Roundie sitting in water in dumb digital TV commercial.
 

Has anyone else seen the commercial with the roundie set sitting in a pool and the narrating lady sitting in a chair in the background? I would assume that it's just a "special effect" being that it's basically floating on the top of the water, but what exactly are they trying to say with this? Maybe that the bottom is filled with flat sets and '90s Goldstars and the best has risen to the top?! (One can hope, anyway).

I never seen the commercial, but from what you discribe it sounds like HDTV propaganda. Stuff that messes with peoples heads telling them to buy an HDTV set before 2009 otherwise their analog sets wont work. What people dont realize is that the local channels wont be converted to 2012. That way the lower income people without cable, or satellite can enjoy their present sets without worrying about buying a new one. Everyone just hears the negative, and not the real truth. I recently told a guy at work that if the HDTV flat screens go down in price to $100.00 with a one year warranty i would buy one. He called me a cheapskate. That way if the set breaks down in a year i would get my moneys worth. It must really suck if you buy an overpriced HDTV flat screen, and it breaks down in a year. Especially if the warranty is dried up. Then you are taking a big loss. When people buy they dont think logically. They just want to be the showoffs of the neighborhood. Just like when the Chrysler PT Cruiser came out. Everybody had to have one. Being the neighborhood showoff is tempting, but i would rather not have a car payment, and watch my old 1997 Zenith SY2572DT color set. Also known as the bad CRT Zenith. Back then i did not know the CRTS were bad, so dont throw rocks at me. It has low hours and works fine. When peoples brand new flat screens break i will have the last laugh!!

Damn straight. HDTVs are nothing more than over-glorified computer monitors. They die within a couple of years. I only watch tv on my 54' capehart B&W set. 53+ years old and has a great picture.

I'm resisting the flat screen siren song with all my might. My 31" RCA still has a great pic after 10 years of use...it's on a LOT and has only had one trip to the shop to the tune of $125. My wife's making noise about getting one like our son's. Admittedly, he has a very nice 42" Sony...but also fell victim to price drop syndrome. Bought it...2 weeks later could've had the same set for $300 less. Told my wife we're going to squeeze every hour we can out of the RCA...then I'll pull the 27" Zenith out of storage and we'll watch that! Besides...I still like the look of a CRT picture.

I've had to convince (or, try to convince) several people that they did not have to buy a new digital TV because their old set will be just as useful with a cheap converter as it is now. Of course, the younger crowd I know just want to be what you call the "showoffs of the neighborhood." They think having all the latest electronic gadgets, nice cars, big houses, etc. makes them somebody. For me, I'll keep watching my mid '80's 19" Sony and other older TV's. They've already outlasted some of the new stuff. There is a local store claiming that the new HDTV's are designed to last between 15 and 25 years of normal use. Just more propaganda to get people to buy the new sets. It's interesting that there are members of this forum who have 50+ year old TV's that work fine.

Me too and I'm starting to sound like a broken record! And as far as the showoffs go, they can waste all of their money on that new crap! But I'll be the one laughing when all their crap dies, the cracker-box house falls apart and their plastic car disintegrates in a 5 MPH collision. And after all this happens, they will be still paying the loans off when I retire! The only bad thing is, all of the new things in life are being based on what these people want. This scares me a little....... No matter what, I will be watching my '50s and '60s tvs driving my "85 Silverado and living in a house that is at least 50 years old {just watch out for asbestos!LOL} mine is 115 years old! That is just the way I am, I'm 25 but with a very old soul!

Couldn't agree more. I have my 1980 XL-100 connected to digital cable, and thats above and beyond my needs. I really don't watch much tv, I could suffice with antenna and NTSC forever. (the parents pay my cable bill since its included with the other boxes.)

Wanna have a good laugh on my family? I told my mother to cancel my DTV box once, and she said No, keep it, why wouldn't you want it?

Well i really don't use it. Only for occasional on-demand movies, cable news, and TBS. Everything else is network TV.


But yeah, One family I know recently spent about 3 thousand dollars on a huge Sony LCD set. When we set it up, the first thing I suggested was to turn down the backlight setting from 10 (stock) to 6-7, since there was absolutely no difference in brightness either way. Maybe this was due to the contrast being 100%. Anyway he said he didn't care how long it lasts, just wants to make it look good. Enough said.

Just to throw a little ballast on the other side of this "discussion" - when color first came out, there were plenty of buyers who were "just showing off" and didn't care if it needed more service than a black and white. AND there were plenty of people who looked at the pictures and saw misadjusted color and said "I'll wait until they 'perfect' it." As an engineer working on TV design I got those comments all the time "When do you think they'll perfect color TV?"

By the way, is anyone going to find out what that commercial was that started this thread?

Good description! Nothing like some plastered-over styrofoam and chicken wire! But, hey, at least it has a "media room"!

As for the commercial, old_tv_nut, it's one of about two or three which now play around here regularly and give the usual "information," plus a website for more info (which I can't remember at the moment). I just didn't really understand the whole tv standing in water part, and it annoyed me that they used a roundie for it, though it was a nice tv to look at!

