Sony Profits Low, Halts CRT Production

mtndue1 writes "Forbes is reporting that with lower than expected profits, Sony is halting the production of CRT's for televisions at many of its plants. The restructuring move is meant to catch the company up with other manufacturers who moved to LCD displays more quickly." From the article: " In the second quarter to September, net profit dropped 46.5 pct to 28.5 bln yen, pressured by 32.3 bln yen in restructuring expenses to write down the impaired value of its cathode-ray tube (CRT) plants. Under the plant closure program, Sony will shut down some of its CRT television assembly factories by March 2008 in order to shift its focus to the flat-screen TV business ... In a bid to revive its game division, Sony plans to release its next-generation stand-alone PlayStation 3 game console in the spring. To speed up development of PlayStation 3, Sony plans to devote 410 bln yen to capital investment in the year to March, up from 356.8 bln yen a year earlier."

It's about time...

[bassgoonist]

LCD may not be superior in all ways, but for the average consumer the small size is ideal. Although sony isn't the best, I'd hate to see them go the way of the dodo.

Re:It's about time...

[Allen Zadr]

When it comes to CRTs, Sony was the best only three years ago. When Mitsubishi started pushing their "DiamondTron" flat-CRTs, totally ripped off from Sony's Trinitron technology.

LCD/DLP/Plasma are still not bright enough for well lit spaces (IMHO). I don't always want to use the basement for my Television viewing.

Re:Anyone know...?

[dduck]

They did so a while back. When I was in Tokyo about 3 years ago, you could hardly find a CRT TV, uch less a CRT monitor. Everything new was flat and thin.

Too Bad; LCDs are Overpriced

[h4ck7h3p14n37]

It's too bad that Sony is phasing out it's CRT production. Granted, flat-screens have much better resolution, a smaller footprint and are lighther, but they're still extremely expensive. A 32" Sony Trinitron is going for around $400, while a 32" Sony LCD Wega flat panel is more than $2,000 (the cheapest 32" LCD flat screen I could find goes for $1,300). I just don't understand why anyone would buy one flat screen when they could get four or five CRTs for the same price.

Hard choice

[boa13]

It must have been a hard choice for mtndue1, torn between hyping up his scoop so that he would have a chance to be published on Slashdot and not telling outright lies. So he took both approaches:

Sony is halting the production of CRT's for televisions at many of its plants

Sony will shut down some of its CRT television assembly factories by March 2008 (emphasis mine)

No, I didn't read the fine article, but I did laugh out loud.

Re:Mostly a good thing

[petabyte]

Well yes, me. I just opted for the 30" CRT Television (HDTV widescreen) instead of the 30" LCD. The reason? True black on the CRT and better colors overall. People have mentioned size constraints with televisions and yes, I got a slim fit CRT but it sits on an entertainment center which houses my reciever and DVD player. Since thats a dedicated area for the TV, I don't have a problem with that space being used for the TV and having the best picture I can. When it goes kaboom, I figure LCDs will be the standard and the picture will have improved.

Now, my desk is another story. I have a CRT for my computer there too but when that goes, the LCD cometh ...

Re:Mostly a good thing

[Yaa 101]

All people in need of real colors still use CRTs...
Those LCDs are ugly, none of them come near to what colors should look like.

Re:Mostly a good thing

[networkBoy]

Actually there are a few that cover the gamma curve of CRTs nicely, and can be calibrated further for color temperature and such. The downside is those LCDs cost around $2K for a 17-19 inch.

Tom's Hardware did a nice piece on them.
-nB

Re:It's about time...

[Zathrus]

Didn't the patent on Trintron expire?

Yes, but remember -- when it's a patent/copyright/other IP that you hate then it's evil and wrong. When it's something you like, when the IP expires then others "rip off" your hard work.

And I heartily disagree with the grandparent about the brightness factor of LCD/DLP -- my 46" DLP is visible in normal light conditions, in a well lit room. No, I can't see shit on it when the sun is shining directly on the screen, but I can't see shit on a CRT in those circumstances either.

