Sweeeeeet! Everone loves the idea of low cost high quality TV's.

Aren't Hot Cathodes what they usually use in CRT's... I wish I knew more about this, I'm curious why they were previously using cold cathodes for LCDs and why they're switching now...

this means better blacks?? or just more brightness?

I still prefer the now so cheap CRTs. Can't beat their 40+ years of proven reliability (And repairability... and uglyness... but I couldn't care less, 40$CAN for a 22 inches 1600x1200 85HZ screen for which I have spare parts, there's nothing to complain on this. Screw LCD.. and such )

just more brightness.

Oh come on, you're KILLING me.

For some reason, Excel 07 doesn't like the formula "two to three times less"...

I have never repaired a CRT. Isn't that dangerous?

I believe they are. Its amazing how often people look backwards and find a more efficient solution. Who knows why they used cold cathodes, probably just something they always did with LCDs, and no one bothered to consider hot cathodes until now.

Yea that made me cringe too.



Yea. I think there are reasons why you can't throw CRT units away either. Something bad lol.

Hot Cathodes? Initially I would have thought this would be a bad switch from cold cathodes, but if it really does mean cheaper equal, or better quality LCDs, then I'm happy. I've been waiting for a sub $200 28" monitor.

I bet it looks nice next to your LPs.

Very true. Much like we are now trying to reinvent our electric grid to DC. It is possible to do now, where in the 1800's it was impractical. Think of how much more efficient our grid will be when we don't have to use power supplies (AC adapters) on all our fans and electronics.

Welcome to the future, we value progress here.

It looks very BAD. It's ugly and most of all HEAVY! But hey, I have no fun looking at it from behind and lifting it

Of course this is old technology. But I still think it is worth the 40$ for such a high definition, which IMHO is more important than having the latest technology. But it's two different world: brand new and used stuff.

The headline states "Wallets rejoice". What kind of state of the art screen do you get for 40$? New, forget it. Used, there's a good chance of having something very good and that will still work in two years.

As for repair: it's not THAT dangerous. It's dangerous to hit it with a hammer or a mace. But you could even drop it and chances are that it won't even break. Have you dropped a TV? Only the plastic takes the hit.

Voltages are high inside but don't carry much power. The real danger there is to take a shock and dropping off your chair on the neck.

In my job, I see so many LCD screens destroyed by people who still don't get that you DO NOT PUT YOUR FINGER IN THE SCREEN. I didn't see such things on CRTs and I wouldn't even dare dropping one.

Well, my whole point is not really relevant to the topic here, it's just about the wallet part I like technology. I just don't have the money to buy the latest, and that's why I prefer repairable electronics. I could go on forever on this.. maybe on an article that's more about it

I won't know if it consumes less than OLED screen, since Oled already consumes less energy, while being brighter and more colorful. Would this be what they are talking about?

Does this mean like CTR and OLED that with a lot of bright sunlight it will be hard to see the screen?
On current TFT/LCD technology the sun can be used as backlight to light the screen

Hey, I still have my 21" Sony Trinitron CRT and game on it. I tried gaming on my nice 24" LCD but it really didn't work for me with the wide aspect ratio. Sadly the CRT is showing signs of age, it might have to go soon Maybe I can get a smoking hot (har har) cathode LCD

Me like.

Buying a brand new 1280x1024 LCD costs less than $100, so what will these be at?

The biggest thing I can think of a use for is my fathers laptop. The thing is a massive beast, and such resulting in a huge screen requiring a lot of power. This would make significant longer battery life.

I didn't see any mention of when this tech would be available.

@hellwig. The reason they haven't used the old style cathode is because they are huge. That is what took up the bulk of the CRT's. This scant article left all that pertinent info out. Hitachi must have come up with a way to make a hot cathode unit or units that were very slim.

This sounds nice. Hope they come out in the next 6 - 7 months so I can get a 32 - 37 inch TV.

