CRT Projectors

[damonrpayne]

Does anyone know of any good online resources for CRT projectors? ProjectorCentral really doesn't have much. I'm curious to know if the costs have come down to the point where I could get one for my HT.

[sfogg]

AVS has a forum for CRT projectors. Very few new CRTs are still available but with the mass adoption of digitals there are a lot of used CRTs available for comparibly little money.

Do a LOT of research before you buy one though and be sure you know what you are buying. There are MANY worn out sets out there which are junk.

Buying from a know seller is your best option if you want to go CRT. Someone like:

http://curtpalme.com/

for example. With a CRT you need to make sure you have the right room and throw for one of them.

Shawn

[Steve Phillips]

I would second the AVS forum suggestion.

google may be your best bet, just my thoughts.

CRT's are great except for the weight and size part of it. The fact that most are data grade makes HD easier, mine would handle 1080i easy

I have a 10 year old CRT and got tired of tweeking it, my 4805 DLP was easy and the picture looks great, even happy with the black levels.

CRT was 4:3 native and that was a problem in my application.

Replacement guns are a bit high $ as well.

One day I will get the old CRT out and tweek it.

[redtop]

I agree with Mr. Phillips...IMO CRT's are "old school" and a technology without a future in home theaters. They are big, heavy, expensive to purchase, and expensive to calibrate and maintain. The CRT's I have seen in "real" (not showroom) home theaters had only a marginally better picture than the Panasonic I ended up buying. IMHO, they just not worth the effort.

Just my 2 cents...

[meuge]

Yeah... the CRTs are too heavy, bulky and are old tech. DLP is the way to go nowadays. My friend has a beautiful 8-foot screen and a DLP projector that's only slightly larger than a gallon jug. And while his was about $13k... i am sure there are less expensive ones that do HD well.

[gibby214]

I had a co worker of my wifes over for an hour last week. He was blown away by the picture quality of my digital PJ DLP BenQ 8700+ at 118 inches diagonal.

I had a chance to see his CRT setup a year ago before I bought mine. It looked very nice on a 90 inch screen.

He had several nice comments on the DLP: low fan noise, simple, no worry about convengence, small size and price. This was nice because he is a hard core tweaker/perfectionist.

Those CRT's can look nice but there is a place for them. ON A STURDY CEILING.

[gibby214]

Oh yea. I wouldn't be surprised for him to put his CRT for sale in the next few months if you are interested.

Gib

[brady1058]

Good to hear that we have an Infocus fan out there that made the migration from CRT even. I currently use an Infocus X1 for my application, I have owned it for approx 18 mos. it' paired w/ a Da-Lite HCCV screen. I was about to upgrade to the 4805 and I have noticed that the longer I wait the more the prices plummet. I'll hang in there for the rest of the year to see what'll happen this fall. Take care -Brady

[chuckears]

I have to go against the current popular grain here, and vote for the CRT option. I have viewed LCD and DLP units at every available retailer in my area, and am always disappointed. I see screen-doors with the LCD units, and rainbows with the DLP's (even the newer, 20K+ units). I am always under-impressed by the graininess and black level with the digitals, as well.

The finest display I have seen was with a CRT; expensive when new, to be sure, but if I were to go FP right now, I would not be happy with anything else...

[damonrpayne]

Well chuckears, thats why I thought they were at least worth looking into. You can't touch the picture quality. I had always thought they'd be too noisy, but I met someone with a Dwin projector that had a fanless cooling system, so I thought it bore looking into. With DLP and LCD so much in vogue right now its hard to find info.

[sfogg]

"You can't touch the picture quality."

That depends upon how you define it. In some areas digitals beat CRTs handily, in others CRTs beat digitals.

Brightness, sharpness, and focus are some of digitals advantages. CRTs big picture advantage is on/off contrast (which means better black levels) but they have lower ANSI contrast them some digitals.

You have to decide what is the best combination of things you value in your picture and go from there.

Shawn

[chuckears]

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On 4/12/2005 9:17:10 AM sfogg wrote:

"You can't touch the picture quality."

That depends upon how you define it. In some areas digitals beat CRTs handily, in others CRTs beat digitals.

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I define it as what most accurately recreates the cinematic experience. The lack of resolution and visual anomolies of LCD and DLP completely ruin this for me, which is why, until something better comes along (that doesn't have the aforementioned anomalies), CRT remains my only choice in a front projector.

BTW, I get a kick out of the respondents who piped in, not intending to answer the original question, but to try and steer damonrpayne away from considering CRTs.

[sfogg]

"I define it as what most accurately recreates the cinematic experience. The lack of resolution and visual anomolies of LCD and DLP completely ruin this for me,"

What CRT do you have?

My digital (which is not an LCD or DLP....) has considerably more resolution then the CRT it replaced. It is sharper overall and has better focus edge to edge. It also doesn't suffer from screen door (unless you are inches from the screen.. and if you are that close with a CRT you likely will see scan lines) or rainbows. I can also throw a bigger picture then I could with the CRT because it is brighter.

What it lacks compared to some is contrast ratio. However, compared to a cinema it has a pretty similiar contrast as film projection can't do absolute blacks either. For that matter neither can a CRT if it is actually adjusted properly to avoid crushing blacks as the tubes need to be biased on ever so slightly.

And also, like an actual cinema, I am setup for a constant height system using an anamorphic lens. Something that can't really be done with a CRT without wasting a lot of raster.

Shawn

[Lovebohn]

damonrpayne,

If you head over to the AVS forum go to the HT meets section and you will find a Green Bay/Appleton section. We have about half the people running CRT's. I have seen both and if you want picture quality in a HT room CRT is the way to go, but do remember you either need to have some skills in setting it up or pay to have someone do it for you. If your a person that wants a big screen in an open room and audio is your thing go the digital route.

Also head over to www.curtpalme.com and look at this http://www.curtpalme.com/ReferralList.htm at the bottom you will see one of the AVS members who is just about done with his HT room.

Here are a few other good crt links.

http://www.etechvideo.com/home.htm

http://www.crtcinema.com/

Hope this helps.