CRT or LCD?

M

makeo

n00b
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Sep 21, 2007
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So, i got a chance to either get a CRT Sony G520 or an LCD Dell 2007wfp. The Dell costs twice as much, but it's brand new and comes with 3 years warranty. The Sony G520 is a few years old CRT, but in pretty good conditions. I'm ready to accept the LCD can't match CRT responsiveness, that the contrast won't be as good, but i can't accept over brightness or sub par color reproduction. My biggest problem is with the excessive luminosity from a few TN LCD's i tried. There were no brightness/contrast adjusts that could fix the problem. For short periods of time it was fine, 2 or 3 hours max, but staying in front of it for too long was a challenge. :rolleyes:

Personally, i don't like the size of the G520, it's huge. Anyway, it's really not much of a problem since i have lots of space on the desk. Once again, the brightness is what worries me about picking up the 2007wfp. I really would like to hear suggestions on this regard and also hear from those who have tried the 2007wfp and a good quality CRT.

Thanks in advance.
 
Well it seems like you are willing to get an lcd but still have some issues with it. I don't know if you're willing to accept those facts (lcds responsiveness, color and viewing issues). If you get an s ips panel, thats the best lcd technology has to offer pretty much so at least youre getting a good one. If you're sensitive and very used to crts then you might have a problem with it. I suggest going to a store and trying out various lcds. As far as brightness I think all lcds are brighter than crts. Of course you could dim them down but thats how they are.

Edit - Oh yeah I've never had or currently own either of these screens. I'm just speaking generally.
 
I've used both the Dell P1130 (OEM G520) and 2407WFP. I've been using the P1130 since Sept. 2005, I got it used from ebay for $150 shipped. I got the 2407WFP-HC a few weeks after it came out sometime last summer I believe - it was huge compared to the CRT, brighter, wide, but blacks weren't good in comparison and colors were a little off. Also it had nowhere near the responsiveness, I did some input lag tests with millisecond stopwatch and my 350D camera and found it to be on average 30ms behind, you can find exact numbers buried in the 2407WFP-HC thread. Doesn't sound like much but it was pretty noticable in CS:S, otherwise I wouldn't have even done the tests.

In the end I ended up selling the 2407WFP-HC because I didn't need it and because it didn't work well at all for one of the original purposes I intended it for - PS2 and Xbox360 use. Any interlaced content looked like crap, it jumped up and down and deinterlacing was terrible, even in 1080i. Scaling with low res PS1 and PS2 games was awful too, it looked way worse than the 36" tube TV that I played on before. So don't let the inputs fool you, the only useful ones are DVI and VGA with 1080p or 1920x1200, and maybe component with 720p.

I realize that you're talking about the 2007WFP, but they should be pretty similar, maybe the 2007 is a bit worse. I'm not sure if they turned it into a TN panel but they used to be S-IPS. It seems like the G520 is a no brainer for you, since you have the space - just need to make sure it's in good working condition. They do have a good feature called color return that compensates the electronics for aging tubes - I was pretty unhappy going back to the CRT after the 2407WFP until I clicked on this option in the OSD.

Kind of a rambling post but hopefully you get some good info from it
 
Here's the thing: you probably do have a lot of desk space. However, imagine on top you've got a honking 21" CRT. The dimensions on this thing are nearly 20" x 20" x 20" and it weighs in at almost 90lbs. Now imagine you've got your 2007WFP up there. This thing has an actual view size of 20" AND it is much, much smaller. Honestly, the more natural refresh of the LCD is far easier on my weak eyes then a CRT. My vision is more or less 100/20, with a -4.0 prescription in one eye and -4.5 in the other. I am very sensitive to a refresh rate on a CRT lower than 85Hz.

