A New Monitor: CRT or LCD?

[mwfanelli]

Well, my 25+ year-old NEC 17-inch CRT (I paid over $800 back in the day!) has finally gotten a little too fuzzy for my bad eyes. The color is still great, however. Even at that price, it was a fantastic bargain!

I am very tempted to replace the CRT with a Dell UltraSharp 19-inch LCD panel that we use here at the college. I've put several images on it, looked at it at a bunch of different angles, and tried various editing techniques to exaggerate color, brightness, color, etc. It works a lot better than the LCD on my low-end laptop.

Now, I have always been a CRT guy for photos. But the LCD looks fine to me. I'm worried by the prospect of some rude LCD surprise down the line. The Visual Arts department uses LCDs, the head guy claims that current good-quality LCDs have more contrast and a larger color gamut than most images (this Dell has a 600:1 contrast ratio compared to the 500:1 of some others I looked at: good? bad? common?). I am very tempted to go the LCD route.

Am I kidding myself about the current equality or lack thereof of LCDs vs CRTs? What are y'all using, any bad experiences? There is about a $75 difference between a CRT and the Dell LCD (with Dell discount) with a 12 lb vs 48 lb difference in weight.

Thanks!

[masdog]

Mike,

It really depends on your preferences. LCD technology has come a long way since 2000. If you want the LCD, or you like having a lot of desk space, then go for it.

The higher the contrast ratio, the better the contrast usually is. You want an LCD that has more contrast. I saw an LCD tv at walmart that had a 3000:1 contrast ratio - it's picture was MUCH better than the 800:1 screens around it.

[Sebastian]

Michael,

You can't buy a half-decent CRT anymore, they're simply not made. That being said, I put my iMac next to my Diamondtron 19" and there is no comparison. After calibration the validation process even shows my LCD to be much closer to intended color output than the CRT. Granted, the CRT is old, but even next to the Artisans at the paper the LCD was much brighter, and more importantly much sharper. It's amazing how much softer details are on CRTs compared to a DVI-fed LCD.

get the Ultrasharp, they are good screens.

[milhouse]

I just went from a high-end 21" CRT that was about 5-6 years old to a new 21" NCE 2090UXI and the difference is amazing. Both used color managent and calibration but the LCD is much better on my eyes and much more contrast.

Some things to keep in mind when shopping for LCD's. Contrast ratio for LCD monitors are usually much lower then TVs that go up to 6000:1. Typically 1000:1 is what the good LCD's for graphics uses. Also, most LCD's that are good for photo and graphics work are worse for things like games because the frame rate is usually lower. Good gamer LCDs have a 3-5ms refresh rate and the better graphics monitors are around 12-16ms.

Dave

[Photo-John]

Here's a recent post I made about the old CRT I bought on Craig's List: New Monitor!

It's an awesome monitor and it was ridiculously cheap. It does weigh a ton. But I am very, very pleased with it. And the money I saved can be put toward something else useful. If you don't own any monitor calibration hardware, you could put the money saved towards that. I still don't trust LCDs. Even with good calibration hardware and software I've never got my laptop monitor to output color that matches my CRTs.

On the other hand, as soon as a manufacturer makes an OLED monitor, I'll be first in line. I am hoping that Canon may have something at PMA this year. They had a huge OLED technology flatscreen TV in their booth at PMA last year...

[Sebastian]

Even with good calibration hardware and software I've never got my laptop monitor to output color that matches my CRTs..

Only GREAT laptop LCDs can compare to CRTs, and even those pale in comparison to modern LCDs. The current MacBook Pro panels look great, until you put them next to one of the new larger desktop panels. And the same laptop panels already put CRTs to shame.

I had my iMac sitting next to an Artisan, and the blacks on the Artisan were nicer, but overall the color rendition was very, very close. And the LCD is much brighter, making it easier to edit in daylight.

Seeing is believing...

