VOGONS


First post, by valencio

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I am looking for some decent quality CRT monitors for everyday use, preferably larger than 17" and smaller than 23", I am looking for something capable of at least 1280X960 @ 120 Hz preferably more, and 160 Hz for all lower resolutions. (1600x1200 @ 85 Hz would be good too)

Also they should have some kind of anti glare coating, power saving features, preferably aperture grill type and maybe flat glass (although this is dubious as many displays still have a curved image, it is okay if its curved) and release date should be around 2001 or more recent.

I am also looking for a monitor that supports Gamma calibration on the OSD, but I am not sure if any CRT monitors actually support it, something that drives me mad because CRT monitors have way too dark picture and software gamma settings have no effect on fullscreen games or movies.

Try to test the monitor on the AIDA monitor tests and see if the pictures are clean of moire and the image does not shrink or enlarge when bright backgrounds are being displayed and text is not blurry on high resolutions and refresh rate)

What models/brands of mid range/high end monitors would you recommend and satisfy these requirements?

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Reply 1 of 3, by obobskivich

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Very specific requirements - to the point that you may not be able to get everything you want. Demanding >120Hz across the board is likely going to be one of the things you won't be able to fulfill. That said, any of the high-end 21" models from Sun/Dell/SGI/Sony/Mitsubishi/NEC/Eizo/LaCie are good monitors, and will generally support high refresh rates (75Hz+) at a variety of resolutions. Many of them are Trinitron, some are not (e.g. Mitsubishi DiamondTron). I have a 21" Sun, and can tell you it doesn't have a problem with 75-85 Hz at many resolutions, but you aren't going to get 160Hz+ at all resolutions (I don't think it can do 160Hz even at relatively low resolutions - to say nothing of the limitations of graphics cards, especially older ones).

Anti-glare coating, power saving, and flat glass is pretty easily accomplished. Most monitors in or around your time range will satisfy that.

Reply 2 of 3, by jwt27

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Sounds like you're looking for an Eizo. I have the F930:

valencio wrote:

I am looking for some decent quality CRT monitors for everyday use, preferably larger than 17" and smaller than 23", I am looking for something capable of at least 1280X960 @ 120 Hz preferably more, and 160 Hz for all lower resolutions. (1600x1200 @ 85 Hz would be good too)

Check. http://i.imgur.com/KVzzy6E.png

valencio wrote:

Also they should have some kind of anti glare coating, power saving features, preferably aperture grill type and maybe flat glass (although this is dubious as many displays still have a curved image, it is okay if its curved) and release date should be around 2001 or more recent.

Anti-glare coating and power saving, check. The F930 is a curved shadow-mask though. F931 is the same, but flat. F980 is flat too and is the ultimate holy grail for me, with its 0.20mm dot pitch. Aperture grille screens are the T9xx series, I believe.

valencio wrote:

I am also looking for a monitor that supports Gamma calibration on the OSD, but I am not sure if any CRT monitors actually support it, something that drives me mad because CRT monitors have way too dark picture and software gamma settings have no effect on fullscreen games or movies.

I've never seen gamma adjustment in a CRT, but this F930 has plenty of colour calibration settings. Colour temperature from 5000-10000K in 500K increments, and separate gain/cutoff settings for R/G/B. Theres's more in the service menu but I forgot how to access it. I don't believe I've changed anything here though, gamma seems spot-on 2.2 to my eyes.
That said it's fairly dim compared to other shadow masks, and I only play games at night for this reason...

valencio wrote:

Try to test the monitor on the AIDA monitor tests and see if the pictures are clean of moire and the image does not shrink or enlarge when bright backgrounds are being displayed and text is not blurry on high resolutions and refresh rate)

Check.

Last edited by jwt27 on 2015-04-16, 00:31. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 3 of 3, by shamino

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I used to have a Sony Trinitron G400, at least I'm pretty sure that's what it was:
http://www.dansdata.com/sg400.htm
It definitely does 1600x1200 at 85Hz, but I think it might fall short of 120Hz at 1280x960. I don't remember what it's limit was at that resolution.
I thought it had an amazing picture for about a year, then it started going to hell. Turns out there was some manufacturing defect which caused this type of thing to happen. I think it was as simple as bad soldering. Perhaps some of them held up better and can still be found in good condition, or are repairable.
I don't recall any gamma adjustment, I doubt it had it.
I do think text was fuzzy at 1600x1200. I ran the desktop at 1280x1024, and that was Sony's recommended mode. I enjoyed 1600x1200 in games, which I thought looked amazing and whatever fuzziness it may have had at the pixel level wasn't noticed.