the Toshiba Picture Frame as below

For Sale : Pioneer 4280XD 42" Plasma + Toshiba 36ZP38 CRT

[monkeykong]

Thanks for the advice AndyCob. A 36" screen would be more than adequate for the little TV that I do watch and going second hand is right up my street. I don't care for HD or anything like that as I have a HT for critical viewing. I'm tired of tweaking my plasma and spending ££'s on video processors that still can't match the performance of a £50 5 year old TV.

It's CRT time (to the tune of MC Hammer)

Any other recommendations lads, is Loewe worth looking into as well? I do love their designs so that is a huge plus point.

[geese]

If its only for SD then I would choose the Sony 32-36HQ100. Only when im using my Pio 9G with BD it is surpassed.....even then im in awe with the huge dynamic range, detail and black-level it dishes out. Simply the best CRT I have seen/owned

[aekostas]

In addition to the (extremely rare) Sony HQ100, the Toshiba ZP, Panasonic PD30 and PD50 and the Philips PixelPlus (and rare PixelPlus2 -- like mine) CRT were top choices. Each has their problems, do a search on this forum.

A concern I would have with your plan to bury it into a wall is ventilation!

[monkeykong]

Thank you geese and aekostas for your suggestions. I will be researching those models today

No worries about the ventilation though as the TV is going in the loft and will have plenty of ventilation in my roof area which it will back onto.

and I thought I would never be excited by CRT again....Bwhahahahahha...well carrying it up a few flights of stairs will bring back memories from the 80's

[brickstar]

i can fully recommend the Sony 36HQ100 best tv i have ever and still do own,i must admit the vision of you trying to get that size tv through a loft hatch made me chuckle,lol.seriously though would be worth the effort.

[monkeykong]

Thanks brickstar, silly crazy custom ideas are my forte.

All I need now is to source one. I did find the odd Pixel Plus I Philips on ebay but no Sony's, the search continues..

[bonzobanana]

If your looking for a set on ebay remember tubes do age and you don't want to end up with a classic set that is completely worn out. Check out your local cash converters for CRTs with SD images that make first generation LCDs look good. Who buys sets with images that washed out anyway?

Its not exactly normal but assuming you are only bidding on sets which are local to you within 10 miles it would be worth emailing them first to see if you can view the set before bidding.

[never-right]

My local large arthritis charity shop has a number of CRTs on offer, including a Sony.

N