LCD Advantages?

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Mike245

I have the opportunity to pick up a 20 inch LCD screen, but I've never
really used an LCD for more than a short time. Do these things handle
high refresh rates well? Will videogames look just as good? What are the
downsides? Much appreciated,
 
I have the opportunity to pick up a 20 inch LCD screen, but I've never
really used an LCD for more than a short time. Do these things handle
high refresh rates well? Will videogames look just as good? What are the
downsides? Much appreciated,
Click to expand...
I run a 17" one here.

For 2D and Office type applications it is great. Although it has a crap
response time, I've not had a problem playing Doom3, Counterstrike/ Far
Cry on it although to get the pin sharp image quality you need ot have
it set to the native resolution however I run mine at 1024x768 when
gaming instead of the 1280x1024 native and I can live with it OK. DVD
and TV OK too.

BUT...if image/photo editing is your thing then you're probably better
off with a CRT due to the characteristics of LCDs with brightness
trailling off towards the edges when you look at them at an angle.
 
I like LCD monitors for general working. There are no purity, pin, or
convergence errors. There is also no eye fatigue. You will find you can work
for hours on end without getting tired from it. LCD monitors cannot have
screen burn. The LCD monitors give better imaging when driven at lower
refresh rates. Since there is no flicker, they can be driven at 60 Hz. Most
manufactures recommend 60 Hz. If the monitor's response time is 25 ms, there
will be no loss of response at 60 Hz, since this would be equivalent to
16.66 ms.

As for games, they are not as fast as a CRT monitor. There are some newer
generation ones coming out that are faster than 25 ms response time. A
typical CRT monitor can go down to 10 to 12 ms. There are some new high end
LCD monitors that can go down to about 16 to 20 ms. These would be costly.

As for doing photo work, since LCD monitors are more critical for the angle
of viewing, you will have to make sure you are always at the best angle for
viewing in order to be accurate. Most LCD monitors are not accurate at the
extremes of contrast in the highlights, and in the near to black levels.
Their contrast ratio is still limited compared to a CRT. Most CRT monitors
can exceed a contrast ratio of 1:1000, while the affordable LCD monitors are
typically about 1:400 to about 1:500. LCD monitors give their best
performance for image sharpness in their native mode.

As for my preference, since I am not doing a lot of detailed photo work, or
playing games on the computer, I would want an LCD monitor over a CRT type
at any time.

There are some newer LCD monitors coming out that are better for photo work.
They are actually starting to look like a CRT monitor in their
characteristics. The prices for these are still a bit higher than the main
stream of monitors. But, this may be worth the investment.

--

Jerry G.
==========================


I have the opportunity to pick up a 20 inch LCD screen, but I've never
really used an LCD for more than a short time. Do these things handle
high refresh rates well? Will videogames look just as good? What are the
downsides? Much appreciated,
 
LCD do not yet work well for showing fast motion on the screen; you get a
ghosting effect. A given LCD display also has one native resolution that it
works best at. You cannot just use any resolution like you can with a CRT
tube.
 
Taxan TFTs aren't bad for photo-work, the issue is colour & the
contrast ratio - although mainly the colour matching issues & such.

Desktop TFTs are invariably better than most laptop TFTs, so do
not necessarily project laptop-TFT onto desktop-TFT. The desktop
counterparts can have better refresh, colour, brightness.

As for actual card-based refresh, re critical fusion frequency, cff:
o That does not apply to TFTs like it does to CRTs.
o If that area is important to you, do a google for LCD Ergonomics
---- or search under CRT Refresh Rate, CFF, etc

The key advantage of LCD is Small-Depth + Lightweight + Cool,
most CRTs draw 50-280W depending on size, TFTs ~20-35W.

Worth noting that a TFT light (cold fluourescent tube) deteriorate
in brightness over time - 50% @ 30,000hrs is common. CRTs do
suffer a reduction in brightness over time - just a bit longer though.
 
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