I used to use CRTs - granted they weren't the best quality - so when I bought my 206BW in August, I thought it was the coolest display I'd ever owned. It is so much smaller than my 19" CRT, uses less power, generates less heat and is easier on my eyes. Yes, the color isn't as vibrant, but if I put the LCD next to the CRT, I honestly cannot notice too much of a different in fidelity. I find the larger viewing screen to be of more use than 100% accurate colors.
 
jbzx86 said:
Here's the thing: you probably do have a lot of desk space. However, imagine on top you've got a honking 21" CRT. The dimensions on this thing are nearly 20" x 20" x 20" and it weighs in at almost 90lbs. Now imagine you've got your 2007WFP up there. This thing has an actual view size of 20" AND it is much, much smaller. Honestly, the more natural refresh of the LCD is far easier on my weak eyes then a CRT. My vision is more or less 100/20, with a -4.0 prescription in one eye and -4.5 in the other. I am very sensitive to a refresh rate on a CRT lower than 85Hz.
Click to expand...

I swear we could be long lost brothers. Everything you just said, was like describing me.

Kinda scary actually. :eek:
 
I choose LCD. I had multiple CRTs from 1995-2006. I got my first LCD, a dell, and I have never looked back.

When I was using a CRT, it took up a ton of space on my desk, and was closer to my eyes. It always caused eye strains and some headaches. With my LCDs I can move them around easier, carry one with just one hand. Also I don't know any CRTs that can swivel, rotate, tilt, and go up and down with a simple touch of the monitor.
 
yes desktop space.

my trusty dell trinitron 21" aperture grill crt has served me well for 10+ years but my doublesight 24" will be a welcome change in regards to physical space on my desk, even though it is a big desk - i cant wait. gonna look so much more spacious and feel more open. that is a big plus to the feng shui of my pc area :D
 
I'm using a 22" Iiyama CRT and love it but I do not recommend buying a 2 year old CRT without an extended warranty.
This is my third one as the first 2 had a fault, one died after a year.

One advantage of a CRT that I havent seen mention of is that gaming looks better than an LCD when not using Anti Aliasing.
This is because the image on a CRT isnt as sharp as an LCD so performs some smoothing.
This allows me to use higher resolutions and not be forced to use AA + lower resolution.

My CRT is getting a little dim now so I will be upgrading sometime soon.
I really want a new Laser TV but they arent on general release yet, hopefully this month.
These should exceed the best features of Plasma, LCDs and CRTs!
fyi :)
 
Just to make it clear, good quality CRTs usually don't give me eye strains of any sort, so i don't have any concern about that. The aesthetic of the 2007wfp is desirable, but the brightness of the few TNs i tried is holding me off.

Thanks everyone for the inputs and keep them coming.
 
Everything else being equal, I'd say grab the CRT. Superior dynamic range and responsiveness, and it's simpler in some good ways like not needing all of that video processing to try to approximate non-native resolutions and such...

However, at this point, it can be quite challenging to get a good CRT. What year was that one manufactured? Can you return it if it has issues? And have you looked at others?

(For larger sizes, LCD is certainly tempting...and of course, so is the brand new with three year warranty aspect of the one you're looking at...)
 
Let me just say that if I knew what I know now about lcds and crts a few years ago before I got my lcd (even though it was included with my comp.), I might go with a crt. I'd stick with a crt until lcd technology improved to the point where it was as good as a crt. Now there might be a few advantages lcds have over crts like sharpness and maybe the lack of eye strain (although someone in this thread mentioned that a good crt does not cause much eye strain). But there also some major advantages crts have over lcds such as responsiveness and viewing angles. Its kind of odd when you think that with a crt you don't even have to worry about those two things. So I don't know, but both lcds and crts are nice. I don't want to bash lcds so much because they have been getting better and better but when you look at it they're really a step back in a bunch of areas.
 
SH1,
i don't know the manufacture year, but it's around 3 to 4 years old according to its owner, which i'm not sure. Wasn't the G520 production ceased in 2003? It's apparently in pretty good conditions with no scratches. Anyway, i'm not really worried about problems because the IQ seems fine.
 
I think Sony stopped computer CRT production in either end of 2003 or early 2004...

It might come down to how hard he used it...(Basically from a few hours a week to people who keep their monitors on 24/7.)

It can be a tough one, so ideally there would be a way to check it out in person or have a way to return it...

(AccurateIT apparently has some new/overstock 21 inch CRTs, but for over $300 it looks like...)
 
