Ok, I give up on monitors! (sort of)

[Kurak]

I've been searching the web for the best 19inch CRT to replace my 5 year old Sony Trinitron (amazing monitor)..

I just have a few questions...a lot of things are confusing...

Why do some companies give horizontal dot pitch instead of diagonal?

What is Shadow Mask?

What is better, Shadow mask or aperture grill?

What is used if it says neither shadow mask or aperture grill?

Which monitors are ACTUALLY perfectly flat?

What's the best 19" CRT for between 200-260 dollars...

Thanks!

 

[BillLeeLee]

1.) Horizontal Dot Pitch - dunno why, probably because it's lower than the dot pitch, fooling people into thinking their monitor will have insane dot pitch.

2.) Shadow Mask is a type of CRT display technology, like Aperture Grill. It's a metal plat with holes through which the CRT shoots the electron beam to produce the picture on screen.

3.) I'd have to say aperture grill, though you'd have to look at different monitors to make your own pick. AGs are brighter, Shadow masks tend to produce a sharper picture.

4.) If none is specified, then it'd depend on the monitor model.

5.) I don't know which monitors are actually perfectly flat. Most of the ones I've seen still have some concavity to the CRT.

6.) For that price, I'd probably say a Viewsonic G90F+ or an NEC FE991+. For maybe $300, you can get an NEC FP912 (this might be discontinued) or a Mitsubishi DP930 (the FP912's more expensive equivalent).

 

[Powerhouse2k]

Found this link using Google, this should answer some of your questions...

In trying to evaluate a monitor's quality, most people will usually talk about dot pitch. In general, the lower the dot pitch (measured in millimeters), the better the monitor. The problem is that dot pitch can be measured in many different ways, and therefore doesn't necessarily mean much. Traditionally, a shadow mask CRT's dot pitch is the distance between two of the same-colored phosphor dots (measured diagonally from one scan line to the next). However, in an aperture grill CRT there are no dots (only stripes), so dot pitch (or more accurately, stripe pitch) - is measured horizontally, between two of the same-colored stripes. For marketing purposes, shadow mask manufacturers started quoting horizontal dot pitch, too. There are also a few companies that publish their mask pitch instead. However, since the mask is about 1/2" behind the phosphor surface of the screen, a .21mm mask pitch might actually translate into a .22mm phosphor dot pitch by the time the beam strikes the screen. Finally, because CRT tubes are nearly (but not completely) flat, the electron beam tends to spread out into an oval shape as it reaches the edges of the tube, so some manufacturers will spread the dot pitch wider toward the edges. Some manufacturers will publish two dot pitch measurements, one for the center of the screen, and the second for the outermost edges.
- from Tom's Hardware Guide overview of CRT's - http://www.tomshardware.com/display/20011128/index.html