[mwfanelli]

Thanks y'all. I think I'm going to get the LCD panel for now and try it out at home. I do have 30 days to return it. As I am not a graphic artist or a pro photographer, it might work. We will see.

FWIW, the Dell monitors here at the school (same one I'm buying) are vastly superior to the LCDs found on my laptop or even the Dell laptops used by some faculty members. Don't quite know why, maybe its power consumption or something.

I'll ley you know, it will be delivered tomorrow. Gotta love Dell, unintentional overnight delivery was free as it shipped 3-5 days from Harrisburg, PA (about an hour away).
.

[Photo-John]

I've seen the Eizo LCDs. I believe. But my wallet can't support it

[readingr]

Thanks y'all. I think I'm going to get the LCD panel for now and try it out at home. I do have 30 days to return it. As I am not a graphic artist or a pro photographer, it might work. We will see.

FWIW, the Dell monitors here at the school (same one I'm buying) are vastly superior to the LCDs found on my laptop or even the Dell laptops used by some faculty members. Don't quite know why, maybe its power consumption or something.

I'll ley you know, it will be delivered tomorrow. Gotta love Dell, unintentional overnight delivery was free as it shipped 3-5 days from Harrisburg, PA (about an hour away).
.

Your right its the power consumption on the laptop that causes the difference. All because of battery power.

I converted to LCD about 3 years ago when my Dell Monitor packed in and not regreted it in that time. I use Gretag Macbeth to Calibrate and boy out of the box did it need it.

It bright crisp and holds its settings which is the bit I was worried about.

Now I'm waiting for it to break so that I can get a bigger one. Oh well.

Roger

[Ronnoco]

I have a laptop and multiple CRTs. The difference I see is that yes, the LCD screens have contrast, often a slower refresh rate, and they are often quite sharp. What LCDs don't have is the same colour quality as CRTs. With CRTs you have a richer, broader, range of colours than what you get on a LCD. Looking at brighter colours and highlights in photos, I find that there is more detail and better shades and tones in the CRT than the LCD.
Shadow areas also tend to display more colour on a CRT

Ronnoco

[masdog]

Laptops are hardly a fair comparison to CRTs. They operate at lower power levels than desktop LCDs (which operate at low power to begin with) and have fewer features.

[mwfanelli]

OK, the monitor arrived yesterday afternoon. Wow, I guess I didn't realize how much my CRT had deteriorated over the last 25 years. The Dell UltraSharp was much brighter, the colors popped out of the screen, the blacks were super black, the whites were dazzling... The very slow decay of my trusty old CRT masked its problems.

This monitor should be great for the work I do. I have it set for sRGB and the auto-adjust really changed the image from what it was fresh out of the box. Being in a darker room than the bright lights and glare of the labs here at the college made a big difference as well.

Thanks for all the comments, they were extremely helpful!

[milhouse]

Wow, I guess I didn't realize how much my CRT had deteriorated over the last 25 years.

Thats the same thing I thought when I got my new LCD and my CRT monitor was only 5 years old.

[Lionheart]

check e-bay for dell ultra sharp lcd monitors. I got the 30 inch ultra sharp about a month ago, and I love using my samsung 20 inch in tandem with it. I keep acdsee browser open on the samsung and edit on the 30 inch in photoshop cs. It is extremely bright and sharp. No regrets (except for the $1200 price tag, but that's still cheaper than buying direct from dell).

[mwfanelli]

check e-bay for dell ultra sharp lcd monitors. I got the 30 inch ultra sharp about a month ago, and I love using my samsung 20 inch in tandem with it. I keep acdsee browser open on the samsung and edit on the 30 inch in photoshop cs. It is extremely bright and sharp. No regrets (except for the $1200 price tag, but that's still cheaper than buying direct from dell).

LOL! I have never been a fan of super big monitors. The 19 inch is as big as I'd ever want one. I used multiple monitors for a while and found I hated it. I guess I'm just an old-fashioned (or just plain old) guy.