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Behind the Numbers: LCD vs. CRT

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the cost-of-being-thin dept.

OrenWolf writes "CNet has an article discussing the difference between CRT's and LCD's - where they've been, where they're going, and what to look for when buying one. They inclde information on how to judge the most important (and most overlooked) features in LCD's, the rise/fall of pixels, something that keeps most gamers away from them." Good summary type piece, although nothing exceptional for the more hardcore techie.

7 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. Everytime by vinnythenose · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Everytime I see an article about this sort of stuff I keep praying that OLED monitors will be out soon. Flat, less power required than in LCD, flatter than LCD, bright like CRT and once in full production likely up to 30% cheaper than LCD.

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    --- I used to moderate, then I read the -1 articles and decided having to filter through them was not worth it.
    1. Re:Everytime by SWTP · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I agree on the OLED! Esp since it looks like they can "print" them on any plasic surface. Problem is water will wreck if not sealed. Some car radio displays have them. There is also a flat pannel tech that is based off of small pointed emitters that has self generated brilance and cheep. Was in MaximumPC about 3 months back I think.

      LCD are nice but feels like a tech being push hard against its limits to do the task.

  2. Recent LCD experience by crumbz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I recently had a new 18.1" LCD screen from NEC loaned to me for a trial period. Wow. I used it connected to my HP Omnibook and the larger screen was incredible. I forget the resolution I was running, but it was great for working on documents side-by-side. Going back to the 14" on my laptop was disappointing.

  3. Poll Suggestion by brogdon · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is a little OT, but can we get a poll to see what kind of monitors everyone is using and in what sizes? I'd love to know how many of us are using LCDs or dual-monitor setups, and what size screen most /.ers gaze upon daily.

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    This tagline is umop apisdn.
  4. LCD's are horrible for photographs by PhantomHarlock · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The current generation of LCD displays are terrible for viewing photographs. The square pixels and variable contrast makes for a number of bad artifacts:

    1. JPEG compression is terribly magnified on an LCD. look at a typical Yahoo News press photo on an LCD and then on a CRT, especially close ups of people.

    2. Contrast is variable from top to bottom while looking dead center: On my recent model VAIO laptop, when looking at the screen from dead center, the top is too dark, the bottom is too bright. (in terms of black level)

    3. Colors shift depending on left to right viewing angle, and typically subtle hues of red and blues and purples will not appear as pleasing and natural as they do on a CRT.

    4. Overall gamma is poor, with the falloff happening in all the wrong places, which wrecks havok on portraits and figure photography. (which means yes, pr0n!)

    So it's interesting to note that on a recent visit to Vertis studios in San Francisco, the people who often do the Macy's catalogs, that each digital photography station consisted of a high end scanning back camera and a macintosh with a 22" LCD monitor! I mentioned this to one of the supervisors and he said "Yea...we're aware of the problems with LCD...we carefully calibrate them and make sure to stare at them dead center, or we get the color shift problem left to right." I figured that someone had sold them on those setups purely for the 'cool' value, and they fell for it hook line and sinker.

    He then took me into the finishing room, where, to my pleasure, there were several workstations outfitted with high end CRT monitors with hoods around them. I knew there was no way they were doing catalog work without CRT's, given the pickiness of fashion retailers over the color accuracy in the catalogs.

    When I was working at Digital Domain in Hollywood, as well as every other VFX company I've ever worked for, there was nigh an LCD in sight, because you can't do critical adjustment on an LCD.

    Despite all this doom and gloom, it IS getting better all the time, and eventually, unless it's replaced by DLP or other "every pixel is a tube" flatscreen technology, then I'll be calibrating my photographs for viewing on LCD, because that's what everyone will have. Until then, I prefer my high end Sony FD trinitron above all else.

    --Mike

  5. Re:Question about Graphic Artists?? by stubear · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The reason graphic artists (like myself) avoid LCD monitors is because of the lack of consistency of luminance across the entire screen. The same color can look completely different because its brightness value doesn;t look the same even though, according to the software, it is. If you are working on any work which requires color accuracy, this will not do. Hopefully the OLEP screens will eliminate this luminosity problem and larger screens will be available at a much more affordable price.

  6. stuck pixels by dickens · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Here is an article entitled "LCD Panels and Customer Expectations". It talks about "stuck pixels" among other things.