Technical knowledge on LCD monitors needed

[KittKitt]

Well, I am very picky about color. CRTs don't just show a few more colors; the contrast, shadows, color richness, etc., are all far better than any LCD I've ever seen, including really pricey models. I can see the difference just on the Windows desktop, let alone in the many computer games I play. My CRT is a flatscreen anyway, and I like how it looks. My kitty can sit on it too .

For the record, I'm with you on this one.  While the LCDs easily win the race in several aspects, when it comes to the actual richness and color of the display, not to mention that horrid motion blur JM mentioned, CRT still blows them away.

I suspect that won't be the case for too much longer, since the technology going into various types of monitors and displays has practically been leaping exponentially for a while now, but until they've gotten these annoyances worked out to my satisfaction, I'm keeping my huge old 21" Hitachi.

It's got a great picture, and the edge distortion is so slight I really have to specifically look for it or I don't even notice.  I'm sure one day they'll come out with some uber high def LCD generation 5 or some crap that just makes me drool when I see it, but for now, I'm content, and my kitty loves the big case. 

-Kitt

[J. M. Pescado]

I suspect that won't be the case for too much longer, since the technology going into various types of monitors and displays has practically been leaping exponentially for a while now, but until they've gotten these annoyances worked out to my satisfaction, I'm keeping my huge old 21" Hitachi.

One thing eludes me: Why, on Earth, should I pay more money for a newfangled solution even if it manages to break even with the OLD method? Everyone knows the old thing is more reliable. Newer + more expensive = quickly broken. Old technologies are mature and more reliable. If the newfangled gew-gaw doesn't offer any real advantages over the old one, why should we switch? This is obviously a ploy by monitor-manufacturers to get you to pointlessly pay more for the same functional item so that it will break sooner and make you buy a new one faster. Plus, LCDs do not hum. They always *FEEL* broken because they sound WRONG: There's no diagnostic hum. Practically no CRT fails on you without a hum that tells you something is wrong months in advance. You can nearly always tell, barring some kind of catastrophe. LCDs? No warning whatsoever. As befitting their nature of as an unreliable new-fangled gew-gaw, they also do not respond to percussive maintenance like CRTs do. An ailing CRT can be goaded into working with a few stiff whaps. LCDs? If you whap an LCD, it will fly across the room, smash into the wall, and fly into a million pieces. Lousy overpriced piece of junk.

[IgnorantBliss]

If the newfangled gew-gaw doesn't offer any real advantages over the old one, why should we switch?

Well, this is a very subjective issue, since the advantages pretty much depend on what you happen to consider important. I wouldn't say, for example, that a smaller size, lighter weight, smaller energy consumption, lack of geometric distortion or less glare aren't any "real advantages". For those who care about them, they are real advantages. Those who then care more about a lower price, better color depth, flexible screen resolution and better durability will make a different choice. I wouldn't waste time and energy on arguing about personal preferences since there isn't an objective answer to which choice is better.


Edited to add: Regarding the image distortion I reported in the first post on the 19" LCD and with TS2, on closer inspection, there was no distortion, everything that was supposed to be round was perfectly round. I realized that I had been playing the Sims 2 on my CRT at a 1280x1024, which doesn't match the aspect ratio of the screen, and therefore the image on my CRT was always distorted, but I was so used to it that I thought that's how it's supposed to look. Silly me.

[Hegelian]

Edited to add: Regarding the image distortion I reported in the first post on the 19" LCD and with TS2, on closer inspection, there was no distortion, everything that was supposed to be round was perfectly round. I realized that I had been playing the Sims 2 on my CRT at a 1280x1024, which doesn't match the aspect ratio of the screen, and therefore the image on my CRT was always distorted, but I was so used to it that I thought that's how it's supposed to look. Silly me.

You probably want 1280x960 on the CRT.   

[J. M. Pescado]

Well, this is a very subjective issue, since the advantages pretty much depend on what you happen to consider important. I wouldn't say, for example, that a smaller size, lighter weight, smaller energy consumption, lack of geometric distortion or less glare aren't any "real advantages". For those who care about them, they are real advantages.

Pssh. It's a MONITOR. You stick it on your DESK. It's not SUPPOSED to move, and being heavier helps prevent it from shifting when things bang into it. And there's no distortion, unless you've miscalibrated the monitor.

[IgnorantBliss]

Pssh. It's a MONITOR. You stick it on your DESK. It's not SUPPOSED to move, and being heavier helps prevent it from shifting when things bang into it. And there's no distortion, unless you've miscalibrated the monitor.

Maybe fixing the distortion on some CRTs is possible, but it wasn't possible on mine. From what I've been reading online, it's a fairly common problem.

I don't know about your monitor, but mine needs to move every once in a while  . One less humongous and heavy box while moving from apartment to another is definitely a plus. I've moved with a CRT monitor a few times, and I certainly can't carry them myself, they are harder to move than some pieces of furniture. And, when you have several computers like hubby and I do, carrying several CRTs around and up and down the stairs is not what I call fun. Current apartment is on fourth floor, with no elevators.


In other news, I got the monitor faster than I expected, and the Samsung Syncmaster 204B is now sitting on my desk. The only complaint I have so far is a brightness uniformity issue on the screen, with the bottom being a bit brighter than the top. A couple of people online have mentioned the same problem. Other than that, everything looks very sharp at 1600x1200, using the pivot function is a breeze, and the colors are looking pretty good to me, too, although I'm no expert on that. And no geometric distortion, which is a nice change from the old tube. Have yet to try any serious gaming.

[J. M. Pescado]

Maybe fixing the distortion on some CRTs is possible, but it wasn't possible on mine. From what I've been reading online, it's a fairly common problem.

Yes, but most people are horribly lazy and can't be bothered to simply fiddle a few knobs, or they put their speakers too close and the magnets are warping the beams.

