Digital BW, The Print

Steve Kale writes:

> With its lower resolution, greater power consumption, radiation, size etc.

CRTs are capable of higher resolutions than flat-panel displays; that's
one of the advantages of CRTs.

Power consumption is higher but neither CRTs nor flat panels are huge
consumers of electrical power.

There is no radiation problem.

Size is not too much of a problem, but weight is a serious issue with
CRTs, and that's one of the main reasons I'm considering flat panels.
But flat panels cost much more for much less, and they still don't match
CRTs for image quality (especially at prices that are only two or three
times those of CRTs).

> My point is there is a set of tradeoffs in considering this question but
> comparing a good CRT with a cheap/poor LCD is inappropriate.

Not if you're looking at price, which is a key factor in any buying
decision.

> Yes a good LCD costs more than a good CRT ...

Sometimes five times more, for equivalent image quality.

> ... but compare a quality CRT with a quality LCD.

Compare $1000 of CRT with $1000 of LCD.

Compare 20 kg of CRT with 20 kg of LCD.

Depending on which factor you compare, either technology might be
favored.

But you need to look at _all_ factors in order to decide which type to
buy.  LCDs have great advantages, but they have great disadvantages,
too.  That's why they still have not fully replaced CRTs.  And flat
panels have been around for forty years.

> My 23in Apple CD display has had absolutely
> no problems for the last year and half.

My CRT had no problem for the first 7-8 years or so.

> If it had one dead pixel I would have sent it back to the supplier.

And what would they have done?  Some suppliers refuse to take back a
flat panel that has less than a "minimum acceptable number" of dead
pixels (as if any number other than zero were acceptable).

> Oh and I can't describe how good it is to have the large 16:9
> space to work with.

The 16:9 ratio would a very awkward aspect ratio to work with, I should
think.  Hardly anything fits neatly within it.  I guess I could use the
sides for dialog boxes or something.  But I'd still need high resolution
and square pixels.