Aperture grill vs. shadow mask

[hobcat1]

I've seen so many conflicting reports on which is better...
Some say shadow mask is better dimensionally while the aperture (mitsubishi in my case) has truer colors. I'm looking at the Dell deal w/ the Samsung 900NF or a flat shadow mask, the Viewsonic, G90FB. The Samsung would come out to 12 dollars more, while I can't find reviews for the Viewsonic. Black is appealing...

 

[Kingofcomputer]

http://www.iiyama.com/support2/faq.html

Q:What is the difference between a Shadow Mask CRT, Shadow-Flat CRT
and TrueFlat CRT (Aperture Grille type)?
Shadow Mask(=Flat square tube (FST))
CRTs have a plate which sits behind the glass between the phosphor and the electron beams.Holes in the plate are precisely aligned so that only the appropriate beam is allowed to hit the red, green or blue phosphor. A Shadow Mask absorbs the electrons' energy, which is converted to heat.
The distance between two holes in the shadow mask masking two adjacent dots of the same color is called dot pitch.
Shadow Flat Mask (Flat surface +Shadow mask technologies)
There are benefits to both technologies.
There is no visible 2 horizontal lines.
TrueFlat(based on Aperture Grille Technology)
TrueFlat is iiyama's brand name for its flat-faced monitor. Shadow Mask (FST) is an industry standard term used since 1997 indicating minimal curvature (but still a curvature) of the monitor tube. FST is not flat-faced like an TrueFlat. There are benefits to both technologies at this time. Flat-faced monitors from all manufacturers have some advantages & drawbacks. On the plus side, they have much less glare than the FST & images have a flatter, more realistic appearance. However, most flat-faced models employ a double layer glass surface that reduces brightness (and sometimes contrast) and can have warping at the corners. As technology advances, these problems become less apparent with every new product revision. FST monitors have a slight curve to their image, but may have significantly better brightness (and sometimes better contrast) with a price that is more accessible for most consumers.

 

[kly1222]

Shadow mask monitors tend to give crisper text, while AG monitors give better color. If you do a lot of word documents/spreadsheets, go with a shadow mask monitor. If you are a gamer and into graphics work, go with an AG.

 

[Jeff7]

The only difference I've noticed between the two is that AG monitors have those two horizontal stabilizing wires, which are visible as 2 gray lines on the screen. SM doesn't have these. Color vibrance, clarity...I really haven't seen any difference. I'm using a Nokia Multigraph 447XPro now, which is AG; it suits me alright, though a refurb'd Dell monitor I got off of eBay is shadow mask, and it has the nicest picture I've ever seen on a monitor (only 15" though, I wanted 17"). I wound up with an aperature grille monitor, because I tried to ask the guy selling the things what kind it was, but he hadn't ever heard of the term "aperature grille."

Yeah well; it was a good deal and works fine.

 

[RudeBoie]

From what I read before I got my Samsung 700IFT, aperture grille has better colors, while shadow mask has better text. But when I say better, that doesn't mean 1 sucks, and the other is bad ass- just that one is a little bit better than the other in that department.

Wow......1000 posts
Another AT nerd..........

Jeff7,
Those two horizontal lines, I always thought that they were trademarks of Sony tubes.

 

[Spike]

I'm using a Nokia Multigraph 447XPro now, which is AG

Um... the X-series of Nokia monitors are Shadow-Mask, not AG. IF you had a 447 Pro, then it would be AG, but if it has that x in it then it is a SM. I only say this because I have talked to the nokia tech support people (you have to get the number off of viewsonics page as viewsonic owns the monitor part of Nokia) and they told me that all "X" series are shadow-mask, actually, the correct term for them is invar shadow mask. I also run a Nokia Multigraph 445xpro which is 21" (20 " viewable) and is shadow mask

Back to the main question... I think the differences are so small that I would just consider what the best price is. My roomate got his 445 pro (a 21" nokia that is a AG) for less than my shadow mask 21", but he got a special deal. Just look for the best price from a good company (viewsonic, nokia, samsung, etc...) and go for it. hope that helps

-spike

 

[Spike]

oops, sorry Jeff7, the nokia tech support guy was wrong!! I just looked online and the 447xpro is indeed AG, not shadow mask. I guess the only difference between the x and non x line is that the non-x are actually flat, and not curved. I apologize for speaking before knowing, that seems to happen alot to me

 

[Jeff7]

Jeff7,
Those two horizontal lines, I always thought that they were trademarks of Sony tubes.

Nope; trademark of pretty much any aperature grille monitor, though I've heard that new AG monitors have less visible lines.

 

[TheMCP]

Actually the statement that a shadow mask provides crisper text is incorrect, at least as far as the broadcast and corperate computer industry goes. Since a shadow mask has more metal surface to it and is generally only anchored to the tube at the corners, as it heats up the metal expands and tends to push out in all directions (it is like a big peice of solid metal whith pin holes punched in it) which distorts not only your text, but the entire picture. An aperature grille uses half the amount of metal on the actual screen surface and is anchored fully on the top and bottom (it is like thin metal threads running vertically), the metal will still expand, but to a lesser degree as most of the expansion occurs on the horizontal plain. One reason for the clearer picture is the electron beam isn't fighting as much metal to actually hit the proper color phosphers on the screen, another is that since the aperature grill isn't expanding as drastically in all directions (compared to a shadow mask) the electron beam has a much easier time in actually hitting it's true designated target on the actual screen. Generally, an Aperature grille Television or monitor will run on less power and produce less heat to acheive the same brightness level of picture. some say that since the gun and overall monitor/television run cooler that it will also last longer. The two retention wires in an aperature grille are there to prevent the thin metal wires running verticaly in the aperature grille from vibrating. Unfortunately if they wern't there, the wires in the aperature grille would start to vibrate as it heated up and that would cause a distortion in the picture. It is the lesser of two evils.