And I suspect he was comparing apples to oranges anyway -- direct view CRT to projection LCD/DLP (since projection is the only way you can view DLP). Compare projection CRT and the LCD/DLP literally shine -- you need as dark a room as possible for projected CRT. Also, if you want much more than 36" diagonal you can't use direct view CRT -- the tubes are just too big, heavy, and expensive (IIRC, the largest direct view tube ever produced for home use was a 44" Mitsubishi).

Re:Too Bad; LCDs are Overpriced

[b1t r0t]

Except that you're comparing apples and oranges. A 32" Wega CRT is about $600-$700, but the HD-ready Wega is about $1000, and was around $1500 two years ago. Oh, and a minor point is that their LCD line seems to be called Bravia, not Wega.

Mmmm... and that LCD has a PC input, too. I know for a fact that their CRT Wega line isn't designed for PC scan rates on the DVI input. You can get 640x480 to work, but there's overscan, and even if you get your video card to generate ATSC scan rates, anything higher than 480p forces the 4:3 CRT into widescreen mode.

Re:Yen

[digidave]

You know you can just use Google for that, right?

Google "38,500,000,000.00 JPY in USD" (no quotes) and you'll get "333.42001 million U.S. dollars" as the answer. I'm not sure why the number is different.

Re:Mostly a good thing

[Zathrus]

That's the best part: modern CRTs almost never die. If anything, the electronics supporting them go a long way before the tube goes.

While technically true, the reality is that even though the CRT may not be dead it may be so dim that you wish it was. And compensating by pushing up the contrast and brightness just causes it to fade even faster.

I can't tell you how many old CRT monitors I've seen that were so dim that they should've been thrown in the trash. Mine's not there yet, but it won't be much longer I think.

Re:Mostly a good thing

[crabpeople]

"If you play fast action games then CRTs are still the best"

You probably baught a cheap LCD. My Sceptre X9 19" 12ms LCD [sceptre.com], cost about 100$ more than the cheapest 19" LCD on the market but the quality is supurb. I can play BF2, wow, quake4, etc.. all look beautiful. 180* turns are flawless with no motion blur. In addition, this particular monitor is shiney/reflective, like a crt, so you get a bit of glare from the sun, but the blacks are truely the most well done i have ever seen.

Where I work we have hundreds of LCDs. verying manufacturers. Some people will get really attached to a perticular model or manufacturer. If we switch it out for them, even say from a 15" to a 17" they immediately complain of eye problems and the like. LCD's come in a vast range or specs. Buy a nice samsung one if you cant afford 550 for the spectre. I use a samsung at work. Tried to switch to an NEC, but couldnt do it. similar feeling to look at a 60hz CRT when you used to 75-85.

also, correct me if im wrong, but Hz doesnt really apply to LCD like it does to CRT. I thought that was true but i dont know why.

Defect?

[Anonymous Coward]

Umm, those support wires are there by design. Calling it a defect is misrepresenting the product. I own a 21" Trinitron monitor and was well aware of the presence of these wires before purchace. Some get hung up on it, some never notice it.

Don't confuse personal preference with a "defect" that requires "fixing".

Re:It's about time...

[Nerdfest]

Have a look at the JVC HD-ILA projection, and the new SOny equivalent. The use reflective LCD (non-organic), and are icredibly bright. One of the reviewers of the JVC said something like "If you watched the winter olympics on this at max brightness, you'd get a tan".

Re:Sad

[Alioth]

Although the sharpness of a modern LCD monitor is better than my 21in Sony Trinitron monitor at home, overall, the Trinitron has them beat. Not just because the colours are better - but also that they don't change if you move your head or change your seating position, or adjust the monitor stand! The rather nice LCD I have at work - this Slashdot section here, if I move my head to the side, the background on the comment titles all but disappears, and the brightness changes. This is inherent in the way LCDs work.

