Help! Need 19" CRT Advice

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jer0608

Member
Sep 24, 2004
96
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Hi all,

I know this has been sort of beat to death lately, but after much research and one mistaken purchase, I am still confused about which 19" CRT to get.

I have been looking to replace my 17" HP MX75 with a 19" CRT for gaming and productivity apps (Matlab, Excel, Word, etc.). Under $300.00, I came up with these choices:
NEC/Mitsu FE991SB
Viewsonic P95F+
Viewsonic G90FB
Samsung 997DF
I know the NEC/Mitsu 930SB is highly recommended, but I could not find it anywhere (a little out of my price range to boot).

Since the four all seemed to have mixed reviews, I went with the Samsung, as it was available at the local Circuit City for $199.99. While it works fine in games, I am unhappy with the text. As I approach the sides of the screen, text seems to get thinner, less crisp and more scrunched together. This is a relatively subtle thing but it is noticeable and my HP didn't do it. I have experimented heavily with the monitor settings and can't seem to reduce it. Is it a result of screen curvature (I believe the HP is truly flat)? Shadow mask technology? Something else?

Scattered reviews of all three remaining monitors above list "blurry" text as a drawback, so I am hesitant to return the Samsung and purchase one of the others, although I would like to. Anyone familiar with the effect I am talking about? Can anyone provide recommendations?

Thanks
 
P

Peter

Elite Member
Oct 15, 1999
9,640
1
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Use its control panel to adjust its horizontal linearity. If it doesn't have that, or if the range doesn't suffice to fix it, return the unit for a properly adjusted one.

Nonetheless, what they don't tell you about short-neck and flatscreen CRTs is that yes of course (and quite obviously if you think about it), the beam hits the surface at quite an angle in the corners. That causes a lot of geometry, focus and dot shape issues that are compensated by the monitor's electronics, but it's not like they ever become as good as a traditional CRT. (The ideal CRT would have a spherically round surface, so that the beam travels the same distance to every pixel, and comes in perpendicularly to the surface in all locations.)

If you want an impressively sharp and crisp 19", then you need a Samsung 957p. Non-flat, long-neck CRT, with a lot of signal processing bandwidth to spare. I'm looking at one as I type this.
 
J

jer0608

Member
Sep 24, 2004
96
0
0
Peter,

Thank you for the quick response!

I understand what you said about the beam projection distorting on a flat surface, although, without compensation, I would expect the text/image to expand horizontally near the edges, rather than contract, as it appears in this case. Perhaps the monitor is overcompensating?

I have had no luck with the screen geometry adjustments on the monitor.

The 957p you mentioned, do you know if it is available in the US? I did a search on Samsung's website and it does not appear as a US product (does appear in the UK section though). A quick search of Google, Pricegrabber and Pricewatch does not reveal any 957p's for sale. Plenty of 957MB's, although I presume this is the (inferior?) flat screen variant.

From your posts, I can tell you are quite knowledgeable on the subject and I appreciate your input. Can you think of any other possibilities? I would be perfectly happy with the image quality of my old 17" HP in a 19" format, I do not need the best. Something like my work screen (19" Dell Trinitron) would also be good, although I would like the option of setting 1600x1200 at 75Hz or greater.

Thanks Again :)

 
Slappy00

Slappy00

Golden Member
Jun 17, 2002
1,820
4
81
I have a Samsung 19" 900NF that i enjoy using (a trinitron tube), very nice monitor (although a bit heavy).

I would goto www.monitors direct.com and see what they have to offer as well as ask them some of these questions. I picked up my 900NF up from them and although it cost me around $15 more than anywhere else they nextday-air hot-swapped my monitor twice with no hassles when I thought something was wrong (turned out to be a bad wall socket in my pos college housing).

Edit: does 85hz on 1600x1200 with my 6800GT
 
J

jer0608

Member
Sep 24, 2004
96
0
0

Only one conventional (not flat) screen 19" CRT is listed on Samsung's US website:
950B

This does not seem quite up to spec with what you posted (68 Hz vs 76 Hz refresh at 1600x1200). Otherwise, any appreciable difference?
 
D

DCrew1X

Member
Nov 5, 2004
78
0
0
Hey I'm in the same boat as you. I currently own a Sony 17" trinitron monitor (great monitor and quality) but i'm looking for a 19" crt now for gaming. I'm pretty much down to the same selection (not necessarily ordering from newegg). A good friend keeps recommending the NEC diamondtron, but after looking at some of the monitors in person, it seemed the viewsonic looked the best in quality. (but then again i don't know what resolution each monitor was set at and could only compare one still image). Right now I'm leaning towards the viewsonic; has anybody been able to visually compare the viewsonic p95F+ w/ the NEC FE991SB? Only other thing than that is that Samsung seems to be the more affordable monitors of the group w/ free shipping and also offering the highest possible resolution w/ refresh rate (assuming ur graphics card supports it). Out of other reviews its seemed most ppl leaned towards the NEC diamondtron as they're preferred monitor for gaming.
 
RearAdmiral

RearAdmiral

Platinum Member
Jun 24, 2004
2,280
135
106
I have the viewsonic monitor and I love it. It is the best monitor I have ever had. I hear anything with a trinitron tube is good as well, the view sonic is aperture sp? grill so it has the two thin lines running horizontally across it, but I don't mind them.
 
X

Xed

Golden Member
Nov 15, 2003
1,452
0
71
I use the same samsung as my 3rd monitor, I don't have that problem so I would assume something else is wrong, maybe try to exchange it?
 
SonicIce

SonicIce

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2004
4,771
0
76
Where on earth did the NEC 930SB go on Newegg? Where can I buy one of these?
 
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