HI all, My 9 year old Nokia 447X CRT monitor appears to be on its way out. At maximum brightness and contrast, I can't get a good picture. I'm using xgamma to crank up the colors, but that creates a washed out display. The picture size wavers and occasionally goes out of sync. I think I got my $1000 worth out of this monitor! At the risk of starting a religious war, I'm wondering if I can get some objective commentary regarding CRT vs LCD and any issues there might be with Linux. I would like a display that can do at least 1280x1024@75Hz and possibly up to 1600x1200@75Hz. I think that puts me in the 18" - 19" monitor category, which is OK with me (I have a 17" monitor now). I occasionally play games but mostly its text, websurfing, email, and some photo editing. Does the LCD quality degrade when using the VGA input vs. the DVI input (assuming that the monitor has both) ? Are there any major Linux related issues when using the DVI output of a video card ? Thanks in advance for your thoughts, opinions, flames, etc. :-) Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org
On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 16:14:54 -0400 Andy Stewart <andystewart@comcast.net> wrote:
HI all,
My 9 year old Nokia 447X CRT monitor appears to be on its way out. At maximum brightness and contrast, I can't get a good picture. I'm using xgamma to crank up the colors, but that creates a washed out display. The picture size wavers and occasionally goes out of sync. I think I got my $1000 worth out of this monitor!
At the risk of starting a religious war, I'm wondering if I can get some
objective commentary regarding CRT vs LCD and any issues there might be with Linux.
I would like a display that can do at least 1280x1024@75Hz and possibly up to 1600x1200@75Hz. I think that puts me in the 18" - 19" monitor category, which is OK with me (I have a 17" monitor now). I occasionally play games but mostly its text, websurfing, email, and some photo editing.
Does the LCD quality degrade when using the VGA input vs. the DVI input (assuming that the monitor has both) ? Are there any major Linux related issues when using the DVI output of a video card ?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts, opinions, flames, etc. :-)
My experiences, having played with a bunch at work, is that you can find a decent 17" LCD that will do 1280x1024x75 for around $400-500 with both VGA and DVI inputs, and a 19" with better resolution between $700-900, depending on the model. I don't understand the intricasies of refresh rate on an LCD versus a CRT, but the 75Hz on an LCD is more than sufficient for the average gamer. I haven't noticed any difference when using the VGA versus DVI inputs on the same system, but it's been only desktop stuff. The LCD is definitely much easier on the eyes, and the sharpness of the screen is considerably better (as I'm sure you know from your laptop). No matter how nice a CRT seems, every time I switch back from a flat panel to a CRT, I think "My eyes!!" You also get the extra viewable area of a 17"/17" veiwable versus a 17"/16.1" viewable. I'm looking at monitors now for when my 6 year-old 19" Viewsonic gives out (it's not that bad yet, but I need to use xgamma to get it to a reasonable brightness level). It's tough for me to justify an LCD when $250 will get me a fantastic 19" flatscreen CRT that's leaps and bounds ahead of what I have now (hell, the no-name 17" flatscreen CRT that I bought for my second desktop for under $150 recently is miles ahead of the 19" in picture quality). If someone here can justify paying 3x as much for an LCD that could arguably be worse for gaming, I'd love to be convinced (and power consumption doesn't count). =) Brian J. Conway bconway(at)alum.wpi.edu "LINUX is obsolete" - Andrew S. Tanenbaum, creator of Minix - Jan 29, 1992
On Sun, Jun 13, 2004 at 07:43:57PM -0400, Brian J. Conway wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 16:14:54 -0400 Andy Stewart <andystewart@comcast.net> wrote:
Does the LCD quality degrade when using the VGA input vs. the DVI input (assuming that the monitor has both) ? Are there any major Linux related issues when using the DVI output of a video card ?
There are no DVI-specific issues I have found with Linux, on either Nvidia or ATI video cards.
My experiences, having played with a bunch at work, is that you can find a decent 17" LCD that will do 1280x1024x75 for around $400-500 with both VGA and DVI inputs, and a 19" with better resolution between $700-900, depending on the model. I don't understand the intricasies of refresh rate on an LCD versus a CRT, but the 75Hz on an LCD is more than sufficient for the average gamer. I haven't noticed any difference when
Actually, the usual optimum refresh rate on an LCD is 60Hz. Any higher LCD refresh rates are usually only supported for convenience and VESA standards compliance. This isn't a problem, because refresh rates on LCD TFT technology isn't really applicable.
using the VGA versus DVI inputs on the same system, but it's been only desktop stuff. The LCD is definitely much easier on the eyes, and the sharpness of the screen is considerably better (as I'm sure you know from
I'd agree here. I haven't noticed too much difference between VGA and DVI. More degredation and ghosting is noticed going through my KVM switch, so I connected DVI directly from my "good" system to the LCD, leaving the KVM on the VGA input. The longer your cable is, the more DVI is going to help you. DVI is also nice because it skips the video card RAMDAC conversion for transport across the VGA cable, and conversion back to digital inside the LCD monitor. This eliminates your video card's RAMDAC quality as a factor (Matrox's have always had a reputation for excellent RAMDACs which contributed to their excellent, crisp 2D image quality).
your laptop). No matter how nice a CRT seems, every time I switch back from a flat panel to a CRT, I think "My eyes!!" You also get the extra viewable area of a 17"/17" veiwable versus a 17"/16.1" viewable.
The biggest thing I notice when going back to a CRT is the flicker and shakiness of the image. LCDs simply do not flicker or shake.
quality). If someone here can justify paying 3x as much for an LCD that could arguably be worse for gaming, I'd love to be convinced (and power consumption doesn't count). =)
I game on my 20.1" LCD all the time with no negative experiences, and I only paid $800 for it a couple years ago. The nice thing about LCD sizes, is you actually get the full stated size in the viewable image.
Just last week I got a ViewSonic VP201B, and I love it (20.1" 1600x1200). I had a 19" ViewSonic, but in my opinion everything looks better on the new LCD. I just started using DVI, but havent quite figured out how to get it to work under Slack, just on Windows. I don't notice a big difference when using the DVI. I did end up buying the N6 HDTV Processor, which is not very good, other than that I am totally happy with my new monitor.
participants (4)
-
Andy Stewart -
Brian J. Conway -
Charles R. Anderson -
Joe Riopel