Can't stand Trinitron CRTs; good quality alternatives anyone??

[JoHel]

Hello, I have a bit of a problem with monitors. I've always had an IIyama Visionmaster 8617. This one dates from '96 and is near the end of its lifecycle. I need a new one because it shows severe geometry and brightness problems.

The problem is that I have already bought two new ones (an IIyama xxxxxx 450, 19" and now I'm testing a Lacie ElectronBlue IV 19"). I do a lot of work in Photoshop, detailed image manipulation, and I found out that I just couldn't stand these two monitors. Even though the Lacie is considered ideal for this kind of work. It appears that I have a problem with Trinitron and/or Diamondtron screens (the ones with two horizontal lines..). I just can't keep focussing on image details or text. My old Visionmaster is a 17" non-flat shadowmask monitor, the two that I have checked out are flat Trinitron/Diamondtron. It could also be that 19" is just too big, I'm not 100% sure. At work I also have a cheap DELL 'classic' monitor and although refreshrate and max res are not stellar, it's also much easier on my eyes.

Anyways: has anyone had this kind of experience, AND: are there current manufacturers who still make GOOD quality classic non-Trinitron/Diamondtron monitors? I even don't care anymore that it's only 17" or not flat. I only need it to be good quality and capable of something like 1152x864 at 100 Hz or 1280*1024 at 85 Hz.

I could go for a 17" lcd flatscreen but I'm very worried that the difference with a CRT is very big and would require me to completely re-train my eyes when it comes to imagemanipulation.

Getting pretty desperate....

JoHel

 

[Eug]

Personally, I have not yet found a 19" aperture grill monitor (under $400) which I would consider to have tolerable text quality. My several year old discontinued $300 Samsung 950p shadow mask beats them for text EVERY time. I finally just gave up and bought a Samsung 172T LCD for US $555 (although LCDs have different problems).

The reason the Photoshop types like the aperture grills is because the colours are supposedly usually better than both shadow mask and LCD. I can see where they're coming from, but the lousy text quality just ruins it for me, and I don't do image manipulation for a living.

 

[anthrax]

LCD...hmm, I would be careful here.....sounds like you do alot of graphics works.......Colours for LCD's can look really different......even with so supposed decent LCD makers the colors can look very weired (Sharp LLT-1620) in sRGB mode...at least compared to my other Eizo 375..............Heard that Eizo still makes decent CRTs.......but I never tried them.....

 

[ISAslot]

You might want to look into Hitachi monitors with flat screen shaddow masks.

I have a 21" CM823FB and I love it.

 

[Sunner]

Eizo makes some kickass SM monitors.
Their F980 is top of the line, though rather expensive, I have an F931 myself, very happy with it.

 

[BentValve]

Your just cant beat an AG for color accuracy and contrast for graphic work and you cannot beat a good LCD for text work....solution: buy one of each.
I cannot stand the text on my Sony G520P but for graphics , games and photoshop work nothing can replace it. If I am reading I feel like pulling
out my laptop because the text is sooooo easy to look at. Now if I upload a few digital pics on my laptop I look at them but I cannot trust what I see, I feel like I am looking at them thru a vail or something. ...I put those pics on my G520P and the truth is exposed in whole.

 

[Eug]

Your just cant beat an AG for color accuracy and contrast for graphic work and you cannot beat a good LCD for text work....solution: buy one of each.

Good point.

 

[JoHel]

Originally posted by: anthrax
LCD...hmm, I would be careful here.....sounds like you do alot of graphics works.......Colours for LCD's can look really different......even with so supposed decent LCD makers the colors can look very weired (Sharp LLT-1620) in sRGB mode...at least compared to my other Eizo 375..............Heard that Eizo still makes decent CRTs.......but I never tried them.....

