Cost of running old style TV and video player

AliceW

I have an 26" old style TV (cathode ray tube) and video recorder in my loft along with a stack of unwatched video tapes.  I bought the video tapes very cheaply a few years ago and planned to watch them but that was before our energy bills went up. Does anyone know how much I'd be paying for the electricity needed to watch a 90 min video tape? 

DullGreyGuy

You'd need to find out the wattage of the two devices... CRTs were typically 100w when running so 0.15kwh to run it for 90 minutes and energy is currently circa 35p per kwh so 5.5p inc VAT

VCR assuming they didnt have a sound amp would be 6-10w so take the top end thats 0.015kwh for 90 minutes so 0.5p 

Assuming your devices are not high powered versions then you are looking 6p per movie but would be much cheaper with an LED TV

Mstty

I believe you can get scary and other yellow red and white (yellow av red and white left and right audio) converters very cheaply so you don't have to use the old TV you can use a modern one.

MattMattMattUK

Mstty said:

I believe you can get scary and other yellow red and white (yellow av red and white left and right audio) converters very cheaply so you don't have to use the old TV you can use a modern one.

You can to a point, but 576x240 from a VHS feed on a modern TV looks awful, it needs some serious interpolation via upsampling to look even watchable and even then it normally looks very rough on a modern display, far worse than it looks on a comparably sized CRT due to differences inherent to the technologies. On top of that most modern TV's are bigger which exacerbates the problem. 

AliceW

DullGreyGuy said:

You'd need to find out the wattage of the two devices... CRTs were typically 100w when running so 0.15kwh to run it for 90 minutes and energy is currently circa 35p per kwh so 5.5p inc VAT

VCR assuming they didnt have a sound amp would be 6-10w so take the top end thats 0.015kwh for 90 minutes so 0.5p 

Assuming your devices are not high powered versions then you are looking 6p per movie but would be much cheaper with an LED TV

Thank you!! Not as expensive as I'd feared. I can manage 5p per movie

BikingBud

Mstty said:

I believe you can get scary and other yellow red and white (yellow av red and white left and right audio) converters very cheaply so you don't have to use the old TV you can use a modern one.

Very scary, such old tech

Like this

Mstty

BikingBud said:

Mstty said:

I believe you can get scary and other yellow red and white (yellow av red and white left and right audio) converters very cheaply so you don't have to use the old TV you can use a modern one.

Very scary, such old tech

Like this

Lol scary scart

DullGreyGuy

AliceW said:

DullGreyGuy said:

You'd need to find out the wattage of the two devices... CRTs were typically 100w when running so 0.15kwh to run it for 90 minutes and energy is currently circa 35p per kwh so 5.5p inc VAT

VCR assuming they didnt have a sound amp would be 6-10w so take the top end thats 0.015kwh for 90 minutes so 0.5p 

Assuming your devices are not high powered versions then you are looking 6p per movie but would be much cheaper with an LED TV

Thank you!! Not as expensive as I'd feared. I can manage 5p per movie

6p not 5p!!!!!!!!!

Check the draw of your TV though, most are around 100w but they can be double that but you are still then talking 11.5p a movie

Other than 3kw heaters/kettles/ovens etc for most other electrical appliances it's a death of a thousand cuts rather than single activities costing a lot. 

Neil_Jones

AliceW said:

I have an 26" old style TV (cathode ray tube) and video recorder in my loft along with a stack of unwatched video tapes.  I bought the video tapes very cheaply a few years ago and planned to watch them but that was before our energy bills went up. Does anyone know how much I'd be paying for the electricity needed to watch a 90 min video tape? 

If your current non CRT TV has SCART input (that's only dropped off TVs in the last year or so so it probably exists on yours)) then you can use that.  You don't need the CRT TV just to watch video.

Re: the comment about VHS on modern TVs - you'll get used to it after a while and not even notice the visual issues.  The whole suspension of disbelief thing will take care of that.

DullGreyGuy

Neil_Jones said:

AliceW said:

I have an 26" old style TV (cathode ray tube) and video recorder in my loft along with a stack of unwatched video tapes.  I bought the video tapes very cheaply a few years ago and planned to watch them but that was before our energy bills went up. Does anyone know how much I'd be paying for the electricity needed to watch a 90 min video tape? 

If your current non CRT TV has SCART input (that's only dropped off TVs in the last year or so so it probably exists on yours)) then you can use that.  You don't need the CRT TV just to watch video.

Re: the comment about VHS on modern TVs - you'll get used to it after a while and not even notice the visual issues.  The whole suspension of disbelief thing will take care of that.

Not sure what TVs you've been buying but the last 3 we have had over the last 12 years none had any SCART so dropped off in the last year is a bit of a stretch. Even though RicherSounds are still selling 3 generations of TVs you can't search if any had SCART as they dont even list if they have them or not.

The issue isnt really about VHS on a modern TV but about low quality SD content on a 55"+ screen. Can say that for me at least, you continue to notice that it looks like you're watching through vaseline smeared glasses

born_again

Scart to HDMI connector are cheap enough 👍