CRT to LCD necessary?

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Leftfield

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I currently have been using a Sony HMD-440 19" CRT monitor (http://www.shentech.com/sohm19infdtr.html) over the past four years and am in a process of upgrading the video components. I paid around $215 shipped for this back then (Oct. '02)

I am upgrading video to the ATI Radeon X850Pro (from ATI-9700) and was interested in the Samsung 204BW, after rebates, tax, and postage is nets out to around $200 even.

So the question is, will the upgrade be significant enough overall... quality of games, movies, image (eye strain), and the overall factors that lead to the decission making process.

Computer uses, roughly:
50-60% writing (mainly short stories; also including forum posts, chatting, and e-mail).
30% Internet browsing / reading
10-20% gaming and movies watching. Comes and goes in bunches.

The Samsung is a Black Friday deal at Staples, so I need to know by Thanksgiving night, thanks guys and gals!

Any other questions, I will check a few times before tomorrow night. I apprecaite it!

Leftfield
 
apt403

apt403

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save the $200 and spend it on a better video card, 1900xt 256mb is $250 right now, and the 1950xt is $20 more, MUCH better performance.

the x850pro is about $130 and with the $200 from the monitor is $330, for an extra $100 you could get an 8800gts.
 
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fainis

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I currently have been using a Sony HMD-440 19" CRT monitor (http://www.shentech.com/sohm19infdtr.html) over the past four years and am in a process of upgrading the video components. I paid around $215 shipped for this back then (Oct. '02)

I am upgrading video to the ATI Radeon X850Pro (from ATI-9700) and was interested in the Samsung 204BW, after rebates, tax, and postage is nets out to around $200 even.

So the question is, will the upgrade be significant enough overall... quality of games, movies, image (eye strain), and the overall factors that lead to the decission making process.

Computer uses, roughly:
50-60% writing (mainly short stories; also including forum posts, chatting, and e-mail).
30% Internet browsing / reading
10-20% gaming and movies watching. Comes and goes in bunches.

The Samsung is a Black Friday deal at Staples, so I need to know by Thanksgiving night, thanks guys and gals!

Any other questions, I will check a few times before tomorrow night. I apprecaite it!

Leftfield
Click to expand...

..no comment on the video card selection (there are too many options and too many prices)...

...i would like to comment on the monitor ..... i see you have that 19 inch sony ...... actually today there is no lcd monitor to match the performances of that monitor and any crt (expecially professional crt like yours).....
and when it cames to prices .. it`s a total disaster....even professional crt monitors are less than half the price of any medium lcd....

...i have figures: i`ve worked with many branded lcds like samsung (which I consider to be the best), philips, benq, prestigio, lg etc....and none raised to the capabilities of a good crt monitor..like sony trinitrons or other good brands....
i have back home a sony trinitron and a dell trinitron..the later has 21 inch and a normal resolution of 1600x1200x85hz, i use it for 1280x1024x100hz.....i tell you no lcd monitor i have used (and used :lol: i had) raises to the level of that monitor.....

as for the samsung 204bw, it looks good, images are great ... but response time and viewing angles are bad, it`s a good monitor for watching movies, displaying images, general office, but when it cames to games it`s a disaster.......not talking about prices..at that price i could buy 3 or even 4 professional crt monitors....but if price it`s not an issue....i recomend a 2ms (gray to gray) TN panel , or for better viewing angles a PVA panel
 
dean7

dean7

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Well, there are a lot of factors to consider. Is desk space an issue for you? Do you care about motion blur in games? (you WILL notice motion blur in games... no LCD is as good as a CRT, although they are getting better these days).

You should really just pop in to a Circuit City or something and test the LCD out to see if it's what you want. Or, just make sure you can return it if you don't like it and test it out to see if you want to make the switch or not. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to your question. It's mostly personal preference.
 
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dabuman

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What's the maximum hertz rate for your CRT at your preferred resolution? For less eyestrain it should be as high as possible. For me for a CRT below 100 hz I can see it flicker, and at 60hz it's horrible on eyes. The slower your monitor refresh rate the harder it is on your eyes. If your monitor is at 60hz your eyes will get bloodshot quicker than if it's at 100hz.

