The static on old CRT TVs with rabbit ears was the cosmic microwave background. No one in the last 25 years has ever seen it.
CRTs was in use well into the 2000s
People born after 2000 have never seen the cosmic microwave background on their TV set.
Submitted 2 months ago by Hobbes@startrek.website to showerthoughts@lemmy.world
https://startrek.website/pictrs/image/542bf4cc-10ae-4db1-bf61-a7b63400d254.jpeg
Comments
RedIce25@lemmy.world 2 months ago
davidgro@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Even before the 2000s they started showing a blue screen instead of static.
That wasn’t just a digital or flat panel thing.
But of course old sets were around for a long time.
Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
My memory of the exacts here are fuzzy, but I think this depended on whether or not your TV picked up digital signal, analog, or both. I remember around that time we had a TV that would pick up static on some channels and have a blue input screen on others.
Agent641@lemmy.world 2 months ago
What are they hiding from us?!
popekingjoe@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Yeah I was still using a CRT as recently as 2012. I think OP means analogue TVs.
Hobbes@startrek.website 2 months ago
Yeah you’re right.
abfarid@startrek.website 2 months ago
Technically, it’s not about the display technology, but instead about the signal/tuner. More specifically if it’s analog or digital. Some modern TVs still have analog or hybrid tuners for backwards compatibility and regions that still use analog, so they can display static. For instance, in Ukraine we finished the switch to digital TV only a couple of years ago. If your TV had no digital tuner (as was the case for many) you had to buy a DAC box. Retirees/pensioners got them for free, sponsored by the government.
Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Yeah, my youngest sibling has definitely seen CRTs. My niblings probably haven’t, though.
Deceptichum@quokk.au 2 months ago
I thought they were teaching it in all the schools? /s
JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Do you think CRTs just magically disappeared after the turn of the millennium?
billwashere@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Don’t you still see this when using an OTA ATSC tuner on a newer LCD display? I thought this was a function of the signal generation and not the display technologies.
criitz@reddthat.com 2 months ago
It actually was a pretty rapid switch where all the CRTs disappeared
i_dont_want_to@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
They lied to us. The real Y2K was the CRT rapture.
Blackmist@feddit.uk 2 months ago
I think they’re more likely to have been scrapped than other old tech.
They’re bulky, and mine was too heavy to get out in the attic. I still have my ZX Spectrum and Amiga, but the CRT needed for lightgun games is long gone.
dan1101@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Well to be fair at some point most/all CRTs showed a blue screen instead of static. So it’s possible someone born in 2000 never saw the snowy display.
Allero@lemmy.today 2 months ago
As someone born in 2000, I’ve personally seen it and I think most people around me did. Maybe someone didn’t, though.
Hobbes@startrek.website 2 months ago
No, I just couldn’t remember exactly when. And as another commenter pointed out, what I should have said was analog TV’s.
lurch@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
they have to watch HBO shows to compensate
Empricorn@feddit.nl 2 months ago
Surely you mean the much worse “Max”.
Juvyn00b@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Logo still shows HBO for that intro though
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
It is entirely possible for people born after 2000 to have grown up with CRTs.
frezik@midwest.social 2 months ago
It is, but those late model CRTs often had a lot of digital circuitry that displayed a solid color on channels with nothing on them. Unless there was a much older CRT around, they never would have seen it.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
Most of the CRTs are going to be older
Aceticon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
By the way, the picture illustrating the post isn’t actually displaying the real thing - the noise in it is too squarish and has no grey tones.
Wolf314159@startrek.website 2 months ago
TV static in recent movies and shows that are set in the past almost always instantly pull me out of the narrative because no one seems to be able to get it right and some are just stunningly bad. It’s usually very subtle, so much so that I’m not sure I could even describe what’s wrong. Makes me feel old to notice it.
Aceticon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I think the problem is because CRT displays didn’t have pixels so the uniform noise which is static was not only uniformely spread in distribution and intensity (i.e. greyscale level) but also had “dots” of all sizes.
Also another possible thing that’s off is the speed at which the noise changes: was it the 25fps refresh rate of a CRT monitor, related to that rate but not necessarily at that rate or did the noise itself had more persistent and less persistent parts?
