[pericom]

Have there been any TVs you have been impressed with that you thought were brilliant TVs during their time.

For me the best CRT TV I ever owned was the Sony KV-A2542U for standard definition that TV was brilliant. Most people that came to our house would comment how brilliant and clear the picture was. Even my mothers elderly friends would ask her (as if she would know ) why the picture was so good.

Sadly it died... it developed a pink tint to its picture. Replaced by a Panasonic which I thought wasnt as good.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by pericom

Sadly it died... it developed a pink tint to its picture. Replaced by a Panasonic which I thought wasnt as good.

Panasonic used conventional tubes, Sony used their own Trintron tubes (which were completely different to all other CRT's).

That was the biggest difference with Sony CRT sets, and presumably the 'pink tinge' was the CRT ageing (losing emission).

Some people preferred Trinitron, some didn't

[jjne]

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

Panasonic used conventional tubes, Sony used their own Trintron tubes (which were completely different to all other CRT's).

Until a number of other manufacturers (notably Mitsubishi) were able to clone the design. I owned an LG monitor with such a tube, was a very good screen that lasted well.

As for the original question, I'm not sure if the set actually had a Thorn tube, but we had an early 1980s Ferguson set whose picture seemed head-and-shoulders above others that I saw. The downside was a short tube life -- we went through two in eight years, which I later found out was p*ss-poor compared to some manufacturers whose tubes were still ploughing on 20 years later.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by jjne

Until a number of other manufacturers (notably Mitsubishi) were able to clone the design. I owned an LG monitor with such a tube, was a very good screen that lasted well.

I wasn't aware any had 'cloned' the Trinitron technology?, I certainly never saw any Mitsubishi TV's with Trinitron tubes. Sony did sell Trinitron monitor tubes to a number of different manufacturers though.

As for the original question, I'm not sure if the set actually had a Thorn tube, but we had an early 1980s Ferguson set whose picture seemed head-and-shoulders above others that I saw. The downside was a short tube life -- we went through two in eight years, which I later found out was p*ss-poor compared to some manufacturers whose tubes were still ploughing on 20 years later.

Thorn used the same tubes as everyone else (apart from Sony), they were no more unreliable in Thorn than any other sets. There have been various 'batch problems' at times, a notable one was Grundig 20" TV's (and other makes) with short lived Toshiba tubes. Apparently the guns were contaminated before tube assembly, due to a leaking roof in the Toshiba plant (increasing humidity where the guns were stored).

But the biggest tube problems were Philips/LG tubes, with probably the last 7 or 8 years being abysmal

[Gary Brenton]

My favourite and most reliable was a 'Bush' CRT type with freeview... big, heavy but the picture was far better than the new Toshiba one we have now... we had it for about 5 years, (secondhand) and paid about £50 for it... I recently sold it to a friend who had it for about 2-3 months and it has since blew up!

[webbie]

Once the Sony patent on Trinitron ran out, Mitsubishi called their trintron versions diamondtron if I remember correctly. Unfortunately it was quite near the end of crts by then and they were never as good IMHO.
My favourite tv was a Sony 32fq75 that I had for a few years - loads of features but most importantly it had terrific picture quality - replacing a second hand Sony 2906 beast from the early eighties. That was a large 4:3 set. One of the largest in its day I reckon.

[iangrad]

Most of the Mitsubishi "tron" CRT's ended up in computer monitors Iiliama were big users .

As others have said the Philips / LG CRT's in there last few years were a lesson in how to wreck a once proud brand !

[ProDave]

For me it was a Barco CRT colour set stumbled upon at a boot sale, not working and bought for a couple of quid, about 30 years ago.

Barco normally make professional monitors, and this "ordinary" tv was something special.

For a start it had many more AV inputs than an ordinary domestic tv and it's picture was superb.

But what really set it apart was the standard of construction. A nice easilly accessible chassis with all plug in boards.

The fault when I got it was no frame output. One phone call to Barco got me a free service manual and it turned out the frame output driver was obsolete so they sold me a conversion kit for a very reasonable price to update it to a different frame driver device.

