CRT v LCD: The showdown

[Link]

Right, I've been putting it off long enough, but one of my monitors started flickering last night, they are both old and the time has come to consider replacements. Normally not a hard desision, just price/size, but now we are in the middle of this CRT/LCD business, I'm not sure which way to go.

So, good citizens of HL2.net, let us put it to a vote and decide once and for all, which is better. Please imagine that your monitor just died and the place you got it from refunded you the full value of the monitor. Which of the voting options would describe you and what you would do with the money.

p.s.
CRT - TV type monitor
LCD - Flat panel type monitor

 

[ComradeBadger]

I love my TFT and would NEVER go back

 

[Kamikazie]

i want a LCD

christmas maybe

never mind it might be the 360

 

[JellyWorld]

I dunno anyone who would want to go back to CRT after owning a TFT

 

[OCybrManO]

Well, the whole native resolution thing might be a turnoff to some people.

Anyway, I've been using this CRT for... well... wait, when did the Geforce 2 Ultra come out?

I'm looking at this one if I decide to purchase an LCD monitor in the near future.

 

[DrDevin]

Love my 19" CRT. Flat screen, does 16x12 and no eye strain at 75Hz+ (depending on the resolution). I say the CRT still has the image quality advantage: they dont ghost/produce great black/dont need interpolation/are are cheap!

However LCDs are taking over and you should be happy with one, especially if you dont have much room for a giant CRT. They also produce less heat and are cheaper to run.

I would just avoid an LCD if you game a lot and your computer can't run the games at 1280x1024 (most common LCD resolution) because LCDs take a image quality hit when they run at non native resolutions.

 

[Link]

Yeah, I heard that. Anyone actually tell me how bad it is? I keep hearing that games should be in the right res, but no one ever says how bad the effects are if its not...

 

[Alig]

Absolutely LCD over CRT, used to have a 19" CRT, now i've got a Benq 17" LCD, the screen quality between the two is so much clearer on the LCD. DrDevin, they don't ghost if they're good, mine has an 8ms response time. They're expensive because they're better and i don't even think a graphics card exsists that can't run at least 1280x1024 in this day and age. However, i run FEAR at 1024x768 with my x800pro and i can't tell a difference what-so-ever from when i play WoW at 1280x1024.

Yeah, I heard that. Anyone actually tell me how bad it is? I keep hearing that games should be in the right res, but no one ever says how bad the effects are if its not...

I don't see a difference between the two, he's either had a faulty LCD, hates them for some apparent reason or has a cheap and nasty LCD. Mine is fine.

 

[JellyWorld]

It depends, some games like F.E.A.R look good at 1024*768, wheres HL2 seems to take a severe image quality hit when the resolution drops.

 

[3ssence]

It depends largely on the quality of the monitor. Some of the better quality lcd's can scale dowm without much loss of picture quality, whilst others can't. My viewsonic has a native resolution of 1600 x 1200, but i run a number of games at 1280 x 1024 and the picture quality is still brilliant.

 

[duffers20]

TFT's may be slightly more expensive, but I love mine and would never go back to crt.

 

[Venmoch]

TFT's make my eyes hurt and the "blur" you get while moving fast causes my eyes a large amount of irritation (Even on the high-spec ones)

SO I have to stick with CRT.

 

[NJspeed]

We've had this discussion so many times but all I'm gonna say now is that no LCD is running HL2 or BattleField 2 in 2048x1536 like I play them all the time. I just laugh at everyone who needs to enable AA when playing weak resolutions like 1024x768. Who needs AA in 2048x1536? To top it off, I found my $1200 retail 21" CRT monitor on Ebay for $100. If you want to get technical, CRT's pixels are about 25% closer together (the term is aperture grill pitch), they have better refresh rates, and can display higher resolutions. If you have a good graphics card, you are wasting it if you are playing on an LCD, as your really limiting yourself. Native resolutions and max hertz and frames per second is 60? You have to be kidding me. I don't know why people can't just admit that CRTs are better. The PR people at the monitor companies really have consumers fooled into buying these lousy piece of junk LCDs that somehow "must be better because they are skinnier", which is a ridiculous theory - yet many ignorant consumers make this choice every day.

 

[JNightshade]

^a little extreme for my views, but fundamentally correct. I have a 19in. CRT, it's large and bulky, but has damn good picture quality, refresh rates, etc. Plus the heat it generates keeps my room warmer in the winter.

 

[Cole]

My cat sleeps ontop of the monitor because of the heat.

 

[Dumb Dude]

I chose the CRT to LCD back to CRT option only becuase I wish I could run at a higher resolution than 1280x1024 without having to sell my leg.

 

[Quixoticism]

LCD all the way.

