LCD vs CRT?

JohnnySix

Am planning sometime soon to finally get around to building a new system, but am wondering, since I'm probably going to buy a new monitor too, whether to go back to CRT.

I've never been happy with the colour range of my current widescreen LCD, has LCD technology moved on far enough in the last 5 years that there's no longer much of a difference or do you still get superior colour depth/tonal range on a CRT?

The viewing angle thing is the biggest issue, over a few hours of use, I'll end up slumping in my seat, and something that looked good shaded when sitting up straight, suddenly looks a lot darker when I'm hunched over at the end of the night bleary eyed and sleep deprived.

Should I bear the extra expense, and get a half-decent CRT , or go budget and get another widescreen LCD?

Entity

If you do get an LCD, invest in a good one and get those using VA or IPS. These panels have superior color and better viewing angles compared to those cheap TN ones.

thomasp

can you even get a good quality (brand-new) CRT screen for comparable money these days?

anyway, if you don't mind having a heavy and bulky room-heater with a flickering eye-ruining picture on your desk that constantly emits high-frequency noise, disturbs equipment (e.g. some wacom tablets), requires picture adjustment and makes all kinds of weird sounds in operation, you might want to consider picking one up.
CRT monitors, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! i certainly don't miss 'em

as for TFT's - what is your budget? like Entity said, you'd be well advised to stay away from TN panels but that normally means choosing one of the pricier higher end models.

JohnnySix

I guess like the dude that just specced up a machine in the other thread, I'm looking @ around 800 quid, maybe 900 all in, so I guess for the monitor, around 150ish.

thomasp

something tells me you might not be able to pick up a decent panel (again - new) for that. maybe a 19-inch one at the most? else it might just be big but cheap shite with very viewing-angle dependant colors.

perhaps check out ebay and the usual suspects for decent 2nd hand TFT's from one or two years ago then? they don't seem to age as badly as the earlier generations anymore and there's not as much "stuff that tends to break" as in CRT's in those either.
i'd rather get a good one 2nd hand than a new TN panel.

Blaizer

there's a NEC that has very nice features and very nice colors, the problem is that is very expensive (aprox. 750 euro).

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgWbsOeFKms[/ame]

Here's a comparison with the hp lp2475w

LED panels will come shortly, i recommend you to wait. Visit http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=78

I have an old CRT (22") and i'm planning to drop it because is very old and is making me to use glasses, i have eye strain now. CRTs are good with colors but they will "kill" your eyes more than a good LCD.

EDIT: another video

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll0-uOdaqHI[/ame]

JohnnySix

Blimey, 750 Euro

I'll have a look into refurb/second hand then, mine is 5 years old now, and while it's fine for gaming, watching films that have night scenes means I have to ramp up the brightness/contrast in WMP to be able to make anything out - plus there is terrible banding on the colour spectrums in photoshop - I have to click and hope for the lighter ranges towards white as the top 5% look almost fullbright, even with gamma correcting.

Frump

I don't think you need to go super expensive to get a good monitor. I only spent 300 Canadian on mine 1.5 years ago and it's one of the best I've used, both in colour and viewing angle. I was conscious of the specs when picking it but even still, maybe I just got lucky.

Entity

Dell's Ultrasharp line have always been pretty good, and somewhat cheap too if you manage to catch one of their site deals.

monster

The Dell Outlet has a 20 inch. UltraSharp for $129.
Dell Ultrasharps constistantly win the 3D World magazines best monitor.

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventorySearch?c=us&cs=22&l=en&lob=MON&MODEL_DESC=ALL&s=dfh

praxedes

I would suggest having a look at a ViewSonic. Mine cost a little under 200 quid for a 21" widescreen that does 1080p for my 360 as well as being a kick ass computer display. I have a dual screen using my older lcd as well, and the difference in quality is very noticeable, with the Viewsonic giving richer colours and a much better gamma range. The only issue I have is that its view field is smallish so the colours don't read true if someone stands behind me and looks at it; they have to be at "chair sitting" height. But I always am so that's okay!

~P~