Hopefully i'll have the opportunity to speak with the owner once more and get more information.
 
you guys think i could sell my 21" dell trinitron CRT?

got it almost 10 years ago, its not going dim whatsoever. i went lcd for desktop space physically, and to get a 24" size for virtual desktop space.
 
You'd best create a thread about it in the For Sale Forum as its against the rules to discuss selling your own items outside that Forum.
The For Sale forum has its own set of rules to abide by :)
 
Nenu said:
You'd best create a thread about it in the For Sale Forum as its against the rules to discuss selling your own items outside that Forum.
The For Sale forum has its own set of rules to abide by :)
Click to expand...

understood. i was just inquiring as to whether it has worth even though it is old. not even sure i want to sell the thing, but from the info in this thread, it seems newer crt's are not very good, so i was wonderin.
 
You can sell anything if you market it right and the price suits the perceived value ;)
You could check how much they typically go for and perhaps deduct a little for its age.
This will be my last post here about selling :)

I've not seen or heard of any issues with newer CRTs.
tbh I havent seen any new big CRTs, many manufacturers stopped making them some time back and everyone buys LCD/Plasma now.
 
So, i got a Sony g520, not the same from the first post btw.

1. Text quality is sub par. The convergence and focus is just not right and make it looks fuzzy. It improves with black text in white background or after warmed up. I'm quite disappointed to be honest. (no ClearType )
2. Colors aren't bad, but not vibrant either.
3. Brightness is set to 35 and contrast to 85. It seems fine, but i can see the damper wire line everyone is talking about. I didn't expect it to be that visible, is it normal? I might be nitpicking here.

So what can i do to improve it? windas is noted, but can it fix the focus problem with texts?
 
Even though my CRT can use up to 160Hz refresh rate, I dont go above 85Hz.
This is because the higher the refresh rate, the more blurred it looks.
I'm running mine at 1600x1200, 85Hz and it is very very clear.
I use clear type by the way, it seems to help everything, CRT, LCDs, plasma...

You might need to tweak the convergence etc in the monitors own control panel.
When I first turn my CRT on, the screen size is too small, there is a bit of convergence etc especially at the edges.
This goes away after a few minutes, so dont do any calibration until the monitor is properly warmed up.

To get the colour/brightness balance correct, you may want to use some calibration software.
Others will be able to advise on this better than I can as I dont use it.
I calibrate manually and am happy with my results.

It is possible you have picked up a lemon which is always the danger when purchasing second hand.
Dont despair though, many folk have found that after calibration, the difference is nothing short of astonishing.
 
I'm using 1600x1200@85Hz. Cleartype makes it blurrier, so i prefer the sharp look without it. I didn't try Image Restoration on the OSD yet, any drawback? There is really a slight blue/white shadow on texts and lines.
 
Have you tried using the cleartype tuning applet from Microsoft?

A shadow on everything suggests the video signal to the monitor is bouncing up and down the video cable. This is caused by impedance mismatches between either your video cable and your video adapter or the video cable and the monitor.
I suspect you are using a VGA cable, if you can try another cable, that might help.
If there are other ways of connecting, they may work better.

The drawback of using image restoration is that you will lose any settings that have been changed.
I would use it though and start from scratch.
You will need to get familiar with setting up all the features of your monitor to get the best from it.
It is a good idea to read up the best ways to calibrate/configure your monitor.
 
Have you tried using the cleartype tuning applet from Microsoft?
Click to expand...

Downloading.

A shadow on everything suggests the video signal to the monitor is bouncing up and down the video cable. This is caused by impedance mismatches between either your video cable and your video adapter or the video cable and the monitor.
I suspect you are using a VGA cable, if you can try another cable, that might help.
If there are other ways of connecting, they may work better.
Click to expand...

To avoid impedance mismatching i've already changed the cable before, same results. I'll try another video card.

