Display seeming degrade - drivers ? vid card ? Monitor ?

[J421]

A communication presumably to the veteran folks here.

My two Nokia 445X pro monitors are/were very high quality in their day

http://www.smartcomputing.com/.../24g09/24g09.asp&guid=

or TINY URL
http://tinyurl.com/d4bww5

After a crash of various factors in my previous Win2K system, with the Nokia 445X monitors, I bought a pre owned system with Win XP and a ?hightech? video card. (Hightech Radeon X700 Dual-DVI Video Card)

The quality of the display output sees quite inferior to when I last used the monitors and they seemed great, which was the better part of a year ago.

I am trying to determine if it is :

1 The apparency that I cannot find specifically XP drivers for the Nokia 445X pro. Previously, on the crashed systems I used Win 2K. Perhaps the non-use of the specific Nokia 445X pro drivers is degrading the overall display output. I have not tried using Win2K Nokia drivers in Win XP. I seem to even get a refresh flicker, even though the refresh rate is set to 100 or above.

Could the use of a generic Windows driver, only, have that much of an effect ?

2 Could this be caused by a card is giving a poor signal to the monitors ??? It is a Hightech Radeon X700 Dual-DVI Video Card. Could that card do fine with LCD monitors and not with CRT ?

3 - The monitors have degraded, physically, in some way / or I have been so used to using the notebook LCD dedicated display that I find the CRT to be unacceptable.

Before giving up and going for new LCD monitors, I am sending this SOS. Any help or response would be valuable and appreciated.

 

[Schmide]

When you say inferior, what do you mean? Less color, noise, flicker, etc? CRTs require much tweaking to get the right image. Some cards like different refresh rates over others.

 

[J421]

Very oood point Very spot on
Previously, I expect particularly in conjunction with the use of the full Nokia tools, and the several hardware adjustment knobs and whistles, I remembered a sharp and comfortable display image. The monitor, itself, had a street cost of at least $1,500 in its day. Quite top of the line. One can see that at the sight relating to the URL that I included in my original post.

Now, besides the flicker, the technology regarding I have a decent exposure and understanding, the display image seems far less sharp and uncomfortable to look at.

(by the way, the old insiders technique of judging a too low of a refresh rate, was to view the monitor in one?s peripheral vision, and that would reveal the low refresh rate flicker)

I previously used Win2K for which the full driver and utility suite exists. And a PCI 256K video card.

It is obviously not WinXp, itself. And I don?t see that the phosphor inside the CRT would have physically oxidized and or atrophied in the period of time that it has not been in steady use.

Thus I sort of call upon veterans who might have insights.

I had thought with the recently purchased, pre-owned system, that one expense I would not have would be monitors. (I have two of the 445 pro?s, one of which has had very little use since new, which is another scientific method thought)

Many of the newer members of this board might have grown up on LCD displays.

Again, it is the un-sharpness. The apparent refresh flicker, despite being sat at above 100 in refresh rate. The general poor seeming rendition of the colors and perhaps even the fonts.

It seems to me
Monitor Drivers
Or Video card
Or possible monitor component aging
Or some factor of my having been spoiled on a more precise (?) notebook LCD screen.

I look forward to insights

 

[Schmide]

One other though. CRTs are very susceptible to EM fields and bad power. At one of my previous jobs my office was above some heavy power equipment. I was going nuts because at night it would be fine, but during the day it would be a strobe light. Once I figured out what it was, I just moved to the other side of the room and it was fine. Just an idea.

 

[J421]

That is a good thought. In my location, I am in a canyon with no nothin' for hundreds of feet and plenty of breathing room. The location and the monitors have not changed for years.
I am curious about the drivers / video card aspects, and if there are perspectives and experiences along these lines out there.