what is the advantage a LCD over a CRT monitor?

[faye]

Hi, except space, what is so good about LCD?

i am about to buy a new monitor. still deciding which to get.

when i look at the resolution of a LCD, it is quite low compare with a CRT monitor.

so is there something i don't know about LCD?

thanks

 

[yhelothar]

i can't stand how the dot pitch is so huge on an LCD.. you can see the individual pixels, and the colors don't look as uniform... although it's a much smaller problem on really high end LCDs...

LCDs are supposed to be sharper, but i think they're too sharp to be any good(everything is aliased due to the square pixels required for the sharpness)

many people buy LCDs because they look cool physically, i think that's just plain dumb..

well i like using 1600x1200 resolution, a large screen, and i'm on a budget, so i stick with a 21" CRT..

just look at your wants and needs, and your budget, and determine from there... maybe look at one at your friend's house or something if they have one.. and see if you like it.

 

[faye]

my friend has an LCD, but not good playing games. and not good for browsing. only looks cool.

i am now finding more reasons to buy a LCD.
of course i like CRT more. brighter sharper and cheaper.

may be an LCD is 0 radiation and won't hurt ur eyes, ...

 

[lopri]

i can't stand how the dot pitch is so huge on an LCD.. you can see the individual pixels, and the colors don't look as uniform... although it's a much smaller problem on really high end LCDs...

Well, I agree with your points and although I switched to LCDss I admit CRTs still hold an edge over LCDs especially for hardcore gamers. However, it seems you're quite sensitive to screen quality - my question is, how do you stand CRTs geometric errors? Once I switched to an LCD, I could never go back because those curved edges were annoying as hell to me. Like I said, I like to play games and agree that CRTs colors are more rich and they have faster response times, I'd take the perfectly flat screen over curved screen.

Just my personal opinion..

lop

 

[JammingJay]

3 advantages that I can see that haven't been listed yet.

1) LCD draws and uses less power.

2) LCDs do not refresh, so thus are easier on your eyes.

3) LCDs life is longer than a CRT.

 

[hans007]

as now graduated computer science major, if you look at your monitor a lot like 6 hours or more a day... buy an lcd. its flicker free and thus will prevent tons of dry eyes and eye strain from screen refresh.


i personally just ordered a philips 170w4. 17.1" widescreen pivoting digital lcd of greatness.

also if you have a DVI lcd, you can forgo signal loss from analog signaling, or the need to use a ramdac. no conversions and no analog filter loss, means perfect image. thus no fuzzies.


among less important reasons.

LCDs:

take up far less desk space (was a plus for me)
look cooler
save electricity
wall mountable for some


only real drawback i can think of is they cost a lot. my LCD cost over $400, but i think its worth it to spend money on a monitor since outside of your keyboard, chair and mouse its the thing you really use the most. all my computers at work, laptops and when i was in school computer labs ran at 1024x768, so i am very used to that resolution. my new screen is going to have 1280x768... and well its more than hi res enough i'd say for most.

i guess another drawback would be most LCDs have a low brightness compared to CRTs. not good if you are a graphics person i guess. colors dont come out right. a lot of LCDs are still stuck in the 300-350 candela / meter . where CRTs ive read do like 700. my new LCD does 450, but i doubt i'll really notice. also , contrast ratio on monitors is better.

 

[yhlee]

i work as a programmer. at the end of each work day, my eyes would be all red and tired, sometimes even watery.
I honestly thought i was going blind or something.

i replaced my work and home monitors with 20" LCDs (they run at 1600x1200 very comfortably). no problems since.

they're pretty good with games, especially ones that rely on textures (like your quakes, CS, etc.) they're not so good
when they require text to be read (morrowind, dark age of camelot). If you want to read a sign as you walk past,
it's impossible because it is too blurry (not too huge of a deal in my opinion, but if you're anal, etc..) Back when i
played warcraft3, I noticed that my grunts look a lot less crisp than on a friend's computer (he has a high end
sony 21" crt).

i'd say definitely go for an lcd.. the advantage of the text crispness at the native resolution and the overall ease on
the eyes outweighs any advantage you're going to get from a crt.. Not to mention my 20" weighs only 20-25 lbs
not 40-60

-young

 

[yhelothar]

i guess my eyes adjusted to CRTs..

i stay in front of two crts(21" and 14") for at least 10 hours a day... and my eyes don't get tired...

when i look at my sister's LCD.. i get tons of eyestrain, because i'm trying to look through the huge dot pitch... but then again, my sister has a crappy 15" benq lcd using vga connection.

i saw my neighbor's NEC Multisync 17" LCD.. and that looked fantastic.. but i can still see the dot pitch, though it's no where near as visible as my sister's 15" benq or my neighbor's other 18.1" hitachi

my question is, how do you stand CRTs geometric errors? Once I switched to an LCD, I could never go back because those curved edges were annoying as hell to me. Like I said, I like to play games and agree that CRTs colors are more rich and they have faster response times, I'd take the perfectly flat screen over curved screen.

hmmm my crt isn't even flat glass crt.. but the geometry looks flawless... all the edges are perfectly straight to my eyes. My room is pretty dim, and i dont have any light shining directly on my monitor, so i can't see the glass.

