LCD vs. CRT

Azrael.

Azrael.

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My friend and I have two different monitors. They are both the same with optimal resolution, and dot pitch is nearly the same. How do the image qualities differ? For some reason, I don't really like LCD's. I think they are hard to see. My friend argues otherwise. I have heard people say that LCD's aren't as good for gaming. So what is the truth when they stack up for gaming and image quality?
 
Gaming and image quality kinda fall into the same category here. The problem with LCD's and games is image quality. Blurring, lights that are too bright are some problems. But some LCD's are good for gaming as they don't have these problems. What model is your friend's LCD?
 
We're just talking in general. We both have old dell monitors and are planning to upgrade.
 
Well, something to remember is each monitor may do better or worse when considering response times even if they are rated the same.
And it will respond differently when going from one color to another. It may only take 12MS to go from black to white to black but it may take 30MS to go from yellow to white to blue.
The best way to shop for LCDs is really look for yourself. Read all the comments and reviews, good and bad.

LCD's update the whole screen at once which is 'better' than CRTs but all you have to do is up the refresh rate on a CRT to correct that issue and get rid of any flicker if you notice that type of thing.
The big issue with LCDs is getting rid of motion blur while not lowering the Color Range (Bit). Many 12-16ms LCDs have a smaller range of colors that they can display which allows low response times.

The only other thing that could change image quality is if you don't use the recommended resolution for that LCD. If the LCD's recommended resolution is 1280x1024 and you can't play your game at that resolution smoothly then you have to lower it and it will cause it to look somewhat poor.
 
I really don't know about all this "image blurring" talk on LCDs. I've just got my Samsung 172X, and honestly, I can't see any.
 
CRT's are definately better for gaming.
 
Warbie said:
CRT's are definately better for gaming.
Click to expand...

I have both a CRT and LCD and I love my LCD ALOT better. The image quality is so much crisper than most CRTs I've seen. Even my friend, who will defend his hardware to his death, admits that my LCD rules and he has a CRT. But I must admit, technically they say CRTs are better for gaming.
 
I just got a Liquidvision 17" LCD. I can notice slight blurring/"ghosting" in games but it isn't too much of a problem. It is harder to view if you are at an angle, however.
One thing that can be annoying about LCDs is finding dead pixels (either always on or always off).

I bought my monitor a week ago at Circuit City, and yesterday I was out there again and noticed that they had a newer version ($20 more) and they no longer carry the one I bought. The first one I bought had 4 dead pixels, so I I took it back and exchanged it for the new one, which, at the moment, has none. :D It looks nicer too (the design, not the screen) and besides that it's pretty much identical.
 
just got a 19 inch princeton flatscreen and its pretty good.
 
It has seemed to me LCD's started as being inferior to CRT's when it comes to gaming when they were first released. Naturally they have been getting progressively better and I suspect that they are now beggining to surpass CRT's. If you have a new LCD monitor you will probably love the thing but since most people have only known about LCD's through people who have had older models it will naturally cause people to think that LCD's in general are not very good for gaming.
 
Asus said:
Well, something to remember is each monitor may do better or worse when considering response times even if they are rated the same.
And it will respond differently when going from one color to another. It may only take 12MS to go from black to white to black but it may take 30MS to go from yellow to white to blue.
The best way to shop for LCDs is really look for yourself. Read all the comments and reviews, good and bad.

LCD's update the whole screen at once which is 'better' than CRTs but all you have to do is up the refresh rate on a CRT to correct that issue and get rid of any flicker if you notice that type of thing.
The big issue with LCDs is getting rid of motion blur while not lowering the Color Range (Bit). Many 12-16ms LCDs have a smaller range of colors that they can display which allows low response times.

The only other thing that could change image quality is if you don't use the recommended resolution for that LCD. If the LCD's recommended resolution is 1280x1024 and you can't play your game at that resolution smoothly then you have to lower it and it will cause it to look somewhat poor.
Click to expand...



