Don't dump your CRT RPTV! - Page 8

The final series of Elites have a feature no other set has had: a virtually Faroudja quality line doubler/de-interlacer for upconverting 480i->1080i as flawlessly as I've ever seen it for RPTV. Whereas progressive scan DVDPs took 480i->p, and upconverting DVDPs took DVDs from 480i->1080i, this one took ALL 480i->1080i, inlcuding OTA SD.

Actual Faroudjas may still look better for ceiling mount pjs, and may need to because of bigger screen sizes, but for RPTV this was the cat's meow before Pio stopped production on CRT RPTVs permanently after the x30 line.



Can't tell ya. Somebody else jump in, please, on this one.

All present day Hitachis are capable of greatness. To nail down your particular model, you'll have to talk with owners of same. There is an extensive thread here about Hitachis, just find it in this section, and one also at the Xbox website. Their owners love 'em!



I'm with ya. I have stated my preferences of brand earlier on in this thread, I believe.

I think the top picks I would recommend, if you can still find one, would be any size of the final Pioneer Elite x30 line, and the 65" Mit with the 9" guns. Any Pannys, including used older ones like mine, are MOST highly recommended by me, as are all used CRT RPTVs as long as their owners have not prematurely aged the guns via Torch Mode, nor created screenburn via careless usage. Full white screen is the way to tell whether there is screenburn or not.

I would not go with Philips/Magnavox, RCA (incl. Proscan), or off brand names. AKAI is made by Samsung, which I have never calibrated, so can't say. Marantz is made by Philps and both had 9" guns on their 65", along with Zenith, but neither of those brands had the superlative convergence system that the Mit has always had, making the Mit 65" with 9" guns my top choice in 9" gun RPTVs.

Mit also touts their 480i->p de-interlacer as Faroudja grade, and if they say it I'll believe it, tho I have not checked that out, specifically. But they don't do 480i->1080i, like the x30 Elites.


Mr Bob

I agree with the first part of your statement, but not the second. Yes CRT RPTVs are obviously being phased out, but properly calibrated and viewed/treated/cared for in a videophile manner, will produce a gangbusters HD picture for you for years and years to come. This picture, properly calibrated, can be watched from far closer than most fixed pixel formats, viewing distance vs. size, delivering a far BIGGER picture to watch and actually groove to, relatively speaking, than most of the fixed pixel out there.

SXRD is also subject to misalignment, as is all 3 panel fixed pixel. Anyone buying one should observe it immediately OOB for any misalignment of the 3 panels, and take action accordingly if observed. I have seen more misalignment than I would ever allow on a CRT on Runco fixed pixel sets. Sony will probably maintain their high standard of quality control like they always have, but I saw a triple panel JVC LCOS that floored me with how absurdly OFF the red and green were from each other, even at a sizable distance! It was laughable!



Was your Hit ever COMPLETELY calibrated? And I don't mean just an ISF cal, which technically is only grayscale, colorations and recentering of user settings, but also color decoder realignment and the absolutely and critically essential image structure concerns such as optics cleaning, geometry linearizing, dead-on nailed focusing of all 3 colors separately and high precision convergence, NONE of which is taught at the ISF course?

If not, it's apples and oranges, not apples and apples. Your SXRD set may not need that image structure realignment that CRT requires, but at the price of CRT RPTVs right now, even throwing in initial calibrations when new and recleaning every year and retrimming every few years, it's still the deal of the century.


A properly treated CRT RPTV has a totally effective lifespan of between 10-15 years, delivering better than new performance at all times.

Yes it's being phased out, but those who get one while they still can, can enjoy it for years and years to come, properly treated. And get that BIG picture as well.

Remember, even digital sound is analog at its final stages, requiring D/A conversion just like DVDPs do. So is digital video played on analog devices. Component is still excellent on analog devices like CRT, performing better than digital modes like DVI/HDMI on analog CRT devices.

Yes there will be considerations when everything that contains 1080i is digital, but hopefully that won't happen any time soon, and if it does there will be transcoders made, to convert digital back to component/RGB for us diehards.

The new HD DVD/Blu-ray DVDPs are allowing any discs without special tagging to be played in 1080i on component. At present, no discs are out that are denying component OP of 1080i, tho it is also available in DVI/HDMI. The tagging on the discs themselves, not the players, will determine whether we will continue to get 1080i HD discs playable on component/RGB on our sets.

But that's only considering HD on discs, which we've never even had before. It's just barely coming to availability for us right now, as we speak.

Till then, all HD that comes from satellite, cable and OTA is presently playable via component OP on their STBs, which is the next best thing to RGB, and second only, to it.

As long as it stays that way, making HD available via component OP, I'll be happy.


Mr Bob

Always go with the largest you can fit in. If you go with the second largest, you will want the larger one within weeks. Trust me...




YES!



It is. Hop in here, fellow CRT RPTV owners, and eddicate this guy!




That is the schlockiest and most transparent marketing ploy I have ever heard of. And I totally believe it. Why push CRT RPTVs when the bottom has fallen out of its pricing??? They all want to make that good, high-priced fixed pixel money.





Fly me in! What do you think I write for free on these boards for???


Mr Bob

Does this mean the entire image, or the red or blue against the green? Needing to recenter your crosshairs in terms of the various colors every so often is normal.



Once done in sm, it would probably not drift as much.



dlps have a very short track record vs. CRT. Who knows?

Your set may be shimmer/shaking when you turn it on, but if it's OK after it warms up, who cares? Even your convergence is not absolutely right till it warms up. Internal patterns often shimmer/shake on CRT RPTVs, even when new, and so do test patterns. But it's the pic that counts.

I don't trust my convergence at all parts of the screen for the first 45 minutes. But since I don't look at all parts of the screen, it doesn't matter. I only look at the center section and wherever the action takes me, just like at a movie theater. As such, lack of perfect convergence out to the edges for the first 45 minutes is no big deal to me.


Mr Bob

Cool!



Auto focus - which are really auto-convergence - systems suck compared to what can be done with a bona-fide full service/full spectrum calibration. I advise never touching them again after one of my cals, and some people actually disco their buttons after cals, so they CAN'T be used again.



No lamps in CRT technology. Only CRTs, which can always be changed out and re-set up - they do it all the time in ceiling pjs - but when properly treated should never need replacement.



CRT. But get it calibrated.


Mr Bob

CRTs are made of phosphors, just like plasmas, and as such have a lifespan.
Eventually they will wear out and will need to be replaced and re-set up. But under videophile usage, that will probably never happen before the unit is replaced.


Mr Bob

I would not wait that long!


Mr Bob

That protective screen - called "glare screen" by videophiles because of exactly what you mention here - can be removed. I could not WAIT to get mine offa there, on my 65" Panny.


Mr Bob

I would agree with that. Have me calibrate it and I'll tell you for sure.

I have had a dearth of requests to calibrate Sony CRT RPTVs, don't know why. Theirs is the only brand where I don't charge extra for overscan reduction, because theirs is the only brand that does not hose the picture beyond belief when the sizing is reduced.

Theirs is also the only brand where I can trust, virtually every time, that I will not need to refocus it AT ALL, whether we're talking mechanically or electrostatically.


Mr Bob