 

[Cole]

I wish I could run at a higher resolution than 1280x1024 without having to sell my leg.

Legs arn't that important
*Winks*
Trust me, I've been getting along just fine and I love these higher resolutions.

 

[TheDan]

Solution: Get both!

I have a CRT and an LCD both plugged into my PC. Its great! The CRT I use for playing games because of the resolutions I can use, but the LCD has a clearer/sharper picture on it. I would buy another LCD though when the CRT dies.

 

[Steven]

CRT's last longer and can handle gaming at high resolutions. LCD's have a sharper picture. 2 - 1.

WTF It posted twice

 

[Steven]

CRT's last longer, can handle gaming at high resolutions and are generally cheaper. LCD's have a sharper picture. 3 - 1.

 

[Space Farm]

LCD's are great. But you need a high-quality one. You can't go for cheapies.

 

[chewyxx]

lolololol funny mineral.... i have a crt and it shows the color black like kinda greenish and im gonna get an LCD if i get good grades...

 

[OCybrManO]

CRT's last longer

Nope, the average CRT lifetime (specified as the total amount of time for it to decrease to 50% of the original brightness) is about 1/3 that of a decent LCD, with LCDs lasting approximately 60,000 hours. Plus, all you need to do to get an LCD back to normal brightness is have someone replace the backlight. With a CRT... you're better off buying a new one.

 

[Cole]

i have a crt and it shows the color black like kinda greenish and im gonna get an LCD if i get good grades...

I have 2 CRT's.
One shows black better, but the other one shows white better.
The one that shows black better the white kinda looks light bluish, while the other ones black just isn't as dark.

 

[Dekstar]

CRT ftw. Played my mate's TOTR TFT and I didn't like it.

 

[Tr0n]

LCD > CRT

That simple. Most lcd's you will get ghosting...but they are worth every penny. No huge ass thing to carry around for lans and shit. LCD's have brighter more vivid colors and so on. Now I just gotta save my money for one!

 

[redpathogen]

I'm not a very technical but I love PC gaming. Anyways I'm gonna get a single big PC gift for Christmas this year and I was wondering how this behemoth http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16889107001 would play games. Anyways does anyone know how good this would be for gaming? It's widescreen and it's big so it should be beautiful for just like DVD movies and standard PC use. But what's gonna happen when I hit up F.E.A.R. or HL2?

 

[Alig]

It should be fine for gaming, it has 400:1 more contrast ratio than my 17" LCD monitor so black will be blacker and white, whiter..and i can tell you, black on my LCD seems pretty black to me. It has 8ms response time, so it will be able to refresh quick enough, my LCD is 8ms as well, and i think it's just the moaners or the people with super-human eyes that can notice ghosting at such a fast refresh rate.

I dunno about Viewsonic though, can't say anything bad, or good about them, i'd pick Sony or Samsung myself for that bit extra unless you've seen a Viewsonic in action and are happy with the quality, i'm getting a 26" Samsung hdtv LCD next month to swap this Benq 17" LCD and can say both are quality brands.

 

[Qonfused]

I have an iMax monitor so none of those options apply to me.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

i have always had a CRT monitor.
i haven't checked the performance recently of LCD monitors and so thats probably why im not as confident about them being good for gaming.

hmm... price wise, i do not know... is a good quality LCD as good as or better than a good quality CRT?

 

[chewyxx]

what is ghosting??

 

[Kamikazie]

when the ghost of christmas past comes along to show you what you did wrong when you were younger

 

[Asus]

what is ghosting??

It's when part of the image is blured because the monitor has not drawn over the what the previous frame showed. It usually shows up in fast paced games especially on older LCDs.
Like this


ghosting test

 

[Adabiviak]

The only LCD I've ever owned is my current Apple 23" Cinema HD, and I'll take this over a CRT any day. I've actually got mine mounted on the wall - for the longest time I couldn't fathom why people would upgrade to flat panel monitors that weren't better than CRTs and would leave them sitting on their desks taking up the same amount of room as the CRT. They basically downgraded their monitor! Anyway, one of the things I like about LCDs is their slimmer profile when mounted to the wall. It's TFT and, well, I don't get ghosts. I paid a pretty penny for this job, but it was well worth it.

 

[OCybrManO]

I'm saving up money for an LCD while waiting for this 19" behemoth of a CRT monitor to die. So far, it has lasted for five years... but the colors aren't what they used to be (though, still acceptable), the really dark parts have lost a lot of their definition (I have to turn up the gamma a bit in games), and whites aren't as blindingly bright as they once were (flashbangs used to actually be painful). Also, if it starts to overheat and the power surges/sags slightly it will shut off and not turn back on unless it remains unplugged for a couple of minutes. So, yeah, I'm starting to look into a replacement.