The Death Of The CRT Tube

[Hardrock69]

Panasonic’s done making tube TVs CDFreaks

With demand for tube televisions in an obvious decline, Panasonic announced that it will halt production of CRT TVs for good.

The company, which started producing tube TVs in 1954, had already stopped production in Japan in 2005, CrunchGear reports. However, emerging markets such as China and Southeast Asia still demanded cheap, cathode ray tube-based TVs, and so Panasonic kept selling them through a joint venture with Beijing Matsushita Color CRT.

Now, even those emerging economies are more interested in flat-panel LCD and plasma TVs. Panasonic will sell its stake in Bejing Matsushita so it can focus solely on the high-definition business.



With demand for tube televisions in an obvious decline, Panasonic announced that it will halt production of CRT TVs for good.

The company, which started producing tube TVs in 1954, had already stopped production in Japan in 2005, CrunchGear reports. However, emerging markets such as China and Southeast Asia still demanded cheap, cathode ray tube-based TVs, and so Panasonic kept selling them through a joint venture with Beijing Matsushita Color CRT.

Now, even those emerging economies are more interested in flat-panel LCD and plasma TVs. Panasonic will sell its stake in Bejing Matsushita so it can focus solely on the high-definition business.

PanasonicTuber

In the United States, new CRT TVs are tough to find. Best Buy, for instance, sells a 27-inch tuber from Dynex for $170, and even that’s marked as an outlet item, so you probably won’t find it at the store. I also looked around Amazon, and all I could find was an obscure brand called Haier. The only CRT TVs I could find from major manufacturers are being sold by individual retailers on the Amazon Marketplace.

Even though I’d never go back to a standard-definition television, it’s sad to know that tube TVs have faded almost completely from the market. They’re dirt cheap, which makes them ideal for dorm rooms, and you can’t argue with their ability to produce blacks. I also miss the way those old TVs turned on and off in a hurry, putting the warm-up times of today’s HDTVs to shame.

Anyone want to raise a glass for the late, great tube television?

[Coyote]

Wanna bet there'll be a resurgence for these within 15 years?

[ELVIS]

I hope someone continues to develop the technology...

I good HDCRT may be hard to beat and may one day be quite pricey...

[Anonymous]

Wanna bet there'll be a resurgence for these within 15 years?

Like LPs, eh?

When sound recording technology became so good that putting it into a CD/DVD meant listening to a crappier recording than if it was on vinyl, or some shit.

Elvis is right... I too bet that if High-Definition analog CRT somehow became available, it'd kick some serious bottom.

Ya think we should stock up on this shit now, and make a buck later on selling them to unsuspecting, dumb fucks years from now?

Cheers! :bottle:

[Nitro Express]

People who do a lot of photography work on PC's still opt to use a high quality CRT due to the superior color reproduction. Flat screens have gotten better but Apple just stopped selling CRT monitors because they couldn't find a quality manufacturer anymore.

[Nitro Express]

Like LPs, eh?

When sound recording technology became so good that putting it into a CD/DVD meant listening to a crappier recording than if it was on vinyl, or some shit.

Elvis is right... I too bet that if High-Definition analog CRT somehow became available, it'd kick some serious bottom.

Ya think we should stock up on this shit now, and make a buck later on selling them to unsuspecting, dumb fucks years from now?

Cheers! :bottle:

My dad sat on his old McIntosh stereo and I Ebayed it for $7,000 last year. Mucho interest in the power amp, preamp, and electrostatic speakers. Not so much for the turntable.

[GAR]

I hope someone continues to develop the technology...

I good HDCRT may be hard to beat and may one day be quite pricey...

No. LED technology is only creating better, more efficient and more brighter displays.

CRT's are in the waning death-throes of technology. They'll soon be all gone. And because they're magnetic-sensitive (hold a speaker magnet to a TV tube you'll see what I mean immediately) they will never become collectible in the HD sense.

The only collectible TV's will be the art-deco, or console big bastard TV's that came with multi-function home systems: radio/phono/tape units such as Magnavox, Estey, Philco and possibly the early color ones.

AND the same problems we incur with guitar amps, are to be enjoyed with CRT's because they take huge amounts of current, the capacitors require replacement servicing from time to time as well.

[Hardrock69]

My old man has a McIntosh. He had one back in the 60s, when stereo was still called 'hi-fi', and he used to blast his Mahler and Shostakovich (classical stuff) all the time.

He ended up selling it, and then bought the one he has just about 10 years ago.

Tube amps ROOL!

[GAR]

Another thing about CRT's most people aren't aware of, is they're toxic due to a high content of lead in the glass to contain the radiation.

[ZahZoo]

Good point... you should avoid ingesting your TV screen.

[Hardrock69]

Too late. He spent most of his childhood ingesting lead paint.
This is why he posts his usual retarded crap around here.

Gar = Mongoloid

[letsrock]

Its just a business cycle. Down the road the people will want them back.

[twonabomber]

i dunno, people are gonna get used to the bigger screens with lower weight. we had a 35" CRT and that sumbitch was heavy...i can only imagine how heavy a 50" tube would be.

[Panamark]

At Home we have:

a 50" Plasma Panasonic Vierra (This screen is the shiznit)
a 36" LG LCD, nice image but as with all LCD not good on fast sports

and just for Elvis

A HiDef CRT !!

We have a fully black one

Samsung to bring HD Ready CRT TV to Europe • Register Hardware

weighs a freakin tonne, two strong guys minimum to move it..
But beautiful Hi Def....
1080i (not p)
but the fast action of the tube makes it a really nice picture...

You can still buy em. so they are not quite dead yet...

The Pannie Vierra and the CRT Hi Def. both the best for high . fast moving action
and sports.. I watch a lot of Australian Rules so you need something that
can keep up with it, that doesnt look like a pixellated hive of bees...
For Soccer or NFL, even the old standard Def do the job nicely !!