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LCD or CRT?

W

woodsie

macrumors member
Original poster
just want to get a current opinion on this debate....

my old apple CRT died, so just wondering if the latest LCD's are any good or still suffer the usual problems?

opinions please?
 
Depends what you do... if you do video editing, you'll want a CRT as they get better colors and higher resolution in some cases... if you just go online durring the and chat to friends then an LCD would be fine.

Personaly, I have an LCD and a CRT hooked up to the system... the LCD takes most the work, and the CRT does the video editing.
 
LCD screens have come a long way. 'Ghosting' problems are very rare to see on even inexpensive LCDs. Dead pixels are still an issue, but it's no big deal. Viewing angles have been highly increasted and so has reliability.

I recommend if you can afford it, go for LCD by all means. if not, CRT screens are pretty nice as well, just as nice in my opinion.
 
LCDs just suffer occasional quality issues, as stated previously. I remember the big complaint of LCDs used to be the refresh rate and ghosting. I'm not a big gamer, so I don't notice this problem, if it even exists. If you don't do a lot of vid card intensive stuff, then an LCD should be just fine for you. Look on the forums for recommendations. They are everywhere and sometimes have tips to get you really good deals.

Jim
 
I am not a big gamer/vid person, so the biggest part of the LCD vs CRT battle was the weight/girth vs price. Is the extra girth of the CRT worth the 150$ you save? For me it was quite easy - at one point, my family had a desktop that actually caused the desk to sag in the middle. That was not a good thing. With that knowledge, my decision to go with an LCD was pretty well cemented, even though the price was a bit more...

Hope that this was informative and not some crazy rambling post...😛
 
I would buy an LCD now if you're not doing anything too pressing. For photo editing it's almost always going to be best to get a CRT. I edit my own photos on a LCD though. The studio still prefers a CRT monitors.

When are those OLED screens coming again? I'm dying for one of those. All the advantages of a CRT in something smaller and less power consuming than an LCD. Higher resolution than either of them, cheaper to manufacture, better viewing angles than either of them. Possiblities for bending/flexible displays, produces it's own luminance so no need for backlights.

Ohh, what a day that will be...
 
I reckon you'd regret the CRT in a few years. Man, those things are chunky! 🙁

Quality-wise, I don't reckon the LCDs are noticeably bad to the standard/regular consumer but obviously with the CRT's much longer history, the niggles aren't there and you'd be very unlucky to have something go wrong with one.
 
Ham_man said:
I am not a big gamer/vid person, so the biggest part of the LCD vs CRT battle was the weight/girth vs price. Is the extra girth of the CRT worth the 150$ you save? For me it was quite easy - at one point, my family had a desktop that actually caused the desk to sag in the middle. That was not a good thing. With that knowledge, my decision to go with an LCD was pretty well cemented, even though the price was a bit more...

Hope that this was informative and not some crazy rambling post...😛
Click to expand...

Very, these are some of the reasons I went with an LCD on my last monitor purchase. Note, this was 4 years ago, when LCD's were much smaller and pricier. I have a 15" lcd, and am looking to upgrade to a larger widescreen (here is where I really wish apple would intro a 17" widescreen!, 20" is overkill on my desktop) soon. But, over the years, it has been nothing but reliable,smooth, easy on the eyes. The lack of a "refresh" makes using it for longer periods easier. Being absolutely flat, and edge to edge makes it nicer to look at. Having much more placeability on my desk is a huge benefit. Using next to no power compared to a "monitor" is another. Its basically a win win situation. As mentioned above, they do decent work, but the color "accuracy" is better with a tube. Unless you need that type of color accuracy (and don't mistake this as saying the color accuracy on the LCD's is poor, most people would never notice, I certainly dont) definitely go with the LCD. Prices are low, quality is good, treat your eyes!
 
I would go for LCD all the way.

So much smaller and the new once have very good resolution as well.
Look's better.

And not sure but I think it is better for your eyes too 🙄
 
I still find LCD's lacking in their crispness of image.


You might consider a reasonable sized CRT AND a larger LCD
for your work.
 
woodsie said:
just want to get a current opinion on this debate....

my old apple CRT died, so just wondering if the latest LCD's are any good or still suffer the usual problems?

opinions please?
Click to expand...
Did it die of that clicking/popping problem?
 
1) If you mail order a CRT shipping is gonna cost you big time.

