Ten years ago, when LCD TVs first made their grand appearance in Singapore, many people rushed to throw away their still-good CRT TVs, and replaced them with LCD TVs.
My family resisted that urge.
Today, even after more than ten years since the debut of the LCD TV in Singapore, my family is still using a CRT TV to watch television.
Did you know that the majority of households in Japan still use a CRT TV? It's true. They don't have the Singaporean mentality to throw out a perfectly working CRT TV just because they want to keep up with the Joneses.
A market auntie who often bumps into my mother every morning once told my mother that she was very angry with her eldest daughter. Why? Because her daughter threw away the family's perfectly working CRT TV and replaced it with a newly bought LCD TV. Her mother was not happy at all. In fact, the old woman was very angry. She said that their family's CRT TV was still perfectly fine, why must buy a new TV and throw away the old one?
I agree with the old woman.
Actually, more than 90% of Singaporeans use their TVs solely for watching broadcast channels. And as you will realise by now, despite the supposed 'widespread' take-up of LCD TVs, many Hong Kong/Korean/Taiwanese drama serials are still filmed in the 4:3 aspect ratio. In other words, the TV programmes that your elderly folks most like to watch, are still mostly in the 4:3 aspect ratio.
Besides, no matter which way you slice the cake, a CRT TV will always emerge the winner in terms of durability and robustness. My family's CRT TV is almost twenty years old, and yet the skin-tone colour reproduction of the Taiwanese drama serial 'Ye shi ren shen' on Ch 8 can beat any LED TV hands down in terms of natural colour/colour warmth/skin-tone clarity/detail, and colour graduation.
After reading all the posts in this thread, I feel that my family made a very wise decision ten years ago not to make the switch to LCD/LED TV.
My parents feel that a CRT TV is more durable and, more importantly, displays Ch 8 Taiwanese drama serials in more natural colours/greater clarity than any LCD/LED TV out there. I agree with them. Also, it is more durable than a LCD/LED TV.
Perhaps we will make the switch to LED TV one day when we have no choice(when we cannot find anyone to repair the CRT TV when it breaks down, or when the TV broadcast test signal is finally in the 16:9 aspect ratio), but until that day comes, we are happy to avoid all the unnecessary hassles and frustrations that seem to be so common with LCD/LED TVs nowadays.
Truth be told, I think the LCD/LED TV is overrated. We knew from day one that a LCD/LED TV will never be as robust/durable as a CRT TV.
ya... Anyway to add on to this list of samsung tv problems would be panel quality problems for un60F7100 as articulated in my separate thread.
