Are CRTs History?

DreamWheezer asks: "I work on a medical imaging program that uses CrystalEyes for high resolution true color stereoscopy. This program requires high resolution high frequency true color CRTs. Very recently, a vendor trend has developed: almost all are dropping out of the CRT market in favor of LCDs. Unfortunately, LCDs cannot render high resolution page sequential stereoscopy. The vendors have said that autostereo LCDs are on the way in 12 to 18 months, but what can I do in the meantime? Furthermore, does this mean the end is near for CRTs?" While there does still seem to be a market for CRTs, it seems to be dwindling to a narrow niche. Are LCDs ready to take over as the primary computer display or is the retirement of CRTs, premature?

Comments

Re:My CRT

[RetroGeek]

Amen to that.

I specifically got a CRT for development work. I can switch resolutions for testing, and still get high picture quality.

Flat panel displays have a "sweet-spot" resulution. Anything outside that looks terrible.

Re:Why, oh why why why??

[Soporific]

Commas can be placed anywhere, they are pauses. Maybe, he, wanted, to, sound, like, William, Shatner?

~S

Re:I hate LCDs.

[kannibal_klown]

Maybe it's just me. But I can't stand LCDs for general computer use. They're harsher and grittier on the eyes, and they still-- even after all these years of development-- tend to suffer from ghosting.

Am I the only one?

Yes and no.

If you use a DVI connection and run at the native resolution a half-way decent LCD looks perfectly clear. Add to that antialiased fonts and you're in for a winner on the eyes.

However, at work we have analog connectors for our LCD monitors (actually, the monitors have DVI inputs but our desktops only have analog out). Even after "auto-calibrarting" the monitor like 20 times I get ghosting.

DVI on an LCD can make all the difference in the world. Most people at work don't notice the oddities experienced with teh analog connections, but some of us can. Fortunately my new work machine will have a DVI out on the video card :)

But if you run analog, or MOST IMPORTANTLY the non-native resolution it can look like utter garbage. DVI is pretty common on video cards now a days, and I believe it's getting more common on LCDs too.

Re:Are CRTs on the way out?

[tehcrazybob]

Here ya go
http://www.viewsonic.com/products/desktopdisplays/ lcddisplays/xseries/vx924/
4ms or (1 second) / (4 millisecond) = 250 htz.

250 htz is much more then your 60/72/75/80/100/120 htz your crt does.

Don't try to convert response time into refresh rate. The response time is how long it takes a pixel to change colors, and the refresh rate is how often the monitor gives instructions to a pixel. The two measurements are not related, and you cannot find one given the other.

Refresh rates in Hz are pretty meaningless for LCDs, actually. The measurements on monitors are response time and refresh rate, and they each have their place.

The response time on an LCD is the amount of time it takes a pixel to change color once it's been instructed to do so. This is a meaningless measurement for a CRT, because a CRT pixel is lit only when the electron beam is on it. For this reason, you never see a CRT advertised with a response time.

The refresh rate of a monitor is the number of times a pixel is redrawn per second. On an LCD, the refresh rate is almost always 60 Hz. That's high enough to present smooth visuals to the viewer. However, because the pixels in an LCD keep their color for several milliseconds after each refresh, they don't need to be refreshed any more often than that. On a CRT, on the other hand, the more often a pixel is refreshed, the smoother the image will appear. This is because the pixel only has color when it is being refreshed. If the refresh rate is too low, the pixel and therefore the whole image will appear to flicker.

LCDs are frequently set at a low refresh rate like 60 Hz, because that's all they need to present consistent visuals. For an LCD, a much more important number is the response time.

CRTs are often set to a much higher refresh rate, because that enables a more consistent image. The response time is irrelevant.

Re:Are you serious?

[tdsotf]

I don't think he's looking for any old CRT. He probably needs a CRT that'll do 1024x768@120Hz or 1280x1024@120Hz. The CrystalEyes are shutter glasses that alternately shut an eye in sync with the monitor. He's probably rendering a scene for the left eye and one for the right eye. To keep the motion from being jittery and the shuttering from being noticeable, he needs to render each eye at 60Hz. Which means he needs a monitor that can display at 120Hz.

I've done stereo on a monitor that does 96Hz, but the flickering from the shutter is noticable and hurts your eyes after a while.