TV questions, current options?

[K Frame]

A friend's first HDTV was one of the HUGE console projectors from the early days of the HD market.

He upgraded to a more modern flat panel and found some sucker... er... enthusiast to buy it. I helped get it into the van so he could deliver it. Even though it broke down into multiple pieces it was unbelievably heavy.

Now a 72" OLED model weighs about half of what my 32" CRT weighs.

It's amazing.

[Brad Johnson]

Speaking of rear-projection consoles. People around these parts are literally giving them away just to get them hauled off for free. Good source of amazingly precise optics, excellent quality mirrors, and HUGE Fresnel lenses.

Brad

[HankB]

Speaking of rear-projection consoles. People around these parts are literally giving them away just to get them hauled off for free. Good source of amazingly precise optics, excellent quality mirrors, and HUGE Fresnel lenses.

Brad

And there's a good chance the molded rear projection lenses were Made In USA by a company in Cincinnati, US Precision Lens. Corning acquired the company, and then sold it for a HUGE amount of money to 3M (the suckers) which ultimately decommissioned the factory and laid off its 1800 or so workers. I had a chance to go through it - VERY impressive, but oriented almost entirely towards projection optics and made obsolete by plasma and LCD flat panels.

As for weight of older TVs . . . the reason I bought my 65" TV at Best Buy was their very cheap haul-away policy - $10 to take away and dispose of my old 36" Toshiba CRT, all 172 pounds of it.

[RoadKingLarry]

Also, RoadKingLarry, do be careful.  I remember how heavy my 32" TV was from some years back.  Don't hurt yourself. 

Also, I recall stores like Best Buy will recycle the old TV if you need to get rid of it.  They did not require a purchase when I got rid of mine.

My I finally get around to replacing it my son is going to take it. He wants it to use on his old game systems.
My issues are due to compatibility issues with  current input devices.

[Ben]

On the stands, you can still find decent stands even for larger TVs.  I got this one at Home Despot for my 55":

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Walker-Edison-Furniture-Company-58-in-Barn-Door-TV-Stand-with-Side-Doors-Grey-Wash-HD58BDSDGW/301999979

It will easily take a 65" as well. I know wall mounting is the in thing now, but I still like a stand/entertainment center. I have to have something for DVDs, blue ray players, Rokus, etc., so I figure I might as well use it for the TV too. Plus I like eye level or slightly above eye level viewing. I see a lot of wall mounts put TVs way up high.

[Brad Johnson]

My issues are due to compatibility issues with  current input devices.

RCA to HDMI converter, perhaps?

https://www.amazon.com/Converter-Amtake-Composite-Adapter-Supporting/dp/B07MJTR9KS/ref=asc_df_B07MJTR9KS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309750549985&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5958279645249023782&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1026578&hvtargid=pla-662235628062&psc=1

Brad

[Ben]

RCA to HDMI converter, perhaps?

https://www.amazon.com/Converter-Amtake-Composite-Adapter-Supporting/dp/B07MJTR9KS/ref=asc_df_B07MJTR9KS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309750549985&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5958279645249023782&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1026578&hvtargid=pla-662235628062&psc=1

Brad

I went through this with my dad and his new TV plus old headphones.  I got a similar one that also does the optical conversion. Works well.

[RoadKingLarry]

RCA to HDMI converter, perhaps?

https://www.amazon.com/Converter-Amtake-Composite-Adapter-Supporting/dp/B07MJTR9KS/ref=asc_df_B07MJTR9KS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309750549985&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5958279645249023782&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1026578&hvtargid=pla-662235628062&psc=1

Brad

I could go that route and other band aid fixes but there are other things. Broadcast image is no longer formatted for a mostly square screen, and I'm losing things like news crawls and subtitles. It's just time.

[Ben]

I could go that route and other band aid fixes but there are other things. Broadcast image is no longer formatted for a mostly square screen, and I'm losing things like news crawls and subtitles. It's just time.

Nevermind on my reply.  I thought you were looking for backward compatibility.

[RoadKingLarry]

That's alright, I'm just trying to crawl into the 21st century with the rest of the cool kids.

[230RN]

"As for weight of older TVs . . . the reason I bought my 65" TV at Best Buy was their very cheap haul-away policy - $10 to take away and dispose of my old 36" Toshiba CRT, all 172 pounds of it. "

Thank you, I wasn't aware of that.  I've got an old CRT TV which is a bit of a disposal problem.

