powerusers.info

Merlin · Site Admin Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 722

How many of you still use CRT (standard monitors)? And how many use LCDs? Of those who still are on CRTs do you think you'll ever move to an LCD? If so when? And for those already on LCDs what do you find to be the good and bad of them?

Frosty · Newbie Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 17

17" CRT here, dont have any complaints, but if someone gave me a LCD for free i might give it a try :D

Lefty · Power User! Joined: 30 Jan 2004 Posts: 233 Location: MD

I have a 19" LCD and I'm glad I changed from my 19" CRT. I like the extra space on my desk and the picture is just huge. I'm using a 1280 x 1024 resolution and only had to use the extra large fonts under display properties to make things alittle easier to read.

Merlin · Site Admin Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 722

Now that you've had it a while how is gaming on it? Do you ever seen trails on fast-moving objects? Do you know what the pixel response rate is for your panel (measured in milliseconds (ms))?

Xmaniac · Power User! Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 637 Location: MI

I have a 17" CRT I like my dads PC has a 19" Flat screen CRT which I like better.

I have worked with LCDs there not bad but unless you got money to get a nice one, dont bother buying one.

Lefty · Power User! Joined: 30 Jan 2004 Posts: 233 Location: MD

I've been using it for a few months now and have no complaints. It's like I never had a CRT before.....I just can't remember the difference in picture

Chaos-X · Newbie Joined: 23 Feb 2004 Posts: 4

I own a 19" CRT. Personally, I Don't like LCDs, From what I've heard/seen, you can't touch them, you have to use a special cleaner on them because Windex eats the plastic(?)..
CRT all the way! :D

RIP · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:56 am Post subject:

Switched from a 21" CRT to a 19" LCD here...

The picture seems bigger (optical illusion) and the space saving is incredible... A 21" CRT takes up about as much desk space as a volkswagen beetle...

I have no clue what the pixel response rate is and there are no specs that I can find that tell me the answer to that...

Gaming seems pretty good on it I have not noticed anything that hinders or lessens the quality of game play, I have noticed when browsing certain types of web pages, some of the links seem to flash when scrolling... If I put my old CRT back on and scroll the same pages the flash does not exist... Not a major issue though, I don't feel any "pokemon" related flash seizures coming on...

The only negative thing I can think of about my LCD is that the cost of them are still astronomical...

1024 x 768 is what I am using but may try Lefty's idea with the Large icon solution... As I get older, bigger seems to be better (or easier rather)...

One question, what do you use to clean the screen?

Merlin · Site Admin Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 722

I'd recommend only using a slightly dampened, lint-free cloth (dampened with water). If you aren't touching the screen there shouldn't be anything on it that water can't remove.

I just got an LCD panel a week or so ago but I'll be returning it this weekend in favor of a new CRT. The one I got was an Envision 9110 19" LCD panel (1280x1024) and the desktop image is of course great. 25ms pixel response time (not the fastest but right up there - fastest I know of is the ViewSonic panels at 16ms). But gaming is still not there yet for LCD panels, IMO. Any kind of movement results in blurriness until you're still again. And your frame rate is limited to an LCD's limit of 75 or 85Hz, which again is a lot less than my CRT's 115-120Hz at the same resolution.

I have to say that interpolation has gotten very good - playing a game at 1024x768 (below the panel's native res of 1280x1024) was quite clear (again when not moving).

It obviously doesn't bother some people but it sure does bother me. But then again I'm extremely picky about this kind of thing.

Merlin · Site Admin Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 722

Here's a perfect example of the problems with LCD panels. Load this webpage:

http://boards.ea.com/messages?14@233.xnv5agB1bFe.2@.2cdb8745

(any website with white text on a black background will work)

Now with this page open grab the scroll bar on the right side of the screen and drag it up and down. Note how blurry the text is as it moves. Now open the same page on a properly-configured high-refresh rate CRT screen and note the difference. The CRT will be readable (or perfectly clear) even while moving. The LCD is only clear when holding still. Now think about the same effect in a 3D game, where darn near everything is moving, all the time, and you have a perfect example of what's still wrong with LCDs.

Merlin · Site Admin Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 722

Anyone try that test I described on a CRT or LCD?

Xmaniac · Power User! Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 637 Location: MI

I use to work with LCDs so I know exactly what your talking about.

RIP · Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2004 8:06 pm Post subject:

Merlin · Site Admin Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 722

But the same effect happens in games. It's an issue of the pixels on an LCD panel not being able to switch colors quickly enough.

Lefty · Power User! Joined: 30 Jan 2004 Posts: 233 Location: MD

It's all personal perference. I've been using an LCD long enough to not notice any drawbacks, or I just forgot how nice CRT's used to look :wink: