Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video (More info?)

Hi. My 6-year-old 17" CRT (CTX 1710UA) has started giving high-voltage
sparking noises and picture distortions a few times a minute, and so
I've concluded that I need a new monitor. Apologies if this has all
been answered recently - my searching abilities are limited as I'm
having to post with Google Groups from work in my lunch hour, as I
lack a working monitor at home...

My initial dilemma: CRT vs TFT. A flat screen would be nice in terms
of space savings, although it would cost. As I do a fair amount of
photographic work I'm pretty fussy, in particular about the contrast
changing as I move my head. I have seen at work some Eizo L567s and
been rather impressed. However, I can't find anyone in this country
who sells them. People sell the L557, but I can't tell what the
difference is - the specs seem the same.

On the other hand, I could stick with a CRT and save money. The
problem here: again I'm fussy, this time about nice clear images, and
nobody actually seems to review CRTs any more - they're seen as being
only for those who can't afford flat screens. So I have no way of
knowing what to get! Especially since I've been out of this market for
6 years and thus have no way of

So, my questions. I'll be very grateful if somebody can answer some or
all of these:

1. Do the current TFTs actually come close in terms of colour and
constant contrast? In my situation, do you reckon I should just stick
with CRT?

2. If I go for TFT, what are the differences between Eizo's L557 and
L567, and are there any others of similar quality I should be looking
at?

3. Does anybody know anyone in the UK who actually stocks the L567?

4. If I stay with CRT, what is a good 17" unit at present? It will
probably need to be an aperture-grille system, but otherwise... well,
it must be easily readable at 1280x1024 and at least 85Hz.

Thanks for any help.
-Simon.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video (More info?)

"Simon Waldman" <swaldman@firecloud.org.uk> wrote in message
news:3a13474a.0405120001.7b1f2bf1@posting.google.com...
> 1. Do the current TFTs actually come close in terms of colour and
> constant contrast? In my situation, do you reckon I should just stick
> with CRT?

In contrast, yes, at least for on-axis viewing. Whether or not
you find the brightness and color shifts which may occur at
various viewing angles objectionable will depend to a great deal
on your personal requirements, preferences, and the technology
in question.

In terms of color - it's a complicated issue. The LCD will not
suffer from any color purity or convergence issues, and the most
recent models are very close to the CRT in terms of the color
gamut covered. One of the biggest problems, though, in terms
of absolute color accuracy is that the LCD does not provide the
same sort of native response curve (the "gamma curve" of the
CRT), and simulating this via front-end processing can result in
some color and grayscale artifacts in the image, unless it's done
very carefully and with a panel capable of pretty fine control over
the gray scale. Again, the best test for your particular case will
be to compare for yourself, and see what's acceptable to you.

The rest of the questions I can't help with, as I don't comment on
particular makes/models.

Bob M.