Ten years ago, you might have picked up an aging PVM for as little as $50 (£33 in 2015). But that’s unheard of now. Some of the most sought-after sell for $1,000 (£744) today, if not more. And there is a cottage industry of technicians and resellers who cater to CRT fans’ needs. Often, someone will buy a second-hand set only to find that it won’t turn on.
“I’ve serviced about 65 of them so far this year for people. Mostly PVMs,” says Steve Nutter, a YouTuber and CRT repairer in Virginia. He charges around $600 (£446) for a repair to get a “dead” CRT working again. Nutter, who is a friend of Joshi’s, has also noticed how PVMs have become harder to find. He used to make much more frequent warehouse pick-ups of second-hand sets himself. “They’d be throwing them in the garbage,” he recalls.
Nutter has provided CRTs for video artists. Some of these TVs have boxy housings that mean you can stack them and create a “wall” of screens. Among the many video artists who have used CRTs is the late Gretchen Bender, who came to prominence in the 1980s. The Museum of Modern Art in New York has exhibited her work in recent years.
Besides movies, games and videos, there are other reasons some people still use CRT displays today. Thomas Electronics, headquartered in New York State, is one of just a handful of companies left in the world that still make CRT displays, though not for televisions. Among the devices it manufactures are screens used in military vehicles – such as for weapon targeting systems. The company also produces CRT-based helmet-mounted displays, which present in-flight information to pilots.
Some industrial equipment, including computer numerical control (CNC) machines, made with CRT displays years ago are still perfectly functional. These machines can be used, for example, to drill precise holes in different materials.