CRT's vs LCD...yes I'm serious.

[Sigismundo]

Now I know everyone has fully embraced LCD's as THE way to go these days....and so for my second home PC I started to look for a LCD, this is used by my wifey, and mostly for gaming/entertainment. So I looked through the excellent LCD thread and what my options were. The more i looked the more I realized however even now if I wanted to get a LCD that matched the performance of my NEC 21" on my main computer I was gonna have to put out a decent wad of cash. Is it really always the best bang for the buck to go with the LCD?

Loooking around I see many CRT's with barely any use on refurb sites etc that were 700-1500 bucks not so long ago going for like 100 dollars.

Their brightness, contrast, and colors exceed still to this day almost anything I see on LCD's that are under 1000 dollars.

If Bang for the buck is your concern, and gaming is you chief use. Even now in 2008 might a nice CRT be a better option? I don't particularly care if takes up more space or weighs 70 lbs, I just want the best brightest quickest response and beautiful contrast at the best price.

And as I said I've seen friends so excited about some new uber LCD screen only to see it and notice how much it's image pales in comparison to my NEC FE2111-SB, especially in terms of brightness and contrast.

In crysis for example on my old NEC CRT, it looks like DAYLIGHT when you walk around, it's so bright and rich.....and on my friends LCD which is a rather nice one, it looks very nice compared to other LCD's....but compared to the old super bright diamondtron it looks dull......maybe it's just me.

I want honest thoughts here, maybe I'm missing something.

 

[BFG10K]

Now I know everyone has fully embraced LCD's as THE way to go these days

Not me - I'm hoping my 19" Sony CPD-G420 will last until OLED arrives.

 

[NickelPlate]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

Now I know everyone has fully embraced LCD's as THE way to go these days

Not me - I'm hoping my 19" Sony CPD-G420 will last until OLED arrives.

Me neither. I'm still running my 19" Sony Trinitron that's pushing 10 years old (still looks great) and have another less used spare downstairs when this one gives out. So I'm good for a long time until something better than LCDs comes into the mainstream.

"CRTs, Try them again for the very first time"

 

[Munky]

I switched from a CRT to a LCD not long ago, and while I notice that the LCD does not have such deep blacks, or as fast response time, I'm still glad I switched. The bigger screen and higher resolution go a long way to making games and movies more enjoyable, and offer more convenience in general productivity apps. The high quality LCD has good color reproduction, and is actually brighter than my old CRT. I only keep the brightness at 25% for everyday use.

 

[xtknight]

CRTs still have vast advantages in input lag (they have none), response time, contrast, and resolution scaling. Response time for nearly all transitions is faster on a CRT, and contrast remains higher due to a lower black level.

CRTs are not as bright as LCDs. Shadow masks are 80-100 nits while some of the aperture grille-based ones such as Trinitron and DiamondTron may hit 400 nits or higher. Small LCDs hit around 300 nits, and bigger ones about 500 nits. Many LCDs still work alright at lower brightnesses, but they may need to be calibrated for better performance.

Default color accuracy has gotten a little better on many recent LCDs.

The black level of most CRTs is between 0 and 0.01 nits, while the truly best LCDs may hit 0.10, with most 0.20 or higher. This causes a reduction in contrast ratio, but the main problem is LCDs being unable to show dark tones well with saturation or stability. TN and VA panels shift highly in dark colors, and the color of the backlight often shows through in these tones ("bleeding"), reducing saturation. IPS panels don't have quite the shifting problem but they still don't show dark tones with great saturation.

The brightness (white level) of LCDs is higher, as is the clarity. A lot of people like them especially well for text work and development, but they are not for everyone. Usually, gaming is the only category that really excludes people from using LCDs on a daily basis. Many other activities like movies, text work, and photo editing work very well on LCDs these days, if you get the right one. (Movies may still favor CRTs a little, especially older or grainier ones.)

 

[Sigismundo]

Thanks XTknight that was exactly the sort of info I was looking for....

My second question, does anyone, know of a good dependable outlet for CRT's?

Also when a monitor is said to be "refurbished".....other then repackaged what does that mean?

The CRT I'd like to get was selling for as cheap as 50-70 bucks for awhile.......I regret I did't buy another one then.....now the places that carry it seem to have it marked up enough that a LCD might be worth it. Does anyone know some good places to look for older CRT's and be protected from blown out lemons?