Re:Don't forget oem market

[ncc74656]

Indeed, my NEC MultiSync FE1250 CRT monitor has a Sony trinitron tube in it. At least according to the graphics guy at my previous employer. You can see two wires streched across the screen, one on top, and one on the bottom when the display is white--apparently a trinitron signature.

NEC merged its monitor business with Mitsubishi a while back. Mitsubishi makes the Diamondtron tube, which uses the same cylindrical section (as opposed to a spherical section) for the face of the tube as a Trinitron. It wouldn't surprise me if the internal structures of the Diamondtron and Trinitron are similar (unlike conventional color CRTs that use three electron guns and a shadow mask, Trinitrons use only one electron gun and an aperture grille). That, most likely, is what's in your monitor.

Re:Welcome to 1990, Sony.

[BigDumbAnimal]

Can the depth of the TV really make someone spend so much more money?

"Conspicous consuption" my friend. Or "keeping up with the Joneses."

Re:Mostly a good thing

[Kjella]

LCD 'refresh' rates are measured in 'ms' not 'Hz'. Poster also seems to be stuck in 2002...todays LCDs with sub-10ms refresh rates (I believe I read about a 3-4ms LCD coming soon as well) have eliminated the 'blurring' problem evident on older units. I've played many BF2, Doom3 and several others on my 19" 8ms LCD and it's been excellent...no ghosting. Todays units are greatly improved over the old 20ms+ ones. The only area CRTs still maintain an advantage are in displaying high resolution...LCDs outside their native resolution just aren't as nice.

Well, ms and Hz are just two different units of measurement. What they mean by "refresh" is completely different though. For one, a CRT will flicker, an LCD will not at low refresh rates. Furthermore, a CRT will actually refresh exactly so, while an LCD will not (you will see different numbers for gray-gray, black-white-black, averages vs worst case). Not to mention you have ringing caused by trying to speed up the process. Take the "3ms" screen on slashdot here recently, it has 5ms black-to-black, more like 8ms before the ringing stops. Effectively, that means ~125fps, not ~333fps. Realisticly, most people don't notice more than ~60fps (as it doesn't flicker), so around 16ms actual response time. To make up for the marketing BS you need to buy a "8ms" screen though.

Re:I think this is a pity, actually

[argent]

I'm reminded how fine their monitor tubes are every day I look at the two support wire shadows on my screen. yes it's less than 1 pixel tall and hard to see unless you are looking at a white screen but the defect is there and on EVERY trinitron monitor.

That's not a "defect", any more than the legs on a table or the wheels on a car are a "defect", even if it'd be nicer to have tables or automobiles that floated unsupported. Until the Singularity and we're all uploaded into Cyberspace we'll have to put up with display technologies that are less than perfect.

If those lines bother you, don't buy a Trinitron.

Those lines don't bother me, but the exaggerated artifacting and aliasing on LCDs do, so I'll stick with my CRT for now.

Re:I don't know about anyone else

[Dogtanian]

I had a Sony walkman that fell apart after only a couple months, a Sony television that got fuzzier and fuzzier until I finally gave it away-- at a year and a half old

Do you live in the US? Chances are that if you lived in the EU, you'd be able to get something done about that, if not a refund. Even if it had the "standard" base warranty for cheaper items (1 year), if you could prove that the fault was inherent (within 6 months of purchase the onus is on the retailer to prove the opposite), the court would almost certainly rule that a "quality" TV like Sony could be expected to last longer than 18 months.

I mean, that is a POS. I have a portable Sony TV I purchased in 1993; it's had (I'd guess) average use, and the picture is as good as the day I bought it... can't believe it's the same company people talk about today.

My father had two faulty Sony cassette Walkmans in a row three or so years back, before he gave up and got a Panasonic.

For their own sake, Sony had better keep designing "fashionable" and "innovative" stuff, because no-one's going to pay a premium for that Sony quality for much longer.