Honestly I thought LCDs hit rock bottom for prices but lower prices are welcome but all means. True Story... I moved my 19" LCD monitor today to chase down some dust bunnies only to find a 15" LCD monitor tucked behind it. Holy bleep these things are so cheap that I forget that I even have them.

No, CRT's are actually what the acronym stands for. Cathode Ray Tube's. Literally, a thick glass tube shaped in the proper manner, with the "front" or viewing side coated in a reactive phospherescent(sp?) material that generated a picture depending the intensity of the beam hitting it.

Last I checked the high voltage line in the CRTs would light you up enough to kill you. But that is easily mitigated by grounding your screw driver as you pop the plug out of the tube (not something to try unless you've been shown how to do it properly though). Also I've found hitting CRTs with hammers isn't that dangerous given that the tubes implode.

Will they last longer? Or will they commonly find themselves out with the evening trash? I think I'll stick with proven technology until this HCFL is matured. I don't want to buy a monitor at the same rate I buy incandescent light bulbs.

LOL. New screen every few months or less

But if they cost the same as light bulbs do you really care?

It's as dangerous as walking on a sidewalk. It can kill, you know?

Hmm... There is another reason in using such a high number of lamps, besides brightness, which is color and brightness uniformity. All current LCDs more or less suffer from lack of uniformity. Now, I bet it would take quite a bit more engineering behind a HCFL panel, to avoid having it display bands of light... Wonder how thick the diffusing filters would make the panel.

And besides, I had enough with LCD tech already, no matter what method chosen for back lighting them - be it CCFL, HCFL or LED light bulbs or campfires... Shouldn't we be heading towards real OLED displays anyway?

its similiar tech , but there are major difernces between a cathode bulb , and a catho-ray tube, on a CRT (catho ray tube) the tube in effect is an entire imaging system, while a cathode bulb is just a light bulb essinetially. big difernce , by it's self a cathode bulb can not make a tv image it just projects light , while a catho ray tube is what is making the enitre picture in a older tv set

yes it is




you sir are being a smart ass and an ill informed one at that, catho-ray tubes are infact very dangerous to repair on the back side of the CRT tube is electrically charged coil , the entire back of the tube is also charged by this coil , the charge is powerful enough to kill 20 people if they lined up and touched the back of the crt. Yes i know many people work on these often (my grandfather was always fixing this old black and white set he had). the tube usually disipates this charge after about 3 days of being turned off, making the tube safe to touch, however, in rare cases this electric charge has been know to last for 2-3 weeks. generally it is a very good idea to be really careful when working on old crt tv's. next time you should get better informed before mocking, and making sarcasm at some one else's question, especially when it is a very good question.

CRTs are dying. All Electronics die, sooner or later. TV repair shops have almost NO CRTs or Rear-projections TV on the bench nowadays. Because people aren't willing to spend the $$$ to repair them. A typical out-of-warrnaty projection TV repair is about $600. Parts are becoming a problem... again, why make parts for people who'd rather spend $800 on a 48" (720) TV or $1200+ on a 50+" 1080p TV... then spend $600 to repair a 4+ year old SD TV?

When my bedroom 13" SONY died last year, I did spend $70 on a used 27" SONY CRT (it needed a part) that would work with my other Sony A/V remotes... also, the TV has an excellent picture and huge add-on stereo speakers and 4 inputs. It retailed about $800 new. Funny thing, the style looks exactly like the 13" TV... but bigger.

I am looking forward to buying an HD-TV LCD/whatever someday, maybe 2010.

Offended easily? I do believe the mocking statement could be taken both ways. Yes it can be dangerous; If you think about it, just about anything can be dangerous. However, if you do a little research/are trained in CRT repair in some way, then the risk is not so great.

Anyways, this will be an interestin development. If this can replace the CCRTs with equal/better quality then perhaps I can finally get some more viewsonic professional series monitors for on the cheap.. $600 a piece is a hard bullet to swallow now. Great piece of hardware though.