I'm witnessing the death of my Trinitron...

[lynnb]

A sad day today - my beloved Sony Trinitron monitor appears to be in her final death throes. We have been very close ever since we first met, on a lovely summer day in February 2003 - I was taken with her beauty from the moment I first set eyes on her. She has been there for me in sickness and in health, and together we have shared many joys and seen many beautiful things. (And lots of my cr*p photos, but she is too polite to mention those in company).

It is sad to see her fading now, in her flickering last day, heavy blue bands across her lovely face. I almost cannot bear to watch these final moments, as her light fades. Very soon she will be gone forever.

Farewell, CPD-G420. It's been good having you around to share the joys and sorrows of my photographic journey.

Now I must find another companion...

 

[raid]

Can she be repaired with some SONY Botox, Lynn? Our Sony TV had these bands after two years of use. It took $160 for a repair. They replaced five diodes or something like that. Three years later, the TV works very well.

 

[lynnb]

I'm not sure a repair would be worthwhile on an 11 year old CRT, Raid. Sad, because she has been very accurate. However the latest NEC might tempt me (an Eizo being beyond my reach). Power consumption on a new LED screen will be significantly lower than her ~130 watts.

 

[raid]

Most likely, your monitor needs to be buried. I am sorry for your loss. May the Trintron be in SONY Heaven .....

 

[zauhar]

Lynn, I too have a beloved Sony trinitron, in this case a TV. I think it is 1993 vintage. Has the best picture of any TV before or since. Of course 'best' brings to mind those discussions of lens rendering that are so popular here.

It has been relegated to the attic since we got the gift one Xmas of a large screen LCD, but I bet it still works!

Randy

 

[raid]

We used to have a large Trinitron. Nobody wanted it, so it was trashed. It had the best colors.

 

[bonatto]

I had a Trinitron computer monitor. I never got used to the flickering, but the colors were indeed ahead of anything else we had at the time.

As for a replacement, I know Dell and Ben Q make very nice graphics oriented monitors.

 

[lynnb]

I've been reading up on monitors tonight here. I think the NEC PA242W looks like the best compromise for a tight budget. My Sony was AUD$850 eleven years ago. The NEC only draws 53W against the Sony's 130W (not that that's a major factor; accuracy is much more important).

 

[raid]

I did not know that such monitors can be so expensive. I have regular Dell monitors. Next time around, I will take into account imaging.

 

[lynnb]

I noticed a big difference to my processing and print quality once I bought a quality monitor. It's something you use every day, so it's worth buying quality. I have a cheap secondary monitor to display my toolbars (the desktop is spread across both monitors). The difference between the displays is VERY noticeable. The cheap one blocks up the shadows, clips the highlights and the colour gamut and accuracy are terrible (even after calibration). Good enough for toolbars, though.

 

[pete hogan]

I wonder if a particular model of monitor is considered the best for B&W images, specifically?

 

[filmtwit]

This reminds me, I haven't seen a CRT in 6 years.

 

[lynnb]

I can offer you a non-working one tomorrow 🙂

 

[filmtwit]

Shipping would kill me.
😎

I can offer you a non-working one tomorrow 🙂

 

[Sparrow]

Trinitron? wonderful film ... Jeff Bridges was it? and those luminous-frisbees

 

[randolph45]

alias I knew her well

alias I knew her well

Bought my first Sony crt telly in a blue mood and she lived 25 yrs . Replaced with a 32 in Sony XBR lcd. I did have a nice Cornerstone 21 in monitor but it finally died too. The beast weighed 70 lbs

 

[raid]

I noticed a big difference to my processing and print quality once I bought a quality monitor. It's something you use every day, so it's worth buying quality. I have a cheap secondary monitor to display my toolbars (the desktop is spread across both monitors). The difference between the displays is VERY noticeable. The cheap one blocks up the shadows, clips the highlights and the colour gamut and accuracy are terrible (even after calibration). Good enough for toolbars, though.

I had money from a grant to buy a new computer with two monitors (then). In my next grant, I will get a better monitor then.

 

[lynnb]

Percussive Maintenance Breakthrough!

Perhaps my earlier report of the death of my Sony Trinitron has been greatly exaggerated.

In frustration at the broad, flickering blue bands across the screen and the irregular instability in the image, I gave the monitor a good whack across the chops (side of the housing) - and lo! She is back to her well-behaved self, with a sweet, colour-balanced, evenly illuminated demeanour!

Could this be salvation?

 

[nikon_sam]

My first TV was a Sony Trinitron...I bought it new in 1983. My buddy said it was the best TV ever made...I finally got rid of it a few years ago and it still worked perfectly and never spent a day in the shop...

 

[Tony Whitney]

Those old Sonys were wonderful and very expensive when they first appeared. Technology changes so fast, though, and you could put a fully functional Trinitron out on the sidewalk now with a "free" sign on it and it'd still be there a couple of weeks later. Not good news, I'm afraid. You only have to check what Costco is selling huge TV monitors for and you'll realize why the old CRT units are more or less worthless.