Thanks for the quick reactions. I've looked around a bit. What about this:

http://www.eizo.co.jp/welcome/products/crt/t566/contents.html

"Flat, aperture grill CRT", that's what I'm looking for isn't it?? They seem to only have monitors of this type.. Maybe there is hope after all

JoHel

 

[fkloster]

Can't stand Trinitron CRTs; good quality alternatives anyone??

lol thats like sayin' ..."Can't stand Mercedes Benz CARS; good quality alternatives anyone??" ...lmao

 

[IanthePez]

Originally posted by: fkloster

Can't stand Trinitron CRTs; good quality alternatives anyone??

lol thats like sayin' ..."Can't stand Mercedes Benz CARS; good quality alternatives anyone??" ...lmao

makes sense to me.....I hate mercedes Benz Cars.

 

[BentValve]

makes sense to me.....I hate mercedes Benz Cars.

Which model do/did you own?

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: JoHel

Originally posted by: anthrax
LCD...hmm, I would be careful here.....sounds like you do alot of graphics works.......Colours for LCD's can look really different......even with so supposed decent LCD makers the colors can look very weired (Sharp LLT-1620) in sRGB mode...at least compared to my other Eizo 375..............Heard that Eizo still makes decent CRTs.......but I never tried them.....

Thanks for the quick reactions. I've looked around a bit. What about this:

http://www.eizo.co.jp/welcome/products/crt/t566/contents.html

"Flat, aperture grill CRT", that's what I'm looking for isn't it?? They seem to only have monitors of this type.. Maybe there is hope after all

JoHel

All their Txxx monitors are AG/Trinitron.
Their F980 is about as good as you'll get with SM, but be prepared to cough up big bucks for it.

 

[TimeKeeper]

Seems like you are Pro. graphic designer.
All I can say is that you are definitely NOT going to get the LCD, period!

I haven't yet seen any LCD in the market able to display true red. It is always bit orange-ish.
And I haven't use CRT for 4 years..don't know much about it, sorry.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: TimeKeeper
Seems like you are Pro. graphic designer.
All I can say is that you are definitely NOT going to get the LCD, period!

I haven't yet seen any LCD in the market able to display true red. It is always bit orange-ish.
And I haven't use CRT for 4 years..don't know much about it, sorry.

Out of curiosity, if you're neither using CRT nor TFT monitors, what are you using?

 

[IanthePez]

Originally posted by: Sunner

Originally posted by: TimeKeeper
Seems like you are Pro. graphic designer.
All I can say is that you are definitely NOT going to get the LCD, period!

I haven't yet seen any LCD in the market able to display true red. It is always bit orange-ish.
And I haven't use CRT for 4 years..don't know much about it, sorry.

Out of curiosity, if you're neither using CRT nor TFT monitors, what are you using?

He didn't say he wasn't using an LCD, he just said the colors aren't that great.

 

[wicktron]

IMO, Diamondtron NF > FD Trinitron.

 

[JellyBaby]

Another vote for Hitachi if you want the highest quality shadow mask you can buy. Great focus/clarity on text.

 

[dkozloski]

Check out WWW.cprmonitors.com. I bought an "off-lease" F930 Eizo from them and it was packed so well that it survived ground shipment from Rochester, N.Y. to Alaska. For a little more than $300 I have a $1700 monitor that is sharp and crisp even in the corners. I also have a 17" Eizo that is over 10 years old and is still as sharp and bright as it was when I bought it new. With top of the line SM monitors you give up a very small amout of brightness but the improvement in focus makes for a more than reasonable tradeoff.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: IanthePez
He didn't say he wasn't using an LCD, he just said the colors aren't that great.

Bleh, I really gotta learn to read properly...

And how to type too for that matter...

 

[HokieESM]

Originally posted by: BentValve
Your just cant beat an AG for color accuracy and contrast for graphic work and you cannot beat a good LCD for text work....solution: buy one of each.
I cannot stand the text on my Sony G520P but for graphics , games and photoshop work nothing can replace it. If I am reading I feel like pulling
out my laptop because the text is sooooo easy to look at. Now if I upload a few digital pics on my laptop I look at them but I cannot trust what I see, I feel like I am looking at them thru a vail or something. ...I put those pics on my G520P and the truth is exposed in whole.

