Funai Emerson find (lol)
 

So I was out driving today and spotted a silver cabinet 20 inch TV on the curb with a sign 'works-please take!'. I can't resist something like that.
It's a 2005 'Emerson' (Funai made in Malaysia) with S-video input, MTS stereo and 2 composite inputs.
It does work quite well with a strong CRT..but It IS a Funai.
We shall see how it holds up under regular usage in the garage.

NTSC only, or does it tune standard-def digital too?

The set's too old for digital tune option.
I have a couple Funai built sets that tune digital S/D, but off air only. They really need a stong signal, as they're low sensitivity.
The RCA's I have seem to be fairly good, even with a poor signal. Also they can receive S/D DTV, even from cable, where the Funai's don't.

I would have taken it, as well. Then, I would have let my friend who sells stuff take it and try to make us a few dollars off of it. Built in DTV tuners were not required until March, '07 and there were not too many CRT TV's prior to that point that had them. I have a 32" Sony from '06 that does; but, most manufacturers didn't include them until they were forced into it.

Yes, it is NTSC only.
I doubt that anyone in my area would pay 50 cents for something like this. Hey, it's another tv set if nothing else.

Yeah, you can't argue with the price. Just use it until it blows up and then put it back out on the street. The biggest problem with these is vertical deflection failures and bad soldering in the power supply and sweep circuits. It's getting more difficult by the day to get anything for a CRT TV; but, I keep trying as long as I can get them for free and fix them out of my junk pile in 15 minutes or less.

So, there is no way to access the video inputs front or back without the remote control. This is a prime example of why I don't mess with newer stuff.
And it apparently has an auto-shutoff feature, whereby the set turns off when left in a no signal condition for about 15 minutes. Thought it was an intermittent shutdown issue, but when it is playing a movie on my little NTSC channel 12, it stays on

You haven't tried the channel down button to possibly access the A/V inputs? That worked on my 2005 20" Sanyo, but not on my mom's 2001 27" Sanyo. My remote worked on hers though, so once I got rid of my TV I gave the remote to her. The 27" sat in storage for almost 7 years. She was using a 2005 14" Toshiba.

They also make EXCELLENT Targets...

MUCH better than it just getting trashed....or someone that thinks it's only good for target practice. I have little CRT sets allover the flat for wherever I might wanna see the TV. If I had a garage still....I would deffinately want a TV there, and not one of the rare ones.

So in a couple or three years when you see a newish flat screen set on that same curb, you might inquire to see if they want their (likely still working) 20 inch Emerson back. :D

jr

Just get any cheap universal remote with an input select key (most remotes have this key) and you should be able to select between A/V and tuner. Also, like what was mentioned, some TV's have the A/V setting between lowest used channel and the highest used channel.

My Insignia 19" flat screen will revert to standby mode if it does not detect a signal on any input after about five minutes. In the 1980s, I had an Emerson 19" color TV (NTSC) which also would shut itself off after the last TV station in the owner's area signed off. Probably was designed that way for folks who have a habit of falling asleep in front of the set, although that feature wouldn't work today, since almost all TV stations now run 24 hours a day non-stop. One unusual thing about that automatic shutoff feature, on my set anyway, was that the TV would turn itself off at random during severe thunderstorms. The power remained on, but the TV would shut down at the first loud clap of thunder. This was the only TV I ever had which would do that; I've wondered why ever since, although the set is long gone by now.

I will say that given the throwaway society we live in plus the fact that these are not housed in pretty cabinets, these types of TV's will be the hardest to find in 50 years. I don't ever expect to collect these; but, there may be others who do and they are going to have a harder time finding these types of TV's than we are having now finding old stuff.

I don't see why anyone would collect such plastic garbage.. There really isn't any characteristics to these picture tube with black framed sets with small push buttons.. 50 years from now I don't think much any of these will even be around... I even think the old 70s and 80s sets will be around then, even though they are imported sets, they still have neat characteristics to them..

