EscapeVelocity

I think this poll is representative of how Plasma is getting killed by LCD in flat panel sales. Id like to get a Plasma before they are consigned to the dustbin of electronic history.

JakesDTVBlog

In the grand scheme of things, I could have bought a plasma for not a whole lot more than the Dynex LCD I ended up with, but to be truthful, I couldn't see much difference in the picture quality. Still think I got the better TV, too.

I've still got three really decent CRT sets -- my 10 year old Sony 27" in our bedroom (which served many faithful years as our living room set), same age Orion 19" in the living area of JDTVB Mobile Command (our RV), and the 16-year-old 13" Philco that I got for $5 at a thrift shop. It fills in wherever I need it, and when we travel, it goes along and is used in MC's bedroom.

DTVuser2009

Three CRTs in use, a few others in the shed:

1. Curtis Mathes 25" console TV (1986, got it for $5 at flea market, only problem was bad vertical sync ICs that just needed a little resoldering, noisy high voltage transformer until it warms up but crisp, sharp picture)

2. General Electric 20" wood-grain TV set, (1985, using it inside a home-built multiplex console to mimic the three-ways of the late 1960s. instead of a phono/stereo/8-track it's got a VCR/DVD/HD Tuner) This TV hates any humidity beyond ~ 60% and shorts high voltage arc to ground and that shuts it down. cannot use it when the humidity is high. other than that works fine. could be a little more sharp but the pixels in it are very large and doesn't render a perfect digital picture like the Zenith (below)

3. Zenith System 3 20" w/ Color Sentry (i think very early 80's since it's before the stylized 'Z' logo, but with matching VCR too. the best picture of the three)

4. GE 'Performance Television' (Black and White 13" TV with mechanical analog tuners, great spare--still works but the pots for the bright/contrast are very finicky)

5. Magnavox 19" TV w/ chromatic 'eye' (a holdover from the auto color eye from the TouchTune Star Systems, made in 1991, and still stated 'Made in USA' on back, which is why i bought it as a spare should one of the others go out)

6. RCA XL-100 'ChannelLock Remote' (1979, uses a piezo-electric remote, which doesn't exist today and isn't with the TV, the TV's high voltage didn't like the humidity that came with the monsoon and temporarily shorted. still works i think but unreliable)

Orrymain

Oops, I forgot my CRT today. That's the old standard TV, right? I still have in great working order my original TV from, geez, the early 80's I guess.

I was also going to say that I think the plasma vote would be higher except that the problems with LCDs have been essentially fixed over the last couple of years.

DTVuser2009

CRT = Cathode Ray Tube. that was any TV with a 'picture tube'. Projection TVs were big screen TVs with three picture tubes, one for each color, fluid-cooled, and mirrors which refracted the picture into a solid larger picture with colors combined.

While they lasted longer than LCDs, Projection TVs were very prone to a multitude of problems, especially at the end of life from one or more of the three separate picture tubes. funny the thrift stores sell them for $350 even with the picture unusable or very horrific. Projection TVs also had horrific viewing angles; you had to be dead-center behind the set. looking at it from 45 degrees, or so, was like staring at a laptop screen. no Superbowl parties there.

EscapeVelocity

Nobody likes Plasma.

JakesDTVBlog

In my case, it wasn't that I didn't like plasma, but that I couldn't justify spending the extra dough for something that wasn't that much better than LCD. That was my opinion at the time and remains so today.

If and when the time comes that I have to replace the 19" Orion CRT in Mobile Command, I'm going with a similarly-sized LCD. Fellow RVers with plasma sets have had more problems than I want to deal with, largely due to the vibration that TVs of all kinds are subject to in RVs.

Orrymain

I need to update my votes than to include a CRT since I still have that one.

I actually love my projection screen and I watch it successfully from all kinds of angles. Though it's dying, I love its picture ratio. The one thing I don't like about the new LCD 32" is that everyone looks so ... thick. It's disproportionate or something. I love the colors and everything, but every time I turn it on, I'm keenly aware of how 'off' people look, size wise. It's because of the rectangular shape, I've surmised, though I don't really know -- I just know that's how it is.

Re: Plasma, I'd never get one because I watch TV all the time, and I'd read that they will die quicker with prolonged use.

DTVuser2009

LCD is worse with glare and the black levels stink even today.

I never liked the idea of a 'flat TV' to me any item hung on a wall should be left to picture frames and wall art. not TVs. call me old-fashioned. my place is like from the 1970s with the older TV consoles and 'flip clocks' among other older appliances. i think they're neat myself.

And not any LCD has built-in surround worth a crap. i mean you have to buy an expensive audio system for anything close to a theatre effect as all LCDs stink at bass and speakers distort. 'flat' speakers cannot even today match the awesome six-speaker per-side that the old 1960s Multiplexes had back in their day, where the stereo, TV, and record player used. those could vibrate walls and not blow out. plus no extra equipment required. now if i could only find one that's still functional.

FOX TV

i voted for two types. I have a 7 year old Samsung 32 inch wide screen (16X9) CRT Monitor. It has an analog tuner, along with Y/PB/PR HD inputs, and DVI on the rear. I just bought a 19" LCD, and there is no comparison between the color resolution on the LCD versus the CRT.

The CRT absolutely blows away the LCD display in color resolution. People just do not know what they are missing as far as color display between the two types. Plasma would most likely match the color resolution issue, but plasma is falling out of favor with most Videophiles in favor of LED displays., which are very close to the CRT in color resolution.

No one really knows the life span of LED TV's, but I am NEVER an early adopter of new technology. I like to see others waste their money on unproven technology before I purchase it myself.