What's the average lifespan of a Trinitron display?

Usually anywhere between 10 minutes and 20 years. ;)

Usually anywhere between 10 minutes and 20 years. ;)


Basically, yeah. "Trinitron" includes, what, 100 different models over the past 20 years? What set specifically are you looking at?

Current Trinitron today, FD Trinitron, is less dependable than it's counterpart due to stressing
of the technology or in other words pushing the technology into the limits. Compare XBR960
to XBR970. XBR960 has Super Fine Pitch (Higher Resolution) than XBR970 but XBR960 has
higher failure rates than XBR970. Average lifespan of Trinitron today are 15-50 years
for a SDTV 4:3 CRT and 10-20 years for a HDTV 16:9.

Current Trinitron today, FD Trinitron, is less dependable than it's counterpart due to stressing
of the technology or in other words pushing the technology into the limits. Compare XBR960
to XBR970. XBR960 has Super Fine Pitch (Higher Resolution) than XBR970 but XBR960 has
higher failure rates than XBR970. Average lifespan of Trinitron today are 15-50 years
for a SDTV 4:3 CRT and 10-20 years for a HDTV 16:9.
Wow, that's amazing that you know when in the future these things are going to fail, on average.

I assume, then, that you got into your time machine and traveled fifty years into the future and looked into Sony's historical failure records to get these data?

Or are your figures all purely speculation and you don't actually have any idea whatsoever?

If the new displays are anywhere near the quality of Sony's TVs from the 80's and 90's then they will last quite some time. I have 3 Trinitrons in my house (a 19" tube from 1985, a 27" tube from 1997, and a 17" computer monitor from 2001). All three of these displays perform flawlessly and still look as good as the day I brought them home from the store.

Edit: The 27" and the 17" were made in Mexico, and the 19" was made in Japan.

Wow, that's amazing that you know when in the future these things are going to fail, on average.

I assume, then, that you got into your time machine and traveled fifty years into the future and looked into Sony's historical failure records to get these data?

Or are your figures all purely speculation and you don't actually have any idea whatsoever?
Well I guess I had more experience in TV than you so why start an argument?
I'm not saying that's official and indeed it is speculation but from what I expirience,
I am not pulling these numbers out of my ass.

I have a bit (about 3 decades) of experience servicing and selling TVs, too. My analysis is that pulling them out of your ass is a pretty good description of your numbers. You are generalizing factors in an unjustified manner.

I have a bit (about 3 decades) of experience servicing and selling TVs, too. My analysis is that pulling them out of your ass is a pretty good description of your numbers. You are generalizing factors in an unjustified manner.
No point of arguing. -EDIT.

Especially if the original poster doesnt care enough to tell us what specific model he was asking about.

My grandmother has a 32 inch Sony 4:3 Trinitron from around 1996-97. She's 89 years old and leaves the TV on almost all day when she's at home, so it probably has logged quite a bit of use. The TV has died twice (both power supply related). The focus/brightness of the TV isn't what it once was, and the last time the power supply was serviced (it is under a "lifetime" service contract which they consider 10 years for a TV) I mentioned it to the tech, having seen what happens when the picture tube starts to go, and sure enough it is pretty much toast. He used one of those CRT rejuvinators on it and it helped the brightness quite a bit but as for how long it will last is anyone's guess. I have an older Sencor one of these myself and have occasionally used it on a dying smaller TV picture tubes, basically it works or it doesn't, and for how long, there isn't much way of telling. Technically the last repair shouldn't have been covered but they did it out of good favor.

From my experience most TVs last about 10 years under pretty heavy use, more often than not the picture tube lasts longer than the other components in the set. This doesn't matter if it is Trinitron or not. I've seen some cheaper no name stuff with no name tubes have the tube suffer noticable brightness loss and other anomolies earlier (one such was a Changhong 27 inch using a chinese tube which is about 6 years old).

Less regular use? I've got a few sets (like an early ProScan from around 1992, a Zenith from around 1995, a Sharp from around 1996), that don't receive quite the level of use as some of the ones I mentioned above. They're still working, and in most cases still look good. I've found larger tubes don't seem to hold out as well as smaller tubes. I have an AOC 13 inch TV from 1987 that was used at a furniture store that went out of business for display purposes but never powered on and looks as good as a 13 inch TV you'd buy today in terms of picture brightness.

The newest picture tube sets I have are a Samsung 27 inch HD set from a few years ago and a Sanyo HT30746 widescreen. Time will tell how they hold up.

Just as an anecdote:
Remember when Philips was a "quailty" brand? :)

My son is still using my 'hand me down" 27" that's over 20 years old. Still looks very good and have not had one problem with it.

Just as an anecdote:
Remember when Philips was a "quailty" brand? :)

My son is still using my 'hand me down" 27" that's over 20 years old. Still looks very good and have not had one problem with it.

Yep, and it wasnt that long ago either. Sadly people are still bying Philips stuff today thinking it is a good brand at a good price. Not really.

As a matter of interest (now that I'm bashing Philips), I still use my Philips semi-auto/beltdrive turntable from 1977. No issues with that either. :)

Movie quote:
There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures and the Dutch.
LOL!!!

The Sony direct view CRTs from the mid to late 90s have not lasted as well as earlier models. The newer tubes seem to be having less failures in the guns and seem to be holding up well. We just don't know what to expect, however, as there are too many variables to generalize. I can say this, that larger CRTs simply can't be expected to last as long as smaller ones. It is simple really, you have a lot more area to scan which requires more current to pass. More current in most components generally results in lower reliablility unless the system is really over designed. Some early large CRTs were, like the Mitsubishis. Many of those early 35 inch sets are still looking great as far as the CRT is concerned. With Mitsubishis the issue is the mass failures in capacitors.

My instinct on the last few years of Sony CRTs is that they will be better than the ones from the 1990s, but the average lifespan is likely to be nearer the lower end of the colonic calculations done like no others. I also see no reason to expect the difference between the sets with different aspect ratios.