Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A 20-year-old CRT monitor can be better than a 4K LCD (2019)

vice.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 288 posts

Re: A 20-year-old CRT monitor can be better than a 4K LCD (2019)

#81

Post by paulcole »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #77
paulcole wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Refresh rate is absolutely necessary for quick reaction times This reminds me of weekend warrior bicyclists dropping $5k on components to save a few ounces of weight and go a tiny bit faster. Most people are average enough at video games (or whatever their hobby of choice is) that they’re still going to be average whether they have a CRT or an LCD (or whatever pricy pice of gear they “need”). Sure it’s fun to spend…

> This reminds me of weekend warrior bicyclists dropping $5k on components to save a few ounces of weight and go a tiny bit faster. Was in a high end bike store in Philadelphia in around 2007 or so (pre-crash). There's a guy in front of me at the repair desk who is holding a carbon fiber bottle cage. The tech is looking at it, because it's cracked. He tells the guy that he probably overtightened the bolt holding it o…

If the guy in question was an optometrist with a beer gut, it would match the ridiculousness of the conversations I’ve heard in Portland’s high end bike shops.

Re: A 20-year-old CRT monitor can be better than a 4K LCD (2019)

#82

Post by nickjj »

paulcole wrote: post #61
Sebb767 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For work, LCD is absolutely superior. Gaming - especially shooters -, however, are a totally different use-case: Refresh rate is absolutely necessary for quick reaction times, while something like readability is not as big of a factor (Games tend to use big and easy-to-read fonts). Of course, you still need some color quality to spot enemies, but it's very different from reading text for several hours.

> Refresh rate is absolutely necessary for quick reaction times This reminds me of weekend warrior bicyclists dropping $5k on components to save a few ounces of weight and go a tiny bit faster. Most people are average enough at video games (or whatever their hobby of choice is) that they’re still going to be average whether they have a CRT or an LCD (or whatever pricy pice of gear they “need”). Sure it’s fun to spend…

> This reminds me of weekend warrior bicyclists dropping $5k on components to save a few ounces of weight and go a tiny bit faster.

I think anyone who is a step up from a casual gamer would recognize the difference between 60hz and 120hz if they were somewhat familiar with a game. Especially games that required tracking your opponent with a mouse, such as aiming a hit scan weapon like a lightning gun where your goal is to keep a continuous beam on them while both of you move unpredictably.

It was especially apparent in Quake 3 back in the day. If you didn't run at 125 fps with a 120hz refresh rate you were at a disadvantage at competitive levels. Not even world class competitive, but enough to be good enough to play in tournaments with thousands of dollars in prizes.

If you ever want to see hardcore technical analysis of hardware from a gamer's POV, try reading forum threads from the early 2000s when ball mice started to transition to laser and optical mice. Or using after market Teflon pads on your mouse feet to get more consistent friction.

Fortunately most of these things were only a few bucks. Most competitive gamers in Quake would also use config settings that reduced the graphics quality[0] of the game to maximize visibility and get consistent frame rates.

[0]: https://www.esreality.com/files/inlineimages/2011/82175-conf...

Re: A 20-year-old CRT monitor can be better than a 4K LCD (2019)

#83

Post by nottorp »

amelius wrote: post #55
nottorp wrote: post #4

I have a different problem with LCDs. I still think they're too bright. With a CRT you could set everything to white on black and you had almost no light coming out of the screen. Also brightness meant brightness and you could turn it way down for when working in dim light or darkness. Of course i'm talking about text work here. Maybe when OLED monitors become affordable we'll go back to monitors that aren't basicall…

I think we need monitors with more dynamic range.

No thanks, because they add more light at the top not complete darkness at the bottom. The lantern shining in your eyes just gets brighter.

Incidentally this is how LCDs became so bright. So they can claim better contrast.

Re: A 20-year-old CRT monitor can be better than a 4K LCD (2019)

#84

Post by dreamofkoholint »

I have one of the variants(HP A7217A) sitting away gathering dust at a relative's place. Its weight/size just made it too difficult to move with over the years.

