LCD vs. CRT monitors

well I got this monitor, its a sony trinitron, it shows crystal clear and I have never had a problem. its not lcd, and im not sure what crt is so yea, I dunno if that helps.

Well I can’t speak from personal experience because I’ve never owned an LCD. From everything I’ve read I can tell you a few things. First, your obviously gonna see a very significant price range between LCD and CRT. If your trying to save some money than go CRT, but like you said money isn’t an issue. Second, from what I’ve read and heard, LCD is fine for everyday normal computer use… that would take care of browsing the web and chatting. However, when it comes to serious gaming, all gamers seem to agree that CRT is the best choice. I think that the overall image quality is much better.

A few other things about LCD. Dead pixels. There are a certain percentage of dead pixels that are allowed to come with the monitor. They won’t be covered by the warranty unless you have more than the allowed percent. I’ve heard people claim that dead pixels are really noticable, but again I have no experience so I can’t say if thats true. Theres always some super perfectionist that goes nuts over something very minimal, ya know.

CRT has been around forever so its not expensive as the newer LCD. When I got my PC a about 13-14 months ago, I was mainly looking for larger size and better image quality. I chose to get a 19″ NEC FE991SB at about $230-250 rather than getting the same size LCD for closer to $900 (if I remember correctly). I went and put all that extra money into my other computer hardware instead. And now I kind of wish I tried to get the 22″ CRT instead, but thats besides the point.

Oh yeah, and as far as watching movies, you might prefer hooking your tv up to your pc (provided your graphics card will allow this). If you have TV-out this shouldn’t be a problem. Also, there are always some kind of adapters for other outputs like DVI too. The reason I suggest this is because most likely, your TV is going to be larger than your LCD. I don’t know about the image quality watching movies on an LCD.

But yeah, if your looking for space saving, sleek, and easy to transport, than go with an LCD. (I know those dorms can be kind of tight). If your looking for image quality, larger screen sizes, or cheaper go with CRT.

And about the ghosting images, I’m not sure.. haven’t heard that. But I do think that the LCD colors aren’t as rich. 24-bit I think? While CRT is 32-bit.

Personally, I’d get an LCD for a non-gaming machine and if I had the extra money. Just because they’re so much smaller and won’t fill up a whole desk. LCDs are also expected to continue dropping in price over the next two quarters as well.

Just my opinion. :p

I use both CRT (that’s “cathode ray tube”, ys8er2323) and LCD screens. My laptop has an LCD that runs at 1024×768, and also run a second CRT monitor side-by-side. Colors are much richer and vibrant on the CRT.

I haven’t noticed any problems with dead pixels, and I’ve used four or five laptops over the years (all with LCD screens).

As for ghosting, I don’t think it will be a major problem. I’ve played DVDs on the LCD and they look fine.

One issue to be aware of with the LCD screens is that you need to view them straight on for the best image quality. If you view at an angle, the quality can diminish from poor to completely worthless. The amount of angle will depend on the particular monitor. Normally this is not much of an issue if you’re the only one ever looking at the screen, but if you wanted to watch a movie with some friends, it might be an issue. On the flip side, it also gives you a higher degree of privacy; people can’t read easily read what’s on your screen unless they are looking straight at it.

The best advice I can give is to go somewhere where you can see the various monitors side-by-side. There is a noticeable difference in picture quality, brightness, contrast and other features. Skip the built-in speakers unless space is at a premium. They’ll almost always sound like crap next to just about any other decent speakers. And some come with a built-in TV tuner, but don’t let that drive your decision. A small, external tuner device can be added for about $100US.

You know, there are LCD’s that take up as much space as a CRT. So not all LCD’s are flat-panels, I’ve got a big fat LCD monitor that isn’t any smaller than the rest of my CRT’s. Now come to think of it, I’m not exactly sure if it’s a LCD or not. Is there such thing as a CRT with a flat screen? [:o] As for ghosting, I’ve never seen it on a computer monitor(LCD), but I have seen it a lot on LCD TV’s. I’m not sure if what I saw was the same as what some of you guys have experienced, but some of the new TV’s I’ve see at the store seem blurry.

AwesomeSauce, yeah there are flat-screen CRT monitors.

Lazyturbo, if you play first person shooters or other games that need faster refresh rates, CRT is the way to go. To get an LCD with the same refresh rate as a CRT will cost big bucks. The less-expensive LCDs aren’t going to get the refresh rates of CRT monitors. IMO, CRT is the way to go unless you have extra money lying around…their prices will go down soon…

I have a 17″ LCD and have had no problems over the last year. The only draw back is the shadowing, but it can be adjusted on its cradle to your likings. Basically dude, is space is an issue, go for the LCD, but it’s basically all up to your opinion. As said, compare the both at the store, and don’t let the store reps. talk you into the LCD’s (price). My dad was joked into paying $500.00 for this one.

You can also check out this article that has an excellent comparison of the both, and the pros and cons of each.

crt is the best then! because you cant veiw lcd from a side angle sometimes and you can get a lot of glare on lcd.