I have looked at lots of CRT projectors in my quest for affordable CRT goodness. My DLP projector is getting up there in hours and I am considering my options. Although my Mits FP DLP throws a nice image, I am spoiled with the image that I get from my Mits RPCRT.

I keep seeing projectors with less than 4000 hours that have really bad looking raster burn. I can see it if it were a projector with much higher hours or a logo burned into the tubes. What I have seen is an overall burn pattern that usually looks worse at the edges. I thought 4000 hours was nothing for a CRT projector.

Being a FP CRT newbie, is this type of raster burn normal? It would make me crazy trying to watch a movie like that.

the first thing that happens in a board room is someone takes the remote and cranks the contrast and "brightness" up as far as it will go. This only produces marginaly more light but cut's tube life in half.
If by "affordable CRT goodness" you mean a newer EM focusing set with perfect tubes for a few hundred bucks then your likely in for a long quest.

If by "affordable CRT goodness" you mean a newer EM focusing set with perfect tubes for a few hundred bucks then your likely in for a long quest.

A few hundred bucks......that would be nice but I am not that delusional. I am just not looking to buy something that will need $2k in tubes right off the bat.

It isn't unusual to see some light wear at 4k hours. And as long as the wear is large and even it isn't that big of a problem.

I've got an 1166 hour G90 that is showing 16:9 wear on the green. Tube wear at 1000 hours is really pretty normal (moreso on a G90 apparently), it depends on where the wear area is, whether the tube(s) are still usable, and how picky you are. I've also got in some 5300 hour BArco 808s that show no wear, that apparently were in standby mode for most of their life. SO it depends on the set, how it was used and the way it was setup.

I am just not looking to buy something that will need $2k in tubes right off the bat. yea hthat sucks, i've gotten plenty of machines like that and it's pricey but like Zebu said, as long as the wear is light and even across tube face you'll never see it. trouble is it's usually uneven:( Not sure what your budget is but you can get a rebuilt machine with perfect tubes and warranty for around $1500. Pretty much all of them need a little beyond just tubes, like circuit board upgardes and such.