 

[biostud]

My 19" Iiyama triniton broke so I had to switch. I would say that I prefer the LCD since the text is sharper and for me the the colors seems to "fit" gaming more than my old.

 

[dug777]

My 21" Samsung is wonderful :heart:

 

[brencat]

Originally posted by: NickelPlate

Originally posted by: BFG10K

Now I know everyone has fully embraced LCD's as THE way to go these days

Not me - I'm hoping my 19" Sony CPD-G420 will last until OLED arrives.

Me neither. I'm still running my 19" Sony Trinitron that's pushing 10 years old (still looks great) and have another less used spare downstairs when this one gives out. So I'm good for a long time until something better than LCDs comes into the mainstream.

+1

Using an IIyama Vision Master Pro (Diamondtron AG) here and it's ~ 10 years old, but looks as good as the day I got it and 20x better than the TN panel LCDs the rest of my family have. I had toyed with getting a 24 or 26" LCD a couple months back but determined that for the better IPS panels I was looking at $700+. Money is fairly tight for me right now so those plans are on hold.

 

[error8]

I did the switch last summer, from my old Samsung 793 DF 17 inch to a medium quality BenQ 20 inch, with only VGA connection and I have to say that I will never return to the cathodic tube. The LCD has so many advantages, that the old CRT with its deeper dark and instant response time don't seem to matter anymore.
With the LCD I can spend hours in autocad without my eyes starting to bleed anymore. Movies are great on it, games as well and the fact that I have so much space on my desk is another great plus for the LCD.

Even if you think that a CRT is better, once you've done the switch into the LCD camp, you can't go back anymore and probably will hate yourself for not doing it earlier. At least this happened to me, there are some that see things different.

 

[Martimus]

Originally posted by: Sigismundo
Also when a monitor is said to be "refurbished".....other then repackaged what does that mean?

It means that it was broken and was fixed. There are a lot of failure points on a CRT so it is hard to tell what it may have been. I have fixed a few TV's in the past, but haven't done so in years - I can't even remember what the problems were that I fixed now.

I went looking for a new CRT for a friend recently, but couldn't find a reputable dealer. One issue is that shipping is very high, because they are very heavy. My Mag 800V is awesome, and I would suggest it if you can find it.

 

[IlllI]

oh good god, not another one of these threads

 

[CP5670]

Loooking around I see many CRT's with barely any use on refurb sites etc that were 700-1500 bucks not so long ago going for like 100 dollars.

Their brightness, contrast, and colors exceed still to this day almost anything I see on LCD's that are under 1000 dollars.

Well, I'm not sure that those refurbs are such a good deal. You could potentially score big with them and get a perfect one, but there is a significant chance of them having some defect or another. Most of the things that people think are inherent flaws of CRTs are actually defects on specific units due to poor quality control.

It may be worth a shot if you're persistent and are willing to do a few exchanges with them. AccurateIT is a good bet, although you should only consider the new and grade A models. Look at that HP P1230 in particular.

I already have an excellent CRT and won't be replacing it until OLED monitors come out, but I probably wouldn't buy one today given the hassle involved in getting a good one.

I did the switch last summer, from my old Samsung 793 DF 17 inch to a medium quality BenQ 20 inch, with only VGA connection and I have to say that I will never return to the cathodic tube. The LCD has so many advantages, that the old CRT with its deeper dark and instant response time don't seem to matter anymore.

That isn't a very good CRT.

The thing with CRTs is that anything below the top end ones are usually worse than equivalent LCDs, and even the flagship ones need to be configured properly in order to truly shine. If you get one of those and set it up right (and it isn't defective), their image and motion quality is easily superior to any LCD except in terms of the screen size.

 

[driftwood07]

but compared to the old super bright diamondtron it looks dull......maybe it's just me.

i dont have one , but diamondtron is definitely one of the best looking CRTs ive seen. great picture. i recently upgraded from a dell 20" trinitron (also nice picture) to a 19" widescreen samsung lcd. the picture is definitely better on the crt, but transporting that thing became too much.

 

[ajaidevsingh]

I have just ordered a 29 inch CRT an upgrde from my old 19 inch crt and rite now the 19 inch LCD...!!

You will note the colour detail on a CRT is just better!!!

