SONY Wega Trinitron TV's...WOW!!!

Back in 2003 I was gonna have back surgery so I wanted a great TV to lay in bed & watch till I recovered. So I went to Sears & Bought a Sony Wega Trinitron 27" flat screen TV.
The next year in 2004 I was so happy with my 27" I bought my daughter a 32" version of the same TV for Christmas & it was just a little newer with a couple different things mine didn't have, but they look exactly alike & man those suckers are heavy.

Well Since owning mine I had always said I defy anyone to try & show me a SD TV with as good of a picture as there is not one as good.

Then the other day I let my sister move in with us & have my bedroom & I would have my bed downstairs with an old JVC 27" in my bedroom as I let my sister use my Sony. So after Directv installed her DVR I hook up her Toshiba DVD/VHS player via component cable. I asked my daughter for one of her DVD's to see if I hooked it up right & she gives me a Simple Life DVD, something I never watched. But when that DVD started playing I was absolutely blown away as I am not exaggerating when I say the DVD looked like it was in HD, & I am picky about my HD picture on my big screen in the living room...THEN the Sony DVD player I bought my daughter for her 15th B-Day comes yesterday & I hook it up the same way & again WOW!!! the pq was stunning as it looked like HD.

Now I have studied HDTV's alot before I bought my 55" Sony & know a little about Blue ray players also, but I am a complete novice about these older Sony Trinitron's & the DVD players.

So I gotta ask, how is that picture when a DVD is played looking so stunning on an SD TV. I know my daughters DVD player has the progressive scan, not sure about my sisters DVD/VHS player.

I knew the PQ was awesome for the TV itself when watching channels, but they did not look like an HD channel like the DVD players look. So I would appreciate any opinions & info as to why the DVD pictures are so stunning.

Thank you:hithere:

I have 3 Sony's...A 20" set bought when Montgomery Ward was still several years away from shutting down, a 32" set when The Appliance Store was a few years from shutting down, (I'm sensing a trend here:haha:), and a 34" wide-screen set purchased 4 1/2 years ago at Circuit City.
All three still play excellent...all three were calibrated using the Avia Guide To Home Theater Set-Up disc, the first two are Trinitron sets, Sony's standard model till the Wega platform superceded it, the last (the 34" wide-screen) IS a Wega model and incorporated in those (Wega) sets is a Digital Reality Creation (DRC) function that "unlike conventional line doublers, the DRC Multifunction feature REPLACES the signal's NTSC waveform with the Hi-Defintion equivalent while doubling the number of vertical AND horizontal lines, this results in four times the density for quality sources such as DVD, satellite and digital camcorders" (taken from the Sony KV-34HS420 instruction manual).
It must work because, as good as the two older models picture is, the Wega displays a noticeably better image.
Using good quality DVD's, such as SuperBit DVD's, the casual viewer would be hardly able to distinguish between a HD-DVD (which I also have) source and the SD-DVD.(I've tested this theory several times with friends), perhaps because the Wega treats the HD signal the same as the SD signal.
I also have a Toshiba 26" (yep, 26") set I bought about 10 years ago (because at that time there were only two sets in that size range that had Component Video inputs, the other being a JVC model which would not fit in my then in use AV cabinet),that was also calibrated using the Avia disc and it can't hold a candle to the Sony's.
Love 'em or hate 'em give Sony their due...they MADE the best CRT televisions for consumer use!

I don't know if I can agree with that because I purchased a 32" Toshiba ID TV in the late 80's and everyone who saw it, even my Trinitron owning friends were in awe of the picture. It still works to this day and the friend who now has it still comments on the spectacular picture.

/2 years ago at Circuit City.
All three still play excellent...all three were calibrated using the Avia Guide To Home Theater Set-Up disc, the first two are Trinitron sets, Sony's standard model till the Wega platform superceded it...

The Sony Wega CRT TVs did not actually supercede the Trinitron TVs. They simply used a more refined Trintron picture tube. They all had the "FD Trinitron" picture tube where FD means Flat Display. Like all Trintron picture tubes that preceded it, the FD Trintron featured Sony's "Aperture Grill" which distinguished the Trinitron tubes from those using "shadow masks".

The ultimate FD Trinitron picture tube was the Superfinepitch HiScan 1080i tube used in the XBR910 models (30" and 34"), the XBR960 (34") and the XS955 series (30", 34" and 36"). The 36" tube was a 4:3 while the others were 16:9. To the dismay of Sony afficionados, the Superfinepitch tube was discontinued and not used in the KD-34XBR970, Sony's last HD CRT model.

maybe after seeing current lcds and the way they handle dvds, you got used to the slight blur and seeing a good crt in action caught your eye.

crt is a beautiful thing!

maybe after seeing current lcds and the way they handle dvds, you got used to the slight blur and seeing a good crt in action caught your eye.

crt is a beautiful thing!