Thanks for the tips.
 
jbzx86 said:
Here's the thing: you probably do have a lot of desk space. However, imagine on top you've got a honking 21" CRT. The dimensions on this thing are nearly 20" x 20" x 20" and it weighs in at almost 90lbs. Now imagine you've got your 2007WFP up there. This thing has an actual view size of 20" AND it is much, much smaller. Honestly, the more natural refresh of the LCD is far easier on my weak eyes then a CRT. My vision is more or less 100/20, with a -4.0 prescription in one eye and -4.5 in the other. I am very sensitive to a refresh rate on a CRT lower than 85Hz.

I used to use CRTs - granted they weren't the best quality - so when I bought my 206BW in August, I thought it was the coolest display I'd ever owned. It is so much smaller than my 19" CRT, uses less power, generates less heat and is easier on my eyes. Yes, the color isn't as vibrant, but if I put the LCD next to the CRT, I honestly cannot notice too much of a different in fidelity. I find the larger viewing screen to be of more use than 100% accurate colors.
Click to expand...

LMAO a dell 2007 lcd isnt even in the same class as a sony crt:D not even close.
black levels are 10 times worse.
colors dont even come close.

its fine that you like that dell better but you have to realize that newer is not better, and lcd technology is still vastly inferior still to crt's or they still wouldnt be looking for ways to make them AS GOOD AS CRT'S:D

the ONLY lcd panels that can hold any candle to a crt are IPS panels, expensive ones.:D

to the poster:

if you're looking for a really good lcd, IPS panels are the way to go, period. if you dont want to go that route, stick with a crt:)
 
Nenu said:
The drawback of using image restoration is that you will lose any settings that have been changed.
I would use it though and start from scratch.
You will need to get familiar with setting up all the features of your monitor to get the best from it.
It is a good idea to read up the best ways to calibrate/configure your monitor.
Click to expand...

Image restore wiill only change the color, nothing else. So he wouldn't have to start from scratch. My advice would be to get Windas and run the dynamic convergence procedure, that should fix the text right up. If not then you'll need to adjust the focus pots with a screwdriver, that would definitely fix it.
 
The video card didn't help, i guess i have to use windas. Do i need 2 PCs for dynamic convergence?
 
No you don't, it would probably be better to use 2 but its not necessary. The only issue you'll run into is that some of the Windas windows will block parts of the screen, but as long as you drag them off the area that you are adjusting its not a problem.

Heres a nice dynamic convergence guide made by someone here at hardforum. It was made for the FW900 which is widescren so it'll be a bit different for your monitor. Instead of 1900x1200x85hz set your res to 1600x1200x85hz when you do the dc procedure.

http://dor-lomin.com/images/forums/hardocp/windas-conv/
 
I would personally get the CRT. I had an LCD, a Samsung 206BW, which was a TN panel. I liked a lot of things about it and didn't notice any lag during gaming, but as far as color reproduction and contrast, it fell far behind CRT technology. Getting a panel that fixes those issues would have cost considerably more and would have had noticeable lag in gaming.

I recently picked up two NEC MultiSync FE1250+ 22in CRT monitors and have no regrets. $40 for two 22in monitors. As long as you have the desk space and aren't hung up on the appearance of a CRT compared to the slim profile of an LCD, I think you will be more satisfied with the performance of a large CRT monitor. There's no lag, contrast is great, after calibration the colors are represented well, and you never have to worry about a dead pixel. It's also nice to be able to adjust the resolution without a noticeable degradation of image quality.

I think the biggest benefit is that when you buy a CRT, you know what you're paying for. There's no 'tube lottery' or dead pixels to deal with. If you're buying used, you might want to purchase locally off of craigslist so you can check the monitor out first. If you buy a refurb, just make sure you get a highly graded one and you should be okay.

I'm not saying the Dell monitors or LCD panels in general are bad. It's ultimately a preference and you have to decide. Personally, I'm a big fan of function over form. I could care less that I've got 200lbs worth of monitors on my desk, I worry about performance first, and CRTs are unmatched by LCD monitors when it comes to performance.
 
How does the GDM 500ps compare to the g520, would the 500ps be worth 35 dollars? Also how do they compare to the p1110 and p1130?
 
I would wait for something better to come around. That one is pretty old and only supports 1600x1200x85hz max.

Btw the G520 and P1130 are basically the same since they both use the same tube. The P1110 uses the G500 tube i think.
 
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