Looking for a new CRT (yes, CRT) monitor

[hawkaye]

Evening folks,

My 19" Mitsubishi Diamond plus is on it's last legs, and I'm on the hunt for a new one. Could anyone recommend a top notch crt (21" minimum) made for graphic design/gaming please? I have googled it but not had much luck. LCD is no good, unless I buy a mac monitor (which I don't have the budget for just now) so any help would be very much appreciated.

There's no strict budget, as long as it's cheaper than the mac ones

Thanks in advance.

[RobDickinson]

Thats a bit general isnt it?

Theres plenty of good non mac LCD monitors. Just avoid TN panels, something like the dell's will be fine.

Whichever you get make sure you get a calibration device too.

I'm not saying CRT's dont have their upsides but LCD's thesedays are oevrall pretty good too.

[GetCarter]

Vomit are doing the Mac 20" for only £349 if that's any good

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=...

[JohnS]

I would keep your eye out on Ebay for a CRT monitor. Occasionally you get top-end high-gamut CRTs (which cost several £k new!) coming up when designers etc move over to top-end LCD panels to give them more desk space.

I'm still using a 14 year old 17" CRT monitor at home that is also on it's last legs so I've been looking at a replacement for a while now.

With LCD screens you seem to get fast refresh TN panels which are great for gaming, but not so hot for colour accuracy and viewing angles, and S-IPS panels which have great colour accuracy but don't have so quick refresh rates and you can get ghosting with fast moving objects on the screen. The new Dell 24 inch screen uses an MPVA panel (or something like that) which seems to offer a bit of a compromise. There are other screens like BenQ and Samsung which use the same LCD panel, but different electronics and various HDMI and other inputs.

Some of the 30 inch monitors need two graphics cards to drive them, as their native/highest resolution is above the spec of what a single DVI port can provide.

Some of the Eizo LCD monitors are scarily expensive for a 17" LCD panel, but apprently offer superb colour reproduction.

In the end, I decided that technology and price were still moving at a reasonable rate with better spec, lower priced models coming out every 6 months and decided to stick with my old CRT monitor until it completely fails.

John

[_dobbo_]

I assume you are under the impression mac LCDs are the best? Not sure where you get that idea from though?

[GetCarter]

_dobbo_ said:

I assume you are under the impression mac LCDs are the best? Not sure where you get that idea from though?

Pretty sure they are not the best but they are bloody good!

[hawkaye]

Thanks for the replies folks.

Rob, most of the lcd's I've used seem to be poor colour representation, I'm not saying they are all bad, it's just my experience of the ones I have used in the past. I thought it would be a safer bet getting a crt again.

Steve, thanks for the link, I never realised they had dropped so much in price!

John, thanks for the advice, there's something about crt's that I like very much, no hassle with viewing angles etc, they just seem so much better. I'll take a look around..

[_dobbo_]

GetCarter said:

_dobbo_ said:

I assume you are under the impression mac LCDs are the best? Not sure where you get that idea from though?

Pretty sure they are not the best but they are bloody good!

Indeed and they look bloody amazing too. I wasn't knocking them, I'd love a 30" mac display, just wanted to point out there are better options for colour reproduction and editing work.

[dcw@pr]

The Dell 24" is the same as the Apple 24", except for the badge. I have two and they are very good. They are also ~50% the price of Apple ones.

[tim-b]

i have a dell 24", it is very good but you still get a hint of colour banding. i guess it may be related to graphics card setup etc, but imho if you can deal with the size and weight of a good crt then get one! unbeatable for image quality and price.

[dcw@pr]

tim-b said:

i have a dell 24", it is very good but you still get a hint of colour banding. i guess it may be related to graphics card setup etc, but imho if you can deal with the size and weight of a good crt then get one! unbeatable for image quality and price.

CRTs are best for colour, but I never found them consistent for sharpness, and they can be a pain to set up too

[Fordo]

dcw@pr" Target="_blank">class="forumQuoter">dcw@pr said:

The Dell 24" is the same as the Apple 24", except for the badge. I have two and they are very good. They are also ~50% the price of Apple ones.

The panel's the same, but the backlight is completely different. We've got a new dell and a new cinema display at work- the cinema display is much easier to set up to be (roughly) colour correct, and the cinema display is much brighter and whiter. The dell's aernt bad for the price though

Personally, i've you've got the desk space, id look out on ebay for another mitsu diamond- they're cracking monitors

Edited by Fordo on Thursday 8th November 11:51

[dcw@pr]

I had a 30" Cinema display before, and had endless problems with colour gradients across the screen. Returned two of them, and still wasn't happy with the third - but I gave up trying because I was screenless for 3 weeks each time I returned it. Also they would never give me a new replacement, only a refurbed old one. This is an Apple trick, they always do it! Dell on the other hand swap old for new the same day...

Also don't forget that you cannot adjust the RGB channels separately on the Apple displays whereas you can on the Dell.

By the way, I'm an avid Mac user, have been since the late '80s, and I writing this on a Mac Pro, so I'm not an Apple basher...

[hawkaye]

Thanks for all the pros and cons folks, space is not an issue so definitely will be sticking to a crt.

Fordo, just seen the 22" Diamond Plus, just need to track one down now, not as easy as I thought..

[andybuk99]

I used to think only a CRT would do but having seen some decent TFT's I cahnged my mind. I suggest you should have a look as I think you will be suprised. I have an Eizo as a main monitor but am also runing 3 formac 20" gallery's, which I must say for the money are absolutely superb.

[WildCards]

I've used iiyama CRT and flat screen monitors for years and would swear by them.

[ehasler]

GetCarter said:

_dobbo_ said:

I assume you are under the impression mac LCDs are the best? Not sure where you get that idea from though?

Pretty sure they are not the best but they are bloody good!

They are very good - you can get better, but you're looking at paying a lot more.

However, as has been mentioned, most of the widescreen Dell monitors are the same as the Mac Cinema screens, just without the stylish case and bigger price tag. The HP 30" screen is also the same as the Dell 30" screen, but seems to come out slightly ahead when the two are compared. Both were actually better than the Apple 30" screen a few months ago, but I'm not sure if Apple have bought out the improved version yet.

[ehasler]

hawkaye said:

John, thanks for the advice, there's something about crt's that I like very much, no hassle with viewing angles etc, they just seem so much better. I'll take a look around..

I'm the opposite - I had a decent 22" CRT, but actually preferred the Dell 20" LCD that I replaced it with - and that was without taking into account the fact it nearly killed me every time I had to move it!!

[Dogsey]

WildCards said:

I've used iiyama CRT and flat screen monitors for years and would swear by them.

Useless fact of the day ... iiyama means small mountain in Japanese.


Coat fetched.

[jackal]

24" sony GDM


working on one now

hard to find, discontinued in fact
but still the best