You can say that again!! I look at every flat lcd and they all have this blur to them. Everything looked blended together. A good clear pic on a quality crt to me beats anything else. I stick to what i'm used to.

I have the xbr960 and it still is the best image I've ever seen.

This tv is the standard by which everythign else was measured for good reason.
Unfortunately it weighs around 300 lbs.

Picture quality is without compare.
People don't want CRT's anymore they want "thin". IF the pic doesn't look as good, so be it.

Most people don't know or care. That's another reason blu-ray will probably fail.
The added pic quality just isn't important to most people, that's why Sony canceled CRTs.

If my xbr960 died ( I LOVE this tv) I'd buy an xbr4 lcd. They come closest to matching the 960's image.

I have the xbr960 and it still is the best image I've ever seen.

This tv is the standard by which everythign else was measured for good reason.
Unfortunately it weighs around 300 lbs.

Picture quality is without compare.
People don't want CRT's anymore they want "thin". IF the pic doesn't look as good, so be it.

Most people don't know or care. That's another reason blu-ray will probably fail.
The added pic quality just isn't important to most people, that's why Sony canceled CRTs.

If my xbr960 died ( I LOVE this tv) I'd buy an xbr4 lcd. They come closest to matching the 960's image.
Yeah i know. That's all they think about now. "Flat" Why? We didn't worry about how much room our tv took up years ago. All we wanted was a good set. Who cared about how big it was. Heck, the bigger, the better. If i wanted a picture frame to hang on the wall, then i'll get a picture. Not a tv, i like mine on the floor or table if its a smaller one. I can't get used to this new crap they're pushing. Only way i'd even consider lcd, is if it's a good brand name, One of the top 5 companies. And 2 if it's a 60"+. I like em big but i don't care for the wide as some things don't look right when they are stretched a mile wide.

Well, there's a reason CRT's don't come in sizes above 34-36".

People want the BIGGEST they can fit in their homes. And I'm laughing thinking of lugging a 40" 50" or 60" CRT up flights of stairs. Hell, lugging it 5 feet would break your back.

a 60" crt is impossible. Enter plasma's and lcd's. Picture quality isn't as good (getting better all the time) but they are BIG.
That's the name of the game.

I saw amazon is selling a OLED 11" set for $2500. Eleven inch tv for 2 and a half grand. LOL. I guess CRT's have met their match in picture quality with these things.

That's why blu-ray isn't going to succeed. Not with netflix and cable/satellite HD channels all over the place.
Who's going to buy a blu movie for $30 bucks? The enthusiasts no one else.
There's no reason to.
Can most people tell the difference between cable/satellite HD and blu-ray? No.
And they don't care.

I've seen a few 40" and near 50" tv's and the owners just care how BIG it all is.
I'm afraid to say it, but CRT's are obsolete now. Sony was right to stop making them. They just stopped a couple years too early, but whatever.

My brother in law has a Philips "ambient light" 40"er. The light is annoying on the sides, total fluff feature. But the picture is pretty good, not as good as my 960, but not bad at all.

The xbr4's are amazing. Sony knows how to make a great tv, even if CRT's are gone.
The panasonic Tai or whatever they're called are close to trinitrons but they are better for text.

For the ultra picky (like me) you gotta get a trinitron ; or Bravia nowadays.

Yeah, i was always a Sony fan. I never cared for the Philips/Magnavox line. As far as size, the biggest i ever had was a 60" projection. Just didn't like the resolution back then. I usually keep a 32" or 36" crt around for gaming but right now i just have a couple of 27"s, a 25", 3 13"s a 19" and a 43" projection HD. They're all good and do what i need to do. Everybody's going to this high-def stuff and for the price, i don't see why. I can't bring myself to do it.

I'm a "whatever's best" fan. Sony happens to make the best tv's so that's what I buy.

HDTV 's have become so cheap, it's a no brainer now.
So you don't have an hdtv?

I have an HD projection set but at this point, I have other things to worry about rather than pay around $1000 or more for a good brand that has a good size to it. I don't like the small ones and i don't like the new brands that have merged over the past couple of years. Olevia, Vizio, Insignia are examples. I don't know. I play games more than i watch tv so a good quality crt is fine for me. I've talked with many that feel the same as i do. Especially for the gamers that re still into things like the old Atari games. Just seems more natural on an older set. Besides they don't look right on the new ones. My biggest complaint is Why buy a new one when i can watch the same show on mine as another guy who has a new one that he may have spent alot of money on, and still both get to see the show. I see the same thing he sees. Just seems like a waste of money. Perhaps a fad or fashion. Eventually it'll change again.

Ya man, I hear ya about all that. In these tough economic times it seems like a waste to spend a grand or 2 on a freakin' tv. I know.

