Best color CRT? - Videokarma.org TV - Video

heathkit tv · #1 01-11-2011, 12:07 PM

Sorry if this has already been hashed out but I'm curious as to what most feel to be the best color tube. Guess it pretty much boils down to a discussion between RCA/Zenith and Sony.

When I say "best" I mean best picture and not necessarily most durable. Obviously the chassis directly impacts the quality of the picture, but realizing that many sets have had different brand tubes installed in them (except for Trinitrons) I was hoping that others could offer their opinions on this. What sayeth youse?

radiotvnut · #2 01-11-2011, 01:21 PM

The Sylvania black faced delta gun CRT's of the '70's looked the best; but, they usually didn't last long. I have such a set that's going to be getting a Zenith CCII tube when the weather warms up.

RCA tubes from the early-to-mid '70's also looked nice and they would usually rejuvenate OK when weak. By the late '70's, RCA tubes suffered from quality issues and didn't last long. They got their act together by the early '80's and their inline tubes from that era looked nice and usually lasted a long time.

Zenith delta gun tubes from the '70's looked great and they held up better than most anything else.

The Sony Trinitron tubes looked good; but, some models tended to lose emission and they don't rejuvenate well. I've had several late '70's-early '80's Trinitrons where the green gun would be strong, while the red and blue would be dead.

So, if I were to pick a CRT based on it's overall picture quality and longevity, I'd go with a '70's Zenith delta gun CCII crt.

sampson159 · #3 01-11-2011, 03:24 PM

i agree 100 per cent.the 25vdmp sylvania was the best looking crt ever,they had a short life though.the zenith chromacolor tubes were almost as good but held up much longer.i have a zenith chromacolor set now that has a 25vdmp22 in it.the picture is amazing.the sams states it was an option back in 1976.great set.the rca tubes from the early 70s seemed to take a jolt much better than others.just remember,zenith made the first black matrix picture tube.sylvania probably built it for them.regardless,these delta guns were the absolute best

Electrohome · #4 01-11-2011, 03:32 PM

Zenith introduced the first black-matrix CRTs in 1969 with their first Chromacolor sets for the 1969-70 model years for TV sets. Zenith would then set the standard for many years to come when it came to color CRTs. The first black-matrix CRTs were detla-gun tubes with black-matrix inline CRTs coming on the scene in about 1974-75. The Toshiba Blackstripe CRT is a well-known early black matrix inline CRT.

heathkit tv · #5 01-11-2011, 04:21 PM

Thanks for the replies. Mention of Sylvania surprised me but hearing good things about the Zeniths confirmed my thoughts. Guess CCII's are the vintage video equivalent of a mid 70's Marantz stereo

*zenithfan1* · #6 01-14-2011, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heathkit tv

Thanks for the replies. Mention of Sylvania surprised me but hearing good things about the Zeniths confirmed my thoughts. Guess CCII's are the vintage video equivalent of a mid 70's Marantz stereo

Or a Sansui

Telecolor 3007 · #7 01-15-2011, 05:21 PM

"Philips/Valvo". I heard that the '70's one lasted 20-30 yrs.
I heared that "Sony" <<Trinitron>> picture tubes had problems in the '80's. But in the '90's they where good. I've seen some 1990-1994 "Sony" tv's still in use.
I think "Hitachi" made good pictures tube too. I have an "Hitachi" tv made in september of 1988, the picture tube is weak, but still working.

Kiwick · #8 01-16-2011, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Telecolor 3007

"Philips/Valvo". I heard that the '70's one lasted 20-30 yrs.
I heared that "Sony" <<Trinitron>> picture tubes had problems in the '80's. But in the '90's they where good. I've seen some 1990-1994 "Sony" tv's still in use.
I think "Hitachi" made good pictures tube too. I have an "Hitachi" tv made in september of 1988, the picture tube is weak, but still working.

The Philips 20AX Inline CRT made from 1974 to about 1980 is one of the best color CRTs ever made,

I once had some old scrapped railway station monitors fitted with 20AX CRTs, they worked 24/7 for 25+ years, the screens were horribly burnt by the static characters yet the guns still had plenty of emissions left.

Trinitrons CRTs are rarely durable, i've seen many weak trinitrons from any decade, the only ones that seems to hold up pretty good are the small early 70s ones.

Early 80s Hitachis were the worst crap of their days IMHO!!

kx250rider · #9 01-12-2011, 12:45 PM

The Sylvania 23VCGP22 and 25VDMP22... Black face/black matrix, and didn't have a non-glare lens to blur the detail. Second would be the Zenith Chromacolor 19VDZP22 (factory issue in 19" 4-tube hybrid and delta gun Chro II models). For roundies, the HR19VGUP22 (military-spec 21FJ).

Charles

DaveWM · #10 01-12-2011, 01:04 PM

I have a Sylania 25VDMP22, and agree, its great! I was messing about with a OTA color bar dipplay and was impressed by how nice the color looks, and has the best yellow that I have seen.

colorfixer · #11 01-13-2011, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kx250rider

For roundies, the HR19VGUP22 (military-spec 21FJ).

Charles

Is this tube medium resolution or does it have the same dot pitch as the 21FJ?

kx250rider · #12 01-14-2011, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colorfixer

Is this tube medium resolution or does it have the same dot pitch as the 21FJ?

That's a good question, and I don't know... The "HR" at the beginning, if I"m correct, means High Res., but that's subjective of course. There's very little data on it. I got mine from Boeing, and it appears to have the same size dots as the 21FJ. But it sure has a great picture, and was the easiest roundie (out of thousands literally) that I've done a setup on in the last 35 years. It almost converged itself, LOL.

Charles

colorfixer · #13 01-16-2011, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kx250rider

But it sure has a great picture, and was the easiest roundie (out of thousands literally) that I've done a setup on in the last 35 years. It almost converged itself, LOL.

Charles

That the tube was simple to converge would make sense, since they probably cherry picked the best of the best tubes to meet whatever specs that the military set for these.

Most of the setup procedures and issues with color tubes is based on manufacturing tolerances. If it were only possible to re-jig these once they were under vacuum.

ctc17 · #14 01-12-2011, 01:34 PM

As far as life goes the zenith and rca tubes hold up very well. The majority of those sylvanias test dead and are very dim.
We have an 84 Mitsubishi monitor thats very impressive when it comes to picture quality and life. Its used daily and tests like new still. Not sure who made the crt.

waltchan · #15 01-16-2011, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctc17

We have an 84 Mitsubishi monitor thats very impressive when it comes to picture quality and life. Its used daily and tests like new still. Not sure who made the crt.

CRT screen was made by Mitsubishi also. Mitsubishi made everything. Mitsubishi was the most reliable TV brand during the early 80s, according to the vintage Consumer Reports. It stopped becoming #1 beginning in 1986, and the new #1 was awarded to Panasonic, which it retained its #1, most reliable rating for 15 consecutive years, until it was dethroned by Sanyo beginning in 2001.