Good advice. . . As always :thumbs:
 
Here's how it is: CRT nice clear picture great for gaming

if you want the same quality in an LCD you're going to have to buy a really good one. LCDs cost a ton for a good 19" LCD it could be triple the price of a 19" CTR. Unless your short on space or high on cash get a CathodeRayTube flat screen
 
But the viewable area of a 17" LCD is not much less than of a 19" CRT
 
I read a lengty comparison about LCDs displays in a magazine. On the first page, the article says that CRT displays are antique, LCD displays are so much better and cooler and everything. CRTs are history!

And the next four pages are about the various flaws of LCDs. The colours aren't right, contrast could be improved, response times suck, the price is too high, viewing angles are bad... but by golly, LCDs are the way to go!
 
Honestly, CRTs are better for the money. If you have the space to put a CRT, I would go with that over an LCD any day. You can get a really nice 17" CRT for $200 or less, whereas you'll probably spend $400+ for a decent 15" LCD.

High end LCDs can almost perfectly match the image quality and color range of a CRT, but they cost so much more. For example, the widescreen LCDs that Apple uses are really really nice LCDs. They compare well to the best CRT monitors. But they cost about 3 times as much.

It's at the point now where CRTs and LCDs are both good for gaming, but you usually end up better off if you get a good CRT and put the money you saved into more RAM or a better video card, etc.
 
To me, LCDs seem a much more elegant solution - one logical pixel corresponds to one physical pixel. Having a raster strikes me as an ugly, ugly hack that screams FIXME!
 
To me, CRT images have more depth and seem more rich; LCD images are sharper, crisper, and brighter. From the hardware I've played with, neither one is better than the other, as there are trade-offs. A Flat panel is, of course, much nicer than having a giant tube on the desktop.

Those guys at Valve all use CRT's, from what I remember from the photos that people posted from their trips there.

I use an older model 17" Mitsubishi flatpanel, and its pretty good.
 
I'm thinking of getting a 17" flatscreen, but I'm worried that if my computer cant handle 1280x 960 then the game won't look very good at 1024x768 due to flat screen optimal resolutions.

(specs btw: athlon 2800, 1gb ram, 9800pro)
 
oMarKs said:
I'm thinking of getting a 17" flatscreen, but I'm worried that if my computer cant handle 1280x 960 then the game won't look very good at 1024x768 due to flat screen optimal resolutions.

(specs btw: athlon 2800, 1gb ram, 9800pro)
Click to expand...
You are correct. It will look pixelated. I was just to a LAN this weekend and one of my friends had an LCD. He was installing GTA:VC so we could play using the MTA client. ;)
Anyway, it looked pretty poor when he first started the game and he had to go back and change the resolution.
He was also debating which settings to use to get better framerate in Doom3 as he wanted to run it in native 1280x1024 res for his LCD again.
 
Azrael. said:
My friend and I have two different monitors. They are both the same with optimal resolution, and dot pitch is nearly the same. How do the image qualities differ? For some reason, I don't really like LCD's. I think they are hard to see. My friend argues otherwise. I have heard people say that LCD's aren't as good for gaming. So what is the truth when they stack up for gaming and image quality?
Click to expand...

Update speeds...

I don't really feel like giving the "whole answer" right now, but bottom line is that sometimes LCD is slower, and it can leave a print (If you go from bright to dark, when turning or alike in a game, it'll stay pretty bright, and it can also never go really dark).

CRT is better for gaming and there is a long way to go for LCD/Plasma screens to go before they get anywhere near CRT quality and update rate.

Regards
Dead-Inside
 
oMarKs said:
I'm thinking of getting a 17" flatscreen, but I'm worried that if my computer cant handle 1280x 960 then the game won't look very good at 1024x768 due to flat screen optimal resolutions.

(specs btw: athlon 2800, 1gb ram, 9800pro)
Click to expand...