After having to sit in front of a monitor for FAR too much time, I finally did what this man described. I have a Sony G420 (19" Trinitron).... and while the colors and the picture is great, its hard on the eyes. Frankly, even my Samsung 900NF (which is shadow mask) is rough after awhile. So I bought a 17" LCD (when Dell had a sale). It also helps that I can look at pictures at 1600x1200 on the Sony, and then look at text (or webpages) at 1280x1024 on the LCD when my eyes are tired.

 

[Eug]

After having to sit in front of a monitor for FAR too much time, I finally did what this man described. I have a Sony G420 (19" Trinitron).... and while the colors and the picture is great, its hard on the eyes. Frankly, even my Samsung 900NF (which is shadow mask) is rough after awhile. So I bought a 17" LCD (when Dell had a sale). It also helps that I can look at pictures at 1600x1200 on the Sony, and then look at text (or webpages) at 1280x1024 on the LCD when my eyes are tired.

The 900NF is aperture grill. IMO the text quality of the 900NF (like most other aperture grill monitors) is terrible, even when hooked up to a Matrox G450.

BTW, I have two Samsung 950P shadow mask monitors, a Samsung 900NF (and 700NF) aperture grill, and a Samsung 172T LCD.

 

[JoHel]

Originally posted by: Sunner

Originally posted by: JoHel

Originally posted by: anthrax
LCD...hmm, I would be careful here.....sounds like you do alot of graphics works.......Colours for LCD's can look really different......even with so supposed decent LCD makers the colors can look very weired (Sharp LLT-1620) in sRGB mode...at least compared to my other Eizo 375..............Heard that Eizo still makes decent CRTs.......but I never tried them.....

Thanks for the quick reactions. I've looked around a bit. What about this:

http://www.eizo.co.jp/welcome/products/crt/t566/contents.html

"Flat, aperture grill CRT", that's what I'm looking for isn't it?? They seem to only have monitors of this type.. Maybe there is hope after all

JoHel

All their Txxx monitors are AG/Trinitron.
Their F980 is about as good as you'll get with SM, but be prepared to cough up big bucks for it.

Looks like I mixed up things here, LOL.

Anyways, I checked a bit further and they still sell this one:

http://www.eizo.co.jp/welcome/products/crt/f730/contents.html

Shadow mask, 19". Sadly no flat screen. What worries me a bit is that it is advertised as a low-cost standard business model. That doesn't sound like top-notch. On the other hand, the refreshrates aren't what I would call low-end: 1280*1024 at 107Hz and 1600*1200 at 92 Hz. Does anyone have experience with this screen?

It looks like I will be able to test it, so that sounds good. Now if I could also find an Hitachi somewhere...

JoHel

 

[Mem]

Anyways: has anyone had this kind of experience, AND: are there current manufacturers who still make GOOD quality classic non-Trinitron/Diamondtron monitors?

The LG flatron models might be worth a look,I don`t like aperture grill monitors because those 2 AG lines bother me so I ended up with a LG 19" flatron a few years back, has flat screen and no wires,colour is good IMHO and text is ok.Anyway it`s worth a look if you want to cover all the bases monitor wise.

 

[Sunner]

Are you sure the F730 isn't flat?

Looks like it should be the little brother to the now discontinued F931, seeing as the F931 was the "Business Standard Model" 21" when I bought it, and the F931 most certainly is flat.

Anyway, I'd say Eizo's "Low end" is in most cases comparable to most other manufacturers high end.

 

[BentValve]

AG is the de facto standard by most graphic users.
No monitor is perfect, I guess you just have to decide what you can and cannot live with.
If accurate color is your goal then you have no other choice.

i could go for a 17" lcd flatscreen but I'm very worried that the difference with a CRT is very big and would require me to completely re-train my eyes when it comes to imagemanipulation.

You might as well use a monochrome monitor if your going to use an LCD, they are not suitable for any meaningful photoshop work. You
cannot "train" your eyes to compensate for such gross errors unless you are superhuman or something.