Can We Use Our Old CRT TV Still Today?

In recent times, with the hands of advanced science & technology, television technology has taken a huge leap of improvement in terms of TV size, aspect ratio, resolution, broadcasting technology, and every other thing that is related to televisions. Now, here comes a very interesting question that some of my readers often ask which is about CRT TVs aka CRT ( cathode-ray tube ) Televisions. The question is; can we use our old CRT analog televisions still today? Or should they better be recycled? So, without further ado, let’s discuss this interesting topic in this article.

History, Blended with Science & Technology!

A couple of decades ago, there were the antennas that we had to place on our rooftops in order to capture the broadcasting signals for those CRT televisions. The antennas were huge in size and heavy in weight. Matter of fact, it had to be set in the right direction so that it can catch the broadcasting signals for the TV. But, those old antennas were fully different from today’s dish antennas.

Old television antennas were not connected with satellites, unlike the dish antennas which are obviously connected. In CRT TVs, we needed to use amplitude modulation for video, and for audio, we had to use frequency modulation. Actually, at that time, TV broadcasting was based on analog signals and the video quality was very poor but the nearby areas of the location of TV broadcasting got somewhat better quality. At that time, most of the televisions were black & white and color TVs were very rare so, in those black & white TVs, we could not understand the noise or disturbances of the picture quality. Then there comes the cable TV and then comes D2H.

Now, the picture quality or the video quality has become so sharp that it looks like we are using a local device like Pen drive or DVD. From cable TV to D2H, every type of modern TV works on digital broadcasting whereas old CRT TVs worked on analog broadcasting. Therefore, it’s pretty natural to know that analog broadcasting has almost come to an end.

No equipment of modern TVs such as satellite boxes, cable TV boxes, etc. works on analog broadcasting. They only need digital broadcasting to work but if you think that this modern equipment cannot work with old CRT TVs then you’re probably wrong.

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How to Run A CRT TV Using Modern Equipment!

In old CRT TVs, we found RF input along with AV inputs. In terms of AV input some TVs were three ports; the yellow for the video and the red port & the white port for the audio whereas in some TVs, there were two; the yellow for the video and the black for the audio.

Surprisingly, in modern TV equipment like satellite box or cable TV box, there are also AV outputs and if you connect it with the RCA jacks of your old CRT TV, it will start working! Yes, it will really start working! Or, if you have a very old TV that has no AV input option then you can purchase an AV to RF converter in order to run your CRT TV.

However, it’s proven now that you can use your old CRT TV but there will be some irritating problems that you will definitely face while watching & using this TV. Let’s discuss them one by one.

Cutting Down of The Aspect Ratio Is No Joke!

You probably know that the aspect ratio of the modern TVs is 16:9 so the videos that are broadcasted also come with the same ratio. On the other hand, the old CRT TVs possess the aspect ratio of 4:3 so, if you use this TV today by connecting the modern equipment, the video will be cropped into the same 4:3 ratio and you will not be able to watch the both side of the video.

In short, your CRT TV will not show you the full screen of the video due to its different aspect ratio. When you start watching your old TV, you will be irritated soon by the cropped video. This cutting down of the aspect ratio is a frustrating problem that you have to face if you use your CRT TV today.

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Naturally Decreased Video Quality Is Ignorable!

Your CRT TV is definitely not going to win against modern TVs in terms of picture quality. Modern TVs possess much better video quality or picture quality that comes with huge resolutions like minimum 720p and then 1080p and the number goes on & on.

Whereas, old CRT TVs possess very low picture quality with the maximum resolution of 720×576 or 720×480 depending upon the TV. Now, if you starting watching a CRT TV today, you will not like that much because of the low picture quality although it’s totally dependent on the user whether he/she likes to watch on this TV or not. That’s why this problem of using CRT TV in the present day is kind of ignorable.

Power Consumption Will Be at Its Peak!

This is indeed the biggest disadvantage of using CRT TV today. CRT TVs consume way more electric power in compared to modern TVs. Those old televisions consume more than 100 watts of power whereas our modern TVs consume 50 watts or maximum 70 watts of power though if the TV is large in size such as 55 inch or 65 inch then the power consumption will increase to 100 watts & beyond that. But, a average size modern television obviously consume less power than the old CRT TVs. So, if you are thinking of using your old CRT TV then you must be ready for the huge electricity bill.

To Sum up this Topic…

Therefore, the bottom line is, you can actually use your old CRT TV still today by using modern equipment but you have to face some problems that are somewhat ignorable although I think using CRT TV in the present-day is a kind of stupidity. Moreover, you cannot use blue-ray player or PS4 in your CRT TV as both of them work on HDMI and if you are thinking that purchasing a HDMI to AV converter will solve this problem then you are most probably wrong because most of the time, this converter will not work and if it will somehow start work, still the video quality will be disgusting.

So, you should not try this. Lastly, we hope you have understood all about CRT TVs and the problems that you will face if you use this in the present time. If this article really has helped you to clear your queries & confusion regarding CRT TVs then don’t hesitate to express your valuable thoughts in the comment section. Thanks for visiting and appreciating my work.