Yes, the chances of an integrated circuit being unobtainable in a set like this are quite good when it fails. And then it's a dead paperweight. I am not trying to collect these tv's but this one was a castaway and it works for free so i picked it up.
I of course tried the channel down and up to find the video inputs...I will use a universal remote I have somewhere to try the SVideo input.

I think that the S-video may be mapped to whatever A/V input it's next to. Seems that may have been the case with my old Sanyo, I never saw an option on the screen for S-video, just Video 1, Video 2 and Component.

Probably true. I had a Sony WEGA that had Svideo attached with one of the composite inputs.

I have a couple of Funai-made sets back home, and you can't get to any of the video inputs without the remote on those.

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The main things that kill IC's in modern electronics are lightning, power surges, etc. I've seen quite a few bad vertical output IC's in TV's and that was mainly due to bad electrolytic capacitors causing the IC to self-destruct.

I was opining on the topic of whether or not the last of the CRT displays will be abundant in 50 years or so. I can vouch for the fact that integrated circuits post-MSI-scale-era rarely fail. But, like you guys have said, the rest of the circuit can fail and supply bad power and/or extraneous noise through one to destroy it. Let's face it; no one really "re-caps" any of these later sets...Yet compared to the 20+ yr. old stuff, the caps can often be worse. Not to mention the quality of solder work.

In many later CRT sets, I've seen the switching power supplies run away with themselves and send hundreds of volts throughout the entire chassis. As you might expect, this isn't too good for sensitive parts such as IC's, the tuner, etc. You'd think that they'd include a fail-safe circuit as part of the power supply; but, most of these later sets were designed and built as cheaply as possible. A few years ago, someone gave me an SPC 13" Orion and that's exactly what happened to it. I don't know why I bothered; but, I actually fixed that set from parts from junk boards. I remember the over-voltage condition wiped out the tuner, the vertical output IC, the horizontal output transistor, some diodes, and some capacitors that had their tops blown out. I think the power supply fault was caused by an open resistor. If I found such a set today with that much damage, it would hit the trash can in short order.

There certainly should be a fail-safe mechanism of action to protect the main actives and constantly monitor the supply voltage and amperage. I suppose the cost of implementing even a basic feedback oscillator on the b+ line would not be worth it to the manufacturer in a SPC set. Yet the V-Chip for censoring content & the other "extra features" are deemed of higher importance in these TVs.

My favorite era was right before OSD became common. They were built to be maintained and repaired if needed.

I guess one can't expect much, when the TV only cost $89 when new.

The "V-chip" was a thorn in my side. More than once, I've gotten TV's where the parental lock would be turned on and the set would not receive certain programs due to their ratings triggering the parental lock.

When I was growing up, my parents were the "V-chip". If they didn't want me watching something; then, I didn't watch it.

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Funny, both of the only two CRTs I bought new were $89 in store, and both were Funai sets.

First was one I bought probably in middle school, a 13" 'Sylvania' from K-Mart.

Second was one I bought in high school sometime, a 23" 'Symphonic' from Wal-Mart.

They've been alright for me, but I've since gotten better used sets for much cheaper prices, and now I'm watching exclusively on those.

Funai reliability reputation...
 

Funai has a good reputation on reliability overall since the last 30 years or so. I wouldn't say very good or excellent, but their products always like to surprise customers how well they hold up despite the lowest prices they offer.

At one time during the 1980s at their highest peak, Funai products scored better in reliability than Hitachi, Sharp, and Sony, according to old Consumer Reports covering televisions and VCRs. They accidentally had problems with their VCRs during the 1990s which caused their reliability scores to plummet at the bottom, but has since gradually recovered back in between by 2000s with the introduction of DVD players, which have a low failure rate.

It's roughly the same as radio collectors actively seeking out those cheap Japanese AA5 radios. Built before the Japanese learned how to do quality.

Turns out that my Funai emerson find needs to have the original remote, jumpered for service duty, in order to adjust grayscale.
Luckily it isn't far off but.. what a shame no one is going to bother to fix one already.