LCD vs. CRT

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

CRT

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.

 

screw lcd or ctr, get a plasma

 

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

 

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.

 

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.