LCD vs. CRT

[triton]

Hi,

I am looking to purchase an apple sometime soon. I am a student graphic designer/artist looking to make the transition to LCD. However, there are really only two reasons for this consideration

01.Like to have less heat and more space in my room.
02.A little worried about my eye strain with a CRT.

Any graphic artists out there that are using an Apple LCD for print work and enjoying it? Also, is it true that the higher your refresh rate on your monitor, the less eye strain you will get?

[JeDiBoYTJ]

my friend uses a 23in Apple LCD Cinema Display. from what I have seen, it works great. the colors are crisp, and its perfect for print work and such. I'd say go LCD.

[adamjay]

for graphics, LCD's are for the most part alot crisper in the image department. They are generally more kind to video cards as well, that is to say there's not much of a refresh rate bottle neck. on a CRT you may be able to easily do 100hz rate at 1024x768, but at 1280x1024 that may fall to 70hz (eye strain!). where as on the LCD you can get up to 1600x1200 if the components are right.

and yes the eye strain thing is true... though i still get eye strain at 120hz.. i can't stand to look at a monitor at < 80hz, gives me a headache after 2 minutes.

right now i am using a 17" CRT Flat Trinitron at 1280x960 @ 85hz, along with my 12" PB. i notice that at the end of the day, if i am doing more work on the Trinitron my eyes are more tired. If you are planning on being in front of the computer for more than 4 hours a day... get the LCD.

[Versello]

rather than regurgitate everything people have already said about LCD's and CRT's, I'll just add that colours on a CRT are more life-like. Keep that in mind, which is why many graphics pro's stick with CRT's. But newer gen LCD's these days put up a good match, so unless you were very serious about graphics designs, then get a CRT (serious ones can cost up to $1200 for a 21"). Otherwise just get an LCD.

[triton]

I'm excited about these new LCD's that are supposed to be coming out. Too bad no OLED, but that I guess will come in a few years. I know CRT produces color that IS more life like. I am just wondering if the new LCD's that apple will be producing will be any better in terms of color accuracy/depth? I forsee myself doing more print than motion in the future, so I'm just wondering how hard it will be to get some good color accuracy from screen to print on a LCD.


I guess I'll make my decision next week.

[superbovine]

Originally Posted by triton

I'm excited about these new LCD's that are supposed to be coming out. Too bad no OLED, but that I guess will come in a few years. I know CRT produces color that IS more life like. I am just wondering if the new LCD's that apple will be producing will be any better in terms of color accuracy/depth? I forsee myself doing more print than motion in the future, so I'm just wondering how hard it will be to get some good color accuracy from screen to print on a LCD.


I guess I'll make my decision next week.

if you looking to dump a lot of money, i agree with the previous poster that the newer gen lcd put up a fight. however, i would suggest you get a CRT. you can get a lot more bang for your buck, and the colors are better. it dosn't look as cool, but you seem to have your heart set on a lcd. since you are not doing any video editing though, i do see much of a problem. to help caliberate your monitor which ever type to the light in the room there are devices you can purchases, and also serveral ways to caliberate your printers color depending on the printer. you will have to research each printer to match up color etc.

http://www.lacie.com/products/range.htm?id=10016

check out the blue eye vision

[triton]

Originally Posted by superbovine

if you looking to dump a lot of money, i agree with the previous poster that the newer gen lcd put up a fight. however, i would suggest you get a CRT. you can get a lot more bang for your buck, and the colors are better. it dosn't look as cool, but you seem to have your heart set on a lcd. since you are not doing any video editing though, i do see much of a problem. to help caliberate your monitor which ever type to the light in the room there are devices you can purchases, and also serveral ways to caliberate your printers color depending on the printer. you will have to research each printer to match up color etc.

http://www.lacie.com/products/range.htm?id=10016

check out the blue eye vision

Thank you for the feedback. I AM still tossing it back and forth. Is it just generally hard to get good prints off an LCD?

[kettle]

Dual 19" Diamondtrons give a better bang per buck. Dual Monitors are such a hard thing to not want to use once you've tried them.

[musicpyrite]

screw lcd or ctr, get a plasma

[triton]

Originally Posted by kettle

Dual 19" Diamondtrons give a better bang per buck. Dual Monitors are such a hard thing to not want to use once you've tried them.

I had dual 21's at one time, and it got so freaking hot in my room that I said forget it! Plus, I discovered that I really didn't need that kind of real estate. But yes, it's hard to go back once you've got two.

[LeeTom]

I recently transitioned from a great 21" Sony CRT to a 20" Apple Cinema Display. I will absolutely never go back to using a CRT, EVER! It is the best monitor I've ever owned.

Although I don't deal much with matching colors precisely, I recall a thread on here where someone mentioned that no really good designers DEPEND on their monitor's accuracy. They do a test print with pantone colors, and show that to their clients, so they can see the actual print. Again, not my expertise.

Lee Tom

[FuzzyBallz]

Don't know what the big deal is w/ CRT having more accurate color than LCD. This isn't the early 90s. LCDs look damn good now. I work on dual 18" Sonys w/ the PC, and 20" Cinema w/ the Mac. Talk about DT real estate. I can't imagine staring at a radioactive CRT nearly 20 hours a day.

If you want super accurate color, you need to get ColorVision's Spyder and OptiCal software for some serious calibration.

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by musicpyrite

screw lcd or ctr, get a plasma

Plasma screen monitors are beautiful and bright. Although the situation is improving, they also suffer some disadvantages. No plasma screen has the resolution of my 23" Apple Cinema Display. A plasma monitor must be at least 50" to reach the number of pixels in my Sharp HDTV LCD 1366 x 768 monitor. Inch for inch, plasma monitors are heavier than LCD monitors though they are lighter than CRTs. Inch for inch, plasma is less expensive. The lifespan of a plasma monitor is approximately 1/3 that of an LCD. Plasma monitors are highly susceptible to burn-in. It you connect one to a Mac, you will soon see your menu bar and Dock even when the computer is off.