So a good set with superb manufacturer support.

I only sold it in the end because it didn't have remote control. If it had, I would have kept it longer.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by ProDave

But what really set it apart was the standard of construction. A nice easilly accessible chassis with all plug in boards.

As pretty well all old colour TV's used to be - lower prices is what killed off plug-in boards.

The fault when I got it was no frame output. One phone call to Barco got me a free service manual and it turned out the frame output driver was obsolete so they sold me a conversion kit for a very reasonable price to update it to a different frame driver device.

Can you remember what the 'output device' was?, the set may well just have been a 'bought-in' TV with extra inputs added.

[AidanLunn]

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

Panasonic used conventional tubes, Sony used their own Trintron tubes (which were completely different to all other CRT's).

That was the biggest difference with Sony CRT sets, and presumably the 'pink tinge' was the CRT ageing (losing emission).

Some people preferred Trinitron, some didn't

I was under the impression that Toshiba Blackstripe and Philips Matchline tubes were also not conventional?

[iangrad]

Philips "blackline" was just a badge put on there better TV range and whilst the pictures were better than there basic TV's the CRT technical side of the tune was conventional .

Toshiba black stripe , I am struggling to remember but was i something like phosper in line ?

I remember the picture on the small screens that were made with this were good pictures 18" & 20" Decca 80 series had these tubes but as that dates them to 1977 !!!!

[AidanLunn]

The best one we ever had was a Philips Matchline V6720. IIRC, in 1986/87, my dad had it modified slightly to incorporate a Philips-issued NICAM decoder, designed for the K40 chassis IIRC. Living in the reach of the Crystal Palace transmitter at the time, he was able to receive some of the earliest NICAM transmissions.

Unfortunately, though the Teletext board suffered a terminal fault and could never be repaired. The thing that finally finished it off was it was mysteriously killing off every *memory battery* that was put in it so it was repaired and sold on for the cost of the repair job. I have no idea what caused it, perhaps some here could enlighten me as I'd be interested to know what had killed the teletext board and was a memory battery mass-murderer. Thus a 1985 set was sold on in about 1996.

I wish I had been given the chance to keep it

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by AidanLunn

I was under the impression that Toshiba Blackstripe and Philips Matchline tubes were also not conventional?

It really depends what you mean by 'conventional'

They were essentially the same as all other tubes of their time, in that they were in-line tubes, as opposed to the original delta format tubes (guns in a triangle).

Basically there have been four types of colour tubes (in this chronological order):

Delta CRT's.

Trinitron Sony CRT's.

In-line CRT's.

PIL 'precision in-line' CRT's.

Sony Trinitiron were a varient off in-line, and presumably where the other makers copied the in-line idea from? (as it long predated them). However, Triniton never moved to PIL, and so always needed substantial alignment on replacing the CRT.

[ProDave]

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

As pretty well all old colour TV's used to be - lower prices is what killed off plug-in boards.

Can you remember what the 'output device' was?, the set may well just have been a 'bought-in' TV with extra inputs added.

That Barco set just exuded quality, everything about it was a joy to work on. The plug in board arangement was so much better than say a Philips G8 type chassis.

I don't recall the device that had failed other than it was a single in line device with a heatsink tab and an initial search to find a replacement was fruitless. So I phoned Barco who gave me details of the mod kit. It was a very similar but not identical device that went in, together with a few circuit modifications.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by ProDave

I don't recall the device that had failed other than it was a single in line device with a heatsink tab and an initial search to find a replacement was fruitless. So I phoned Barco who gave me details of the mod kit. It was a very similar but not identical device that went in, together with a few circuit modifications.

Presumably it was the frame IC?, if I remember correctly the one Philips used at one time became obselete and there was a mod kit for it.