I don't know about your monitor, but mine needs to move every once in a while  . One less humongous and heavy box while moving from apartment to another is definitely a plus. I've moved with a CRT monitor a few times, and I certainly can't carry them myself, they are harder to move than some pieces of furniture.

And you wonder why people these days are so flabby and weak. I suggest you get a nice hefty dead monitor and practice lifting it. Also, a dead LCD is totally useless. A dead CRT can be dropped upon besiegers.

And, when you have several computers like hubby and I do, carrying several CRTs around and up and down the stairs is not what I call fun. Current apartment is on fourth floor, with no elevators.

Clearly, IgnorantBlisses are whiny wussies who need more exercise. Hefting that large heavy monitor is good for you!

[KevinTMC]

Yes, but most people are horribly lazy and can't be bothered to simply fiddle a few knobs...

True. Very true.

Not all of us are such devoted knob-fiddlers as you.

 

[J. M. Pescado]

Not all of us are such devoted knob-fiddlers as you.

That was very Jelenedra.

[IgnorantBliss]

Clearly, IgnorantBlisses are whiny wussies who need more exercise. Hefting that large heavy monitor is good for you!

It is true that I'm lazy, but it's also a fact that I'm small, with short arms, and no exercise can make me able to wrap my arms around a huge box. That's what I have a tall husband with unusually long limbs for. He's also useful for getting things from high cabinets or changing light bulbs.

Yes, but most people are horribly lazy and can't be bothered to simply fiddle a few knobs, or they put their speakers too close and the magnets are warping the beams.

It's possible that for some people the problem is simply with not turning the right knobs, but I've spent far more time than I'd wish fiddling with the settings, and there is absolutely nothing I can do about the image distortion on that particular CRT. End of issue.

[J. M. Pescado]

It is true that I'm lazy, but it's also a fact that I'm small, with short arms, and no exercise can make me able to wrap my arms around a huge box. That's what I have a tall husband with unusually long limbs for. He's also useful for getting things from high cabinets or changing light bulbs.

Ever consider maybe you're scrawny and have short arms because you never exercised those arms? If you had spent more time swinging from trees as a kid, maybe you'd have longer arms. Perhaps the pressure stretching them out promotes length. You're also not very good at the entire improvisational thing, apparently, if merely putting something in high cabinets forces you to fetch someone else to get it.

It's possible that for some people the problem is simply with not turning the right knobs, but I've spent far more time than I'd wish fiddling with the settings, and there is absolutely nothing I can do about the image distortion on that particular CRT. End of issue.

Either you set the resolution wrong, or maybe the image distortion is caused by YOU. That, or it was simply broken. I've never seen a non-broken, non-misconfigured CRT with image distortion of any kind.

[IgnorantBliss]

You're also not very good at the entire improvisational thing, apparently, if merely putting something in high cabinets forces you to fetch someone else to get it.

No, you got it wrong. Having somebody else get the items from high cabinets is just easier than doing it myself with the help of a tall chair or similar. I can do it myself if I have to, but I prefer not to. Having lived by myself for many years, I'm going to use all the advantages I can get from having a live-in husband now. In return I bring home more money than he does and buy him nice gadgets. It's not that hard to keep a man happy, and making him feel useful every once in a while is just a plus. That's what I call symbiosis.

[staroverthebay]

Methinks IgnorantBliss doesn't quite get Pescado's stupid humor.

(edited to fix the url of the emoticon)

[IgnorantBliss]

Methinks IgnorantBliss doesn't quite get Pescado's stupid humor.

(edited to fix the url of the emoticon)

Or someone else doesn't get my humor 

[KevinTMC]

Methinks IgnorantBliss doesn't quite get Pescado's stupid humor.

Or someone else doesn't get my humor 

Me confused now.

At least Pescado got my stupid humor. (Even if he beat a particular dead horse, yet again, in barking back.)

[IgnorantBliss]

I was referring to staroverthebay, not Pescado. staroverthebay was under the impression that I was taking Pescado seriously, while I thought my posts were written in a way that it should be obvious I was also joking when talking about a tall husband being useful for changing light bulbs and so on.

[KevinTMC]

Well, I bought your posts hook, line, and sinker.

But then, I was married to a short woman, who was wont to praise me for being able to reach high things all the time. (Come to think of it, that was one of precious few things I was regularly praised for...)

P.S. I think this thread is good and hijacked now. Is Pescado going to boot it? And does the fact that he was the prime instigator of the hijacking have any influence on the answer to that question?

[IgnorantBliss]

Well, I bought your posts hook, line, and sinker.

But then, I was married to a short woman, who was wont to praise me for being able to reach high things all the time. (Come to think of it, that was one of precious few things I was regularly praised for...)

Well, you have to take the praise you get, right? 

P.S. I think this thread is good and hijacked now. Is Pescado going to boot it? And does the fact that he was the prime instigator of the hijacking have any influence on the answer to that question?

I don't think there are any rules against thread-hijacking here, as long as the thread stays entertaining. Or, at least I was under that impression.

[RainbowTigress]

P.S. I think this thread is good and hijacked now. Is Pescado going to boot it? And does the fact that he was the prime instigator of the hijacking have any influence on the answer to that question?

This is nothing.    By the way, I remember having a tall husband, and it was nice to have someone to reach things for me.  He said he enjoyed doing things like that for me.  At least until he got tired of it and told me to do it myself.    But now that he's gone, I've had to be creative about reaching stuff or just put it where I can reach it.  In the grocery store, there is usually someone around who is happy to help if there is something too far back on the top shelf for me to reach it. 

[J. M. Pescado]

Then again, I never change lightbulbs anyway. Changing lightbulbs is for wimps who are afraid of the dark.