Content area
Full Text
Even in today's hunker-down economy, you shouldn't be too stingy when considering monitor quality and size. We've put seven 19-inch CRT models from Compaq, EIZO, Hitachi, iiyama, NEC-Mitsubishi, Princeton, and Samsung through the ringer each represents a good compromise between large screen size and low cost.
CRT monitors seem more and more like old technology compared with the latest LCD displays, yet they still offer many benefits over their newfangled competitors. CRTs still hold a price advantage (although recent, dramatic drops have brought 15inch LCDs to the $500 price point that the image-size equivalent 17inch CRTs enjoyed not terribly long ago). Aside from cost, the next most visible advantages are the CRT's superior viewing angle, ability to support higher resolutions, and its ability to support many resolutions without annoying artifacts (unlike LCDs, which produce their best image at only one resolution).
Less obvious is the ability of many (but not all) CRTs to support stereoscopic display with the addition of liquid crystal shutter glasses or other related devices and the good match between its analog nature and the analog signal generated by graphics cards.
Ease of Setup
Although monitors have improved in a number of ways over the past several years, one of the most significant changes has been a descending price point. A consequence seems to be that the pressure on price has hurt the ability of manufacturers to make even more improvements to image quality, especially in terms of monitor setup-a crucial step if you want a good and accurate image. For instance, only one monitor in this review (the EIZO) includes adjustment software that communicates directly with the monitor. Such an interface almost always makes it far easier to adjust the monitor than the often-cumbersome controls on the display itself Even so, this feature is the rare exception rather than the norm.
The fact that most monitors aren't any easier to configure properly, especially when it comes to color and contrast/brightness settings, makes it difficult to get the best possible image out of a monitor, much less calibrate it to match the standard colorspace of the Web and other modern imaging technologies.
Color Accuracy and Calibration
Aside from the typical CRT-related adjustments dealing with image size, shape, beam convergence, moire patterns,...