Flat screens versus CRTs?

Post by **Gambit37** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 1:56 pm

What's peoples reactions to flat screens versus the good old CRTs?

I still have a CRT at home, but have a dual flat screen setup at work. I'm doing a lot of graphics work, and I find the flat screens terrible: colour balance is poor, contrast is bizarre and stuff generally looks worse than on a CRT.

I've fiddled with all the controls and got the flat screens looking better, but it seems impossible to get the richness out of them that you can get from CRTs.

It looks like you have to spend thousands to get flat screens that have the same quality as a CRT. I'm quite glad I still have a CRT at home, even though it's getting a bit fuzzy now...

Post by **cowsmanaut** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 8:19 pm

well, you are right in that the richness is not there.. it's the colour range of the flatscreens.. they are not the same as a CRT. The newer more expensive ones as you say have better range and have less banding. However, with those prices though it's not really worth it.

The one big benefit of flat screens is there is no refresh on them. unlike the CRT that is always going. So if you are filming something with LCD you don't see the flicker of the screens. Annother reason no refresh is important for a bussiness is that some people have a sensitivity to them.. headaches, dizziness, etc. Try this.. walk to about 10 feet from your CRT, the start chewing on some potato chips or cookies or something else that is crunch. the crunchier the better. stare at the screen as you do. See it?

This experiment should tell you how close the perceptual range of the flicker is to us. We just ignore it but it's there and we do preceive it. Sometimes when I'm tired I can see it shimmer. So use of flat screens avoids that.

The other thing to remember is how long Cathode Ray Tubes have been around.. the very first TV. It's had many a year to perfect it's visual quality. So LCD is sitll Relatively new tech compared to that.

moo

Post by **Lunever** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 11:20 am

In my experience too the image quality of flat screens depends heavily on it's price.

Post by **Gambit37** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 1:20 pm

Yeah, the refresh is an interesting point and I've noticed it on CRTs a lot over the years when sitting at my PC having lunch.... *crunch* //shimmer// *crunch* //shimmer// -- it's quite a weird sensation!

Something about grey is weird -- if I look at these forums on a CRT with my theme applied, the greys are quite dark, and the black outline around the logo and the 'new topic' buttons is very close to the background. On a flat screen, the black is very pronounced and the background is much much liter. It's also very hard making very subtle colours show up (anything that's very close to white still looks white).

Bummer. I moaned at work that my initial flat screen wasn't good and they gave me a better one. Very much doubt they'd appreciate me asking for a CRT instead!....

Post by **ChristopheF** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 3:45 pm

I agree that CRTs have far better image quality than LCDs for the same price range.
Very good LCD screens are, in my opinion, wort than very good CRTs (using Sony Trinitron or Nec/Mitsubishi DiamondTron tubes), and much more expensive.
That is why I will keep my CRT as long as possible (or until LCDs becomre very cheap)

Post by **cowsmanaut** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 8:38 pm

you should point out to them it actually would be best for you to have an LCD and a CRT at your desk to test your images on both so that you can compare them on both set ups. I mean what if you make a nice image that looks great on a CRT and then see it on an lcd it looks crap?.. or vice versa. could be a point in there somewhere worth getting you that lcd.

moo

Post by **Gambit37** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 9:22 pm

Heh, there's NO WAY I could ask for a CRT now that I have two flat screens; too small a company to spend any more money! I did have a crappy old 15" CRT for a while, but it was ying which is why it was replaced with a flattie. Oh well!

Des · Post by **Des** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 10:56 pm

I'm very happy with the mid-price TFT that came with my PC (18 months old) - it's an LG Flatron L1710B using a DVI connection. It is very easy on the eye and fits nicely on the small desk in my "den".

There is a slight loss of speed and resolution when playing modern games, but that's about it for downers. No way would I go back to a huge CRT unless I get a bigger house!

PadTheMad · Post by **PadTheMad** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 12:37 pm

Resolution is another good point - LCDs have a native resolution. They are pin sharp if they're in that resolution but anything other than that and the display tends to become blurry - not good.

Selie · Post by **Selie** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:15 am

So hey, I'm looking for a new tv because mine is really, really going - it's been dying for about a decade, about 20 years old overall. I know we're talking about monitors here, but what's the general opinion about television screens? I'm thinking about getting a "flat panel" tv, which isn't one of the super expensive thin screens but more like a traditional one that just doesn't have a rounded screen. It's close to the rounded-screen ones in price, slightly higher quality, and I figure I might as well get one that I'll want to have for a long time, given my tendency to hold onto things forever.

As for flat-screened monitors, I had one for my desktop til the desktop died, and I loved it, did all sorts of graphics work on it. Granted, the CRT I'd had beforehand was also old and dark and had problems, so it may be that the flatscreen seemed amazing by comparison. But I've hooked it up to the old comp I play DM on and it looks great to me. Yes, I am a packrat. That is why I have two computers - one is my main computer (borrowed laptop), and one (the 6-year-old one) is for playing Dungeon Master!

Post by **cowsmanaut** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:21 am

the great eliminator in this whole CRT\LCD argument is this...

http://www.digitalgraphicsresources.com ... ProdID=417

so beautifull.. makes you wanna cry..

Selie · Post by **Selie** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:25 am

Yeah, I've been drooling over tablet PC screens, and this tablet-screen laptop I saw in action at Fry's (electronics store) recently. Those are so insane. Someday I will have one, and the world will no longer be the same. MWAHAHAHA.

That still doesn't answer my question about television, though...

zoom · Post by **zoom** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:09 pm

CRTs: I heard they were accelerating dust particles, which in turn would fly into your eyes.
my eyes get iritated. This is partly due to not blinking with the eyes but there is maybe more to it.

THe problem with Tfts is, that they do not heat the room like crts. Less electricity power used.
and they do not match colours like a crt does.
crts have,afaik, a wider range of resolutions. Most tfts have only one recommended or the like.
of course the response time of tfts is a factor, especially with games. If you have powerful speakers around your crt you may experience distortions.
Tfts do not live as long as crts. Are there monitors (crts) that are 16:9 ?? Are these Flat tv screens maybe? What about beamers? And what about the thing cows hyperreferenced to? Do they work with any monitor- i do not get it.