LCD/Plasma/CRT/DLP - questions

[RLench]

No problem I didn't notice it was a Slimfit either. I feel silly recommending it now

[Hodge]

There's no way I'll be going back to a CRT now - it's amazing the things you don't notice wrong with them until you've tried something else. I don't think there's even any point in me going into details though.

After going back to a CRT I sort of disagree. Having sold my bravia (needed the cash) I folked out on a RGB lead and have gone back to a CRT and tbh I`m not missing my LCD screen at all. Perfect blacks and contrast ratios again with no blurring on pans either. Plus my gamecube games look great again and I`m not having to mess about with backlight settings for daytime and evening use either. Only downer is I sit quite close when playing games so you see the lines that make up a tv which I notice far more now since having an LCD screen for a fair amount of time.

I was all set for going for another LCD screen but tbh I`m not that bothered now and might just wait for SED or OLED to arrive.

[andrewfee]

After going back to a CRT I sort of disagree. Having sold my bravia (needed the cash) I folked out on a RGB lead and have gone back to a CRT and tbh I`m not missing my LCD screen at all. Perfect blacks and contrast ratios again with no blurring on pans either. Plus my gamecube games look great again and I`m not having to mess about with backlight settings for daytime and evening use either. Only downer is I sit quite close when playing games so you see the lines that make up a tv which I notice far more now since having an LCD screen for a fair amount of time.

I was all set for going for another LCD screen but tbh I`m not that bothered now and might just wait for SED or OLED to arrive.

Even from 6ft back I could clearly see the scanlines on a 21" CRT, and I had been hoping to go bigger. Geometry distortion was awful, and it wasn't even a flat screen! (they're worse)

Constant flicker, buzzing/whine. (louder than Plasma) Floating black level (how anyone can say CRTs have "perfect blacks" is beyond me, especially when calibrated for shadow detail) Colour rendition isn't as nice as Plasma (although in some ways, better than LCD) Big trails on high contrast scenes etc. (worse than LCD)

It's nice to be free of edge-enhancement though. (I swear, if you could disable that on most LCDs they would look 20x better)

While it's technically a fault, I do like the floating white-point CRTs have compared to LCD, although I don't see how you would have to adjust backlight during the day/night on an LCD and not have to adjust contrast on a CRT. (unless it's just not capable of going bright enough on a bright day)

Give me a good CRT monitor with the proper inputs, and I could be fairly happy though, as you don't see the scanlines and the image is much more stable. (less distortion, flicker etc)

Hell, if Sony still made those 24" 1080p trinitron monitors I'd buy one in a heartbeat along with an external video processor (for the inputs) but as it is, LCD is the display I've been happiest with really.


But hey, everyone has different preferences and things that bother them more than others. A lot of people have been watching CRTs so much that anything different just looks "wrong" even if it's better. (I'm not saying LCD is, that's a matter of opinion)

[Baseley09]

How is that Toshiba with component, it looks like a nice set to me but have read a few terrors about some severe blur & warping in progressive and some heinous buzzing?

I'm actually a big fan of scan lines, one of my friends has a giant 90's Toshiba (36" or so 4:3) with the thickest scanlines I ever saw, one of the best tvs ive seen tho for it, imo of course.

[sj33]

Scanlines are good for getting that old school arcade feel, but other than that, it's just crap on the screen.

[Hodge]

But hey, everyone has different preferences and things that bother them more than others. A lot of people have been watching CRTs so much that anything different just looks "wrong" even if it's better. (I'm not saying LCD is, that's a matter of opinion)

I think your spot on by saying somethings bother people more than others. Geometry isn`t something I notice much (unless it`s really bad of course) and can`t say I`ve noticed any buzzing coming from my set. Ok the blacks might not be perfect but there still a dam sight better than lcd (especially in the evening). Having had 2 LCD screens over the year I just found the issues with them to be more annoying than CRT`s overall. I`m just hoping toshiba`s SED screens are the answer to my prayers.

[andrewfee]

Scanlines are good for getting that old school arcade feel, but other than that, it's just crap on the screen.

Agreed, and I'd rather have "software" scanlines from a box like the XRGB2+ (if any) rather than having them forced onscreen all the time.

I think your spot on by saying somethings bother people more than others. Geometry isn`t something I notice much (unless it`s really bad of course) and can`t say I`ve noticed any buzzing coming from my set. Ok the blacks might not be perfect but there still a dam sight better than lcd (especially in the evening). Having had 2 LCD screens over the year I just found the issues with them to be more annoying than CRT`s overall. I`m just hoping toshiba`s SED screens are the answer to my prayers.

That's if SED even makes it out of the door, which is looking less and less likely. You might be a lot happier with Plasma, it's got a very CRT-like image, and shares a lot of the same faults too.