Just look at the broadcast market (i.e. TV stations) and generally you will find that the majority of them are using Trinitron (aperature grille) technology for their monitors. Although some people might say that is because Sony is giving them deals on the product, I can tell you that even with those deals Sony's are still more expensive than the other major players, but yet 60%-80% of the broadcast/industrial market still use the aperature grille technology. I have had experience where a TV station scrapped their entire non aperature grilles after less than two years, due to clarity issues and complaints from the broadcast technitions who have to stare at these things all day long.

A quick and easy test to try is take two similar quality monitors, one with an aperature grille and one with a Shadow Mask (say a Sony vs. NEC scenerio) and place them side by side. When both monitors are both first turned turned on in the morning (cold start), display a picture with complex text in the centre, sides and corners. Come back to those same monitors, after they have been running for 8 hours and display the same image. Although both will probably still have an excellent picture in the centre, the sides and corners on the shadow mask will most likely be bowed or distorted to a larger degree than the Aperature grille monitor.

 

[TheMCP]

There is more to it than just what I explained above, but that is a magor portion of it. Another key factor is that there is only a single electron gun and lense in an aperature grille (Trinitron) based monitor, where as a shadow mask tube must use three seperate guns and lenses so there is a tougher time aiming them exactly the same and they can go out of alignment of course.

Okay, enough typing from me for awhile.

 

[Spike]

my experience disagrees with what TheMCP said, though this may be the exception and not the fact. My roomate and I both have nokia 21" monitors, mine uses an invar shadow mask CRT (like I said above) and his uses the AG trinitron tube (flat) When we both first start up our moinitors his has blury text and mine is too dark. After about 20 min, his text is mostly clear but still blurry around edges while my monitor is back up to normal brightness levels. After about 10 more min all but the smallest traces of blurry text are gone from his monitor.

Now back to my case, my monitor has not been shutdown for the last 4 weeks (slighty less than 4 weeks, but close enough ) I do NOT have it power down, just display black screen. I do this so that it does not have to warm up and won't go dark on me (a pain if I want to wake up my comp and play a game first off) I put text files and graphics all over it and can not see ANY blurring. The text is not as sharp (but close) as with my roomates tube (after his has warmed up, of course) but it is very close and does not change over time and temp. It stays very crisp the entire time.

Again, this may just be a fluke as I have not done any research apart from my home testing, but I just wanted to relay my experience

-spike

 

[Booster]

If you doubt what to get, get an LG Flatron monitor. It's neither shadow mask nor AG, it's slot mask (Panasonic technology, I believe). What's good about this monitor it's not only that it's incredibly cheap, but also has great image quality, plus it's the only CRT available right now that's truly flat on both sides and has a truly flat image. All other AG and SM tubes are flat only on the outside and more or less curved on the inside. It doesn't have any damper wires. I've had such a monitor (FT 795+) for more than a year and the image is sharp, colors are good, there's no visible misconvergence even in the far corners, that's incredible, I guess. After having this monitor I wouldn't even ever consider any other CRT types or manufacturers, by far the best I ever had.

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

I like bright vivid colors so I went the apperture grille route. It costs a little more, but I like it. The best thing if you can is to go to a store that has both on display, for example Phillips flat shadow mask 107T and Phillips flat apperture grille 107P.

Apperture grille uses fine vertical lines while the shadow mask uses a metal plate with tiny holes drilled in it(dot pitch is diagonal distance between these fine holes - smaller the dot pitch the better the picture) The electron gun of the monitor fires (draws) electrons at the screen, and obviously, more light gets through the spaces between the wires in the AG then through the metal plate with the tiny holes in it, SM. So the AG is brighter, and the colors are more vivid. The negative, if you even notice it , are the two tiny grey horizontal damper wires that hold the numerous vertical wires in place. I noticed them at first cause a lot of the posts were "anal" about them, but after a day or two never noticed them again. Text is supposed to look better on a SM tube because rounded pixels make for fuller letters(text). I like the brighter sharper colors of an AG tube and the text looks great to me. I'd rather have brighter colors and the text is great just the way it looks on an AG tube.

It also boils down to your financial budget. (rule of thumb only)

SM monitors are the least expensive
AG are more expensive than SM
LCD monitors are the most expensive.

If money is no object, get an LCD with digital connectors...

 

[Gosharkss]

The MCP

The problem of the shadow mask warping or doming due to heat was eliminated with the invention of the Invar shadow mask. All modern shadow mask monitors now use an Invar mask.

The reason broadcast applications use aperture grill is for one simple reason, they tend to produce brighter more vivid colors.

Both shadow mask and aperture grill CRT use a single electron gun structure that has three sets of lens and cathodes one each for red, green and blue. From the electron gun point of view they are virtually the same. Shadow mask CRTs tend to have better convergence specifications than Aperture grill CRT?s.

 

[geckojohn]

I would go with an Aperture Grill. I have had a Sony aperture grill for about 3 years and the quality is outstanding. I am sometimes looking at my monitor for hours at a time and I haven't had any strain or problems. If I ever get another monitor it will be an Aperture grill... they're great monitors.

 

[Jeff7]

One fun thing about some AG monitors is that if you slap it on the side, you get funky colors and waves from the wires vibrating.

 

[pillage2001]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
One fun thing about some AG monitors is that if you slap it on the side, you get funky colors and waves from the wires vibrating.

You might not want to do that on a frequent basis. My friend did that to his Sony G200 quite often and the waving was there for keeps.

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
One fun thing about some AG monitors is that if you slap it on the side, you get funky colors and waves from the wires vibrating.

Yeah and if you drive your car into a brick wall, you get funky creases in the front end...