 

[BolleY2K]

I am running 2 Sony G520 21 inch - and I am not planning to switch to LCD in the near future. I got both for free when a local company switched their CAD-department to LCDs - they simply wanted to trash the Sonys. I hope they don´t regret that move...

 

[CP5670]

I have just ordered a 29 inch CRT an upgrde from my old 19 inch crt and rite now the 19 inch LCD...!!

You will note the colour detail on a CRT is just better!!!

I don't know if that's a worthwhile upgrade. A 29" CRT is going to be a TV and the resolution and refresh rates will be inferior to most of the good 21/22" ones.

 

[Rubycon]

Since I spend the majority of my time looking at charts with tiny 8pt text at 2560x1600, I say the LCD is far above and beyond the CRT. CRT's just look plain fuzzy on the text. Plus my eyes are sensitive to flicker and if the refresh is <85Hz I can see horrid flicker. It's a real uphill battle trying to balance high refresh with high resolution as it puts strain on the video amp circuits and cabling must be PERFECT (BNC is a MUST!) to avoid reflections, etc.

For gaming and animation I agree the motion and contrast ratio of the CRT is superior. It's impossible to get a true black with an LCD with current technology. It's gotten better but has a ways to go. Ditto with eliminating the effects of motion. Off angle viewing is still an issue too.

But for us small text viewers, the LCD prevails.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

CP, have you (or anyone else) bought anything from "accurateit"? They have a resellerrating of 8.45, but the last review was over a year ago...lol

 

[ajaidevsingh]

Originally posted by: CP5670

I have just ordered a 29 inch CRT an upgrde from my old 19 inch crt and rite now the 19 inch LCD...!!

You will note the colour detail on a CRT is just better!!!

I don't know if that's a worthwhile upgrade. A 29" CRT is going to be a TV and the resolution and refresh rates will be inferior to most of the good 21/22" ones.

If fact i have ordered this http://www.tech2.com/india/rev...883694-crt-hdtv/5304/0 which i did try out at my friends place crysis at 1080p @ 100Hz was good and sharp... I MUST POINT OUT THE TEXT LOOKED A BIT OUT OF SYNC..

But the dam game experiance was great. In India we also get a Vu alternative that has HDMI but is more on the price!!

If you want to game at 1080P this will be the best!!

EDIT PS i bought it for about $550 great...!!!

 

[CP5670]

CP, have you (or anyone else) bought anything from "accurateit"? They have a resellerrating of 8.45, but the last review was over a year ago...lol

I haven't dealt with them myself, but some others here have bought from them in the past. I think people generally had good experiences with the "new overstock" or "refurb grade A" units. I remember one guy getting a B grade one at some point and complaining about it here.

If fact i have ordered this http://www.tech2.com/india/rev...883694-crt-hdtv/5304/0 which i did try out at my friends place crysis at 1080p @ 100Hz was good and sharp... I MUST POINT OUT THE TEXT LOOKED A BIT OUT OF SYNC..

But the dam game experiance was great. In India we also get a Vu alternative that has HDMI but is more on the price!!

If you want to game at 1080P this will be the best!!

EDIT PS i bought it for about $550 great...!!!

That looks better than I thought but it does have some shortcomings. 100hz is good, but if it maxes out at 1080p then that's significantly lower than the 2048x1536 that most good 21/22" ones do. That also looks like one of the thin CRTs that some companies briefly experimented with, which generally have bad focus along the edges and never really took off.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

I haven't dealt with them myself, but some others here have bought from them in the past. I think people generally had good experiences with the "new overstock" or "refurb grade A" units. I remember one guy getting a B grade one at some point and complaining about it here.

gotcha...thanks man

 

[ajaidevsingh]

There is a little focus prob. on the edges but the image is just to dye for..

I was thinking of getting a OLED when i asked the price from an Indian vendor i almost killed myself!! So i bought this till OLED prices come down... way down!!

 

[deepinya]

Color, HIGH refresh rate and non-native resolutions are something LCD's cant do as well.

Im gonna cry when my CRT dies.

 

[Avalon]

I've had a 22" C220p CRT which I believe is a trinitron, and I love it.

While I give it to LCDs for power savings, space savings, light weight, and sharper text...I have a large desk, don't move around much, power is of little concern, and I spend little time reading text. I'm mostly gaming. That's where the superior image and response time of CRTs comes into play and suits my needs.

It's all about what you need your display to do, really.