Ciao Vaio

[Triumph]

I have a 32" Sony CRT (not flat screen, but the one that's flat top to bottom, but still curved left to right) that I bought new in 1995 or so. It has an S-VIDEO input (OMG!) which was the schiznit for "high quality video" back then. It still works, though the picture has darkened a bit. My son uses it every day to watch his cartoons and play his Wii.

I always thought the Vaio lappys were overpriced for what you got (sum of the parts). But Sony always equaled quality in my book.

The Trinitron, Sony's offering of a "flat" (well, flat in one direction) screen, was pretty much the pinnacle of CRT tech. And their monitors are actually very, very good compared to today's tech. Color reproduction is more accurate as it can display a wider range of the color gamut, deeper blacks, better white clipping, better contrast....they're just so damn heavy!


Color and Gray-Scale Accuracy
CRT: The reference standard, the very best color and gray-scale. If you need very accurate color and gray-scale calibration then get a CRT.
LCD : Pleasing images but not accurate because of problems with black-level, gray-scale and Gamma. Reduced color saturation at low intensity levels due to a poor black-level. Generally not suitable for professional image color balancing.

http://www.displaymate.com/crtvslcd.html

Actually looking at this list, CRT's are pretty damn good at almost everything except size. And Sony made the best CRT's. I don't even think Sony makes their own LCD panels, probably buy them from Samsung or Panasonic. Sony probably fell in the same trap as Kodak: producing the absolute best of a dying technology, and never planning properly for the future.

 

[NoTine42]

Ah remember the Sony only memory cards?

In 1999 Memory Sticks looked like tiny Micro-SD cards compared to the giant Compact Flash cards that were more common in cameras. The 2x price premium was tough when memory cards cost $100+

Their camera division is still quite innovative when you look at the RX100 and now the A7

 

[NoTine42]

The Trinitron, Sony's offering of a "flat" (well, flat in one direction) screen, was pretty much the pinnacle of CRT tech. And their monitors are actually very, very good compared to today's tech. Color reproduction is more accurate as it can display a wider range of the color gamut, deeper blacks, better white clipping, better contrast....they're just so damn heavy!


Color and Gray-Scale Accuracy
CRT: The reference standard, the very best color and gray-scale. If you need very accurate color and gray-scale calibration then get a CRT.
LCD : Pleasing images but not accurate because of problems with black-level, gray-scale and Gamma. Reduced color saturation at low intensity levels due to a poor black-level. Generally not suitable for professional image color balancing.

http://www.displaymate.com/crtvslcd.html

Actually looking at this list, CRT's are pretty damn good at almost everything except size. And Sony made the best CRT's. I don't even think Sony makes their own LCD panels, probably buy them from Samsung or Panasonic. Sony probably fell in the same trap as Kodak: producing the absolute best of a dying technology, and never planning properly for the future.

On TV's the Japaneese companies concentrated on, ultimately, a non-viable (PALC ?)flat screen technology, while the Korean makers took over with the (older but proven) Plasma tech.