The best solid state color TVs ever made

[JohnCT]

Originally Posted by Tube TV

Without a doubt one of these RCA's



I have one that I picked up used for $3 at a thrift shop back in 2002. I estimate that It's ran at least 70,000 hours as a surveillance monitor from 2007 to 2018 till it was having something arcing in the HV when it's cold and first startup in the morning.

It still works and outside of a bit of burn in the picture is still sharp as a tack and the colors are bright and dead on accurate. I've still have to track the arcing down and correct it.

Looks like the venerable CTC107/8/9 series. And you're correct - other than the early 1981 run where they had a lot of flybacks fail, your example was not an aberration. They were a simple and low cost design, but they could run up ridiculous hours without breaking a sweat. When I was selling new TVs in the 1980s, one of the ways I was able to get sales was to give a three year parts and labor warranty with every new TV. Up until the CTC140 (a great performer) came out, I never had to repair a single one of those.

John