Up till the late nineties, CRT monitors were the standard and the norm. Since the introduction of LCD monitors, more and more people have started to buy this new technology. Because of this demand, technology giant Sony, has started to phase out its CRT production. Does this mean that LCD monitors are better than CRT monitors? Well, let's compare some of the advantages and disadvantages of both types.

Colour:

The quality and clarity of colour is still better on CRT monitors when compared to a standard LCD monitor. But the new generation of LCD monitors incorporate technology which can compete with the best of CRT monitors. The new monitors are VGA TFT LCD and this makes all the difference. Placing them side-by-side, it would be difficult to spot the quality difference.

Brightness:

As LCD monitors contain more components than CRT monitors, it gives it an advantage when it comes to comparing brightness. LCD monitors are almost twice as bright as CRT monitors.

Size and Weight:

The comparison here is obvious. Almost all that LCD monitors are flat panel. This means they are easy to manoeuvre and placed in tight spaces. LCD monitors can be as thin as 1 inch. LCD monitors can appear on the smallest of devices such as pocket PDAs. Not only are CRT monitors fat and ugly, they can weigh almost 10 to 20 kilos more than LCD monitors.

Contrast:

The old LCD monitors weren't very good in dimmed situations. The contrast settings on a CRT monitor portray light situations as they should. However, the new era of LCD monitors are much better at colouring tones than before. If you place new LCD monitors and standard CRT monitors side-by-side, the difference is negligible.

There are many more items you can use for comparison purposes such as power consumption, screen burn, dead pixels, screen flickering, response time, rack mounting, magnetic interference and video sources. To read more, visit www.monitor-land.com

In conclusion, CRT monitors were better than the standard LCD screens but with todays technology, LCD manufacturers such as Sony and Dell, have moved forward and made the better screen type even better. I vote for LCD monitors.