• @RightHandOfIkaros
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    6 months ago

    People did care, which is why people who played games competitively continued to use CRT monitors well into the crappy LCD days.

    Heck, some people still use CRTs. There’s not too much wrong with them other than being big, heavy, and not being able to display 4k or typically beeing only 4:3.

    • Julian
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      986 months ago

      Idk if it’s just me but I have pretty good hearing, so I can hear the high pitch tone CRTs make and it drives me crazy.

      • @RightHandOfIkaros
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        416 months ago

        This only happens with TVs or very low quality monitors. The flyback transformer vibrates at a frequency of ~15.7k Hz which is audible to the human ear. However, most PC CRT monitors have a flyback transformer that vibrates at ~32k Hz, which is beyond the human hearing range. So if you are hearing the high frequency noise some CRTs make, it is most likely not coming from a PC monitor.

        Its a sound thats a part of the experience, and your brain tunes it out pretty quickly after repeated exposure to it. If the TV is playing sound such as game audio or music it becomes almost undetectable. Unless there is a problem with the flyback transformer circuit, which causes the volume to be higher than its supposed to be.

        • @systemglitch
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          6 months ago

          There is not one crt I ever encountered that I couldn’t hear. So I’m having trouble believing you information.

          I could time it out most of the time, but it was always there.

          • @RightHandOfIkaros
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            6 months ago

            https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyback_transformer

            Under “Operation and Usage”:

            In television sets, this high frequency is about 15 kilohertz (15.625 kHz for PAL, 15.734 kHz for NTSC), and vibrations from the transformer core caused by magnetostriction can often be heard as a high-pitched whine. In CRT-based computer displays, the frequency can vary over a wide range, from about 30 kHz to 150 kHz.

            If you are hearing the sound, its either a TV or a very low quality monitor. Human hearing in perfect lab conditions can only go up to about 28kHz, and anything higher is not able to be heard by the human ear.

            Either that or you’re a mutant with super ears and the US military will definitely be looking for you to experiment on.

            • @errer
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              146 months ago

              I’ll defend this guy: there can easily be a harmonic at half the flyback frequency that is audible. It’s lower amplitude so less loud, but I could believe someone being able to hear that.

              • @RightHandOfIkaros
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                6 months ago

                Yes, as I previously stated, if there is a problem with the flyback transformer circuit, it is possible that the frequency or volume of the noise it generates can become increased or different.

                Though again, PC monitors never made an audible noise unless they were low quality and used the cheaper 15.7kHz transformer in their construction.

                Other noises associated with CRTs are the degaussing noise, which only happens once usually after turning on the CRT or after pressing the degauss button, or the sound of old IDE hard disks spinning, which also make a constant high frequency noise.

                • @errer
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                  6 months ago

                  Not sure you follow: even if the primary frequency is out of range, a harmonic (half the frequency, quarter the frequency, etc) can simultaneously exist with the primary.

                  • @RightHandOfIkaros
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                    -46 months ago

                    I suppose its possible with a low quality CRT that has poor construction, leaving loose parts or thin plastic fins that can vibrate at harmonics of a lower frequency, but high quality CRTs don’t have this issue.

                    Extra or louder noise does not occur in normal operation of a correctly functioning flyback transformer circuit. Any frequency or harmonic (vibration) that occurs that is not the specified frequency of operation of the flyback transformer is caused by a problem in the circuit. A brand new CRT with known good parts will not have any kind of extra harmonic.

                    I had to replace a flyback transformer because it was too loud, and it was a pretty simple job. Hardest part was finding a new flyback transformer. After replacement, the noise volume was reduced to normal levels.

            • @systemglitch
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              16 months ago

              On a side note, I can also hear when a capacitor is going bad on an lcd when other people around me cant hear it.

              It could be something else in the crts I’m hearing, but I can definitely tell one is on without seeing it. It’s been like this since the 70s for me.

              I can also smell and taste things other people can’t, so something is a little different in my brain somehow.

              My partner and daughter tell me I have super powers lol. Guess who gets to smell meat for rot? Not them! Bleh.

              • @Cypher
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                16 months ago

                You’re not alone, I can hear CRTs, bad capacitors and an array of other electrical appliances.

                I can still hear the high frequencies that only teenagers and your kids are meant to be able to hear.

          • @deltapi
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            16 months ago

            I could hear them too, when I was younger. I lost that frequency range of my hearing in my mid-to-late 20’s, which I’ve read is normal.

        • Julian
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          86 months ago

          Oh neat, thanks for the explanation! That makes sense as most of my crt exposure for the past 10 years has been classroom TVs and museum exhibits.

      • @nadiaraven
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        96 months ago

        eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

        (me too)

      • @[email protected]
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        36 months ago

        For me it was the refresh. If a CRT was at 60Hz, I could see it flashing when I wasn’t looking directly at it. I had to have it set to at least 75 Hz (>80 Hz preferably) or it would give me a headache.

      • セリャスト
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        26 months ago

        This and the scanlines actually make it feel so weird to look at for me, I hate crts with a passion

    • @[email protected]
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      326 months ago

      You beat me to the punch.

      We were absolutely considering output delay and hoarding our CRT monitors.

      Some of us were also initially concerned about input delay from early USB until we were shown that while it is slower that it was unnoticeable.

      • @Protoknuckles
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        46 months ago

        I forgot that! PS/2 mice and keyboards were hoarded.

    • @[email protected]
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      116 months ago

      I bought a Sun Microsystems 24" widescreen CRT for $400 on eBay back in 2003ish? iirc. It was 100lbs and delivered on a pallet lol. There’s a reason why they didn’t get very big and were mostly 4:3. 1920x1200 and like 30" deep! But, they did exist!

      • @RightHandOfIkaros
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        36 months ago

        I know it. I myself have 2, a 1981 JVC UHF/VHF radio 4.5", and a Sylvania 27" with a DVD/VHS combo unit built into it.

        They even made a curved ultrawide CRT once, surprisingly. Though it cost a fortune when it came out.

    • @[email protected]
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      36 months ago

      Yeah, right?

      The fact that we know about this decades later is because people actually did care about it.

      When LCDs (then later LEDs) improved this concern kinda faded away. Which makes sense.

      • @[email protected]
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        16 months ago

        ebay? If you can get an IBM P77 or Sony G220 (they are the same) in good working condition you should be golden. Those are awesome. They go up 170Hz, 75Hz at 1600x1200. And can even do 2048x1536 although that would be out of specs and only 60Hz (barely usable but fucking impressive).

        • @RightHandOfIkaros
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          26 months ago

          You will 100% overpay if you get one on eBay. Best place is to try asking businesses, schools, or local news stations if they have old CRTs you can look at they’d be willing to sell to you. News stations preferrably since they usually had very high quality BVMs.

    • @[email protected]
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      26 months ago

      It even took some weird proportions where “pro” gamers set their game to display 4:3 on their widescreen lcd.

      Habits die hard.