I hadn't realized they're still desired now. I'll have to dust it off and see if there's a buyer out there.

Re: A 20-year-old CRT monitor can be better than a 4K LCD (2019)

#85

Post by nottorp »

ashtonkem wrote: post #35
nottorp wrote: post #4

I have a different problem with LCDs. I still think they're too bright. With a CRT you could set everything to white on black and you had almost no light coming out of the screen. Also brightness meant brightness and you could turn it way down for when working in dim light or darkness. Of course i'm talking about text work here. Maybe when OLED monitors become affordable we'll go back to monitors that aren't basicall…

I’d recommend adding bias lighting to your monitor. It won’t make the monitor less bright, but it’ll light up the wall behind your monitor so there’s less of a contrast between the wall and your monitor, which reduces eye strain.

I tried that but looked like too much effort. Instead, I never turn off the room lights any more when using monitors. Seems good enough since oled is coming.

Re: A 20-year-old CRT monitor can be better than a 4K LCD (2019)

#86

Post by Moru »

Arubis wrote: post #78
srtjstjsj wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's mildly annoying but easily fixed with a touch of ambient lighting or a software tool looks f.lux. Brightness isn't nearly as bad for eye strain has contrast between the screen and ambient light.

Better even than f.lux was Nocturne ( https://github.com/strider72/blacktree-nocturne ), though it hasn’t worked in years. (Maybe a decade? I can’t even find screenshots.) Nocturne would let you invert your entire screen, then shift it to monochrome (ideally red). Obviously useless for gaming or color work, but I’ve not run across anything since that’s so great for late night text work across the whole OS.

I have switched all programs to darkmode where possible. If not possible I don't use it.

f.lux can do invert and redshift though: shift+alt+end

Re: A 20-year-old CRT monitor can be better than a 4K LCD (2019)

#88

Post by nottorp »

rburhum wrote: post #76
nottorp wrote: post #4

I have a different problem with LCDs. I still think they're too bright. With a CRT you could set everything to white on black and you had almost no light coming out of the screen. Also brightness meant brightness and you could turn it way down for when working in dim light or darkness. Of course i'm talking about text work here. Maybe when OLED monitors become affordable we'll go back to monitors that aren't basicall…

I have OLED screens all over my house - I can never tell if the monitors are on or off unless the screensaver kicks in. 0 regrets spending that money.

By "monitors" you mean TVs? Or did you buy some of the $3-4k monitors that seem to be available?

At a quick google there's nothing under 3k and they're either 21" (too small) or 55" (fine for console gaming but not for programming if you ask me).

Re: A 20-year-old CRT monitor can be better than a 4K LCD (2019)

#89

Post by [deleted] »

Arubis wrote: post #78
srtjstjsj wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's mildly annoying but easily fixed with a touch of ambient lighting or a software tool looks f.lux. Brightness isn't nearly as bad for eye strain has contrast between the screen and ambient light.

Better even than f.lux was Nocturne ( https://github.com/strider72/blacktree-nocturne ), though it hasn’t worked in years. (Maybe a decade? I can’t even find screenshots.) Nocturne would let you invert your entire screen, then shift it to monochrome (ideally red). Obviously useless for gaming or color work, but I’ve not run across anything since that’s so great for late night text work across the whole OS.

[deleted]

Re: A 20-year-old CRT monitor can be better than a 4K LCD (2019)

#90

Post by dreamofkoholint »

yardie wrote: post #28

I used to have one of these (GDM-FW900) at an old job, a long time ago. They were great monitors for the time, top of the line. They weighed almost 300lbs, IIRC. And like all CRTs they can put out some heat. LCDs at the time still left much to be desired so VFX houses weren't rushing to replace them with inferior, at the time, technology. I remember running mine at a higher refresh rate. 75Hz and 100Hz was easily rea…

Yes! I think the ability to watch lower-res video (even 480p) on them and still have a decent picture is what I miss the most.

It would be quite comical if the 300lb figure were correct, having lugged one around before. They hovered around 92lbs, though.

Post reply on HN