CRTs vs LCDs

[Tassadar500]

If I am getting a computer mainly for 3-D gaming, with a top graphic card, is it a waste to get a 19" LCD?

[Dis]

19 seems plenty big to me. Although maybe if I have the cash I'd get a 21 flat. no way would I get a 21 crt. My 19 is too big as it is. Takes up far too much room.

[Skanky Burns]

I use a 21" CRT. There is no way I could settle for a tinier screen.

[Nostromo]

Me too. I use a 12 inch LCD. There is no way I could settle for a tinier screen.

[Tassadar500]

Originally posted by Dissident
19 seems plenty big to me. Although maybe if I have the cash I'd get a 21 flat. no way would I get a 21 crt. My 19 is too big as it is. Takes up far too much room.

I mean though, would the graphics on the games not be as good as if it were being played on a CRT?

[Skanky Burns]

If most reviews say they are almost as good as CRT...

They vary by model though, so research the specific one(s) you are interested in.

[Adagio]

I've read that when buying a TFT monitor, you have to look at what panel it's built on, not (only) how fast it is

As far as I know, there's about 3 different panels: MVA (or some letters like that), TN+ and S-IPS

MVA is very slow in updateing (ghosting is almost certain)
TN+ is fast, but doesn't have many colors
S-IPS is expensive, but also the best (on not avaliable in 17" or smaller IIRC)

My monitor has S-IPS (Flatron L1910S), but only has 25 ms (whatever that is called)... but as I played Doom 3 there were no ghosting or anything like that... and friend of mine who plays lots more fps games couldn't see any problems either...Don't buy any monitor with higher than 25 though...

[Urban Ranger]

For what its worth, there's a rant on LCD in the Inquirer today.

[DrSpike]

Seems spot on to me.

[Shogun Gunner]

Dead Pixels

I read a bunch about dead pixels and how each of the different vendors deal with this issue.

Link to Dead Pixel article

According to the article, only Hitachi, Lite On (never heard of this company), and Phillips have a zero tolerance for dead pixels. That is a bit troubling that defects could be present in a brand new LCD, and some of the manufacturers will not address the issue until enough dead pixels warrant replacement. What I learned in my reading is that dead pixels are usually a result of the manufacturing process and will not occur from use. Bottom line, whatever you get upon delivery, is probably the condition of your monitor. So, if you don't have "enough" dead pixels to warrant replacement upon delivery -- you are probably stuck with the device as dead pixels cannot be repaired.

Combined with the price premium on these devices and potential performance issues of some systems, it will keep me on the sidelines a bit longer.

[Adagio]

But for some countries (Denmark among those) there is another way. AFAIK there's a rule that when buying from a web store, you have 14 days to evaluate the product. If the product, for whatever reason, don't live up to what you expect, you can get your money back. If course there's still a special rule about number of dead pixels, but if you have a dead pixel you can return it anyway, as long as you don't mention the dead pixel. You could just say that "it didn't look good on the desktop" or something like that... or at least that's what I've heard. I haven't checked if this actually works...

[Ari Rahikkala]

Originally posted by Dauphin

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996557

Conventional computer screens can only manage 1600 by 1200 pixels, and even high-definition TV displays create their images with an array of 1920 by 1080 pixels at best. Now, HP reckons it can make an A4-sized screen with 7000 by 5000 pixels – matching the quality of a glossy magazine. HP says it will be able to replicate this quality on screens all the way up to large electronic posters and billboards.

My Samtron 96P can do 2048x1536 (albeit at only 60Hz), and it cost less than 300€ .

[Shogun Gunner]

yes, you can do that stateside also. However, you get the better deals when buying via the internet as opposed to retail outlets. However, for this technology, that would be advisable. It is very difficult to "fight for you rights" with an electronic storefront in cyberspace. This is a case where a retail premium makes sense.

Still, it's tough to pull the trigger seeing the traditional CRT prices drop compared to comprable LCD monitors. My 17" CRT is starting to look small. Combined with the inability to really resize the screen in Civ III. Well, I got get a bigger screen.

[Jamski]

The flat screen is so NICE though. Its just a quality of life thing. The colours seem brighter and truer too - especially photos, and I can tell the difference between 16bit and 32bit colour on an LCD, which I couldn't on a CRT.

-Jam

[alva]

You're looking good as long as you sit in the dark, not too much to the side, are colour blind and plan on watching Tai Chi videos

Great article