What do you use - LCD or CRT monitor?

[arumdevil]

I know the theory that CRT monitors are better for colour accuracy etc, but I have also heard that the Apple displays are also good. So I was wondering what people use? I use a 17" Apple LCD.

[arumdevil]

woops, I voted for CRT by mistake ! what an idiot :oops:

well one of those CRT votes should be LCD :lol:

[defordphoto]

The Apple LCD's are among the best, but there is not an LCD/flat panel that comes close to matching a CRT for photographic accuracy. I use a Sony Trinitron.

[vvizard]

Using two "normal" CRT's. Nothing fancy about them. One 19" and one 17". Will sell of the computer for a laptop with a 16:10 screen now when joining the forces. Will though keep both the screens at my parents house, so I can use them on weekends and such occasions when I get a weekend off from the military.

[quickben]

CRT for sure !!! I almost got the Trinitron, but was put off by the trinitron lines ( horizontal grey lines ) So I got a 19" LG Flatron ( same true flatness, no lines ) Both are great for photographic review, no distortion or reflection.








or refraction :D

[johneo]

I was all hyped about getting an LCD monitor some time ago. Was over my sons house one day and he had a LCD next to a CRT ... Now I know why the stores do not put LCD and CRT monitors near each other.

Best thing about LCD monitors is the price of good CRTs has dropped significantly. As bulky and heavy as they are, I'll take the quality of a CRT.

[Jim_T]

I guess there's always going to be a dissenting opinion :)

I was using an NEC monitor (with a 17 inch Sony CRT).. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a Samsung 19 inch LCD monitor.. I was worried about using the LCD monitor for photo editing.. Mainly because I have laptop and its LCD screen is pretty pitiful. My original plan was to keep the CRT monitor for photo editing and to use the LCD for text, web browsing etc..

I ran both monitors side by side for a few days. The NEC CRT monitor is currently packed up and tucked away at the back of a closet. :)

[AzzKicker]

I was under the impression LCD's of TODAY are b*tch slapping CRT's left and right in terms of PHOTO EDITING etc because of their great Sharpness and clearity.

We just got a very nice DELL LCD at work that destroys my ViewSonic Graphic Series CRT.

[msnow]

I agree, the DELL LCD's are VERY good. I use dual monitors and having two bulky CRT's, despite the slight graphic advantage, on my desk creates too big a footprint.

[Canuck]

I have a 19" CRT and 17"CRT for editing pics. The 19" is an iiyama; the 17" is a Nokia. I think the iiyama is better but who knows.

[mttmrphy]

I went from the Sony Trinitron crt (grey lines) to the Sony 19" lcd.

The colors are clarity are unmatched from anything I have seen.

[pradeep1]

I have a 17" Sony Trinitron and its a nice monitor.

[Andy_T]

I have a 19'' Samsung CRT that's a very nice monitor ... but as I'm on the road (poject work) most of the time, it's the crappy notebook LCD ...

If I want to adjust the colour, I just have to change the angle of the screen a bit :cry: .

Best regards,
Andy

[arumdevil]

I have a 19'' Samsung CRT that's a very nice monitor ... but as I'm on the road (poject work) most of the time, it's the crappy notebook LCD ...

If I want to adjust the colour, I just have to change the angle of the screen a bit :cry: .

Best regards,
Andy

Lol! :lol:

I have to say I'm very pleased with my Apple display, but I haven't had a CRT since I got my camera, and I wasn't scanning a lot of film before that, so I don't really have anything to compare it to.
For me though, the LCD has other benifits - I also use my mac for recording music, and the LCD doesn't emit electromagnetic interference that my guitars etc pickup.

[Mills]

17" PowerBook. Thinking hard about a G5 with 23" LCD.

[Jyoti]

15" Al Powerbook for me. I'm using an old Apple display with my G5 and that's pretty good too, for a discontinued model.

I have got my beady eyes on a new Apple LCD display as well... :P

[Tom W]

For those that use LCD's, are they susceptable to contrast change if you move the position of your eyes, or is that just an issue with laptops?

My laptop produces a pretty good image, but it varies greatly as I move my screen angle. Not good.

[belmondo]

I voted for CRT because I use it the most, but 'all three' would be more accurate. I have a CRT next to a flat panel display, and I also use a laptop.

[arumdevil]

For those that use LCD's, are they susceptable to contrast change if you move the position of your eyes, or is that just an issue with laptops?

My laptop produces a pretty good image, but it varies greatly as I move my screen angle. Not good.

I also have access to in ibook (it's an older one though - about 3 years) and if you move your head just a little off-centre then the colour goes crazy, but with my 17" display you have to virtually go 180? off fora slight change. basically it goes out of sight before the colour changes more than a tad.