DrownedRats@lemmy.world 2 months ago
People born before 2000 think older technology just evaporated the minute the millenium ticked over.
LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 2 months ago
LOL like when the black and white world suddenly got colorized. My grandpap told me about them old days - when the lawn, the sidewalk and the sky were just different shades of gray.
9point6@lemmy.world 2 months ago
No one in the last 25 years has ever seen it.
I mean you can still find a CRT today and turn it on if you like, they’re less common for sure, but they’re still around if you’re looking for one
DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org 2 months ago
Kids born after 2000 aren’t looking for one
9point6@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Well that’s a lie, I know an early 20 year old who’s into retro games and has definitely been to an arcade with CRTs in the past year or so
JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Dude I’d kill for the opportunity to get my hands on a half-decent CRT
TheWeirdestCunt@lemm.ee 2 months ago
You’d be surprised, some people born in the 2000s want them for the retro factor now
000999@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
CRTs are popular with people who have retro games consoles.
They’re surprisingly difficult to acquire though. Big, heavy and either very expensive or free.
Screen_Shatter@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I bought a plasma in 2009 that would show static if I turned it to cable channels without cable plugged in. Plasmas were susceptible to burn in and since I would game a lot I could see health bars etc start to burn in after a while. Whenever that would happen I would turn it to the static screen - making each pixel flip from one end of the spectrum to the other rapidly like that would actually help remove the burn in.
clmbmb@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel. - William Gibson, Neuromancer
One of the most beautiful opening lines to a novel.
TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
If you remember that it was written in 1984, the color is obviously black and white static. If you don’t think about the year, you might be lead to believe it is blue.
gofsckyourself@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Literally 1984
dwindling7373@feddit.it 2 months ago
One of the most beautiful opening lines to a novel.
Abundantly clearly not.
superkret@feddit.org 2 months ago
“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."
niktemadur@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The opposite of a Bullwer-Lytton!
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Tube TV’s remained in common service well into the 2010’s. The changeover from analog to fully digital TV transmission did not happen until 2009, with many delays in between, and the government ultimately had to give away digital-to-analog tuner boxes because so many people still refused to let go of their old CRT’s.
Millions of analog TV’s are still languishing in basements and attics in perfect working order to this very day, still able to show you the cosmic background, if only anyone would dust them off or plug them in. Or in many retro gaming nerds’ setups. I have one, and it’ll show me static any time I ask. (I used it to make this gif, for instance.)
In fact, with no one transmitting analog television anymore (probably with some very low scale hobbyist exceptions), the cosmic background radiation is all they can show you now. Unless you have one of those dopey models that detects a no-signal situation and shows a blue screen instead. Those are lame.
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Amateur radio operators are indeed allowed to transmit analog NTSC television in the UHF band. It’s most commonly done on the 70cm (440MHz) band, and a normal everyday 90’s television is all you need to receive the signals. You’d tune to what would have been cable channels 57 through 61. The use cases for this have decreased in recent years; for example you used to see hams using amateur television to send video signals from RC aircraft or model rockets, now that’s done with compressed digital video over something like Wi-Fi and doesn’t require a license. But, it’s still legal for hams to do.
RaoulDook@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I think my mom still uses the last CRT TV that I had. Gave it to her when I bought my first 720p HD TV, as the old CRT was better than her old TV. Later on I also gave her that HD TV but she still has the CRT too.
RagingNerdoholic@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
#CHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
Hair stand up
bonn2@lemm.ee 2 months ago
2001 here literally grew up with CRT static, you have your years a bit off there.
TwanHE@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I was about to say, i think we had a CRT till about 2010. My grandma still has one upstairs so even my youngest cousins still grew up with it.
Socsa@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
It really isn’t though. It is thermal noise.
LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Random radio sources, but a small part of the signal is CMB. I wasn’t sure what you even meant by thermal noise but I believe you’re talking about flatscreens. I found something that said it was “similar to snow on analog TVs” - so I gather there’s a difference.
