Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Atlantic Rim
Posts: 570

Flat Panel or Really Big CRT?

I was thinking about shelling out in the neighborhood of $650 for a 17" flat panel display, mostly because they are really cool. I do quite a bit of image editing and web design work, so I can rationalize the need for the flat panel's superior image quality.

But then is occurred to me, that for the same amount of money, I could get a Sony Trinitrom Flat Tube CRT unit with a 21" or 22" display. I am a firm believer that bigger is usually better.

With a 22" CRT I could reasonably watch DVD movies in the comfort of my office/den, or a football game for that matter. The Flat Panel is unquestionably cooler though (probably a bit too small to consider watching a movie or television program on from across a room and quantify it as an enjoyable experience).

What to do, what to do.....???

Registered: Feb 2001
Location:
Posts: 268

generally, the CRTs will give you much better pictures than flat panels. plus you can get a much bigger display.

as long as you have space on your desk, go with the 22".

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 278

I am trying to decide the same thing.

--David

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 708

If you have the space, definately go with the 22" Sony. Flat Panel Displays are really cool, but I would much rather have the screen size.

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

namja hit the nail on the head.

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Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

Flat panels are superior in size and power consumption (and the fact that there is less radiation).

But, they aren't 'quite' there in comparison to image quality when compared with a CRT. (Though, the Apple Cinema display IS pretty amazing!).

So, I'd go with a CRT too. I would suggest, however, that you may want to consider to smaller monitors as opposed to one giant monitor. It may save you a few bucks and actually give you more actual screen real estate.

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: San Diego, California
Posts: 441

I have a 19" Sony Triniton monitor. The picture is much better than the flat panel displays. One thing to look at is the Dot-pitch size. Most run at about .25/.26 the sony trinitons are about .22

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Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 17

I got a 15" Samsung flat-panel instead of a 17" crt this summer -- love it! I was used to lcd from my work laptop, and the clarity, space-savings and coolness are, well, cool. I'm thinking about something like a wavecom (http://www.rflinktech.com/prod/prodindex.html) to beam DVDs to the TV in the other room... anybody tried anything like that?

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Modesto, CA USA
Posts: 599

Switched to Flat Panel

I switched from a 21 inch CRT to a 17 inch flat panel and I won't go back to the CRT. I run constantly at 1024 X 768 resolution on both machines because of commonality reasons within the company.

At the end of the day with the flat panel my eyes do not burn but I couldn't handle the CRT for much more than 8 hours.

Also, the difference in the room temperature in my operating space is noticeably lower with the flat panel.

My vote is for the flat panel.

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Moose Man
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Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Elkins Park, Pa
Posts: 577

The great thing about the Sony Trinitons are that although it isn't LCD and doesn't have an itty bitty footprint, the screen is flat. And 22 inch, that's HUGE! GIGANTIC! MONSTOROUS! I'm drooling just thinking about it.

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Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Texan in Calgary for a while
Posts: 1361

I can only comment based on my PowerBook G4, which has a 15.2" screen, but my next monitor will be an LCD. I want the extra desk space, and LCD screens are easier on my eyes. I can look at my Powerbook's screen for hours on end, but using a CRT irritates the eyes after a while.

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James Hromadka
Old Friend

Registered: Aug 1999
Location: Inverness, FL
Posts: 428

I have the SGI 1600SW, which is the best monitor I have ever used. Perfect color, no eye strain, extremly small pixels, all digital connection, and running at 1600 x 1024, there is plenty of desk space.

Unfortunently it seems prices have gone up since SGI stopped making the display. It now retails for over $2000, but you can probably find it for around a $1000 on ebay.

http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...mp;query=1600sw

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<B>Marcus Adolfsson</B>
Editor

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

It's true that LCDs fall behind CRTs in certain areas such as resolution scaling and video rendering. But one area where LCDs are far superior is screen geometry. LCDs are based on fixed pixels, whereas a CRT renders pixels by "painting" them onto a screen with an electron gun. The beam is focused with magnets (which is why CRTs are susceptible to magnetic interference). You will see no distortion on an LCD. The picture is square and true to form throughout. On a CRT you will often see uncorrectable geometry errors, color bleeding/hotspots, moir� problems, uneven color display, and host of other annoying quirks that can detract from an otherwise clear picture. I have a 19" SONY G400 FD Trinitron monitor (CRT) that offers beautiful color saturation and a razor sharp picture..but the geometry SUCKS! The lower right corner bows in and cannot be corrected by adjusting the controls. And there seems to be some problem with contrast jumping. When I view an image or application that has many different colors in rows from top to bottom, Photoshop for example, the sides of the display appears "rippled". No way to fix these problems.

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My blog: Pocketfactory

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: "Children are a gift from God, they are a reward"
Posts: 1049

I specifically got a 19" CRT instead of a 15" LCD because I wanted the bigger screen and the ability to watch DVDs. I'm glad I did. If I could have afforded a 21-22" CRT I would have loved it! Watching The Matrix on DVD is awesome, but with the wide screen you have to sit closer than I like. An extra 2-3" of screen would help.
BTW, my TV is only 19" and it's picture pales compared to the CRT (well, it is a 11 year old Zenith).
How are the new LCDs with moving images? Do they suffer from blur, etc.?

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Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

quote:

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Originally posted by BobbyMike
How are the new LCDs with moving images? Do they suffer from blur, etc.?

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My blog: Pocketfactory

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: East Coast, USA
Posts: 134

I'm posting from a new 15" flat panel, and I really love it. The display is incredibly bright, the refresh is great (I notice awesome performance on all my games) and comparing it to my other 17" Trinitron, I would never go back.

-b

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Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 278

quote:

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Originally posted by pcgamingnet.com
I'm posting from a new 15" flat panel, and I really love it. The display is incredibly bright, the refresh is great (I notice awesome performance on all my games) and comparing it to my other 17" Trinitron, I would never go back.

-b

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Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 638

HA! I got it better. I just bought a 21 inch sony CRT professional graphics monitor, and it's great! The best part is that I paid4 times less than retail .

BEN