I think most 17" LCDs are actually 1280x1024. Different manufacturers take difference approaches to scaling - some have the ugly artifacts while others either don't scale the image at all or adjust the dimensions of it in such a way that there are no artifacts.
 
jonbob said:
I think most 17" LCDs are actually 1280x1024. Different manufacturers take difference approaches to scaling - some have the ugly artifacts while others either don't scale the image at all or adjust the dimensions of it in such a way that there are no artifacts.
Click to expand...
I've never seen a 17" LCD with any other res...

Anyway, I made the change a couple of month ago, going from an old 21" CRT to a 17" LCD (16ms, LG). At first I thought that the "blurring" was quite horrendous, made me nauscious. But it really grows on you, you get used to it. The slight blurring isnt really anything I notice now... The real pro is that image quality compared to a CRT on the digital connection is *STUNNING*. Photos are just strikingly beautifull, with very vivid colors (yes despite a theoretical "faked" color system using dithering). The image itself is much smoother to look at too, although there is more tearing in side movements due to the lower refresh.

But the point: Is the LCD worth it over a CRT? I would say no, not really... I didnt pay for mine, my father did (he thought it would be good for my eyes cause he use one at work and blabla, I thought what the hell, they are quite good compared to a few years ago). I could have bought a 19" for little over half the price, without any real negative side to it. But overall, I like my LCD, and I wouldnt trade it back for anything. Yes, the picture really DOES look that good :)

Edit: And regarding the scaling issue, its really not that bad in games (assuming the monitor scales good). At least not in the 10x7 res, 6x4 will undoubtebly look like crap, lol.
 
I have a Sony 17" SDM-S73 and i think it rocks, i dont notice any blurring ingame and i play mostly first person shooters such as UT2k4 allot... im writting this post in 800x600 res just to see the difference, you dont want to be using this res, il go back to the sexy 1280x1074 in abit. You do want to be playing every game in atleast 1024x768, so if your getting a tft (has to have 16ms or below otherwise they're awful looking in game), get a decent gfx card, atleast a 9800/5900fx series to get playable fps on higher res.
 
oMarKs said:
Dawdler, what model LG have you got? I'm thinking of getting this: http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=3283
I'm currently using an old Philips flat, with rt of about 30ms, so hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised.
Click to expand...


Try to find the model on Ebuyer.co.uk, i just found some speakers on that site you linked to and they are £5 more expensive on there. you could save yourself some money on ebuyer.

Btw, LG are fine for TFT's, my friends both have a similar model (same specs but black) as that and they are good.
 
Here some pics of mine I luv my monitor for gaming much better than my crt which isnt bad either...the pics arent the best quality in the first pic i put a phone underneath to use for size comparison.
 

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Anyone who has got/use the LG 17" screens: Do you know if when you run games in 1024x768 the screen stretches the picture to fit, or it just has blank bars around the edge?

thanks
 
I have a 19 inch flat panel monitor, and I love it.

Here are some things to consider:
  • Make sure to get one that doesn't suffer from extreme motion blur. Mainly, this just means getting a good quality screen and not some thing you picked up at Office Depot.
  • Like one person said, you need to be able to run games at the native resolution of 1280x1024. Thus, if you have a slow computer or play a lot of old games, an LCD isn't for you.
  • Remember, LCDs take up much less space and look a lot cooler on your desk.
  • The image quality of LCD is crisper, at least to me. The colors "pop", although they are harder to calibrate. My printer, for instance, always prints things darker than they appear on the screen, so it's hard to pick the right colors.
But overall, I do recommend the LCD, taking those things into account.
 
Price, glow, and low fidelity on darks ruin LCDs for me. I'd get one as a second monitor maybe, or for just text processing. If I had money to burn that is.
 
Oh yeah, also keep in mind that on the most part, LCDs reduce eye strain and also emit less radiation. If you're on the computer a lot, take that into account.
 
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