What BRAVIA was it you had, V2000, or A12U? Even with just a dim room light on, you couldn't see if the 32V2000 I had was on or off if you put up a full-black screen when the backlight was properly set. (which is better than any CRT or Plasma I've seen) Of course that changes when the lights go out, but that's bad for your eyes.

[H-Man]

I finally got my Toshiba 32zp46 (crt), but have a prob :/

The bottom right hand corner of the screen flickers when outputting 480p from the 360 and GC via component. Movies via component on the 360 look fine. When using scart, games flicker with pal60 when progressive mode is enabled, but not with the others (active, natural, 100hz). Progressive mode with pal50 is fine.

Has anyone seen or heard of anything like this? It's like someone is turning a light on and off really quickly. What puzzles me is that it's only at tiny area of the screen.

//edit - unless i'm mistaken, the problem only arises when using progressive (or progressive mode via scart) at 60hz

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[Salsa Party Animal]

Look you can't do progressive scan via scart cables.

Use component cables for PS2, NTSC Gamecube, or XBOX (NTSC mode)

Not PAL gamecube or XBOX (PAL MODE) or via scart input.

[H-Man]

Look you can't do progressive scan via scart cables.

Use component cables for PS2, NTSC Gamecube, or XBOX (NTSC mode)

Not PAL gamecube or XBOX (PAL MODE) or via scart input.

There are various picture modes on this series of Toshiba - progressive mode, active, natural, and 100hz. You can use all of these with scart (people tend to use 'progressive mode' when using scart to disable 100hz and all the nasties that it comes with). I should have been clearer in the original post.

Obviously, when using a component cable (which I am with my pal 360 and US GC) you only get progressive.

[Lyris]

There are various picture modes on this series of Toshiba - progressive mode, active, natural, and 100hz. You can use all of these with scart (people tend to use 'progressive mode' when using scart to disable 100hz and all the nasties that it comes with). I should have been clearer in the original post.

Just to clarify, that is only changing the picture tube's scanning mode. You're not getting actual Progressive video out of the console.

When you select "Progressive Mode" on your CRT when feeding it video through SCART, the TV's deinterlacer will be activated. In other words, the console is sending the TV interlaced video, the TV is trying to repair it and fill the missing information in to 'fake' it into Progressive Scan.

It's not true Progressive Scan video, even although that is how the tube is operating.

[Aionic]

Has anyone ever had any issues with red, blue or green dominating all the colours on your TV? If so, how did you go about fixing it?

Ever since I bought my Sony KV-28HX15U set I have had to deal with a VERY annoying problem. My TV seems to have some sort of RGB related fault where the screen turns very bluish, mainly for the first 10-30 mins after I turn it on. The only ways to counter this problem was to either turn the set on/off or hit the TV fairly hard...well, that is until the TV took a turn for the worse and decided to stay blue constantly. =/


Some points...

:: The screen is only blue when using an RGB cable, and obviously only when using the RGB socket. I've tried four different RGB cables, same result everytime.

:: Some things made the screen change from both blue and normal, or at least they did before I took the back off my TV anyway. The most easy way to get rid of the bluish screen when it appeared was to simply turn the set off and put it back on. The other two ways were more annoying... Hit the TV hard or wobble the scart.

:: It seems I somehow managed cause even more damage by taking the back off my set; the screen is now constantly blue when using an RGB scart + RGB socket now. Strangly, after the TV has been on for about 10-15 minutes the screen sometimes returns to normal.


Please, please, please... Help me out! I can't survive the pain of being forced to look at the terrible quality of my Sanyo 32".

[H-Man]

It's not true Progressive Scan video, even although that is how the tube is operating.

I understand that, just didn't make it as clear as I should have.

The reason I mentioned using progressive mode with scart was because in this mode the flicker is present at pal60 but not pal50. As it's also a prob when actually displaying progressive scan via component I thought this might suggest the problem is with this sets progressive scanning mode (if that makes sense)

[Lyris]

Ah, just clarifying - sorry if that was condescending.

You mention PAL60 but not PAL50. I'd assume the same problem is there for NTSC stuff (got any NTSC devices to test out?)

How are you connecting to the TV? (Sorry if you've already mentioned this part!)

[H-Man]

The 360 and GC are connected to the tv by component at 480p. The flicker at the bottom right appears with both.

When the 360 is connected to the tv via scart there is flicker when progressive mode is selected and it's set to pal60. In this mode at pal50 there is no flicker. There is no flicker with every other mode at pal60 (active, natural, 100hz) - just progressive.

Sky via scart has no flicker at any setting.

DVDs played on the 360 via component have no flicker.

I'm pretty stumped - the problem seems to be with progressive at 60hz. tbh i'm new to all this and lack the basic understanding of how things work. I've also yet to find any examples of this problem on the net.