Large CRT monitors: offer best bang for your buck

CADalyst, Sept, 2004 by Ron LaFon

Prices on large CRT monitors have dropped substantially since our last CRT review in September 2003. Not so many years ago I remember paying triple what these current CRTs cost. What you don't get for these lower prices are multiple connectivity options--there's usually no USB connectivity whatsoever. The overall quality of these behemoths is, however, excellent.

Some vendors, such as EIZO, are now selling only LCD monitors, though most of the major vendors of computer displays still offer one or more lines of CRT monitors.

Test Procedures

To begin, I attach a monitor to the test system, power it up, adjust for our standard 1280X1024 at 85Hz test settings, and then allow it to stabilize for at least an hour before running any tests. Though most monitors don't require this long to come up to stable performance, some do, so this puts each monitor on the same footing.

Once the monitor is stabilized, I use DisplayMate Technology's DisplayMate software (www.display mate.com) to run through a wide range of video tests for brightness, contrast, focus, convergence, purity, geometric distortion, and raster rotation. During the course of testing, I also evaluate the on-screen menu, the general functionality of the controls, and the connectivity options.

Once I complete the tests, I rate the large CRT displays on several factors weighted according to importance: image quality (6X), price (4X), connectivity (2X), image controls (2X), and warranty (1X). An extra credit category is available for any monitor that has some feature of significant value or excellence beyond what's covered in the normal evaluation process. In this particular roundup, no display received extra credit.

I used an NVIDIA FX 3000 graphics card with the NVIDIA 56.72 drivers in an @Xi Computer 4240 MTower SP workstation for all the tests. See p. 36 for a First Look review of this system.

Evaluating the scores can be difficult at times. I never know the star ratings until I test all the monitors and compare the results.

Certain things tend to stand out during evaluation, such as a lack of more than the most basic connectivity options or a warranty that extends beyond the norm. The overall quality of the large CRT monitors tested here is very high, but slight flaws have a way of becoming magnified in the final tally. A quarter-point off in one area can be a determining factor in the final rating. None of the monitors achieved an A+ score during testing, though the IBM C220p came close with display quality. Its very slight flaws were not enough to warrant a specific deduction, although enough to dissuade me from giving an A+.

Pricing is another area where an otherwise excellent monitor can get less than top ratings. If the pricing of a particular display is out of line with comparable displays included in the roundup, the deduction can again be amplified as a result of the weighted nature of the report card.

I do hope that large CRT monitors continue to be available. Unless LCD flat-panel monitors suddenly achieve much faster response times, the CRT units will remain the most responsive and reasonably priced of large displays. What will my next monitor purchase be? I expect to buy two new 21" or larger monitors by the end of this year. Though many things about large LCD monitors are attractive, my two new monitors will both be large CRT displays like those reviewed and evaluated here.

CRT Review Summary

Is there still a place for the large CRT monitors that have long been standard on the CAD operator's desktop? Or have the lightweight and more portable LCD monitors finally surpassed them? The answer might be surprising, and it might well depend on what your needs are in a large monitor and what factors are important to you and your work.

Though flat-panel LCD monitors are the latest technological marvels of the display world, they remain expensive and slower in response. Prices on LCD displays are expected to drop some 15-20% by the end of this year, but prices are still inflated, and customer demand reflects that.

Large CRT monitors remain the standard for many applications, including CAD, graphics, and visualization, with good reason. They're responsive, increasingly economical--even for large size displays--and produce vivid images. They may not have the glamour of the new thin panels, but the displayed images and responsiveness are superior. A very good response time for an LCD panel is 15ms. The typical response time for these large CRT displays is in the 1-3ms range. If your work requires wire frame rotations or the animation of complex shaded models, you'll definitely see the difference between the two technologies.

Ron LaFon, a contributing editor for Cadalyst, is a writer, editor, and computer graphics and electronic publishing specialist from Atlanta, Georgia. He is a principal at 3Bear Productions in Atlanta.