- CRT TVs are still “produced” in China
- Yours for around $35 / £26 / AU$49 and much more for shipping
- Unfortunately, think CCTV monitor instead of a big screen TV
It’s been years since I’ve seen a cathode ray tube (CRT) television in anything other than video games or 1970s sci-fi movies, but the technology still has fans, particularly among retro gaming enthusiasts, because the pixel art of old games was actually designed for the smooth image of CRTs.
Of course, these people usually rely on the second-hand market, but at least one Chinese manufacturer seems to sell them as “new” products… sort of.
The company, called Goodwill, was discovered listing CRT by Redditor Parking_Constant_960. And the more they discover, the stranger the whole thing becomes.
Article continues below.
Fancy a CRT TV for about $35?
crt from r/crt/comments/1sybfqr/a_rare_curiosity_new_crts_being_made
Super Cheap CRT TVs from Goodwill: What’s the Story?
The TV offered by Goodwill is neither large nor expensive: it has a 5.7-inch screen and a list price of 239 yuan, about $35. That doesn’t include shipping, fees or other costs, of course. But it’s still a small price, albeit for a small screen.
Are these old televisions? Apparently not. Our intrepid Redditor reached out to them and was told that these TVs are currently in production, although it was unclear if that meant the TVs had newly manufactured CRTs inside them or if they were made to house existing machinery taken from older models.
As another Redditor, Zeag, explained: “Last time I saw listings like this it turned out to be old tubes repackaged in new casings, it would be a nice surprise if new tubes were actually being made.”
That’s unlikely, Silver_Towers responded: “They make them using old tubes, I worked in the casino industry for cabinet displays. No one in the world still makes tubes. The infrastructure and equipment is gone, these are ALL old tunes and at best they are in new homes.”
Parking_Constant dug deeper and found even more TVs, this time in larger sizes, and images showing warehouse shelves packed with CRT screens.
More information on the GOODWILL mystery crt from r/crt
Communication with the company wasn’t great (an AI bot handled the conversation), so Parking_Constant, who lives in China, promised to investigate further by ordering one of the TVs and seeing what comes up. Until it does, the most likely explanation is that these are TVs made with tubes that are NOS: new old stock.
NOS is a term used to describe products that are original and unsold, but have been in storage. They are common on electric guitars, where NOS pickups are prized for their vintage sound and NOS parts are common on the vintage car market.
I hadn’t come across NOS in the TV world, but the TV market is very focused on shiny new technology rather than old.
Even more about the mystery of good will. On Taobao I couldn’t find a way to get this AI robot to give me more information, although I’m 100% sure they at least have NOS color TVs somewhere in their stock. from r/crt
Whether new or NOS tubes, it’s intriguing to see that CRT TVs are still in production, as that term applies in this case.
But if you’re a gamer looking for a vintage CRT display, you might be better off with a different kind of goodwill: a charity or second-hand shop. These Chinese CRTs may be super cheap, but shipping them from China (assuming the supplier is willing to do so) will be tremendously expensive due to their likely weight.
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