I saw another DTV commercial. It showed an older lady with what looked like a late '40's or early '50's round screen B&W console displaying snow. She was talking about not getting an off the air signal after 2/17/09 but cable and sat. people would be fine. The toll free number was given for the DTV converter box coupons.

Has anyone been able to capture and post one of these commercials? If KTLA-Los Angeles gets one to air, I might be able to get hold of it. I'll ask.

Charles

I didnt know what these flat tv sets were all about . I repair stuff for a living .
I had the chance to test these as store returns at my old job and fix a few .
I was turned off by the high price . After being around them a couple years and playing with so many LCD sets i found the pictures on them very good and the space they save is nice too .

Now i have 2 digital LCD sharps given to me broken that i fixed ( both shipping drop damage ) With a digital high def signal on these you cant compare the clarity of the picture to anything period .. its nice .

No .. i dont need high def and still enjoy old tv`s but the flat sets are great if you just get past your problem with ``change``

Yes they break . Most all newer stuff does anymore . My 2002 Sharp LCD i bought new has no problems and it has been played almost every day for hours . There not all bad .

Yes the are! Anything made in china is bad in my book, Years ago we could spend our hard earned money on something and we could be proud to have it, now we can only just try to pay bills and long for the old days of quality that are now sold out and gone!:thumbsdn:

I've seen the floating set spot and another one...in the desert maybe? They both used a early 50's B&W rectangular set with a color picture matted in.

Dave A

I have an RCA (Thomson) 19" (the set shown in my avatar) and a Zenith 19" TV that both work very well on digital cable. The RCA has only had one repair in the eight years I've had it, and the picture is as good as the day I bought it; the Zenith is 12 years old and hasn't had one repair yet. The picture on the Zenith is great as well and the set still has its original CRT, as does the RCA.

I agree with Jordan that HDTV flat-panel sets are little more that glorified computer monitors, and that they don't last more than a couple of years. Another problem with flat panels is, in many cases, the video driver ICs are molded into the cable that connects the panel to the chassis, and the cable itself is, like as not, hard-wired at both ends; when one of those ICs go bad, the entire panel is rendered useless, even if the panel itself still has plenty of life left in it.

It is for these reasons that I fully intend to keep my two analog TVs until the wheels fall off, figuratively speaking. Both sets are working fine now, and frankly I don't see the RCA going bad for some time to come. When it does finally gasp its last breath, I'll just pull my 19" Zenith out of my bedroom and watch it until it finally dies; then, and only then, will I consider getting a flat-panel. I've toyed with the idea of getting a 15" Magnavox FP as are advertised in Best Buy and Circuit City newspaper advertising flyers, but I don't want a set with a picture not much larger than a slightly oversized postage stamp. When I finally get a FP, I will look for a set with a picture at least as big as my analog TVs.

I'm still using my 23" 5 year old Admiral chinese tv. It's doing fine.
I am working on my family set now. My 1950 BW RCA Victor tv for my fun.
After that, I'll be finnishing my CTC-7A color set for my color videos, and, whatever.
I hate hdtv, and, the color to me looks like a kids' coloring book.
I don't care much for digital, and, I agree that this modern junk isn't going to last....
Remember, also, that they have now perfected, and, are using chips that will die in a set time by the companies. When dead, you can only buy a new chip from them at a cost prohibitive price so they can force you to buy a new one....
Bill Cahill

Great to have confirmation on that. Not too long ago I told a friend I bet they are doing that just because of all I have learned about general business practices.
Naturally, my friend, like anybody else I say anything to, responded as though I just gave him more of the usual cra_ that proves I'm an idiot on top of being wierd for liking old things.

I'm using my 13" Samsung with digital cable and its doing fine. My wife has hinted about a new set, but a new set would never last 25 years like this little set has done. Besides, this set has sentimental value, having been given to me by a very close friend just before he passed away. He was a t.v. repairman and he went through the set thoroughly before letting me have it, and it's going to be working for years after this new junk has gone to the landfill.



Dumont-First with the finest in television.:yes:

Don't throw away your analog NTSC TV on 02.19.09
 

All existing analog TV sets will work after February 19, 2009 if they are connected to cable or satellite service. Cable companies, moreover, do not necessarily or in fact have to carry their channels (even local channels) in digital format. I read in this thread (IIRC), in fact, that the cable companies can carry analog NTSC indefinitely if they so desire or need to (e.g. for financial reasons); only over-the-air TV stations are required by law to transmit digital signals.

Analog TVs do last longer than digital flat-panels. (My own two 19" analog CRT sets are still going strong and making excellent pictures on digital cable after eight and almost 13 years, respectively.) You are right as to your statement that analog CRT sets (such as your Samsung and all other makes of analog sets) will still be in use, and hopefully working well, years after the new FPs have developed serious problems and are thrown out to face a certain death in a landfill.

