Recommandation of 19"/20"/21" CRT for graphics work

[Kurt]

Originally posted by chaoliang
Thanks a lot for the recommendations!
I have a 17" EIZO till now and am satisfied with it so far. I'm considering to buy a larger one but I read last year that the quality of bigger CRT monitors still couldn't reach that of a 17". Is that true?
And, if I would like to see an original size A4 page in application frames on the screen, will 19" be enough or which should I get?

A Barco or LaCie CRT must be very professional since I've never seen them here.

You should probably skip the 19" and go directly to the 21/22", that's where the real effort is put on quality.

http://www.cadonline.com/reviews/

8 monitors review (June 2001): http://www.cadonline.com/reviews/hardware/0601monitor/

big monitors, not too expensive:

http://www.cadonline.com/reviews/hardware/0702monitors/monitors.htm

[az]

I disagree. Getting a really sharp picture on a really big screen is really hard, thus you pay WAY more for a good 21" than for an excellent 19". And there are excellent 19" screens (I know there are excellent 21" screens, too, but look at their prices!).

Maybe you'd want to take a look at an LCD, though. I know they're not actually famous for their color representation, but Eizo's or NEC's bigger screens that end with 80 are actually quite good in that regard. Flat panels have come a long way. You should go see one (be sure it is a really good and expensive one though) with your own eyes to decide. You'll have zero sharpness, convergence, or geometry problems anymore. (Well, some people have a sharpness problem: LCDs are too sharp for them, they don't like to be able to see the pixels). And their contrast is higher. And they're smaller. And look better. And draw less power.

AZ

[Kurt]

Originally posted by az
I disagree. Getting a really sharp picture on a really big screen is really hard, thus you pay WAY more for a good 21" than for an excellent 19". And there are excellent 19" screens (I know there are excellent 21" screens, too, but look at their prices!).

Maybe you'd want to take a look at an LCD, though. I know they're not actually famous for their color representation, but Eizo's or NEC's bigger screens that end with 80 are actually quite good in that regard. Flat panels have come a long way. You should go see one (be sure it is a really good and expensive one though) with your own eyes to decide. You'll have zero sharpness, convergence, or geometry problems anymore. (Well, some people have a sharpness problem: LCDs are too sharp for them, they don't like to be able to see the pixels). And their contrast is higher. And they're smaller. And look better. And draw less power.

AZ

Yes it's harder to get a better picture on a bigger screen, but that's not the point. The market for CAD/CAM/etc; requires biggers screens, hence if you make a 19" you might sell less of them. So the focus is on 21/22" screens.

And yes, a good 21/22" like EIZO's will cost upward of 1500 €...

Their LCD are very good too, but I wouldn't recommend them for graphic work just yet. And if you think 1500 € is much for 21", then forget about an LCD... (there's still the IBM LCD with 200dpi in the 10.000 $ range that's interesting... )

[mutz]

Just got my second Sony GDM-F520. Dual heading them on the Parhelia for photo and graphic work is just amazing. Just coupled in a Canon Canoscan 9900F scanner and a Canon BJC i9100 printer. Belive it or not, color matching from camera to A3 glossy print in a quality I never imagined possible. Even resurrecting old prints, color negatives, positive slides, bedazzled. But seing the correct images on the monitor and seeing them come out the printer, who ever heard of that?

[Umfriend]

Nobody here likes Philips stuff?

[chaoliang]

Which size do I need if I want to have an A4 page 100% on the screen and within the application frames (menu bars and so on)?

[chaoliang]

Eizo 21" ca. 1000€, 19" 600€ here.

Yet another question:
Is a BNC cable really better? How much does it cost?

[az]

OK, DIN A4 is 210x297 mm. A 21" is about 405x305 mm. Thus, a A4 sheet would fit, but very little else, maybe not even your taskbar. So you either need a bigger monitor (22" is exactly the same usable size as 21", as CRT sizes are the OUTER dimensins of the tube, which have nothing to do with the inner, usable dimensions), which would be VERY expsnvie, or an LCD with pivot feature, which lets you tilt the screen 90°. Even a 17" LCD would suffice to dosplay a A4 sheet with its 270x337 mm, if tilted 90°.

AZ

[az]

BNC is a bit better, but only if you have a very good monitor and graphics card, and run high resolutions. Its cost varies, be sure to not be ripped off, this is just a cable! Don't fall for it like some audiophiles do

AZ

[chaoliang]

Thanks, az! So if 21" cannot hold A4 any way, a 19" is actually better, if you consider the big difference of the price, right? Are there other good arguments for an 21" against 19"? (Of course it's larger. I mean, other than that.)
It seems that EIZO doesn't even have a CRT bigger than 21".

[chaoliang]

How many dpi does an EIZO 21" have?

[az]

21" can hold A4, when you place all your button bars on the side. Don't know if that's worth that much money, though. One argument for a 21" is that a 19" is only useful up to 1280x960 (MAYBE 1400), because text and buttons will become too small above that, and they are tuned to present the best image at that res - if you go higher, you lose sharpness (even with an EIZO, though much less than with a cheaper monitor). If you do a lot of image editing, a 21" may give you the space you need for all those palettes, tools, etc. at 1600x1200. You might find it too big though...

In the end, I'd say it comes down to personal preference. You can get the EIZO 21" fpr 905,- EUR plus shipping, or the 19" for 568,- plus shipping. (www.guenstiger.de).

If you can, check the different sizes at a store (don't have to be the exact models you look for, just to get a feel of the size and resolution).

AZ

[az]

You can get the dpi if you divide the number of displayed pixels at your intended reolution (1600 pixels horizontally) through the visible screen space (404mm x 0.0254 = 10.2616" horizontally) . So 10.2616/1600=155.92.. dpi. Please take this with a grain of salt, I'm tired

The dot pitch for this monitor is 0.24mm, if that's what you wanted to know

I've just seen that the prices I gave above are for last year's models, haven't seen this year's models yet.

AZ

[chaoliang]

Thank you so much and gute Nacht, az!

[az]

Good night everybody

AZ