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View Full Version : It's time to get rid of the 1982 CRT Monitors from the announcer's table


RoXer
04-07-2014, 01:01 AM
Hello Wrestling Forum.

I don't come here often. You know why.

But I have to bring something up and this is the only place to do it. I could have gone to Wrestling Q&A, but no. This issue deserves much more exposure. And I'm sure it's been brought up hundreds of times throughout the years but it's time we finally do something about it.

Those old-ass CRT monitors that are embedded in the announcer's table have got to go. They have to. For a lot of reasons.

I have been saying this during every wrestling event I've been casually watching over the past couple years and I'm tired of making the same joke. They have to go.

It's an absurd eyesore. The juxtaposition of showing a stage with TV screens the size of Rhode Island followed by a camera shot of announcers squinting into a tiny 30 year old monitor is insane.

It's so behind the times. Like, the next step up from those monitors isn't even HDTV. It would be considered like a nice TV from the late 80's. And then the next jump might be to like, one of those flat screen from the early 00's that had a DVD/VHS combo. And then from there a 1st gen plasma where the body is a little fatter.

But now we're up to a point where paper thin 55" screens are very accessible. 3D is almost the norm. You can control a television with your voice. What the fuck.

The reason I bring this up is, I just watched MANIA tonight where Randy Orton falls on his back right onto one of those fucking monitors. Sure, it could have happened with any piece of equipment, but Fucking A it shouldn't even be there in the first place.

To those of you "in the know", the tables are obviously constructed to collapse in a certain way and to maybe even take some of the impact off of the fall. But is the CRT monitor from the 1980's really a crucial piece for this engineering feat? Can't we achieve the same thing with an updated television?

They were previewing the WWE Network app on an iPad not too long ago. A camera man went behind the announcer's table for an over the shoulder look at what Jerry "The King" Lawler was doing as he scrolled through the app. Behind this incredible groundbreaking technological device known as the iPad, was the 1980's CRT monitor spitting out what we were seeing in black and white.

It doesn't make sense.

RoXer
04-07-2014, 01:03 AM
There's no reason someone can't bash someone else over the head with a nice, 20something" LCD flatscreen instead of a CRT monitor.

After all, are we not in the "Reality Era"?

Tazz Dan
04-07-2014, 01:04 AM
I agree 100%

Swiss Ultimate
04-07-2014, 01:04 AM
It's just another weapon for them to use. Vince bought a million of them from China.

Tazz Dan
04-07-2014, 01:05 AM
But I think they probably work better with their setup. If they used iPads etc, they'd have to rely on good wifi signals inside the arenas to get the vision, yeah?

Tazz Dan
04-07-2014, 01:05 AM
Also, I didn't actually read your initial post, I'm just going off what was said in the casual forum.

Fignuts
04-07-2014, 01:07 AM
Because it looks cool when they rip them off the table and throw them.

RoXer
04-07-2014, 01:09 AM
Throwing flatscreens wouldn't be cooler?

Swiss Ultimate
04-07-2014, 01:12 AM
Throwing flatscreens wouldn't be cooler?

According to my parole officer, throwing flatscreens is the very essence of uncool.

Fignuts
04-07-2014, 01:15 AM
Of course not.

rockman725
04-07-2014, 02:22 AM
I'm going to chime in on this topic by responding to it in a realistic point of view...

Those types of monitors are used specifically for broadcasting purposes & video signal output monitoring. Probably a surprise to many, but they are still widely used in broadcasting today. I'm sure WWE uses those monitors for their accuracy & durability.

Heisenberg
04-07-2014, 08:26 AM
Those Mt Dew bottles needed to be drank from last night. The real travesty. I was waiting for Cole to slam two together and drink them or for JBL to launch the bottles into the crowd. That's the type of energy that Mt Dew was hoping for, not for them to sit there throughout the PPV only to be crushed to hell by Orton/Batista/Bryan.

voncouch
04-07-2014, 10:14 AM
I think one reason might be durability. As many times as those things have been ripped out and slung to the ground. A new monitor would break if you farted on it. Those things are like old Nokia phones: they're going to last forever.

However, that Orton bump did look sick. And not in a good way.

Graveler
04-07-2014, 10:46 AM
I think one reason might be durability. As many times as those things have been ripped out and slung to the ground. A new monitor would break if you farted on it. Those things are like old Nokia phones: they're going to last forever.

However, that Orton bump did look sick. And not in a good way.

Plus, those things are probably cheap as shit to replace versus a flatscreen that would set you back a bit

JT
04-07-2014, 11:19 AM
I'm going to chime in on this topic by responding to it in a realistic point of view...

Those types of monitors are used specifically for broadcasting purposes & video signal output monitoring. Probably a surprise to many, but they are still widely used in broadcasting today. I'm sure WWE uses those monitors for their accuracy & durability.

I was actually told by someone awhile back that they stopped making those CRT monitors. I never bothered doing the research myself, but was what I was told, and know where I work we're under a movement to become a "CRT Free" facility.

With that said, I could see a reason in using them for an analog signal which while not as clean as digital, doesworks at a faster speed (something critical for announcing matches). Yet, I think that could be done with LCDs as well, plus since they're already shooting in digital, converting it back to analog seems silly and defeats the purpose of that. Maybe if I worked for the WWE, or did more field live events I could comment better, but from where I stand now I think CRTs are mostly obsolete and the technology should be upgraded.

Fignuts
04-07-2014, 02:33 PM
Upgrading is expensive. Graveler is on point here.

Triple A
04-07-2014, 03:34 PM
Upgrading is expensive. Graveler is on point here.

It's really not expensive so I don't think this is the reason. Those monitors are like 8 inches and seem to be black and white. Even the shittiest cheapest under $100 screen would be a big upgrade. I am sure they could get a bunch of LCD monitors for like $30 each.

SlickyTrickyDamon
04-07-2014, 04:45 PM
Because it looks cool when they rip them off the table and throw them.

Yeah and when flatscreens break they send shards of glass everywhere. It's dangerous.