Do you own a xbox 360, or ps3? I can tell ya, we went over to my brother in laws house and he was playing the first Gears of war on an analog 32" trinitron Sony. Now when I bought that tv for my sister for christmas she was almost giddy! lol But Gears of war looked TERRIBLE on that analog set.
So i can tell you if u game using the 360 or ps3, save up the dough and spring for a hdtv.

As far as tv goes, I hear ya that it's still the same show on analog.
Once you see a bravia or other high end tv in the showrooms the HD bug bites, big time.
If you don't wanna buy an hdtv yet, don't go to a tv showroom! :lol:
You'll regret it. :D

Stay away from new brands like what you mentioned.
Go with a Sony or again those philips ambiant light sets.
If you buy an hdtv, don't skimp. Not all hd is the same.

You'll be seeing some major deals this christmas I'd guess.
Sony wants to clean out their inventories of ps3's and hdtvs.

Well as far as hd being a fad or whatever. It will be a LONG time before the current specs go away. 1080p is here to stay.
The OLED technology is big time. Super expensive now but keep your eye on it.

Again, tv shows looks similar on analog vs digital. But for new games, they are made for hdtvs.

No i have everything but the last 3 systems released, being ps3, wii, 360. I have everything else. Turbo Duo, atari, nes, snes, xbox, Ps2, Sega etc. Eventually, i may move up only for the ps3 and others but it'll be a big one. Probably around 60" wide

From my own experience I can tell you that xbox 1 games will look much better on a good hdtv then on a trinitron analog tube.

If there's an option of buying now, wait for a christmas tv/ps3 deal from Sony.

But I gotta tell ya, the 360 is kicking A$$ right now. So many great games and this is coming from a guy who's into old school stuff too.

I really think the 360 is the better system right now. Unless youre into Sony's exclusives.

You can always haggle with the dealer to bring the price down more, too.
I got my tv for 500 off and I got a $350 tv stand for free because the 960 was the last one in the store. I was just lucky, tho.

If you wanna spring for a hdtv before the years out, there will be plenty of sales.


The time when lcd's and plama's looked not nearly as good as crt's is over now.
It's that old "buy now or wait for the prices to come down even more" argument.

I'm a "whatever's best" fan. Sony happens to make the best tv's so that's what I buy.

HDTV 's have become so cheap, it's a no brainer now.
So you don't have an hdtv?

Sony USED TO make the best TV's. That is not the case now as several others make comparable TV's if not better.

Fine. I think he got my point.

Sony USED TO make the best TV's. That is not the case now as several others make comparable TV's if not better.

BS! Sony commands the PQ in all tv formats, with Tosh at a close 2nd. Proof? go head to head (next to each other) and there is a definate/clear PQ ability with Sony. Not a Sony fan. But, go to any TV station, and in thier boards you will see ONLY Sony moniters.
there is a reason for that. Other Manufactures are closing in, but yet to match PQ/performance/and overall viewing satisfaction.

I have the xbr960 and it still is the best image I've ever seen.

This tv is the standard by which everythign else was measured for good reason.
Unfortunately it weighs around 300 lbs.

Picture quality is without compare.
People don't want CRT's anymore they want "thin". IF the pic doesn't look as good, so be it.

Most people don't know or care. That's another reason blu-ray will probably fail.
The added pic quality just isn't important to most people, that's why Sony canceled CRTs.

If my xbr960 died ( I LOVE this tv) I'd buy an xbr4 lcd. They come closest to matching the 960's image.
You ain't never lied. It doesn't quite weigh 300. But it's a heavy mofo. Give you a hernia quicker than you can say ouch.:lol:

BS! Sony commands the PQ in all tv formats, with Tosh at a close 2nd. Proof? go head to head (next to each other) and there is a definate/clear PQ ability with Sony. Not a Sony fan. But, go to any TV station, and in thier boards you will see ONLY Sony moniters.
there is a reason for that. Other Manufactures are closing in, but yet to match PQ/performance/and overall viewing satisfaction.
No Toshiba ever came close to the 960 no matter what Loveswatch says.

I've not seen a Toshiba match the PQ of the 960 just from what I've seen.

The only thing that ever came close was an XBR4 lcd. THAT image was impressive.

Panasonics are VERY close, too.
It seemed to me as far as CRT's went, (they're all gone now) the sony's had the most natural PQ. And believe me I studied them closely before buying.

I'm glad you members love Sony so much but hey, take a break from your soapboxes and open your eyes to the rest of the world. You will be amazed at what is out there.

Don't know about the rest of you but I test/compare/review these things (TV's, receivers) for a living therefore I have documented proof of my evaluations.

Sharp, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba all make very good LCD Panels. Pioneer, Panasonic and Samsung all make very good plasma TV's. The choice is up to the purchaser but there is no one best TV and Sony does have comparable and sometimes better competition.

To each his/her own.