Sharpness of a CRT? - Page 6

O boy, things just got VERY interesting. I have the opportunity to buy a brand spanking shiny new KD-36XS955 on eBay for, drumroll please..... $900. So one last time: Do I buy the XBR970 (or if I can't find a 970 a 34HS420) for $650 or do I spend another $250 to get a 36XS955? According to BB's online screen calculating thingy a 36" 4:3 TV should be able to give me a 33" 16:9 image and the SFP is REALLY tempting but is it worth it for sitting 5-6 feet away and given that I'm soon to be a poor college student. I know everyone is sick of these questions but its almost over, its all come down to this. Thoughts?

Yea its most definitely new and the $900 includes shipping, I managed to talk the organization that had it posted down from $1050 (although I was going for $800 but o well). I think I'm gonna try and sell my projector again for what extra cash I need to buy the TV.

Ok, I think I might shoot for the 955 then if you guys really think the extra res is really gonna make that big a difference even at that size.

Hmm, after reading up on the 36XS955 a little bit it seems like the superfine pitch sets have a fairly higher failure rate than the non-SFP sets. Should this be a big concern?

Ok, I'm goin for it then. And if you haven't noticed over thinking is my specialty .

Yea, but I recently blew $425 on a CRT projector so since I'm not in college till September I have to justify to my parents why a $900 240lb. TV just arrived on the doorstep. I then have the fun job of gathering up my buddies to move this thing upstairs to my room only to move it to my college in a month. Anyway I think I'm gonna check if theres any 970s left at CC, BB, or Sears on Monday and if there isn't I'll take it as a sign from god that I should buy the XS955 . And if there is then I'll probably still buy the XS955.

The organization has 8 of them so by all means if someone wants one they can go for it, look up seller redtiderelief or search for a KD-36XS955 on eBay and go for it.

Now Wickerman I have a question for you since you seem to be the biggest advocate of the difference the extra resolution will make: Have you seen a SFP set in action to compare to your own to see the difference it makes or are you just assuming? Because I have noticed you seem to get really caught up in the numbers, how do you know the extra res is gonna make a huge difference on such a small screen?

Ok, I'll take your word for it then. Anyway yea theres 8 and they're not exactly flying off the shelf so if you can get the money together in a few months they'll probably still be there. They're listed as $1000 plus $50 shipping but after a little haggling I got em down to $900. I felt a little guilty though since they're raising money for there organization to research red tide and ways to stop it (something I know effects my area) but $900 is really pushing my budget, $1050 wasn't doable. Right now I think I'm gonna check if theres a 970 in stock on Monday and buy a nicer screen for my projector. Come September I'm gonna find out how well the projectors gonna work in my dorm and depending on the outcome of my findings I may end up buying one of those 36XS955s if they're still around or (if the projector will work well in my dorm and not cause conflict with my roommate) I'll just but a GDM-FW900 monitor for a backup display when I can't use the pj.

No, I just don't make a lot of money and am therefor very cautious about spending it so I ask a lot of questions and plans change frequently before I make a purchase.

The advantage to me comes in games, a lower resolution means less detail and the whole point of HD is for more detail. It doesn't matter though since I've convinced myself whatever little detail I'll lose with a CRT instead of an LCD will be worth it for the aforementioned contrast and color accuracy.


In fact there are but they're either computer monitors that are small and not widescreen or they're $50,000 studio displays. As far as consumer HDTVs go the highest resolution CRTs are Sony's superfine pitch models like the XBR960 and 36XS955 which are 1440x1080i. I've come to realize on a 34" screen anything more than 720p resolution is worthless at a normal viewing distance and with a 1080i/p signal an 853x1080 CRT resolves the same number of pixels as a 720p display recieving a 720p signal; an 853x1080i CRT resolves one third less pixels than a 720p LCD when the CRT is receiving a 720p signal (which consequently is still twice what an SDTV can resolve). I've decided that little resolution difference is worth it for the black levels, shadow detail, contrast, and color accuracy you get from a CRT. I've been watching a lot of game trailers on my Macbook Pro recently and even on this thing (which has a 1080p Apple Cinema Display) I can't see a friggin thing in dark enviroments, it's just all black.