G'day all! I've finally decided to update my 2 year old monitor because despite it being state of the art when I first got it it's now hopelessly obsolete. I'm still reasonably happy with my PC setup and so am not looking to update it at this point - though if it works out cheaper to get a package I'll consider it but it's not the first option at this point.

So I was doing a bit of research on monitors in general as I was looking to get a 17" flat screen. Geez there are a lot of monitors out there at the moment - LCD, flat panel, thin bezel, etc etc. It's all quite confusing but I think I've worked out what it all means. :D

Anyway, can anyone give me some more information on the pros and cons of getting an LCD flat screen as opposed to a CRT of comparable sze (17"). Space is a consideration for me, I don't want my monitor taking up a lot of space. But is CRT really that much better than LCD in terms of picture quality? And what's the deal with thin bezel vs normal flat screens?

<span style="color: lightblue">CRT supports different resolutions better than the cheaper LCDs. Consider this: which is a more important consideration in this case - space, or money? If it's space, get an expensive LCD flatscreeen, otherwise get a CRT.
Re: thin bezel - you know that annoying bit of plastic around the edge of your screen? Often, especially with flatscreens, that is measured aswell as the screen itself to give you the x inches measurements. That bit of plastic is the bezel, and the thinner it is, the more of your 21" (for example) is actual viewing area.

EDIT: see also, this thread, and this thread.

[ 04-29-2004, 07:37 AM: Message edited by: LennonCook ]

hey mario just curious.. what are you going to do with your old one? is it broken or anything? im thinking or getting a monitor since my 14 inch is dying on me i think. is your for sale? :D .

LCDs have two major shortcomings, latency and cost.

As Lennon says, if money is a concern get a CRT, if space is at a premium you might be better off with an LCD with one caveat: choose your monitor carefully, as many just aren't suitable for gaming because of high latency and ghosting. Check out reviews at sites like tom's hardware

Well, I was going to sell it on eBay, but if you're interested I'll give you a good (fair) deal for both of us. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Thanks for the advice, Sir K. So is LCD that bad for gaming, is it? Can anyone recommend any decent brands? Space *is* going to be a premium as we're moving house and the PC is going into my (bigger) bedroom, as opposed to being in a 3rd bedroom on its own...

What about SLCD? Silicone liquid crystal display? lol! its that even out yet

what is your monitor anyway mario?

Latency is not the problem it was even a year ago, LCD monitors have improved significantly and gotten cheapter too.

I've got 15" and 18" LCD panels at home along with 19" and 17" CRT's. At work I've got a couple 15" touchscreen LCD's, a 21" Gateway monitor and a couple systems with 22" NEC CRT's.

For gaming I'm not having any problems using my 18" LCD (which is new), no noticeable latency problem running demanding first person shooters. There may be problems with some older designs so you might want to ask owners before buying a particular model.

Resolution is still an issue... the 18" runs up to 1280x1024 wheras all my CRT's can go at least to 1600x1200. Also there are minor artifacts when you run an LCD at any resolution other than the native one (if I ran my 18" at 1024x768 for instance. These are most noticeable when reading text, not particularly noticable for images.

Price is a bit of an issue, but LCD's are getting a LOT cheapter, I bought my 18" for 450 bucks, you can buy 17" units for under 300.

CRT's tend to be brighter, so if your in a brightly lit room that might be a factor.

It's a 17" Dell CRT.

What about TV Tuners...are they worth it or not?