[eric1]

i have two 21in. crt's. one Sony, one Mitsubishi.


eric1

[Volatile]

I use all three, but I voted for CRT cuz that's what I use most.

I can't say what I like best, they're all different...

[Giant]

If you buy a TFT screen, get one with a digital input, and then buy a VGA card that has a digital output as well as the normal VGA connector.

I heard that if you use the digital conenctions you can get very good quality from it.

:D

[Mthorpe_Davies]

We got a philips 170B4 mainly because the sony 17inch crt we had was giving my wife problems with her eyes. The philips is a great monitor and quite a bit better than the sony.

I would love one of the Apple 21 inch cinema displays they totally rock, using one is almost like being in the photo.

[thomascanty]

We have new Dell LCD monitors on a couple computers at work. I hate the things. Photos look like crap on these screens. Everything looks way oversharpened. I'll take my old CRT monitor over LCD any day.

[petiot]

i am going to throw a stone in the pond. I think many people still think that CRT are better than LCD. thist is getting less true every months. For people who think Pro only use CRT, you are wrong. the guy from Luminous Landscape (M. reichman) use a Mac display. Major Brand such as Barco also provide LCD display in their pro range (with auto color calibration system) (ok they are expensive but). And not to mentione that all color calibrating hardware and software exist now for LCD.

LCD are to monitors what digital was to photography few years ago. A technology that many saw as bad ... but it is coming!! ;)

Personnaly i have a laptop display which is completaly rubbish:( and a Dell / trinitron which weight tons and take half of my desk. I still prefer the CRT for photo but i am sure a good Mac display woudl change my mind!!

Dan

[sGu]

I use 15inch powerbook, b4 i used to rely entirely on CRT, now since i'm on the move all the time, powerbook become the only thing i use for images.

but if i do sit down to process all my images, i'd prefer a top-of-the-line CRT, probably a 22inch one, simply because its quality and value for money.

[Case]

Barco also provide LCD display in their pro range

We've just started using custom Barco's at work (Asutralian AIr Traffic Control). Very nice, beats the c#%p out of the old Sony 2000X2000's we used.....

But then again, i don't exactly use them for photo manipulation!

Cheers

Chris

[dn7elson]

For those that use LCD's, are they susceptable to contrast change if you move the position of your eyes, or is that just an issue with laptops?

I just replaced my Viewsonic PT795 with a Dell 2001FP (20.1") LCD. It is spec'd to have virtually a 180 degree viewing angle and I find that the image is consistent over a wide range, certainly over 45 degrees each direction.

The contrast does not change and it calibrates well with the Spyder, although the out-of-the box profile is not bad at all. Running DVI @ native 1600x1200.

[Jyoti]

If you buy a TFT screen, get one with a digital input, and then buy a VGA card that has a digital output as well as the normal VGA connector.

I heard that if you use the digital conenctions you can get very good quality from it.

:D

Yep, if you use a DVI (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/DVI.html)-enabled LCD monitor you get straight digital to digital. There's no conversion to analogue involved. Kind of like using the S/PDIF (http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci213474,00.html) of a CD player rather than the normal phonos. Laptop LCDs are the same.

On my old Apple LCD display, the input is a normal VGA lead (analogue). Hence, I have to worry about things like tracking on the LCD and other adjustments. With DVI those adjustments don't have to be made.

[Penguin_101_1]

Umm a laptop is a LCD. :lol:

[dn7elson]

Umm a laptop is a LCD. :lol:

Or perhaps, laptops generally have LCD screens if you want to be precise 8) :lol:

[Penguin_101_1]

Ok a laptop form the 1990's-current have lcds. Portables from 1970-1980 had a crt screen.

[Penguin_101_1]

Now if I had $5,559 ( just to spend) I would buy this http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?category_id=5792&k=&mnf=&brandi d=&prst=&prEnd=&sku=A0131550&mnfsku=&SearchType=&P age=productlisting.aspx&spagenum=1&Pageb4Search=&I nStock=&items_per_page=25&orderby=&mnfname=&brand= &SubmitSearch=&image_flag=True&refurbished=&c=us&l =en&cs=19&iCompatid= 40" screen.

[Jyoti]

Umm a laptop is a LCD. :lol:

Ahhh... but what if you use your laptop's additional monitor output, eh?

:wink:

[dn7elson]

Ok a laptop form the 1990's-current have lcds. Portables from 1970-1980 had a crt screen.

Then again, there were the plasma screen models :D :lol: :D

[AzzKicker]

LCD's are way better than CRT's these days once calibrated.

[Tom W]

For those that use LCD's, are they susceptable to contrast change if you move the position of your eyes, or is that just an issue with laptops?

