People born after 2000 have never seen the cosmic microwave background on their TV set.

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.

CRTs was in use well into the 2000s

Do you think CRTs just magically disappeared after the turn of the millennium?

they have to watch HBO shows to compensate

People born before 2000 think older technology just evaporated the minute the millenium ticked over.

It is entirely possible for people born after 2000 to have grown up with CRTs.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 if you're not inputting video from some other device. Or unless you have one of those dopey models that detects a no-signal situation and shows a blue screen instead. Those are lame.

2001 here literally grew up with CRT static, you have your years a bit off there.

#CHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

It really isn't though. It is thermal noise.

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.

My family had several tvs that did this until around 2013

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.

That's not background, that's a free channel that showcases a polar bear in a snowstorm.

I think they call it "analog horror noise" now, along with vhs cassettes.

...

Feel the passage of time XD

Dude I was born after 2000 and this is firmly planted in my memories. Maybe people born after 2010 haven't but 2000?

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.

yeah i have

"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.

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.

Also, I have a flat-screen CRT at home.

The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel...........

Cosmic microwave? Is that what you are calling "ants in a snowstorm" these days?

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

Say that to my three CRTs. I was born in 2003.

Our cable provider (my parents like cable TV) had analog channels even like 2 years ago, but they started encrypting everything which required purging the analog selection.

This sucks. At worst analog would be grainy, digital just keeps cutting out in worse conditions.
I wish there was also still analog OTA TV for this reason. Much easier to pick up usable signal.

People born after 2000 can see it on their phones, much more clearly:

My grandpa always just called it "The ant races"

They haven't?

I have a TV from ~2010 that still gives me static when something isn't connected.

Sixth and Seventh Generation video game consoles were still using scart/composite/component outputs for CRT up until their discontinuation in 2017 so I’m pretty sure a lot of kids would have had a CRT to game on as well was watch TV in their rooms.

Remember, kids typically get the hand me downs when the adults get new shiny.

Opening line of Neuromancer doesn't make much sense any more "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”

I was born in the 90s, my brothers were born in the early 2000s. We had a CRT into the early 2010s . Maybe people who weren't poor haven't seen real TV static but even then I doubt it. Hell, remember those god awful "flat screen" CRTs? My old station still had one of those that we used to watch TV on in 2018-19. It's probably still there lol

I was born after 2000 (though not too long after) and this is actually one of my core memories. I think about the sounds of the static and the sound of the CRT turning off all the time.

Also, we had a really old tv in our basement till at least 2008 that had no remote, just knobs and I remember messsing with the “hue” dial all the time trying to figure out how it worked.

The only reason that tv worked so late is that we had a black box connected to the antenna which I later learned was converting the digital signal to analog for the TV.

Also, you’ve just reminded me that I remember the switch from analog to digital. Specifically, I remember watching Elmo talking with some adult on TV about the change. Now I really want to find that video. I think the guy was wearing a suit had short dark hair and glasses. I also think the background was pinkish purple. I want to know how accurate my memories from so long ago are. (I’ll add the link to the video in an edit if I can find it)

Edit: I cannot find the video :(

You can still hear it on the radio. Although most of the noise floor is probably man made.

Movies depicting this haven't vanished from existence though

You mean the attack of the ants?

DAE remember that movie White Noise? The climax was fucking horrifying and I have to admit that it haunted me for quite a while.
For better or worse, kids today probably won't get it.

Also, a lot of kids don't have the slightest idea of what the "save" icon in their apps represents. They just know it's the save icon because it's everywhere

I have an old mini tv(the kind that took C cell batteries) that can still pickup the good ol CMB!

Maybe not directly on their TV set, but there are more than enough references to it in TV and film media that it's still known almost universally.

Everything from old beloved films to Modern period shows. Its literally an overused way to establish the narrative isnt taking place in the present.

I still see it sometimes when connecting my Steam Deck to my TV

I had a CRT as our family's main TV until 2017

I have seen this on a much newer TV last year. It didnt just disappear

You mean scrambled porn, right?

or a new smaller tv sitting on top of the old, wood frame tv as a stand now

Dude Flatscreen HDTVs were expensive even in 2008, and cable actually got worse for higher price so most people were hooked into local broadcast.

As person born after 2000, I used to play a lot of games on them Wii and GameCube mainly. The image and responsiveness really felt different. I do kinda miss them

Well, if they had watched any HBO show, they kind of saw it !

If they watch Poltergeist they'll know it's the TV people trying to get out.

Umm… I had a CRT until 2009 and even sold it to someone.

Was it just me or has anyone seen or make out patterns while staring at it? I sometimes found it amusing

While I've grown up with CRTs (90's kid) I've never seen the actual static in real life, only simulations.

I don't think channels ever went out, and if the TV was listening to a connection that didn't give anything it just shone bright blue.

uhhh, yes i have? I'm pretty sure some of my younger cousins have lol

2007er here, I grew up with a CRT as the TV in our second living room, I'd occasionally watch stuff like Bob the builder and others, but since it was all on analog tv, channels started displaying lots of static, pretty much only like 2 or 3 channels were working last I saw.

Also we had that CRT TV until 2018, then chucked it in the store room, then threw it out in 2020, I kinda miss it, kinda don't, idk.