I found this a few days ago--a subjective comparison. Might be helpful to some. Hope it has not already been posted here.
Credit goes to the fellow at this link: pints99-epinions
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Aperture Grill - Shadow Mask Comparison
The quality of the monitor is largely determined by the quality of the picture tube. There are two main types of monitors out there. Shadow Mask which is the traditional monitor and Aperture Grill (Called Trinitron by Sony) As anything else the two different types of monitors have different pros and cons and I'm going to point them out right here. I'm not going to go into depth of how they are different physically, but I will explain how they effect the image on the screen. To quickly sum it up though, Trinitron monitors use little wires to make the image while shadow mask monitors use a metal screen with tiny holes to allow the light to pass through. However Aperture Grill monitors have 1 or 2 damper wires running horizontally through the screen to hold the thin wires in place. They are slightly visible on an all white background and may be annoying to some. Many people have hopped on the Sony bandwagon and have said that Trinitron monitors are much better than normal Shadow Mask monitors. This goes back to a few years ago, because at the time only Trinitron monitors would have flat screens and look good. However, many companies have discovered how to make a Shadow Mask monitor be flat and look good. Lets get onto the comparison.
Dot Pitch ? The distance between pixels on a monitor
Shadow Mask monitors always have lower dot pitch than Aperture Grill monitors, sort of. Shadow Mask monitors advertise horizontal dot pitch, while Aperture Grill monitors advertise diagonal dot pitch. A .20 dot pitch on a Shadow Mask monitor is just under .24 dot pitch for an Aperture Grill. As a rule of thumb subtract about .035 from Aperture Grill monitors to find the equivalent of the Shadow Mask monitors. However, there is something evil about Aperture Grill monitors. In all but the highest class Aperture Grill monitors, they have variable dot pitch. So a monitor may be rated at .25 dot pitch, but upon reading carefully, it varies up to .27 at the edges. Even many .24 dot pitch Aperture Grill monitors vary up to .25 at the edges. Shadow Mask monitors always have a consistent dot pitch, so they are the easy winner here.
Winner Shadow Mask
Text Quality/Sharpness
Shadow Mask monitors win this comparison hands down. Due to the way that the monitors are engineered, Shadow Mask monitors are able to have much crisper text at the same dot pitch as Aperture Grill monitors. Since Aperture Grill monitors use tiny vertical wires, vertical lines can get blurry where the electron beam doesn't line up 100% correctly with the wires. This is why any CAD professional will refuse to use Aperture Grill monitors unless they are able to afford an insanely expensive Aperture Grill monitor.
Winner Shadow Mask
Color/Brightness/Contrast
Aperture Grill monitors consistently were able to produce better quality color, brightness and contrast than Shadow Mask monitors and this was one of the reasons why they became so popular. If you ever look back at an old Shadow Mask monitor you will notice how colors aren't vibrant compared to Aperture Grill Monitors. However, Shadow Mask monitors have come a long way and are pretty close to Aperture Grill monitors today, but Aperture Grill monitors still have the upper hand.
Winner Aperture Grill
Convergence ? Lining up of colors
Convergence is where the 3 colors Red, Green and Blue line up to make a certain color. Think back to playing with finger paint in kindergarten. In this test Shadow Mask monitors have much better convergence. This is also due to the way they are engineered. They almost always converge well. However, Aperture Grill monitors have somewhat poor convergence. Especially at the corners the beam may be slightly off so the pixels between contrasting colors may be discolored.
Winner Shadow Mask
Geometry
Aperture Grill monitors have consistently better geometry than Shadow Mask monitors. Usually the geometry on these monitors is so good, that no tweaking of monitor controls is needed. This can't be said the same for Shadow Mask monitors. Rarely is it ever configured perfectly, and it is very hard to have perfect geometry on a flat Shadow Mask monitor, even after tweaking.
Winner Aperture Grill
Susceptibility to Interference/Vibrations
Aperture Grill monitors are just more easily effected by interference, and due to the thin wires, the monitor may have a shimmering effect. Shadow Mask monitors are able to handle interference much better than Shadow Mask monitors.
Winner Shadow Mask
Price
Shadow Mask monitors can always be found cheaper than Aperture Grill monitors.
Quality
Although quality is dependent on the manufacturer, usually Aperture Grill monitors are put in more expensive higher end models, so they get fitted with better features and construction, along with better electron guns allowing the monitors to have higher refresh rates.
Winner Aperture Grill
Conclusion
There is split between the two types of monitors from the tests. Remember these won't hold true for each and every monitor, but they are a good general reference. I myself personally prefer Shadow Mask monitors, mainly for their superb text quality and ability to withstand interference, since my house is full of it. However, the geometry isn't perfect and can be annoying. Basically you have to look at which features please you and what you do. If you do lots of surfing the web or CAD design, go for the Shadow Mask monitor. If you are a gamer or graphic designer and need the high refresh rates and want the perfect no hassle geometry then get the Aperture Grill monitor. Just be sure the damper wires won't annoy you.
