Flat panel monitors the thing of the future?

mstubble · January 15th, 2002, 05:33 PM

The one thing that flat-panels don't seem to be very good at is 3D gaming. They are almost hard to see. Hopefully some of the newer technologies can correct that.

storm2k · January 15th, 2002, 05:37 PM

i don't know. it depdends. went to compusa and they had quake3 up on a flat panel and i thought it looked pretty good.

jadison · January 15th, 2002, 06:17 PM

I agree with Mark as far as the performance issues in gaming and other High-End graphics apps. (ie. AutoCAD, etc.), they'll have to come up with a different design and structure in order for the Flat-Panel to compete with a traditional CRT, something other than LCD.

As far as Flat-Panel's replacing CRT's...that may happen, but what the market is starting to notice is that a shortage of these displays is in the near future, meaning that the excess monitors will be used up, and we may start to notice the price of Flat-Panels to increase.

Personally, I hope to purchase a FP b4 the price goes up past $350...I need a space saver.

-=jadison=-

Imanage · January 15th, 2002, 06:35 PM

For general purpose tasks and especially for kids, I have "upgraded" all of my smaller CRTs to LCD monitors. I still have a 19"CRT since the larger LCDs are out of my price range. Working with a LCD is much easier on the eyes and I wouldn't think of going back to a CRT monitor unless I needed it. The power and space saving seems to outweigh the loss of some true-color and blurring when doing some tasks. Now if they could only guarantee that you won't get a dead or bright pixel when you buy the LCD.

AuraEdge · January 15th, 2002, 06:59 PM

I agree with what Jadison said, and would like to elaborate more based on my personal preference.

As an avid computer gamer, I must admit I'm pretty torn between LCD and CRT.
CRT's biggest advantage to me is the ability to do many resolutions without interpolation or distortion of any kind. Different games run in different resolutions, and you want a good picture for gaming. The lack of blurrage due to slow pixel refresh rate is also an issue, but I think can be addressed by better LCD technology, while the interpolation/distortion problem seems to be here to stay with LCD's.

Now...also as a gamer, I do LAN parties every so often. LAN parties means moving a screen around. This is where LCD stomps the CRT. Bringing my CRT to a party is a big trudge and has more than once detered me from going because I wasnt up to hauling it to the car and back.

What a gamer like me could do is get a CRT for home and LCD for LAN (and also as a secondary screen at home), but then you would be forced to go with the lower quality or smaller LCD than what you would have bought because you would then have to split your monitor budget between two monitors.

However, for non Graphics/Games people, LCD is the next cool piece of hardware. Theres one snag here though. Non-graphics, non-gamers are for the most part office machines. And with office machines, the old Pentium II computer is sufficient to run word, excel, access, etc, and theres no point in upgrading the computer. Its very unlikely they would upgrade just the monitors. Until a new killer app in the office field comes in that requires more CPU power, theyll probably just stick with what they got.

Most of the people who moan and groan that thier computers too slow and needs an upgrade or a new computer are graphics/gaming people, who for the most part prefer CRT's.

If they can come out with something thin that can use multiple resolutions without distortion problems (like Flat CRT or something), then were cooking. I heard this was brewing somewhere, but who knows when itll be ready.

jgargac · January 16th, 2002, 01:40 AM

I will continue to use a CRT monitor until flat panels can produce the same warm color that my monitor gives me. I think that CRT monitors are definitely superior in performance.

Besides, I haven't seen an affordable flat panel that can run 1280 x 1024

Jeff

zen · January 29th, 2002, 08:41 AM

When your tight on Deskspace, an LCD is a godsend. A shame the 15in is the only affordable size.

AuraEdge · January 29th, 2002, 12:32 PM

Ok
So i lied.
I ordered a LCD last week (17.4" Black Planar from Dell for 593 Shipped)
It was a good deal, as this screen is a good quality one and not one of the cheapos (25ms total fresh rate, 12x10, MVA, High luminance, contrast and viewing angle, analog/digital, pivot, USB hub, built in speakers, BLACK!) and I just got 3 paychecks last week in the mail from October/November that I never picked up.
Since I already have this awesome 19" screen and ample deskspace, and since I play quite a bit of games, I'll use it as my secondary for a while probably. Lan parties wont hurt anymore though.
It was a treat for myself really, and I eventually was gunna get one anyways, mainly for the Lanning, and that if I built another computer, I would need another monitor. Also I havent upgraded since...Speakers in november or so, and the upgrade bug was getting a bit antsy.

Maybe you were right, Storm

bhess · January 29th, 2002, 05:49 PM

I kept saying to myself, self, you should get a 17in when the price drops down to reasonable amount. I got a 15in for the wife for xmas for $229. I couldn't pass that one up. I don't use hers much but I'm not thrilled with the refresh rate. Just scrolling down is kinda jerky. I think I'll stick with my 19 inch till she blows. Then maybe a 21in? It should fit if I knock a hole in my drywall.

**GroundZero3** · January 29th, 2002, 05:54 PM

does laptops count as flat panels? if so i have a 14.1 inch super XVGA monitor on my lappy and i play q3 and red faction along with starcract (which i know is 2d) worked very well when i took it to my work LAN party last friday night

JaYsin