LCD's and CRT's - a poll

[Geoff]

Was having a chat to Leigh this evening and discussing the pro's and cons of ridding myself completely of the 19" CRT that I have and replacing it with the same size LCD. I currently have a dual monitor setup of the 19" CRT and a 17" LCD. I know that CRT's are apparently better for digital editing but I do tend to favour the LCD, it's just easier/brighter and ? better to look at etc. Just wondering who here has ditched their CRT's completely for LCD AND do editing on the LCD. Be interested to see..in fact..here's a poll:

[Ratticus]

Basically I only have an CRT because I cannot afford an LCD.

[Geoff]

Basically I only have an CRT because I cannot afford an LCD.

I think that they may come within your reach in the future, they're continuing to drop in price all the time..

[wendellt]

in professional pre press they use calibrated crt's for production work
the colours are depper and the blacks are actually black
the famed sony 5011P- trinitron tube is ht best one to buy, it's a legacy CRT but it kicks butt at colour rendition

I knowbecause i have been a designer for 8 years and all the print production houses and advertising agencies still use these monitors

i have one along with a lcd i use both to work on an image.

[Ratticus]

Basically I only have an CRT because I cannot afford an LCD.

I think that they may come within your reach in the future, they're continuing to drop in price all the time..

Ahh but you're making the assumption blow it on photography related things.

[Geoff]

Basically I only have an CRT because I cannot afford an LCD.

I think that they may come within your reach in the future, they're continuing to drop in price all the time..

Ahh but you're making the assumption blow it on photography related things.

What else??

[DaveB]

in professional pre press they use calibrated crt's for production work
the colours are depper and the blacks are actually black
the famed sony 5011P- trinitron tube is ht best one to buy, it's a legacy CRT but it kicks butt at colour rendition

I knowbecause i have been a designer for 8 years and all the print production houses and advertising agencies still use these monitors

Historically the CRTs have been excellent, but the bottom line is that the good CRTs are no longer being made. Whether we think that LCDs have improved enough that it's "time" for that or not, the fact is that the manufacturers have decided for us.
Any new installations have no choice: it's LCDs or nothing (unless someone can dig up a couple of dusty CRTs from a warehouse).

Excellent LCDs are available BTW, even ones that give Sony Artisan CRTs a run for their money. They're not cheap though!

[sirhc55]

Wendell - the majority of design and pre-press houses use high end LCD’s these days. I know of 6 design houses using Apple 23 and 30 inch monitors along with La Cie.

The CRT is very much like the old vinyl records - play them once, and it was downhill in quality from there on in. Unless, of course, you had a master cut disc. CRT’s do lose their quality a lot quicker than most people believe.

I use both CRT and LCD with my computer but do the colour work on the LCD - I have just purchased a 32" LCD TV and the blacks really are black.

The other quality is experience - know one can expect to buy a CRT or LCD and get brilliant results without knowing what they are doing and this is called experience.

[birddog114]

Well, if you're heading CRT way, then settle to the high end and more expensive, say a 19" LCD for pro use is aroung $700 - $1200, or 20" or 27" or 32".
The cheapist LCD monitor is only good for play and look, not for what you call: CRT's replacement..

[thaddeus]

I poke my head into a number of agencies from time to time, and I usually see Apple LCDs lining the studios. I should say that the types of agencies I go to aren't creating high art - they are simply pumping out the advertisements that you see on a day-to-day basis.

[Steffen]

Basically I only have an CRT because I cannot afford an LCD.

Same here. The current crop of affordable 19" LCD's (~ $400) doesn't seem suitable for colour calibration, and the ones that are cost beyond $1000. Plus you have to buy a calibration tool.

I ended up buying a used Apple 21" Studio Display, with built-in colour calibration device, and couldn't be happier. Sure, it's big and heavy (looks like a beached whale), and I had to reinforce my glass-top table. But I paid only $300 for it, so I guess that's very good value for money.

If I could afford a 23" Apple LCD plus Spyder I might go for it. For now and the foreseeable future it's the CRT.

Cheers
Steffen.

[kipper]

I'm probably getting an Apple Cinema 20" very shortly, either that or the Dell Ultrasharp 20". Probably go the Apple though, even though both use the same lcd screen, there is differences in backlighting and I think the Dell apparently gets quite hot.