Note that even in Europe some late years digital chassis models could show frequency support limits despite being labeled as both PAL 50hz and NTSC compatible, Sony sets are infamous for it with some refusing to work with signals below 58Hz (modes in-between 50 and 58 won't display).
IDK how hard and expensive it's gotten to procure a fully-arcade compatible 15Khz CRT in N-A these days, but like 10y ago it was already a tougher challenge than in Europe. Ppl who didn't already own a classic cab would go for broadcasts or the rare fitting quality consumer sets, and when the RGB retro-collectorvirus rose from the niche, turning more mainstream, the prices of such monitors went totally berserk just like everything else at the time.
I don't want to even think about how much this antique stuff's going for now, especially if well preserved, it's scary.
Not long ago I got rid of my last actual arcade PCBs and a supergun, I witnessed how much money ppl were ready to drop on that old stuff in a heartbeat without even bargaining.
It's like the world ends this year, you know.
USA/America really is a special case because it never got the RGB/SCART as an industry standard. When DVDs came out and people demanded higher quality, they went with *component* instead of RGB/SCART, and because USA was already NTSC/60hz manufacturers for that market had no incentives to make TVs PAL/50hz capable. As USA is a leading market, it affects many other countries too
Which is a big part of the reason why we developed GreenAntz transcoders, to save those component TVs from waste and back into the eager hands of retrogamers. Especially in N/S-A.
Back in the heyday of the CRT sunset in Australia, a "sprinkling" of better Euro TVs was available. Out of 10 TVs, about 6 would be composite, 3 x component and 1 x RGB. So I passed over *many* component TVs that would've been great if I had some GreenAntz back then. Now we have RGB modding too, and if a TV can't be RGB modded then good chance it can be component modded. Often easier too (activating dormant inputs).
I used a lot of *better* Euro RGB TVs as arcade monitors (Philips, Loewe, Blaupunkt, Thomson). They all performed pretty well across both ~50 and ~60 ranges. Loewe better than most. However the only Sonys I used were PVMs, not consumer TVs which had a lesser reputation. Mostly the Sony consumer TVs I found in Australia were composite only, no RGB. Back then I could get PVMs for $50 or even free. No way I'd do the same today with PVMs given how people have re-valued them and the "
retro-collectorvirus" pandemic.
I also liked the 25-29" Euro TVs because the tubes were of a higher quality. Whatever better brand Euro TV, towards the end mostly all Philips tubes, wider and with a fixed yoke (set in factory, buried in plastic). Very nice tubes, at least for 2-player cabs, which most people want. So even if the TV was dead I could recycle the tube with a Sharp Image universal chassis and get a really fantastic arcade monitor. Difficult to get those SI chassis now.
I've thrown out more RGB CRT TVs and broadcast monitors than most millenials will ever see... like starships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... <release dove>
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This is a vague reference to Rutger Hauer's monologue near the end of the original Blade Runner (1982), while poking a little fun at myself