I just replaced my Viewsonic PT795 with a Dell 2001FP (20.1") LCD. It is spec'd to have virtually a 180 degree viewing angle and I find that the image is consistent over a wide range, certainly over 45 degrees each direction.

The contrast does not change and it calibrates well with the Spyder, although the out-of-the box profile is not bad at all. Running DVI @ native 1600x1200.

Thanks - that's what I was wanting to know. My laptop's LCD, while it is a very nice one, really cannot be used for accurate image work, because what you see isn't necessarily what you get depending on viewing angle. If the Dell Trinitron at home ever wears out, I might consider an LCD as a replacement.

[Conk]

I use a Samsung 17" Syncmaster. I would go larger and would even consider lcd but I'm not made of money like a lot of people seem to be.

[AzzKicker]

I use a Samsung 17" Syncmaster. I would go larger and would even consider lcd but I'm not made of money like a lot of people seem to be.

Samsung has a 17" LCD on newegg.com for 389 Thats very good price

[HotDogOne]

I have a 17" LG LCD screen, calibrated with a Sypder, and it seriously rocks.... I used to have two 17 inch CRTs (One Hansol, the other Belinea) - I originally got the tft to replace the belinea crt, but in the end it replaced both because I found the colours and sharpness of the screen to (quote) ' Bitchslap' the CRTs into orbit. I certainly think 6-18months ago that It wouldnt have been the same, but LCDs have improved dramitacally recently.

[Conk]

I use a Samsung 17" Syncmaster. I would go larger and would even consider lcd but I'm not made of money like a lot of people seem to be.

Samsung has a 17" LCD on newegg.com for 389 Thats very good price

Yes, that is a good price. Even if it does work out to $533.00 CDN.

[CyberDyneSystems]

LCD's are way better than CRT's these days once calibrated.

For the benifit of those who may not know better I must point out that this is just not true.

LCD's are improving.. they have benifits and they have definate appeal for many reasons.. being "way better" than CRT's is not one of them however.

There are of course bad CRT's and there are of course really good LCDs.. but the best remains AG CRTs

In fact.. I will be very surpirised if LCDs ever
"beat" the best CRT for color accuracy and grey tone... it certainly isn't going to happen for at least the next ten years...

[dn7elson]

In fact.. I will be very surpirised if LCDs ever "beat" the best CRT for color accuracy and grey tone... it certainly isn't going to happen for at least the next ten years...

Given the nature and method of digital image acquisition, I wonder if this will be an issue. If the digital image is acquired by multi-bit pixels, and if recreated on the opposite side by a similar process...both digital, what else can be gained?

[Penguin_101_1]

LCD is better than CRT if you have the right video card IMHO. A lot of people use the same video card that converts the signial to Analog then the monitor converts it back to digital. For the best results get a Digital video card that keeps the signial digital.

[dicky109]

The newest high-end LCD's IMO are approaching the quality of CRT's, but the key issue here is price. For a little over $300, I bought a 19" LaCie EB IV which gives a great view. A comparably priced LCD would give clarity akin to using my LaCie with semi-opaque glasses on.

Yeah, its huge, but I can get a bigger desk for less than a several thousand dollar LCD.

[PekkaM]

I don't remember when I last time looked at a CRT. I have a rather old Compaq 17" LCD at work and twin Hitachi 17" LCD's at home which I'm quite happy with. I cannot imagine ever moving back to CRT's after I sold my 21" 'Trinitron' Nokia which took half of my desk ;)

[John_T]

Whoooa folks! Let's slow down here. I have to side with CDS.

In the consumer world, better is highly subjective and personal. Viewing this site with professional gear makes it very easy to see who is working with what, which, on the other hand, makes it very difficult to communicate over what is right or wrong with somebody's image they can't get to look/print right. One guy is talking and seeing oranges and the other guy apples.

In the professional world, there is no question of better, rather spot on accurate if you want to stay in business. If you want spot on accurate you have to spend professional money.

I think it is better to get away from "better" and differentiate between cost, personal taste and what you want to do/ like to do, consumer or professional. It's funny how often I see people accustomed to consumer gear get there first look at professional gear. They just don't get it. No WOW. The facts m'am. Just the facts. I watch people in stores getting hyped up with wow, punch and "speed". Man, are they in for some serious sobering up down the road. Of course the only valid question is "What do you want?". And when you have that answer, from that time on, define your opinions and notions of "better" in those terms.

I have two Sony GDM-F520s CRTs on a Matrox Parhelia 256 calibrated in precision mode with OptiCal, and I print on an i9100. This is not the top professional gear, but close. Even with this, the hair splitting is difficult enough for WYSIWYG. I would be happy to have some of the advantages of LCD, and regularly check the latest and greatest, but_they_just_aren't_there_yet.

IMO.