I personally like the picture on a CRT set better than I would probably like the same image on a FP television. Someone in this thread said basically the same thing not long ago, stating that, to him, the picture on a FP set looked terrible (oversaturated colors, for example) when compared to the same picture on an analog set. I personally do not believe that even the best and most expensive flat panel HDTV produces a better picture than a good CRT set with a strong signal. My feeling is that if you like the picture you get on your analog set, keep it and enjoy it until it dies, the signal format be darned. The government is not forcing anyone to switch from a CRT TV to an HD flat panel; the only thing the FCC has forced on us (and every one of the nation's TV stations) is the change from analog to digital transmission. Even OTA (over the air) digital TV can still be viewed on an an analog set if an ATSC converter is used ahead of it. However, as the new digital TV commercials are saying, all unmodified analog TVs will show nothing but snow on 02-19-2009, which is a fact. Hopefully, these commercials will drive this point home, so that viewers will not have a rude surprise on that date when they turn on their analog sets to watch the news (for example), and see nothing but noise on their favorite news channel.

Fortunately, as I said above, however, if you have cable or satellite service you need not even be concerned about the changeover, as all the changes have already been made or will soon be made by your area's cable company. Time Warner, the cable operator serving northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania, for example, has already converted its entire system to digital, so they (and their subscribers) will definitely be ready when 02.19.09 rolls around.

Digital TV. Don't fight it and for heaven's sake don't worry about it. As long as cable companies carry analog NTSC (and even digital, using a converter) you will still get the same channels you receive now, regardless of what kind of TV you have. The only difference will be that, on standard analog televisions, digital broadcasts will be displayed in letterbox format. You will see the same picture you've been seeing all along, only now it will be in 16:9 aspect ratio and will not fill your screen vertically. Don't be alarmed the first time you see this; your TV picture isn't shrinking. If your picture were actually shrinking due to a problem in the vertical sweep system, you would be seeing the station's/network's VITS (vertical interval test signals) at the top of the picture; the latter might be stretched out of shape or compressed as well.

Remember as well that all the hype surrounding HDTV is just advertising hooey, designed to drum up business for stores so they can sell more flat panel sets. Personally, I know only one person (my barber) who actually has an HDTV in his home. I do not think high-definition has really caught on yet in many parts of the country, except perhaps southern California. When people find out just how short-lived FP sets are, they are probably going to wish they would have held on to their old reliable analog CRT sets. I think it's a darn shame that $1,000+ large-screen (and smaller) flat-panel TVs last only a couple years before they go belly-up, but that's the way it is these days. This factor alone is keeping the stores that sell these TVs in business. It's known as planned obsolescence, and there's darned little if anything we can do about it.

Even if you don't have cable or satellite, don't throw out an analog TV.

You can get a tuner for over-the-air Digital TV. Nearly every such tuner offers an NTSC output (in addition to HDTV modes), and can (perhaps with the addition of a very inexpensive RF modulator and a 75 to 300 ohm antenna transformer) be hooked up to ANY american TV set (okay, if you have a very rare RCA TRK-9, you'll have to convert if from 441-line to NTSC, and I assume that's been done already?).

Worried about price? You can get a $ 40 couppn to help pay (or pay outright) for the cost of the converter, whether you have cable or not (go to www.dtv2009.gov).

FWIW, I have used my RCA ATSC-11 STB with my Emerson 1224 B&W set from 1957. I've also fed this box with the output of a Standard-Kollsman UHF converter, giving me a DTV receiving system that not only uses 21 tubes, but offers mechanical tuning!

Rob Grant, Michigan.

I've read on here about a converter that's supposed to be available for $39.99. In the future, there will probably be models cheaper than that.

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I don't think that many converters will end up being sold because the price may never drop as low as some think. Most folks don't use "over the air" any more. People that pay for TV don't need to do anything. That will also cause the demand to be low and why would a store make a big deal about selling converters it would be better for them to sell a new flat panel. As far as I can see the whole thing is a joke about the converters even my dad was confused about it. He was already to throw out his bedroom set because he has seen the PSAs about digital and does not have cable on that set. I told him it will work for another year. The only watch the news on it.

just look on ebay, type in tv repair or television repair, you will find all the dead flat pans you want. most people think they can sell them off to unsuspecting novices.CRT FOREVER!!!!!!

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Heck, no one (except us) wants WORKING CRT set's, either!

I just wish that they would improve the quality of the shows that are broadcast(along with the advertized signal quality improvement with digital). I have cable in my house but not my backyard shop(where I restore the TVs). Most broadcast TV is pretty bad(at least it does not interest me-I do not care who Donald Trump fires this week).

As far as how long flat screen TVs last, I do not know. I have heard that plasma loses contrast fairly quickly and have had a good experience with my flat screen LCD computer monitor. This, plus an article in the IEEE magazine about how complex flat screens are, is the limit of my experience.

Dead Flat Panels
 

I sold a couple of vintage television repair books awhile back to a person named zipy123cat on Ebay. I read his feedback, and i guess he buys broken newer electronics too. Mainly flat panel Tv's.