Funnily, Google AI says, “In the 1940s, people could detect the CMB at home by tuning their TVs to channel 03 and measuring the remaining static after removing other sources. This allowed them to prove the Big Bang before scientists did.” So they had that going for 'em, which is nice.
piecat@lemmy.world 2 months ago
“Thermal Noise” is a phenomenon where everything makes EM noise, just from thermal energy.
If you were to put such a TV in a faraday cage, with an RF termination, you would see something similar. Because noise is inherently part of the circuitry and amplifiers.
RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Could it not be both?
Blackmist@feddit.uk 2 months ago
Last time I thought about static I wondered why colour TV didn’t show colour static.
Turns out the colour signal was on very specific frequencies, and if it wasn’t present, it would assume it was a black and white signal and turn off the colour circuit.
Dr_Box@lemmy.world 2 months ago
My family had several tvs that did this until around 2013
tkk13909@sopuli.xyz 2 months ago
Dude I was born after 2000 and this is firmly planted in my memories. Maybe people born after 2010 haven’t but 2000?
LANIK2000@lemmy.world 2 months ago
2002 here, we still had such a TV. For quite a while actually, since we never upgraded and just started using phones and computers instead. It became my console monitor.
Fredselfish@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Yeah OP full of shit. My three sons all born after 2000 have seen this. Hell my flat screen will show snow if I turn it to antenna and there nothing for single to pick up. Also I have console tv for our old gaming systems so they seen that as well
They also know how a vcr works and what a payphone is. We are not that far removed from that technology. Hell my middle son 17 has a record collection and cds. Also we have the cassette audiobook version of Stephen King Dolores Claiborne.
piccolo@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Modern Tv project fake static when there is no siginal because of fimilarity. OTA broadcasts are all digital, either you get a siginal or you dont.
SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
Born 2000, yes i have. So has my younger brother so thats ok
Barzaria@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” - William Gibson, Neuromancer
Gibson describes the static as metallic, silvery gray in an interview.
“The sky was the perfect untroubled blue of a television screen, tuned to a dead channel.” - Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere
I remember the white static myself.
Ferrous@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
That’s not background, that’s a free channel that showcases a polar bear in a snowstorm.
stringere@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
The ant races
Cracks_InTheWalls@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
On a CRT? Sure, probably a lot haven’t seen it. On a modern TV? Still possible for some - mine does this if I hit the channel button rather than volume accidentally.
leftytighty@slrpnk.net 2 months ago
Depending on the TV it’s likely simulated noise at this point
BatmanAoD@lemmy.world 2 months ago
That noise is horrible; why would someone simulate it rather than just show a blue screen?
konalt@lemmy.world 2 months ago
yeah i have
SlimeKnight@lemm.ee 2 months ago
I think they call it “analog horror noise” now, along with vhs cassettes.
…
Feel the passage of time XD
bdonvr@thelemmy.club 2 months ago
CRTs were fairly common until the early-mid 10s
I’d say born after 2008ish aren’t likely to be familiar with them, except seeing the odd one in their grandparents bedroom
ulterno@programming.dev 2 months ago
Except for that most of it was not.
A lot of the noise on the screen (and speaker) was affected by radiation from nearby stuff.I’d think that nowadays, it would be even more so, with way more WiFi and mobile phone signals everywhere. Now sure, different frequencies mean they would affect less, but the cumulative effect would still be more than the CMBR.
TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 2 months ago
No one in the last 25 years has ever seen it.
People didn’t just mass-destroy CRTs in 1999…
I bought an LCD TV in 2006 (a Sony Bravia that is still going strong) and that was earlier than most people I know switched
r_deckard@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel…
HEXN3T@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Say that to my three CRTs. I was born in 2003.
Bytemeister@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Cosmic microwave? Is that what you are calling “ants in a snowstorm” these days?
kingvolcano@lemmy.world 2 months ago
“War of the Ants”, where I’m from (sweden).
shadow_wanker@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Ask your friend which side is winning, say you’re rooting for the black ants, then turn off the TV and claim victory.
pyre@lemmy.world 2 months ago
ok Sweden wins this one
PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Ant races
bitwaba@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Salt and pepper fighting.
apemint@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Well, not really. The cosmic microwave background radiation was a tiny fraction of that noise. What everyone saw was mostly thermal noise generated by the amplifier circuit inside the TV.