CRT Vs LCD - Monitors Compared

Screen Flicker

Screen flicker is caused when your eyes can notice the refreshing of the monitor screen. CRT monitors at the high end of the scale combat this problem by offering high refresh rates that the eye can't detect and so you see no flicker. LCD displays combat this issue by not needing a refresh rate because of the technology involved. LCD never get screen flicker.

Screen flicker is more than just an annoyance, if you spend any length of time a computer then screen flicker can cause you rather painful headaches and  eye strains. Once again this brings the LCD screen as the perfect choice for a workstation or office.

Interference

With interference here I am talking about magnetic interference like you get from unshielded speakers and the like. CRTs use magnets to control the electron flow inside the tube. Because LCD's do not use this technology they are not affected by magnetic interference. An extra advantage to this is that LCD screens can be fitted with speakers that have no extra shielding bring down the cost of integrated speakers.

Power Consumption

This category is an easy winner for the LCD screen. LCD screens were originally put in notebook computers and laptops because they were very could at preserving battery life. LCD monitors consume around 20-50W of power while your typical CRT monitor will have anything up to 150W or even beyond depending on its size.

Dead Pixels

CRT have the problem of Screen burn in because of the technology it uses. The LCD screen has a problem with dead pixels. The Liquid Crystal display is made up of thousands upon thousands of tiny transistors. If one of these transistors gets stuck then you are left with a dead or stuck pixel.

A dead pixel gets stuck in one particular form. It could be a light dot, a dark dot or a coloured dot. This unfortunately is not repairable. Big steps have been taken to lower the amount of dead pixels that occur in LCD monitors. Despite this there is still what's known as a tolerance level of dead pixels before a manufacturer will take an LCD monitor back as a faulty item.

Response Time

The response time of a monitor is the time it takes for the pixel to update the colours you see on screen. This is important when objects on the screen are moving with any speed such as in games or watching movies, especially action movies. Her the best LCD screens are acceptable with a response time of less than 20 milliseconds. However the CRT monitor's response time is negligible and so the winner in this category.

Price

A very important factor when making a purchase for the majority of us. LCD screens have come down in price by a lot in recent times due to there increasing popularity, however CRT screens have also been on the way down to keep them at a cheaper level. roughly speaking you can still get a 19" CRT for the price of a 15" LCD/TFT monitor. If price is a big issue for you then the CRT is still the way to go for the time being.

Conclusion

Out of the 12 categories we have given each of the monitor types 6 each. A draw perhaps, but on a closer look its very clear that each are winning in certain categories. What we are saying here is that things that revolve around office work, brightness, no flicker, size etc then the LCD screen comes out on top. For watching movies and playing game the CRT monitor is best i.e. response time, colour and contrast. And possibly the most important factor is price and the the CRT still has that vital edge for the time being.

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