The choice is now yours!
Credit goes to the fellow at this link: pints99-epinions
----------
Aperture Grill - Shadow Mask Comparison
The quality of the monitor is largely determined by the quality of the picture tube. There are two main types of monitors out there. Shadow Mask which is the traditional monitor and Aperture Grill (Called Trinitron by Sony) As anything else the two different types of monitors have different pros and cons and I'm going to point them out right here. I'm not going to go into depth of how they are different physically, but I will explain how they effect the image on the screen. To quickly sum it up though, Trinitron monitors use little wires to make the image while shadow mask monitors use a metal screen with tiny holes to allow the light to pass through. However Aperture Grill monitors have 1 or 2 damper wires running horizontally through the screen to hold the thin wires in place. They are slightly visible on an all white background and may be annoying to some. Many people have hopped on the Sony bandwagon and have said that Trinitron monitors are much better than normal Shadow Mask monitors. This goes back to a few years ago, because at the time only Trinitron monitors would have flat screens and look good. However, many companies have discovered how to make a Shadow Mask monitor be flat and look good. Lets get onto the comparison.
Dot Pitch ? The distance between pixels on a monitor
Shadow Mask monitors always have lower dot pitch than Aperture Grill monitors, sort of. Shadow Mask monitors advertise horizontal dot pitch, while Aperture Grill monitors advertise diagonal dot pitch. A .20 dot pitch on a Shadow Mask monitor is just under .24 dot pitch for an Aperture Grill. As a rule of thumb subtract about .035 from Aperture Grill monitors to find the equivalent of the Shadow Mask monitors. However, there is something evil about Aperture Grill monitors. In all but the highest class Aperture Grill monitors, they have variable dot pitch. So a monitor may be rated at .25 dot pitch, but upon reading carefully, it varies up to .27 at the edges. Even many .24 dot pitch Aperture Grill monitors vary up to .25 at the edges. Shadow Mask monitors always have a consistent dot pitch, so they are the easy winner here.
Winner Shadow Mask
Text Quality/Sharpness
Shadow Mask monitors win this comparison hands down. Due to the way that the monitors are engineered, Shadow Mask monitors are able to have much crisper text at the same dot pitch as Aperture Grill monitors. Since Aperture Grill monitors use tiny vertical wires, vertical lines can get blurry where the electron beam doesn't line up 100% correctly with the wires. This is why any CAD professional will refuse to use Aperture Grill monitors unless they are able to afford an insanely expensive Aperture Grill monitor.
Winner Shadow Mask
Color/Brightness/Contrast
Aperture Grill monitors consistently were able to produce better quality color, brightness and contrast than Shadow Mask monitors and this was one of the reasons why they became so popular. If you ever look back at an old Shadow Mask monitor you will notice how colors aren't vibrant compared to Aperture Grill Monitors. However, Shadow Mask monitors have come a long way and are pretty close to Aperture Grill monitors today, but Aperture Grill monitors still have the upper hand.
Winner Aperture Grill
Convergence ? Lining up of colors
Convergence is where the 3 colors Red, Green and Blue line up to make a certain color. Think back to playing with finger paint in kindergarten. In this test Shadow Mask monitors have much better convergence. This is also due to the way they are engineered. They almost always converge well. However, Aperture Grill monitors have somewhat poor convergence. Especially at the corners the beam may be slightly off so the pixels between contrasting colors may be discolored.
Winner Shadow Mask
Geometry
Aperture Grill monitors have consistently better geometry than Shadow Mask monitors. Usually the geometry on these monitors is so good, that no tweaking of monitor controls is needed. This can't be said the same for Shadow Mask monitors. Rarely is it ever configured perfectly, and it is very hard to have perfect geometry on a flat Shadow Mask monitor, even after tweaking.
Winner Aperture Grill
Susceptibility to Interference/Vibrations
Aperture Grill monitors are just more easily effected by interference, and due to the thin wires, the monitor may have a shimmering effect. Shadow Mask monitors are able to handle interference much better than Shadow Mask monitors.
Winner Shadow Mask
Price
Shadow Mask monitors can always be found cheaper than Aperture Grill monitors.
Quality
Although quality is dependent on the manufacturer, usually Aperture Grill monitors are put in more expensive higher end models, so they get fitted with better features and construction, along with better electron guns allowing the monitors to have higher refresh rates.
Winner Aperture Grill
Conclusion
There is split between the two types of monitors from the tests. Remember these won't hold true for each and every monitor, but they are a good general reference. I myself personally prefer Shadow Mask monitors, mainly for their superb text quality and ability to withstand interference, since my house is full of it. However, the geometry isn't perfect and can be annoying. Basically you have to look at which features please you and what you do. If you do lots of surfing the web or CAD design, go for the Shadow Mask monitor. If you are a gamer or graphic designer and need the high refresh rates and want the perfect no hassle geometry then get the Aperture Grill monitor. Just be sure the damper wires won't annoy you.
The choice is now yours!
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