LCD or CRT Monitors Questions

[Win32]

hi all,

I plan to buy a dell system with LCD monitor but I am confused whether
LCD or CRT will be better, can someone suggest? I am thinking of LCD
as it's very healthy on eyes.

The 15" LCD specs shows that its native resolution is 1024x768 and 17"
LCD monitor specs shows that its native resolution is 1280x1024. I
have read somewhere that LCD will only look good at its native
resolution, but I am not comfortable in viewing anything above
1024x768. My current pc with 17" CRT is set to 1024x768.

So I want to run a 17" LCD @ 1024x768, Is there any tool/setting in
windows xp apart from the clear type which can help me change the
resolution without losing quality?

Is this true that a 15" LCD's screen size is equal to of a 17" CRT and
17" LCD is equal to 19" CRT, if that's true then should I buy a 15"
LCD with native resolution of 1024x768 to reach my goal.


Please Suggest.
Thanks,
ED

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

What you've heard is true as to how LCD displays look at something other
than their native resolution but that doesn't mean it can't be change. The
resolution can be changed in the Windows Display settings. That said, the
best way to deal with this is to look for yourself. Go to any big merchant
with LCDs on display, have a look at them at their native resolution. Tell
a clerk your issue, they might change the resolution so you can get an idea
of how it might look on your setup.

Also, you'll be able to compare 15" LCD to 17" LCD monitors as well as to
CRT displays.

You'll get a lot of advice here but a part of what you are asking is
subjective. In this case, you can look for yourself and get a much better
idea of what will be suitable for you by checking them out yourself at Best
Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA or any such merchant that might have a lot of
monitors on display.

 

[David Nimon]

My Dell has the 17" LCD monitor which I changed from native to 1152 x 864
and it is fine.

Remember to use ClearType for your display; it *really* makes a
difference--especially on LCD's.

 

[Kelly Cotter]

What you've heard is true as to how LCD displays look at something
other than their native resolution but that doesn't mean it can't be
change. The resolution can be changed in the Windows Display
settings. That said, the best way to deal with this is to look for
yourself. Go to any big merchant with LCDs on display, have a look
at them at their native resolution. Tell a clerk your issue, they
might change the resolution so you can get an idea of how it might
look on your setup.
Also, you'll be able to compare 15" LCD to 17" LCD monitors as well
as to CRT displays.

You'll get a lot of advice here but a part of what you are asking is
subjective. In this case, you can look for yourself and get a much
better idea of what will be suitable for you by checking them out
yourself at Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA or any such merchant that
might have a lot of monitors on display.

what are you using the pc for ?
i found my lcd is good for working for long periods of time with reduced eye
strain but my crt is much better for playing games, the lcd seemed blury
compared to the crt

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

hi all,

I plan to buy a dell system with LCD monitor but I am confused whether
LCD or CRT will be better, can someone suggest? I am thinking of LCD
as it's very healthy on eyes.

The 15" LCD specs shows that its native resolution is 1024x768 and 17"
LCD monitor specs shows that its native resolution is 1280x1024. I
have read somewhere that LCD will only look good at its native
resolution, but I am not comfortable in viewing anything above
1024x768. My current pc with 17" CRT is set to 1024x768.

The statement "I am not comfortable in viewing anything above
1024x768" is really only meaningful for a specific size monitor.
For a 17" monitor, most people will not be comfortable with a
greater resolution than 1024x768, and that's what I would
normally recommend.

However on a 19" monitor, I think 1280x1024 is ideal; that will
make everything roughly the same size as 1024x768 on a 17"
monitor, and that's the resolution I run here on my 19".

So I want to run a 17" LCD @ 1024x768, Is there any tool/setting in
windows xp apart from the clear type which can help me change the
resolution without losing quality?

Is this true that a 15" LCD's screen size is equal to of a 17" CRT and
17" LCD is equal to 19" CRT,

Almost. It depends on the specific monitor, but a 17" LCD monitor
is probably somewhat closer to an 18" CRT than to a 19". If I had
a 17" LCD monitor, I'd want to run it at 1280x1024.

if that's true then should I buy a 15"
LCD with native resolution of 1024x768 to reach my goal.

No, again, your goal isn't a good one, because you're thinking in
terms of absolute resolution rather than resolution for a given
screen size.

I'd go with the 17" LDC at 1280x1024, which will make everything
very close to the same size you're accustomed to seeing it.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I plan to buy a dell system with LCD monitor but I am confused whether
LCD or CRT will be better, can someone suggest? I am thinking of LCD
as it's very healthy on eyes.

The 15" LCD specs shows that its native resolution is 1024x768 and 17"
LCD monitor specs shows that its native resolution is 1280x1024. I
have read somewhere that LCD will only look good at its native
resolution, but I am not comfortable in viewing anything above
1024x768. My current pc with 17" CRT is set to 1024x768.

An LCD screen is very near its nominal size - a CRT loses over an inch
to the thickness of the glass. So the actual screen area of a 15 inch
LCD is very near that of a 17 inch CRT; while a 17 inch LCD is more like
a 19 inch CRT and is comfortable at 1280x1024. You might find it useful
though after installing it to go to Display - Settings, click Advanced
and put up the DPI setting (number of dots seen as needed to make a
'logical' inch. Putting it to 120% seems to work well on 17 or bigger
LCD, and you can then fine tune icon sizes and font sizes at Display -
Appearance - Advanced

 

[R. McCarty]

LCD's are generally better than CRT's, except in the case of
some games. The switching time for LCD's can cause some
"Ghosting" effects on fast moving images. Recent LCD models
have a much improved Latency. Compare the Response times
or the Rise/Fall times (in Milliseconds) between the Dell and
other brand LCD's. My Sony S73 has a 15.0 ms Response.
The lower the time, the better.

 

[Win32]

Hi,

I am primarily using my computer for emails, surfing, office xp,
visual basic 6, vs.net, picture viewing etc, I play games but not
much.

One more problem that I have with 1280x1024 resolution is that if I
develop a software most people will not be able to use it because most
people still use 1024x768.

Is it harmful for a LCD monitor if i change the resolution to
non-native?

Thanks,
ED

 

[Allen_L]

In

Hi,

I am primarily using my computer for emails, surfing, office xp,
visual basic 6, vs.net, picture viewing etc, I play games but not
much.

One more problem that I have with 1280x1024 resolution is that if I
develop a software most people will not be able to use it because most
people still use 1024x768.

Is it harmful for a LCD monitor if i change the resolution to
non-native?

Thanks,
ED

It is not harmful, but when you don't run at the native resolution your
display will be less clear.

....Allen

 

[Travis King]

What others have said; if you plan on doing any gaming with it, you might as
well forget the LCD. LCD's also have a problem called 'dead pixels', which
if you have enough of those on your screen, it could get annoying. CRT's
can get dead pixels also, but usually not as frequently and not as many.