FW900 CRT or 20WMGX2 LCD?

undeclared

Senior member
Oct 24, 2005
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On the CRT, will I be seeing better quality picture, equivalent picture, etc?

On the LCD, yes it's smaller, yes the picture is supposed to be great.. but is it really as good as the FW900?

Anyone used both and can answer me?

 

xtknight

Elite Member
Oct 15, 2004
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There is someone on this forum who has both (name starts with J I think). Pretty sure he decided he liked the CRT for multimedia but the LCD for text.

The FW900 will exceed the 20WMGX2 in terms of contrast. No surprise there, it may be forever until LCDs really match the contrast of a CRT. The CRT has too good of a black level for the LCD to compete there. And yes, black on the 20WMGX2 is a dark gray with the lights off. Fortunately, it's a very consistent and faint dark gray so it is rather unbothersome. That's not to say a pitch black wouldn't look better.

Thing is, with a CRT there are no discrete levels of brightness. It's just a direct (though nonlinear) function of the voltage given to the electron gun (IIRC) at one particular area. The more voltage, the brighter the pixel. Due to the triad-like pixel arrangement, the CRT's image looks softer. Although the FW900 actually has a lined (AG) arrangement AFAIK so I'm not sure how the pic compares in terms of smoothness. I'm guessing the CRT still has the edge here as the IPS 20WMGX2's pixel lining is very dark.

For text, CAD, and static viewing, the 20WMGX2 will win any day. It will take a well-calibrated 20WMGX2 to match the FW900 with regards to color accuracy, and it will exceed it in that one area if properly calibrated. It will always fall behind in contrast, though you can mitigate this problem by using a higher contrast value which usually results in higher white, and LCDs tend to have highest contrast at bright white/semidark black. The OptiClear coating will enhance the black, but only if you have ambient light around. You don't need the light shining right at the coating, in fact you shouldn't do that since it will reflect like crazy off the coating, but just aim a light up at the ceiling and have it diffuse. That's the best config for the NEC.

My guess: you will prefer the FW900 for dark images, by a large margin. For grayish/midtone/soft images the CRT may win also. For bright and stark ones you may be amazed at the clarity of the 20WMGX2. For example, WoW may look better on the LCD while Quake or Wolfenstein are more CRT games. For Oblivion, I'll have to give the edge to the CRT as it usually reproduces dark lush, green grass better and smoother. And of course you can't forget update rate (response time). CRT wins easy here any day. For neutral grays, the CRT will win again. Despite the 20WMGX2 being best in its class (in the consumer/acceptable price sector), LCDs simply can not track the color gray accurately without shifts.

Of course, with the CRT you may potentially have poor geometry in comparison, and you will also have 2-3 subtle AG alignment damper lines running across the screen.

By the way, this is from my point of view as an image enthusiast. Your opinion of image characteristics may differ from mine.
 

undeclared

Senior member
Oct 24, 2005
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Interesting comparison, thanks.

I guess for arguments sake, I could be pretty happy with either, right?

Sounds like comparing an X1900 XTX to a 7900 GTX if you know what I'm saying..
 

Zebo

Elite Member
Jul 29, 2001
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Pm JRW he has both. I would never buy a used, 5-7 years old monitor due to cathode expiration and darkening of glass and potential capacitor problems but I'd say the Sony FW900 is better if you get a perfect one. Price is usually a perfect indicator of value. that monitor sold for $2000 at one time 3x what the GX2 sells for.

There is only one area the GX2 will be superior picture wise, convergence (text and sharpness bezel to bezel) and the Sony is very close at that.
 

undeclared

Senior member
Oct 24, 2005
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Hehe, if he says FW900 is better for games and movies (which is like everything I do), I'm going for the FW900 or another CRT =/
 

undeclared

Senior member
Oct 24, 2005
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Actually above ^ a large reason as well that I want a CRT..

CRT = optical zoom
LCD = digital zoom
it's that simple =/
 

ScrewFace

Banned
Sep 21, 2002
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That's why I'm stickin' to my 21" ViewSonic P810 CRT. I've had it for 11 years and it still looks and runs like new. A LCD is no good for gaming in other resolutions besides its native ones and not even new games support LCDs crazy-ass resolutions.
 

CP5670

Diamond Member
Jun 24, 2004
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The FW900 could be either much better or much worse, depending on the condition of the particular unit you get. Try to get it locally, so you can see exactly what you're getting before you buy it.