I didn’t plan to buy a CRT. They are overpriced nowadays, since everyone is into retrogaming it seems, and nobody produce them anymore, and they degrade with time. Limited supply, growing demand.
They are also very heavy and bulky, and most sellers refuse to ship them, or the shipping can be while not astronomical, quite significant.
So I noticed someone was selling Toshiba CRT in my neighborhood, which they obviously used for retrogaming. That seller disappeared, but the thought stuck with me.
First, I started looking for a similar Toshiba, or a Panasonic. Then, a wild Trinitron appeared nearby.
Now, the thing with Sony Trinitrons is that they’re supposed to be unique among CRTs. Most CRTs are curved both horizontally and vertically, like a bulb, which they are. But Trinitrons are curved only horizontally, like a cylinder. Also, most CRTs use a slot mask, which gives almost honeycomb like pattern. While Trinitrons have more of a grid like pattern.
Unexpected benefit of buying a UK CRT is that it almost always has RGB SCART port, that offers the best quality. While US CRT owners sometimes have to mod them to get one.
In any case, I found myself in the afternoon in Catford, by a row of brick houses. The guy, Elliot, has 3 CRTs, including a 21″ Sony and a Panasonic, and he seemed to be a genuine retrogamer: with a modded PS2 and a RGB cable. He even said that he calibrated the TV himself.
Carrying CRT on a bus isn’t easy, even if it’s “only” 14″. It’s the way the weight is spread, very forward. But I managed.
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