2) If you need to send the CRT in for repair, it's gonna cost you big time.

3) If you stare at the screen for hours on end (I'm a web developer) you'll find that an LCD won't cause headaches as such with a CRT.

4) I disagree about the post regarding better color, a good brand name LCD with a Spyder 2 can calibrate your output with mind blowing results. In addition, a brand name for a few more bucks will likely have ICC monitor profiles that come with OS/X.

5) Spend the extra few bucks on a good brand name, don't go for the "Wee-Ba-Woki" brand of the week. Check some stores, you can sometimes get good deals on demo models -- hey, if they can handle all those kiddies banging around in the store for six months I would consider it solid, well burned in, and usually packed with a 20%-40% discount depending on how you play your cards. In addition, you still get the store warranty and the typical 1 year MFG warranty effective the date of purchase.

6) The average user with consideration of current prices will find that 17" will probably be just right. If you run applications such as PhotoShop, Flash etc, for development, the extra bucks for a good 19" comes in handy since all those development apps have a ton of toolbars.

7) Buy local, if it goes DOA then its a simple trip back to the store, otherwise you are paying shipping for delivery of the purchase and return --- and if its not within 30 days, additional shipping to the factory and a week or month to twiddle your thumbs waiting on a return.

Good Luck!

ngcomputing
 
LCDs are sharp throughout the life of the monitor, plus a solid refresh rate means no eye-strain. LCDs also consume about 1/3 the energy of a CRT, so while an LCD may cost more, it's operating expenses are lower. I have not seen a major color difference between CRT and LCD although CRTs do have a wider color gamut, but only 1/10% of people require this level of accuracy.

CRTs are great for games or anything that requires a fast refresh rate. The latency between CRT and LCDs are narrowing. CRTs tend to lose their sharpness over time, and are susceptible to the earth's magnetic field. CRTs are way to heavy and bulky and take up way too much space. A 22" CRT takes the same amount of space as that of my 20" LCD and G5 combined. In fact, I place my G5 behind my LCD and I save so much deskspace this way.
 
LCD is well reccomended... if you are going to use DVI, get an LCD. If you are going to use VGA, watch out: some LCDs look horrible with VGA (analog.) For the safe choice, get a CRT with VGA.

A CRT is like putting 20 LCDs in a row for Width but cutting the center out of all but the last one for quality - Bigger is not better.

If you have the space, you can get REALLY cheap CRTs with like 20" AND a 20" LCD for a good setup...
 
Having recently traded up from my HUGE Apple 17" Multisync to a Princeton Graphics LCD, my vote is to go with a good LCD. It's so much easier on my eyes, I can stare at the screen for hours without getting a headach. I also have found it displays color better than my old Apple (not really suprising though considering my CRT was about 8 yrs old). I'm not a heavy gamer, but I haven't had any issues playing WC3, or UT on it. If you have DVI I would definatily say get a monitor that supports it. I do notice a difference between my VGA LCD here at work, and my DVI LCD at home. The real decision to go LCD for me was the fact that I'd be able to push my desk back about 6in with out that monstrsity of a CRT.
 
kingjr3 said:
I tried that once, but I am such a boob man 😉

I vote for LCD
Click to expand...
haha, yes!

and I too vote for the LCD, but go big, atleast 18, I had to get an 15inch LCD when my apple CRT died like 4 years ago and it was only a 15inch LCD, and the resolution is 1024x 768, and after using a powerbook and going back to use a 15 inch LCD, it feels so small.
 
well i've had a look around and this is my latest thoughts.

CRT is still far better overall. my main dislike for LCD is the pixelization with text and flat graphics. reading pages of text onscreen can be painful.

however LCD's advantages of saving space and less heat is a big plus. i still think that lcd's are best used as tv's though.
 
I much prefer reading text off a CRT then a LCD. Text on even the best Dell LCDs look like something created on a Etch A Sketch toy rather then looking like print on paper. For pictures and graphics, LCDs are great.
 
to get high quality LCD is going to be much more then high quality CRT

sure you can get those .28 grill pitch monstrosities ... but anything .24 PLUS a nice size is going to be HUGE money

my Lacie 19" CRT was 800$ canadian last year

the CRT in that size was around 1400$

sure the CRT has a HUGE footprint -- -but i have a nice big desk anyway -- it was worth saving 600$
 
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