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CRT monitor in this day and age?

J

JW8725

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 8, 2005
740
3
UK
Yup its true, I'm looking for a CRT. Figured theres a few going cheapy on eBay so I would take advantage and snag me one.

See I need at least a 21"er or above for Photography work. No LCD or Plasma comes near the quality of a CRT right? So I figured go back in time.

Now The best ones seem to be the Mitsubishi range and the Sony? Which were the BEST or HIGH END models they made back in the day for the high end users?

Thanks :confused: :confused:
 
recent decent lcd's should kick the royal crap out of most crts.

anyways the sony artisan GDM-C520K is an amazing monitor, just realize its 80lbs for the 21", and it's really freaking expensive.
 
CRT's are really good in the summer, and your office doesn't have aircon and you need something to dry the sweaty parts of your tee's.
 
Have you looked into the FW900? It's a widescreen 24" CRT, best computer monitor ever.
 
rossoUK said:
Yup its true, I'm looking for a CRT. Figured theres a few going cheapy on eBay so I would take advantage and snag me one.

See I need at least a 21"er or above for Photography work. No LCD or Plasma comes near the quality of a CRT right? So I figured go back in time.

Now The best ones seem to be the Mitsubishi range and the Sony? Which were the BEST or HIGH END models they made back in the day for the high end users?

Thanks :confused: :confused:
Click to expand...

Good for you. CRTs are your best bet for accurate color. LCDs still can't display color as accurately, especially if you design print media. Try to find an NEC Accusync or Mitsubishi Diamondtron used.

You can still get new CRTs as well:

http://www.compusa.com/products/pro...&cm_pla=keyword&cm_ite=crt monitor&ref=Google
 
Those who ask this question dont work in Video, or as someone else pointed out, in Print media.

All those fancy thin LCDs, Plasma TVs and DLPs, can still not come close to the color representation of good ol' glass tubes.

Color is not digital. Its analog, so its no wonder an analog system works better in terms of accurate color reproduction.

Its hard to find a good example, but go watch a DVD, find a good fade to black, or better yet some fog/smoke on a black background.

Notice all the nasty blocky noise? (doesnt matter if you watch the DVD on LCD, CRT or whatever)

Well actually, thats because of the MPEG2 compression algorithm, BUT visually it is on par with what you will see on an LCD viewing even a 1080p signal of anything that is gradient.

Gradients look like crap on anything but CRT, and it continues to be that way today.
 
Personally I find the screen refresh rate of CRTs absolute murder on my eyes. No matter what I try I always seem to notice the flickering. I had daily headaches until I got a powerbook and thus started using LCDs. I had no idea that was the problem at the time.

They're not quite as bright from what I've noticed and because of that I always doubt the colour accuracy but I'm no expert. I'll take the word of others with experience on that.
 
iBlue said:
They're not quite as bright from what I've noticed
Click to expand...

Thats been my experience with CRT's of late, I notice things are a ton darker on the CRT's I've been using vs on the MBP's LCD.

Would something designed on a CRT (taking into account the darkness level on a crt vs brightness on an lcd) still look good on an LCD?
 
Personally I'd just get an ACD. I hate the flickering of CRTs and they're so ****ing big. Additionally, the 23'' ACD is going to use way less power than a 24'' CRT.
 
mattscott306 said:
Thats been my experience with CRT's of late, I notice things are a ton darker on the CRT's I've been using vs on the MBP's LCD.

Would something designed on a CRT (taking into account the darkness level on a crt vs brightness on an lcd) still look good on an LCD?
Click to expand...

iBlue was trying to say that LCDs aren't as bright. ;) Change your brightness and contrast on the CRT, or recalibrate the monitor.
 
If you have flickering, you got a low refresh rate.

You may have a crappy video card, which cant output a high refresh rate for your chosen resolution.

You may have your resolution too high.

You should set the refresh rate higher than 70hz.

Flickering is not an inherent problem with CRTs, but with the end user's hardware and settings.

leekohler said:
iBlue was trying to say that LCDs aren't as bright. ;) Change your brightness and contrast on the CRT, or recalibrate the monitor.
Click to expand...

im not sure about LCDs, but I am pretty sure that all CRTs have brightness/contrast levels that max out. When you reach 100% bright, and its still dark, its probably an old machine. You can, properly trained of course, open a CRT and reset the brightness max to a lower level. Like how you could make the flame on Bic lighters friggen huge, set the high to be the new low. IMO, this makes CRTs useable for a much longer period than LCDs. This is especially true with CRT TVs, they can constantly be recalibrated for optimum viewing.
 
rossoUK said:
Hi all, wow thanks for the replies. I just bought this one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dell-P1130-22...122790705QQihZ005QQcategoryZ174QQcmdZViewItem

comments???:)

oh its an intermediary one as I'm on the look out for a SONY FW900, an immaculate one. Its just to keep me ticking till then.
Click to expand...

If it's just a temp, then it will do fine. I have a 19" Dell, pretty much the same chassis as that one, honestly, it's crap. I've got a great little 17" Trinitron that I love to bits and only paid $20 for.

I am also on the look out for a FW900, provided I get fundaged and can find one in Canada.
 
Get the Apple Studio Display CRT. IMHO, it is the best CRT monitor I have owned. It's is extremely bright, gives out great color and it comes in your 21" screen size.
 
leekohler said:
They still make those? ;)
Click to expand...

Some of the Mitsubishi Diamondtrons are a bit newer, and basically continued where Apple left off. (and the NEC should be a nameplate changed alternative.)

Plus, "some people" had reliability issues with Apple electronics wrapped around the Mitsubishi Diamondtron tubes.

Anyhow the NEC-Mitsubishi monitor would likely be a better choice if you have an Intel Mac and plan on running windows.
 
leekohler said:
That monitor sounds really beat up. You can't find anything else?
Click to expand...

? It was rated as 10/10, in perfect condition/ It doesn't say anywhere it is beat up...

I use a 15 inch CRT for My mini, I'm not going to get an LCD until I have too. I can't stand the horrible color and the fact that you "can't touch it":rolleyes:

Although you probably could've gotten a better deal...I see CRT's for cheap all the time on there.

Still, nice choice, I also have a 21 incher (Don't use it for my mini because it doesn't fit in my desk. :D)
 
Cassie said:


? It was rated as 10/10, in perfect condition/ It doesn't say anywhere it is beat up...

Still, nice choice, I also have a 21 incher (Don't use it for my mini because it doesn't fit in my desk. :D)
Click to expand...

Hiya thanks for the post, we shall see in just over 7 hours time when the delivery arrives. Its already sent to me. On a separate note I saw your pig documentary, its very shocking.
 
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