Need help selecting a high quality 19-inch (or bigger) CRT

I have a new desk and I'm now sitting farther from my 17-inch monitor.
This has had me looking for a larger monitor. I have been having
trouble finding a good high quality 19-inch monitor and I could use
some recommendations. Here are my requirements:

Must run 1280x1024 at 85 Hz refresh (for Windows, games will probably
be at 1024x768).
Must have excellent text quality at 1280x1024 (32-bit color if that
matters).
Must have the same text quality in the corners as well as the center
of the screen.
Must have good geometry (should get mostly square).
All of the above must apply when the output is stretched to fill the
entire screen area.
I would prefer a flat screen or close to flat screen (aperature
grille) CRT.
I prefer shadow-masks because they don't have the 2 wires in the
screen that the apperature grilles have. However, if an apperature
grille can meet my text display requirements I will consider using one
at this point.

I'm using a GeForce 4400 Ti card and I have read that perhaps this may
lead to lower quality 2d graphics compared to ATI or Matrox, any truth
to this? At this point, however, I'm not going to spend another $300
to get a comparable video card.

I currently use a 17-inch Samsung 700IFT at 1280x1024 and aside from
some ghosting with blacks next to whites I find the quality to be
excellent.

I have tried:
19-inch Samsung 955DF, it was blurry at 1280x1024 and had terrible
geometry, returned next day.
19-inch Samsung 957MB, text was fuzzy in the corners (colors seemed to
seperate or loose convergence) and it had a terrible "bow" across the
top of the screen that bent the upper corners downward. Returned
after 3 days.

It really seems that there may be a lack of over-all quality in the
current crop of 19-inch monitors based on the reviews I have read.
Most people seem to run at 1024x768 on these monitors and are
unaffected by a lot of the issues. It seems that the LCD market is
getting more attention from the manufacturers.

I will consider spending the extra money to get a 21-inch monitor if
the quality warrants it. I would probably increase my default Windows
resolution to 1600x1200. I don't want to have to return the 21-inch
because I will probably have trouble transporting it (will have to
remove it from the box to get it into my car). So I will need to be
very confident in the quality.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I completely agree. Hitachi made the best tubes and they no longer do
so. That leaves Samsung as the "leader" in CRT's, but they were never
as good as Hitachi.

Look for one of the Hitach Superscan 752 monitors on eBay or the KDS
KD-1911 (also called the VS-195e). Both are over 2 years old, but
have that killer Hitachi 19" tube. Razor sharp text and great
graphics. I'm sure there are others, but I only have experience with
those two models. Geometry is a hit or miss. Sorry, but anything
over 17" in a conventional CRT will have geometry problems.


Oh, one more thing. Get rid of that crappy nVidia GeForce. If you
want good 2D and text, get an ATI or Matrox.

-Rob




On 19 Jul 2003 17:36:57 -0700, carrmic DeleteThis @attbi.com (Michael P. Carroll)
wrote:

 >I have a new desk and I'm now sitting farther from my 17-inch monitor.
 > This has had me looking for a larger monitor. I have been having
 >trouble finding a good high quality 19-inch monitor and I could use
 >some recommendations. Here are my requirements:
 >
 >Must run 1280x1024 at 85 Hz refresh (for Windows, games will probably
 >be at 1024x768).
 >Must have excellent text quality at 1280x1024 (32-bit color if that
 >matters).
 >Must have the same text quality in the corners as well as the center
 >of the screen.
 >Must have good geometry (should get mostly square).
 >All of the above must apply when the output is stretched to fill the
 >entire screen area.
 >I would prefer a flat screen or close to flat screen (aperature
 >grille) CRT.
 >I prefer shadow-masks because they don't have the 2 wires in the
 >screen that the apperature grilles have. However, if an apperature
 >grille can meet my text display requirements I will consider using one
 >at this point.
 >
 >I'm using a GeForce 4400 Ti card and I have read that perhaps this may
 >lead to lower quality 2d graphics compared to ATI or Matrox, any truth
 >to this? At this point, however, I'm not going to spend another $300
 >to get a comparable video card.
 >
 >I currently use a 17-inch Samsung 700IFT at 1280x1024 and aside from
 >some ghosting with blacks next to whites I find the quality to be
 >excellent.
 >
 >I have tried:
 >19-inch Samsung 955DF, it was blurry at 1280x1024 and had terrible
 >geometry, returned next day.
 >19-inch Samsung 957MB, text was fuzzy in the corners (colors seemed to
 >seperate or loose convergence) and it had a terrible "bow" across the
 >top of the screen that bent the upper corners downward. Returned
 >after 3 days.
 >
 >It really seems that there may be a lack of over-all quality in the
 >current crop of 19-inch monitors based on the reviews I have read.
 >Most people seem to run at 1024x768 on these monitors and are
 >unaffected by a lot of the issues. It seems that the LCD market is
 >getting more attention from the manufacturers.
 >
 >I will consider spending the extra money to get a 21-inch monitor if
 >the quality warrants it. I would probably increase my default Windows
 >resolution to 1600x1200. I don't want to have to return the 21-inch
 >because I will probably have trouble transporting it (will have to
 >remove it from the box to get it into my car). So I will need to be
 >very confident in the quality.
 >
 >Any help will be greatly appreciated.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->