CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[Jeremy112]

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Just wondering while reading everyones topics, what is the best Sony CRT TV available? I have read, read, and re read that the KD-34XBR960 is overall the best widescreen CRT Direct view TV made by sony, but is there a 4:3 version or another 16:9 version that would be superior to this?

I have a KD-34XBR970 and most consider it a joke that Sony even made it an XBR, since it lacks a few key features that are in XBR Televisions.

Just curious, because if a good 960 came along, I would probably nab it up

[AnalogRocks]

I like the 910 in 30" or 34"

[AnalogRocks]

I like the 910 in 30" or 34"

[Endymion]

Depends on your criteria, I think. Size? This seems to be a dealbreaker for a lot of people. Widescreen is valued as well, but to be real for a moment, widescreen CRTs were never honestly as tight as the 4:3 screens. Geometry issued abound, even with the Sony Trinitron sets. Because of the way that the electron beam is sprayed from left to right, widescreens require a more eccentric beam deflection when all of the electrons that strike the screen come from the same point at the rear, this means that there is generally less detail farther from the center. With 4:3 televisions this problem was minimized, and perfected to a point that the variance from the centre was indistinguishable. With widescreens, this just isn't possible, and the technology didn't live long enough for workarounds and fixes to be designed. With the abuse that older televisions, CRTs especially, tend to be subjected to, these kinds of faults are generally compounded over time.

At any rate, the KD-34XBR960, KD-34XS955, KD-30XS955, and KV-30XBR910 I have seen as highly regarded. Most folks tout the Super Fine Pitch display, over the HiScan display of the others. But for my money I would prefer a KV-40XBR800, even with its 4:3 screen. Think about it. This is a 4:3 screen, which means it does not suffer the extreme deflection angle that the widescreen electron guns need to do. And because it is a H U G E 40 inches at its standard 4:3 resolution, if you really need 16:9 for your purposes, the image that you have with this same screen is larger than the largest widescreen already mentioned in this thread at all of 36 or 37" or so. And the real upside is that it suffers none of the geometry problems that its younger widescreen cousins have, even when used in this widescreen mode.

It's also built like a tank, nearly weighing as much as one, all but guaranteeing that it will never be stolen, I'm unsure if this means you'll qualify for lower home insurance though. The 36" 4:3 models have comparable widescreen viewing areas to the widescreen Trinitrons that Sony marketed and don't have the geometry problems either, but that 40 incher is a wonderful dragon to behold, no matter how you choose to use it.

[CasetheCorvetteman]

A PVM or even more so a BVM will blow them all away. But then an XM29 will be a Sony PVM killer too....

Why stick with Sony? Philips Pixel Plus sets have a better image than a Sony in my opinion.

[Endymion]

It's tough to find a PVM that hasn't been used, abused, put through a wringer and hung out to dry like an old condom in a parking lot though. Even the best condition PVM I used personally, a 2530 back in the day, couldn't hold a candle to the newer tubes, not just the Sonys either. I have a couple of LG tubes that are much nicer than it was by a mile. It developed a topcurl about ten years in, took it to the bin without hesitation. I have an NEC XM-29 and it's a fine broadcast monitor, but takes the back seat next to my Mitsubishi Megaview XC2935C, WAY more inputs, WAY more resolutions supported, all the way up to 1600x1200. But they are both still just 27" screens. I won't be letting them go while they're functional, but when you start talking about equipment marketed to professionals, your resources dry up really fast. Everything at this point is either coveted by those who still require them, so they just aren't letting it go period (i.e. Me) or what's left is sparsely populated across the planet and with an unreasonable pricetag to boot, particularly when you inspect for the condition. Most people would not know where to look just to find broadcast monitors like those. Meanwhile, people are dumping perfectly good consumer televisions on isolated streets, just to free up space in their living rooms.

[AnalogRocks]

[AnalogRocks]

[CasetheCorvetteman]

Import one, theyre better sets. But youll have to learn how to spell it first

[Jeremy112]

[AnalogRocks]

[AnalogRocks]

[CasetheCorvetteman]

[Jeremy112]

[ecrabb]

[AnalogRocks]

[AnalogRocks]

[ecrabb]