The advantage of a LCD flatscreen monitor is that it doesn't have to refresh the screen in the same way a CRT does. The tiny dots that make up the LCD screen are pixels (actually 3 different colors make up a pixel). Those pixels turn on and off or change colors like a light switch which is easier on your eyes than redrawing the entire screen.

I use a LCD monitor for 10+ hours a day and my eyes thank me that I have a LCD instead of a CRT. Do your eyes hurt after an extended period of being in front of a computer? Check your eyes in a mirror, can you see your veins in your eyes? If you can, you are having eyestrain.

Today's LCDs are of nice quality and much crisper than a CRT (my opinion). Recently I went from a 19" 7 year old CRT at home to a 24" Dell LCD (I have two 20.1" widescreen LCDs at work that I use the majority of time I spend in front of a computer). The text was noticably crisper and easier to read on the LCD when I compared my 19" CRT to my 24" LCD.

Since you say you mostly do writing, internet browsing and other text related stuff 80+% of the time I'd say get a LCD. It was amazing to me how crisp and easier it is to read text on a LCD vs a CRT.

Oh, and to address you playing games on a LCD too. I've had no ghosting as far as I can tell on my LCD. I'm an avid gamer, the main reason I use a PC at home for. I play anything from FPS games to strategy to MMORPGs to racing games. I also watch DVDs on my computer of all generes.
 
fatcat

fatcat

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I tend to agree with Fainis here, true LCD monitors have progress quite a bit but I am not sure it's worth the upgrade if you a high end CRT that still working properly. Save the money and buy something like a 7600 GPU.
 
CompTIA_Rep

CompTIA_Rep

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I have a Mag 15in LCD @ 12ms responce time. NO ghosting.


As for being crisp, thats inherent with LCD's and how our eyes read text.

The big difference is color reproduction. LCD's can not match the color accuracy of a great CRT, which is a problem for photoshopers and photographers.


If this isnt a problem, go LCD. They save money on electricty, and dont do burning. They are smaller and weigh less.

Samsung in my opinion is the best with Dell being close to equal (with beter features). Stay away from apple cause dell uses the same panal and they are cheaper.
 
jaguarskx

jaguarskx

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Technically speaking the X1950XT is an AGP card as well, but it isn't on sale anywhere yet.

Getting to your main concern an LCD should cause a much eye strain as a CRT monitor as long as the text is big enough to read comfortably. There's also no need to worry about radiation from and LCD screen. The Samsung 204BW should be a decent enough monitor especially since you are mainly using it to read and write.

One bad thing about the 204BW is that it is a 6-bit monitor as opposed to an 8-bit monitor. That can cause colors to be inaccurate and may also create image artifacts from time to time. These problems won't be a big deal with games especially if you play games like Doom3 or Quake 4 where you are running around and shooting things. You might notice anything wrong because you are focusing on killing your target. On the other watching movies you may see some artifacts one in a while, but if you are not aware of it then you probably won't notice it.

6-bit monitor's strengths are it's cheaper price ('cause 8-bit LCDs are more expensive to make), and lower response rates making it less likely to see ghosting effects in games.
 
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minim3

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I had an EIZO F520 17" inch crt for more than 5 years, worked flawlessly! But 6 months ago I moved to a new house and my new room is much smaller. So I was forced to upgrade, got a LG 1932 19" lcd. If you read a lot of text (like me) then lcd is your man! (or woman). It has 4ms responce time, so no ghosting here! Also the brightness in my lg is@300cd/?. All crt are limited to 260cd/? something. So at broad daylight lcd are brighter. Did I mention that it rotates 90 degress? So I can play mame games like raiden at full screen? I tell ya!, once you get used to lcd you can never go back. My crt was fine, but unless you are a professional photographer or similar go for LCD. There aren't any other real disadvantages. [only that it can't really display true colors (16.7 million colors)].