[HankB]

On the stands, you can still find decent stands even for larger TVs.  I got this one at Home Despot for my 55":

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Walker-Edison-Furniture-Company-58-in-Barn-Door-TV-Stand-with-Side-Doors-Grey-Wash-HD58BDSDGW/301999979

It will easily take a 65" as well. I know wall mounting is the in thing now, but I still like a stand/entertainment center. I have to have something for DVDs, blue ray players, Rokus, etc., so I figure I might as well use it for the TV too. Plus I like eye level or slightly above eye level viewing. I see a lot of wall mounts put TVs way up high.

There are some TV stands that have a metal bar or lattice on the back extending upwards which could be used to secure a large flat panel TV - here's one example, athough it's from a pricey source:

https://www.skandinaviatexas.com/tv-cabinets/product/576-arena-9970-tv-mount

Since most manufacturers suggest securing a big TV from the back to the wall with a cable or some other method, I figure anyone who's at least halfway handy could probably put together a simple brace on the back of a TV cabinet which would accomplish the same purpose.

[K Frame]

I visited Castle Key over the weekend and one of the projects was to get and mount a TV in the guest suite.

He ended up picking this one -- https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-50-class-led-7-series-2160p-smart-4k-uhd-tv-with-hdr/6323733.p?skuId=6323733

Not nearly as nice as the Q90 that he has for the primary TV, but man, what a really nice TV.

I streamed a couple of episodes of Magnum PI while I was there and it was actually kind of disconcerting how clear the picture was. You expect old TV shows like that to be the old CRTV quality, and they were not. Some of the scenes were so clear that they actually seemed 3D.

The incredible thing is it was $400 and change for a 50" TV. That's just freaking mind boggling to me.

I have a really nice Samsung 40", but I got it in 2008. IIRC I paid about $1500 for it.

The picture is nice, but it absolutely pales in comparison to the $400 one I linked above.

I'm seriously considering upgrading my TV. I may wait until the after Christmas sales.

[Brad Johnson]

Looking at displays for conference rooms and see that, as of today, there are several 80"+ 4K name-brand displays going for under $2500. Even the Samsung QLED and Sony XBR, both of which are astonishing, can be had for $2997 on Amazon.

Brad

[MechAg94]

Looking at displays for conference rooms and see that, as of today, there are several 80"+ 4K name-brand displays going for under $2500. Even the Samsung QLED and Sony XBR, both of which are astonishing, can be had for $2997 on Amazon.

Brad

We didn't go that big, but our conference room at work has a big screen TV with an HDMI cable run to the conference room table.  It was cheaper than a projector and most laptops have an HDMI port.  Probably cheaper to replace if there is a problem later.

[BobR]

"As for weight of older TVs . . . the reason I bought my 65" TV at Best Buy was their very cheap haul-away policy - $10 to take away and dispose of my old 36" Toshiba CRT, all 172 pounds of it. "

Thank you, I wasn't aware of that.  I've got an old CRT TV which is a bit of a disposal problem.

The local Goodwill here takes in electronics for recycling. They took my last CRT about a year ago. There's gold in those things. I imagine a bunch of otherwise unemployables sitting around with a hammer and pliers dismantling these things to the components.

bob

[RoadKingLarry]

I visited Castle Key over the weekend and one of the projects was to get and mount a TV in the guest suite.

He ended up picking this one -- https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-50-class-led-7-series-2160p-smart-4k-uhd-tv-with-hdr/6323733.p?skuId=6323733

Not nearly as nice as the Q90 that he has for the primary TV, but man, what a really nice TV.

I streamed a couple of episodes of Magnum PI while I was there and it was actually kind of disconcerting how clear the picture was. You expect old TV shows like that to be the old CRTV quality, and they were not. Some of the scenes were so clear that they actually seemed 3D.

The incredible thing is it was $400 and change for a 50" TV. That's just freaking mind boggling to me.

I have a really nice Samsung 40", but I got it in 2008. IIRC I paid about $1500 for it.

The picture is nice, but it absolutely pales in comparison to the $400 one I linked above.

I'm seriously considering upgrading my TV. I may wait until the after Christmas sales.

That's the one I'm probably going to get. The wife still has to figure out what the hell she is going to do with the old furniture.