TFT vs CRT

[-HP-]

Hi guys.

In the near future, I'll probably buy a new monitor for my home-PC.

I have always owned a CRT monitor, 'coz always hated TFT because of the ghosting effects, although nowadays we have much better and not so expensive TFT monitors, so I'm thinking on buying one...

they're slimmer, much good lucking, and so on and so forth, although, there is a very important aspect that we rarely think of, which one of these two Is best for the eyes?

I'm using this CRT at 75 hertz, I heard the higher the hertz you'r using, the best for your eyes, because you'r basically looking to a huge flashing lamp turning off and on 75 times per minute, and if you have a low hertz rate on you'r monitor, this flashing will be alot more noticeable, and could harm the eyes if exposed for long periods.

Post you'r thoughts about this subject.

[Ginger Lord]

60Hz on a CRT kills my eyes, I don't have any problem with 60Hz on a LCD.

Unless you are some supremo graphic designer who must have absolutely true colours or they will be killed, there really is no real use for CRT's anymore beyond heating the room in winter.

[Thrik]

Yes, LCD technology has progressed a lot since the early days, especially because the technology is used in televisions which are a massive mainstream market, and thus receive ungodly amounts of research/development funding.

At the moment you can get an affordable 22-inch Samsung LCD with a 2ms response time (the 226bw), which is basically unbeatable. The majority of mainstream LCDs have a 6ms or 8ms response time, which is also very good.

You certainly won't see any heavy motion blur ghosting like people were reporting years ago unless you're using a seriously cheap monitor.

As for the refresh rate thing, the whole argument is irrelevant on an LCD. Unlike a CRT, LCD monitors overlay the last frame with a new one, meaning there's never any flickering. This is different to a CRT, which literally flashes to black between each frame, thus causing the horrific flickering effect.

LCDs are infinitely better for your eyes. They're also a lot sharper too; you will probably be taken aback if you use an LCD for a while, then go back to a CRT and see how blurry it is in comparison.

[-HP-]

Mm, that was realy elucidative Thrik, thanks a lot!

Any suggestions of a good LCD price/quality relation monitor?

[aevirex]

I have a HP Pavillon w2207. Great value for 300€ but since its an TN panel I wouldn't recommend it to someone who wants to edit photos and so on (I find it ok for textures... billion times better than my old CRT).

[Gorion]

i have the HP w2007v, colors are very good on this monitor + no ghosting at all..

[Bic-B@ll]

i have dual 20" crts running at 1600x1200 @ 60Hrz, who needs eye sight?

[Defrag]

I've got a fairly old 20" TFT (second hand Viewsonic VP201B) and, other than the murky colours at the lower brightness levels and slight ghosting, I much prefer it to my old 21" Trinitron CRT with the exception of gaming. This is quite an old monitor model so I'd imagine the newest TFTs are a lot better

Afaik some of the TN panels still have fairly dodgy viewing angles (to the extent where colours will change when you move your head) so you might have to watch for that. The best advice when buying a monitor is, if possible, go check it out in person. What is great for one person may be unacceptable for another.

As for the refresh rate question: The two things (CRT & TFT refresh rates) aren't directly comparable, really. CRTs scan lines down the screen which gives the flicker, whereas TFTs simply change state when needed (so once a pixel is 'on' it doesn't change again until it has to display a different colour). I run this TFT at 60hz and it just looks solid. A 60hz CRT gives me a headache inside about an hour.

[Fletch]

I can't even look at CRTs anymore without getting headaches. Dell LCDs FTW.

[Zacker]

I think it's been made fairly clear by this thread already, but: LCDs are definitely the way to go these days.

[Sentura]

yeah, zacker, but for what reasons?

if you're a huge fps gamer that plays competetively (i have a half brother doing this), a huge hertz boost is neccesary to be on the edge; every frame counts. LCDs have a problem with the latency, usually around 8 ms these days, which apparently is far too long if you need your actions to be instant.

this is the only reason to keep a CRT though, and while I run a dual screen with a CRT and LCD monitor, i can't wait to replace my CRT with a LCD. i've had to turn down brightness numerous times on the CRT because it was hurting my eyes.

both have their advantages, depends on the reason.