Also make sure you have digital output @ your gfx card. Analog sucks for lcd's.
 
M

minim3

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oh! if I had more space at my room, I would be running dual monitor setup with my eizo.

Oh cr@p, I forgot the edit button. Well sorry about that.
 
sailer

sailer

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I have 3 computers, 2 with CRT's and 1 with a LCD. The CRT's are better in every way except size and weight. The only other problem with them is that they are getting hard to find in my area. Its kind of like Ford's statement about the Model T, you can get in in any color you want, as long as its black. I'd rather get a new CRT when I do a rebuild in a few months, but because of lack of availability, I'll probably be stuck getting a LCD for twice the price.
 
CNeufeld

CNeufeld

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In the past 9 months, I've used the following selection of monitors/display devices:
1998 Quantex 19" CRT
2004 Dell 19" CRT (M991)
2004 Dell 19" CRT (P991 - Sony Trinitron tube)
2005 Dell Latitude 15.4" WSXGA+ display
2006 Viewsonic VX2025wm 20" widescreen

All the monitors, with the exception of the Quantex, are still being used by me as primary or secondary displays.

The best CRT out of the list is the P991, and it's almost sharp enough to replace the Viewsonic, but it's not good enough. I run both those displays at home, but I use the LCD much more than the CRT. For reading text, there's no comparison; the LCD is much clearer and readable.

At work, I use the Latitude's display as the primary, and the M991 as a secondary. The M991 is junk as well, but it's the best one I could scrounge for a secondary display. The Latitude display is too small really (it runs the same resolution as the Viewsonic, but it's 5" smaller!), but it's so much more readable than the M991. Anything I'm spending any amount of time reading goes over to the Latitude's display, and I keep the CRT for e-mail and other secondary type applications.

So my advice is to go for the LCD. If you have the space, multiple displays are God's gift to multi-taskers, so keep the CRT as well.

Clint
 
CompTIA_Rep

CompTIA_Rep

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I have 3 computers, 2 with CRT's and 1 with a LCD. The CRT's are better in every way except size and weight. The only other problem with them is that they are getting hard to find in my area. Its kind of like Ford's statement about the Model T, you can get in in any color you want, as long as its black. I'd rather get a new CRT when I do a rebuild in a few months, but because of lack of availability, I'll probably be stuck getting a LCD for twice the price.
Click to expand...

I have 3 19in CRT's. One viewsonic, 2 Dell Trinitrons. All are 1600/1200 max. If it was economical to sell you them I woud.
 
sailer

sailer

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Thanks for the offer. My present CRT's have 21" and 22" screens. I've looked for a 24", but have been unsuccessful so far. But man, are those things heavy!
 
CompTIA_Rep

CompTIA_Rep

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I Had a Sony 30in wide screen Monitor. It was a monitor in the truest sence. It BNC connectors for the RGB and V/H Sync. Great monitor and I wish I still had it. This was 8 years ago or so and I sold it for $600
 
enforcer22

enforcer22

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Well eye strain on CRT even at high refresh rates is one major reason i went to LCD which gives me none. Everything in a LCD looks more crisp then on a CRT and ghosting on a LCD you would have to buy a pretty bad LCD to see that anymore. defanitly get a 8 bit lcd though.

The only way i can say a CRT is better is resolutions arent so limiting and for photoediting (photoshop type stuff) other then that LCD is vastly better in every area that i can think of off the top of my head. But the first isnt really a big concern to me and the second i could care less about so for me there is nothing about a CRT thats better then my LCD.

I dont miss my viewsonic 21" p815 at all aside the higher resolutions it can do.
 
enforcer22

enforcer22

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Boarderless monitors would be nice ;)

Anyways i plan on using my 24" for a second monitor but my main is where i do my work. Things like trillian or whatnot would be running on the second like i use to before my 17" crt blew :eek:

I like dual monitors simply for when im runing a game like a mmo and want to read things like gear and weapon stats while not having to minimuse the game but i can just look over at the other monitor.
 
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