[ianradioian]

The best crt set for picture and sound is the one I'm still using after 12 years,my philips 100hz matchline cool green.Were there two different tubes fitted to these? Mine has never given trouble but I know people have talked about tube trouble.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by ianradioian

The best crt set for picture and sound is the one I'm still using after 12 years,my philips 100hz matchline cool green.Were there two different tubes fitted to these? Mine has never given trouble but I know people have talked about tube trouble.

I think it was just pot-luck, Philips/LG had MASSIVE premature CRT failures - but they didn't all fail.

[alves]

Used to love my Sony 32DX40. Wanted the 36 inch version (DX100?) but it was an absolute beast. I used to sell them for a living at the time and the 36 was a ridiculous weight.

[omeletpercy]

Strange how almost all are CRT. I loved my old Sony CRT back in the early 2000s however...

I have to say however the best TV of its era I have owned is my new GT50 plasma. It's the best picture I have seen on any TV I have had.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by alves

Used to love my Sony 32DX40. Wanted the 36 inch version (DX100?) but it was an absolute beast. I used to sell them for a living at the time and the 36 was a ridiculous weight.

Tell me about it!! - 120kg for some.

[Dansky+HD]

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

Panasonic used conventional tubes, Sony used their own Trintron tubes (which were completely different to all other CRT's).

That was the biggest difference with Sony CRT sets, and presumably the 'pink tinge' was the CRT ageing (losing emission).

Some people preferred Trinitron, some didn't

Still have my Sony Trinitron hooked up to Sky HD via scart with flawless picture still (in bedroom)
and about to have it replaced by my Sony 32" LCD Bravia from living room. Getting Sony 40" LCD 3D Bravia this week.

[jjne]

Originally Posted by omeletpercy

Strange how almost all are CRT. I loved my old Sony CRT back in the early 2000s however...

Probably because few of us have much to compare our current sets with.

The Samsung 42" plasma I currently have in the living room is the first set in two decades I've been remotely satisfied with. It has been reliable over four years, the picture still pees all over any relatively inexpensive LCD I've seen and I see little reason to change it as a result.

Philips 21" CRT -- crap (early tube failure). Samsung 20" -- contrast, colour and general sharpness very good, but the tube was the older style non-FST type and the poor geometry wasn't really acceptable in 1997; it lived to a decent age as a bedroom set). Thomson 32" CRT -- crap (tube starting to misconverge at two years old and deteriorating -- got rid while it was still just about tolerable). Panasonic 36" CRT -- very good, but not as good as it should have been for £1000 even after a heavy discount (picture very soft). Myriad Beko-based CRTs (an NEI 21", a Schneider 21" and a Watson 28") -- all pretty crap, but at least they were cheap, were consistently mediocre, and none gave any trouble. Sony 32" LCD -- crap; picture is good but the freeview receiver in it is atrocious.

I have gone cheap with my latest set -- a refurb Logik 22" LCD/DVD/USB for the kitchen (£65) -- it'll have to be a special kind of awful to not do its job given the price. From what I've seen of this model it looks to be a badged Cello set, made in North-East England.

[Chris Frost]

When the 1st gen Philips Pixel Plus sets came out I was bowled over. I bought a 32". That was good, especially after I colour calibrated it. The picture was almost 3D. Sadly the tube died prematurely like so many of its era.

If I'd have had the money though (£1800 at the time IIRC) then I's have bought the 32" Loewe Aconda. For a CRT the picture on those was absolutely stunning. I'd have loved to calibrate one of those to see what they could do when properly tweaked.

Pioneer plasmas always impressed me. I got one for a mate at trade. It's the 435XDE with the outboard media box. Even now, some 5 years on, the picture still looks a damned sight better than almost any of the current crop of 1080p TVs.

[cnbcwatcher]

Probably the Mitsubishi TV my parents had when I was born. We had that TV until I was 10. I don't know how long they had it before I was born.

[alves]

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

Tell me about it!! - 120kg for some.

Yep, utter beasts. I remember selling one to a guy who was putting a hole in his wall to make it look like a flat screen TV. Crazy.

Bet the kitchen looked a right mess with the back end of that stuck in it!