Samsung's CRTs keep wide-screen HDTV affordable

Samsung CRTs

(Credit: David Katzmaier)

Most CES announcements about new HDTVs pertain to products that cost more than anybody's grandpa would consider paying for a television, but traditional cathode ray tubes can provide high-def to even stingy old codgers. Samsung, along with Toshiba and no-names such as Insignia, markets a few wide-screen HDTVs that don't cost a fortune, and at CES 2007 it continues the tradition of models including the Samsung TX-S3082WH with an updated trio. The 30-inch TX-T3093WH and TX-T3092 (both April, $699 list) are identical but for speaker configuration; the first has side-mounted speakers, while the second saves width by placing the speakers below the screen. Each offers a pair of non-1.3 HDMI inputs and two component-video inputs, as well as a Nano Pigment Screen that makes use of very small pigs to produce "deeper colors, higher contrasts, and a wider range of color expression throughout the entire screen," according to the company (except for the pigs part). The sets are shallower than some other similarly sized CRTs at 16 inches deep, although still much bulkier than a 32-inch LCD, of course. If 600 bones is still too rich, the 27-inch TX-T2793 (April, $549) should be a better fit--its spec sheet is otherwise the same, although I assume the depth is even shallower.