 

[Rotax]

i'd like a lcd most importantly for the rid of refresh.. staring at crts literally all day has to get to your eyes.. i just wish there'd be some nice lcds w/ the what is it now 15ms ? 16ms ? refresh and do 1280x1024 (think thats what i use at home..) going back to 1024x768 at work sucks. ah well, time will only make em better n cheaper, and i'm in no rush for a new monitor, my 19" samsung should do me well for a few yrs i spose..

 

[onza]

Originally posted by: Rotax
i'd like a lcd most importantly for the rid of refresh.. staring at crts literally all day has to get to your eyes.. i just wish there'd be some nice lcds w/ the what is it now 15ms ? 16ms ? refresh and do 1280x1024 (think thats what i use at home..) going back to 1024x768 at work sucks. ah well, time will only make em better n cheaper, and i'm in no rush for a new monitor, my 19" samsung should do me well for a few yrs i spose..

hitachi and planar have 16ms.

but unsure of other brands, i'm sure as time goes by it will decrease.

 

[Auric]

hans007, how are non-widescreen formats displayed on a that widescreen LCD? Is there an option of black side bars to make it 1024x768?

 

[BFG10K]

For the most part LCDs are just overpriced junk IMO. However there are times when factors such as heat and desk space are a priority and in such case they're worth it. Also some people get less eye strain on LCDs so they can be good for that as well.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: Auric
hans007, how are non-widescreen formats displayed on a that widescreen LCD? Is there an option of black side bars to make it 1024x768?

i have not gotten it yet. but i'm pretty sure that is the case.



perfect 16:9 would be 1280x720. they made the screen have 1280x768 pixels probably for compatibility with 1024x768

 

[yhelothar]

probably the only people that gets eyestrain on CRTs are the ones using 60Hz refresh rates, or some really cheap crappy CRTs...

 

[lung]

My main reasons for buying a couple LCDs:

1: No geometry problems whatsoever. I plugged in the panels and that was it. No screwing around with any settings. They are perfectly square right from the get go.

2. No focus problems whatsoever. I spent roughly 5-6 months delaing with a brand new, POS Viewsonic P95F+B. Supposedly repaired twice, and replaced three times, every time with the same problem. Once I went over 75Hz, it would go blurry. This is a known problem with the monitor. I got so sick of dealing with it that I ordered two Dell 1800FPs.

3. No refresh/interference issues. I have a 9700 Pro and used to have the "rolling lines" issue every once in a while. As well, with running XP, it used to be a hassle using third party programs to lock the refresh rate higher. Now, with the LCD's "refresh rate" of only 60 Hz, there is no worries.

My minor reasons:

4. Less bulk on my desktop. My P95F+B got finaly replaced with a 21" G810. It was insanely huge on my desk. I definitely have the room for it, but it felt totally oppresive. I like the light "feel" of the panels in front of me.

5. Coolness factor. Not that I really care what other's think, but I think that having a dual monitor setup with two identical LCDs looks pretty damn cool.

Drawbacks:

1. Low refresh rate means lower framerates when I have v-sync enabled. I always enable v-sync as I hate tearing, but 60fps is nothing to sneeze at anyways..

2. Large dot pitch. Unfortunately, the dot pitch is kindof high. It really only bugs me sometimes, as the panels are so sharp to begin with it doesn't become too much of an issue. The same dot pitch on a CRT would be pretty unbearable though.

3. Price. This is only a minor drawback for me. Sure, I could have bought two kickass CRTs for the same amount of money, but I have had it with CRTs. The P95F+B was supposedly a pretty good monitor given the reviews I had read at the time. It really left a bad taste in my mouth concerning CRTs. I highly doubt that I will ever go back to using a CRT.

 

[boran]

I'm also pro LCD's sort off, I really like the lower space they take,and the increddible sharpness (which gives a good look at AA as said earlier but just put on 2xFSAA as standard option, it doesnt slow anything down most of the times)

but one negative aspect that is forgotten is dead pixels, my LCD has one, it wasnt there in the beginning, but now it's there, luckily it's barely visible and you have to look for it to actually find it, but still, it's annoying to know its there, and one in the center of the screen would be a nightmare.

CRT users have their problems too with this, as seen in the structural wires of some monitors, to keep the grid aligned when expanding.

 

[BoomAM]

LCDs, take less space, comsume less power, dont get as hot, sharper picture, no refresh rates to get a headache over, always perfect geometry and weigh less.

If you get a decent 16ms one, they are just as good at games as CRTs are. And dont someone go say that they are a true gamer and can notice even 1ms of lag, cos your talking bullshit, the chance are that 98% of people wouldnt be able to the difference in games between a 16ms TFT and a CRT.

If you sit close enough to the screen to really notice the dot pitch, then you need to ajust where you are sitting, as even 30cms away from the screen, you cant see the dot pitch.

As for the colours, unless you are a very high quality photo editor where all 65K colours matter to you, then TFTs are perfect for almost all uses.