Revisiting an old topic: How do high-end CRTs compare to today's LCD displays?

[Triptoph]

So I am still working on an old Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 2070SB (http://secure.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=9462). How do CRT monitors like this stack up to current middle to high end LCDs these days in terms of how well they are suited for editing photos - colour gamut and general use overall? Hard to find such a comparison these days as very few use this dinos anymore I expect! But thought someone here may be knowledgeable on the subject.

[Zepher]

My friend has the Sony 24" wide CRT, FW900 I believe.
It has very good color and excellent contrast ratio ( since it is a CRT) but it is really soft (text-wise) compared to my LCD.
it is also very heavy, about 95lbs.

have you tried an LCD monitor on your system yet?
also, how old is your monitor and how many hours a day do you use it?
reason I ask is that as the tube ages, it gets darker.

2 years ago I made the switch to LCD. One of my CRT's went bad and I couldn't get a replacement.
I didn't really want to make the switch since my CRT's looked great, but I chose an LG 19" and I was very surprised at how good the picture looked. I still had to get used to the brightness shift from top to bottom since it was a TN panel.
But I was pleased and a week later I went out and bought another one so I'd have matching screens again.

[Triptoph]

Thanks for the reply Manny. This CRT is perhaps 6-7 years old and is definitely darker than it used to be. I've used LCDs before and found that the text is much sharper as well. I'm curious about how a CRT's colour gamut compares with an LCD's though, especially some of the newer LCDs out there -- they seem to have come a long way since they first started coming out (at which point I took an in-depth look at them and decided to stay with my CRT).

[tim]

They still make CRTs?

[Triptoph]

I doubt it, unless there is some specialized need for them... like say if they did offer a wider colour gamut than today's LCDs perhaps? Which is what I'm curious about.

[Moppie]

They stopped making CRT's about 2000-2001, if you hunt around there are some new still available as old stock that didn't sell. BUT, they are very, very expsenice, which is why they never sold.


I have a pair of Dell branded Sony Trinitron Flat screens, a 21inch and a 19inch.
The 19inch was used in a back up call center, so only got turned on twice before I got it about a year ago. It is tack sharp and just beauftiful to look at.

The 21inch is from an old design office, is from about '99-2000 making it one of the last made. It is still very sharp and nice to look at, but if you get really, really picky, not quite as good as the 19inch. So there is deffinitly some deteriation from age. Reseting all the defaults when I first got it, did improve it alot though.


I got to compare them both to a new, calibrated Lacie monitor the other day.
The Lacie was nice to look at, great colours, fantastic viewing angle, but if you got really, really fussy, then I would have to say that my 19 inch dell gave slightly better blacks and dark greys, and was a little bit sharper.
The 21inch also gives better blacks and greys, but its beyond what 99.9% of people could see, and beyond what anyone would really care about unless you were anal about doing black and white prints.

My better half has an Apacer 19inch LCD, its pretty good. For gaming I wouldn't notice the difference, but for photo work I can tell it's not quite right.
I've also spent this week working on a 22inch LG LCD, again its ok, but not ideal, and you can easily see the difference between it and my Trinitrons.


I believe the high end CRT's are still the best.
But, you can't buy them new, and they don't age well so finding a good one is getting harder and harder.
Unless your going to be really anal about it, then a high end LCD that is properly calibrated is going to be 95-99% as good. And will take up a lot less space on your desk top.
But, both my monitors cost me a total of NZ$19. A pair of Lacie's to give me similar desktop space and similar image quality could cost about NZ$10,000.


If you have the time to hunt around, then a nice flatscreen CRT is the best budget monitor you can get. Remember these things sold for thousands of dollars when new.

If you can afford it, then there is nothing wrong with working on a high end LCD, while the CRT is better, the difference is so small it is just stupid to worry about it.

And, remember that there were cheap, budget, low quality CRT's that looked like crap, just like are cheap budget LCD's that look like crap now. :cool:

[Triptoph]

Thanks Moppie. That's kind of in line with how I'm thinking about things. My CRT was wonderful when I first got it, but now its getting pretty dark at its brightest setting. Cost me $1000 new, which was money well spent as it lasted a very long time, but it is time for a replacement. About time to troll through the hundreds of random snippets of information comparing different monitors... ugh. Need to figure out what a good choice for a 24 - 30" monitor would be with a wide colour gamut appropriate for image editing... and text. Since I write code and read 95% of the time. Again thanks for your comment.

[Moppie]

Have a dig through the menus, and reset everything you can find.

The 21inch I bought was pretty bad when i first turned it on, but after reseting things, it now works perfectly. The brightness is only turned up half way.

[TheHoff]

Yea those same Trinitons we used to get with the Silicon Graphics systems... they were beautiful screens (minus those wire lines, but still).

[Robf]

Compared to Barco, Sony, and Lacie III... hmm... still off.

Haven't seen an RGB LED screen for desktop yet, but even so, the LCD's lack the fidelity at the subtle ends of the spectrum.

That said, my RGB LED sony laptop is a leap in colour terms, massive wide gamut... shame the viewing angles aren't as good as my old Inspiron 8500...

The desktops at work are pretty good for viewing angles, so I reckon perhaps RGB LED desktop might do the job... if they can combine all the good aspects.

Still working on my Lacie III... still regretting not buying the two Sony Artisans I saw before the world woke up and realised CRT's were going to be extinct.

It's the last colour accurate CRT we run... the others are just run of the mill CRT's... it's questionable about whether they offer much over the LCD's... sharpness is pretty pants.