- CRT TVs are still ‘manufactured’ in China
- Yours for around $35 / £26 / AU$49 plus a lot more for shipping
- Think CCTV monitor rather than big screen TV, unfortunately
It’s been years since I saw a cathode ray tube (CRT) TV in anything other than video games or 1970s sci-fi movies, but the technology still has fans—especially among retro gaming enthusiasts, because the pixel art in old games was really designed for the soft image of CRTs.
Of course, these people generally depend on the used market – but at least one Chinese manufacturer seems to be selling them as “new” products… sort of.
The company, called Goodwill, was spotted with CRTs by redditor Parking_Constant_960. And the more they discover, the weirder it all gets.
The article continues below
Would you like a CRT TV for around $35?
crt from r/crt/comments/1sybfqr/a_rare_curiosity_new_crts_being_made
Goodwill’s Super Cheap CRT TVs: What’s the Story?
The TV Goodwill offers is neither big nor expensive: it has a 5.7-inch screen and a list price of 239 yuan, which is about $35. Of course, that does not include shipping, tariffs or other costs. But that’s still a small price, albeit for a small screen.
Is it an old television? Apparently not. Our intrepid Redditor reached out to them and was told that these TVs are currently in production, though it wasn’t clear if that meant the TVs had newly manufactured CRTs inside, or if they were made to house existing machines taken from old models.
As another Redditor, Zeag, explained: “The last time I saw lists like this they turned out to be old pipes repackaged in new shells, it would be a nice surprise if there really were brand new pipes being manufactured.”
Unlikely, replied Silver_Towers: “They make them using old tubes, I worked in the casino industry for cabinet screens. No one on earth still makes tubes. The infrastructure and equipment is gone, it’s ALL old tunes and is in a new house at best.”
Parking_Constant did more digging and found even more TVs, this time in larger sizes, and photos showing warehouse shelves packed with CRT monitors.
More info on the GOODWILL crt mystery from r/crt
Communication with the company wasn’t great – an AI bot handled the conversation – so Parking_Constant, who lives in China, has promised to investigate further by ordering one of the TVs and seeing what turns up. Until that happens, the most likely explanation is that these are TVs made using tubes that are NOS: new old stock.
NOS is a term used to describe products that are original and unsold but have been in stock. They are a familiar sight in electric guitars, where NOS pickups are prized for their vintage sound and NOS parts are common in the vintage car market.
I hadn’t come across NOS in the TV world, but then the TV market is very much focused on the new and the shiny rather than old technology.
More on the goodwill mystery. On Taobao, I couldn’t find a way to get this ai bot thing to give me more info, although I’m 100% sure they at least have NOS color TVs somewhere in their inventory. from r/crt
Whether new tubes or NOS tubes, it’s exciting to see CRT TVs still in production, as that term applies in this case.
But if you’re a gamer looking for a vintage CRT monitor, you might be better off with another form of Goodwill: a charity or thrift store. These Chinese CRTs may be super cheap, but shipping them from China – assuming the supplier themselves would be willing to do so – will be devastatingly expensive due to their likely weight.
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