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People Who Hunt Down Old TVs

bbc.com

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Re: People Who Hunt Down Old TVs

#61

Post by JdeBP »

robinsonb5 wrote: post #57
speeder wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a music teacher that insisted analog recordings were different. One day she said there is a simple way to prove it. Certain stringed instruments have the string move on their own to the correct note if you put them near a source of similar sound. If you put these instruments in front of a speaker playing from an analog source and have the strings move, then play the exact same music but from a digital source on…

If you do ever test this, and do it rigorously (i.e. using analogue and digital versions of the same recording, with no pitch inaccuracies) you'll find the strings will resonate equally well with analogue and digital recordings, all other things (volume, tuning of the instrument, etc.) being equal.

The problem is that all other things are no longer equal, and have not been for quite some time.

Retuning digital audio to 440Hz equal temperament is an industry norm now, even for (say) re-issued 1970s stuff. You just won't get modern digital versions that are the same as the analogue versions, and the equal temperament stuff thus won't pass a resonance test unless the test instrument is also equal temperament, which most string instruments of course are not.

The far easier test for amateurs nowadays is not to buy a whole string instrument, but to use pitch monitoring applications, which all too readily show when a sound is bang-on the specific equal temperament frequencies.

Obligatory recent Fil Henley:

* https://youtube.com/watch?v=0x5dfbqE5hE

Re: People Who Hunt Down Old TVs

#62

Post by detritus »

reactordev wrote: post #56

I’ve been searching for years for the old CRT Viewsonic Mac monitor that used RGB inputs. (Might have been CMYK). You plug in the DIP head to the video out and you attach each individual connectors to the color connectors on the back. The thing was massive, easily over 24”. Beige plastic that we all love. Growing up my dad was a Mac guy and he had all kinds of Apple stuff. The weird page sized monitor, performa 600,…

It'd've been RGB :)

But you've now got me mulling over the implications of a CMYK-based subtractive colour process 'monitor'. I'm guessing the refresh rate wouldn't be too hot..!

Re: People Who Hunt Down Old TVs

#63

Post by clemensnk »

My son who is 12 has gotten into collecting old Nintendo. Just the other day, I managed to find one of the consumer CRT holy grails on our local equivalent of Craigslist. A B&O MX4200. It's one of the last CRTs that B&O made from the mid 00s. It has an excellent picture, nice onscreen menus for calibrating the tube, and supports NTSC over composite so he can connect his early 80s Famicom that's been modded for composite out.

Re: People Who Hunt Down Old TVs

#64

Post by TechSquidTV »

I collect CRT TVs. I try to limit myself to only special ones. I own a clear RCA SecureView TV from a jail cell, and several Sony Professional Video Monitors.

I started this hobby JUST as it started to become a little more popular. Terrible timing.

Re: People Who Hunt Down Old TVs

#65

Post by throw0101d »

If in the Toronto, Canada area, the television museum may be worth a visit:

* https://mztv.com

Pre-WW2 televisions seem to be quite rare:

> To put this special set in some context, there are more 18th century Stradivarius violins in existence than pre-World War II TVs and, to make it that bit rarer, this TV has only had two owners. “I’ve handled 38 pre-war tells and this is the finest and even comes with the original invoice,” said Bonhams specialist Laurence Fisher. “It cost a huge amount and the owner must have had wealth and means…It is a very rare thing and there are collectors who would love to have it.”

* https://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/05/do-not-adjust-your-set-...

Re: People Who Hunt Down Old TVs

#66

Post by Aurornis »

everdrive wrote: post #49
retrac wrote: post #23

I think some younger people might have never really seen a CRT. And they're positively rare now. I encountered a CRT TV in the hospital waiting room recently and was a bit startled to see one. So for those only passingly familiar, if you get the opportunity, spend a bit of time experimenting with it visually. Jiggle your eyes, look away suddenly, and then back, and try oblique angles. Maybe you'll see what they mean…

Once we lost CRTs we began this insane race for all these duct tape solutions; all sorts of anti-aliasing, lighting, etc, and a resolution race that can only be described as pathological. Try modern games in low resolution with minimal effects on a CRT. You'll be surprised how much better they look, but also how much better they run; you don't need such a powerful rig when you turn your graphical effects down when us…

> all sorts of anti-aliasing, lighting, etc, and a resolution race that can only be described as pathological

I enjoy CRT nostalgia now and then, but modern high resolution games are absolutely amazing. The blurry, low resolution, low refresh rate CRT look is fun for old games, but playing in 4K at 100+ fps on a modern monitor is an amazing experience on its own.

Re: People Who Hunt Down Old TVs

#67

Post by Farbklex »

I host monthly retro gaming meetups and we use CRT TVs that we store at the local library. Luckily, more than enough are still given away for free here. Right now we have around 25.

They're just surprisingly good when paired with a good signal and an old gaming console. I still would love to have a professional monitor but they are too pricey for me. I also need to get myself a CRT monitor.

Re: People Who Hunt Down Old TVs

#68

Post by everdrive »

Aurornis wrote: post #66
everdrive wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once we lost CRTs we began this insane race for all these duct tape solutions; all sorts of anti-aliasing, lighting, etc, and a resolution race that can only be described as pathological. Try modern games in low resolution with minimal effects on a CRT. You'll be surprised how much better they look, but also how much better they run; you don't need such a powerful rig when you turn your graphical effects down when us…

> all sorts of anti-aliasing, lighting, etc, and a resolution race that can only be described as pathological I enjoy CRT nostalgia now and then, but modern high resolution games are absolutely amazing. The blurry, low resolution, low refresh rate CRT look is fun for old games, but playing in 4K at 100+ fps on a modern monitor is an amazing experience on its own.

They're blurry in brand new ways due to how sloppy AI upscaling is.

Re: People Who Hunt Down Old TVs

#69

Post by bob1029 »

My favorite TV of all time was a 65" Panasonic plasma.

4k OLED looks really good in dark scenes, but something about turning that plasma up to its full 800 watt+ vivid mode is a completely different universe.

Practically unusable during the summer in Texas though. The efficiency is really bad and you essentially need a custom hvac solution if you want to put it in a proper "theater" room. The noises it made in high brightness scenes were also a bit distracting. It had to move a lot of power very quickly.

Re: People Who Hunt Down Old TVs

#70

Post by gwbas1c »

My first HD TV was a tube. The picture was flat, but it did have overscan. Compared to today's TVs, it was small. (~30")

Even though there were some aspects of the tube that were nicer, I'm not going back. I don't want the giant box, and now that I have a 70" OLED, I don't want to go back to a tiny screen.

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