Do you remember your old console televisions? Really big boxes. Really small screens! How things have changed.
Recently, my eight year old 55″ Samsung LED television died. I had hoped for ten years, but the backlight gave out. So, I brought up a spare 32″ Samsung to the family room as a temporary measure.
Boy, is that screen small. When you move from 55 to 32 inch diagonal, you actually lose 67% screen area.
But that got me thinking. Back thirty years ago, most of us were happy with a 26″ screen. Like the one shown above, in my one of my old console televisions, the RCA Colortrak. This thing was huge at the time. We lived with 25-26″ screens for years during the 1970’s to 1990’s.
Now, I know that vision weakens as you get older, but I think the real reason I want a large screen television is the immersive experience. Some say it’s an increased sense of physiological arousal. And, of course, we no longer think of a TV as furniture.
When I was born, the average television screen size was around 12″. My first Sony Trinitron in the 1970’s was 21″. Times have changed.
Old Console Televisions – Never Going Back
So, off we went to Costco searching for a replacement. I am still sticking with 55″ as that is just right for my needs in the family room. But technologies have changed a lot over eight years.
I wrestled with LED versus QLED versus OLED. For me, the current sweet spot (cost, benefit, reliability) seemed to be a Samsung Neo QLED with mini-LED technology. And, that’s what I settled on.
Being retired, I spend too much time watching and enjoying television, both linear and streamed. But, I never buy the latest generation nor break the bank. One generation back is good enough.
And, of course, old console televisions are a fond memory, but no longer practical.