Hi,I'm about to upgrade to a new computer, and was wondering what are the pros and cons of a LCD versus a CRT monitor. I was leaning towards getting an 18" LCD, but would like some comments from those who currently own an LCD before deciding.Sincerely,Jeff

Hi Jeff,I am fairly new to this and as a result I bought a TFT screen and I lived to regret it. Luckily I managed to "swap" it for a MITSUBISHI 22" CRT which is fantastic! I AM AMAZED AT THE DIFFERENCE IN RESOLUTION BETWEEN TFT AND CRT. TFT I think is really for office work, CRT are definitely for Games. The difference with a good Graphics card is till huge! Ask your retailer to see if you can borrow a TFT screen and try it for yourself then do the same with a CRT and notice the difference. CRT screens are now comparatively cheap thanks to the success of TFT.I hope this helps.Best Wishes,ChrisVery Happy CRT Owner!EGBB

While I'm of the same basic mind as Chris above in my preference to date for CRT's, LCD screens are indeed improving by the day. The main factor that will make the biggest difference when it comes to games on an LCD is Response Time (also known as pixel refresh). A lower response time will alleviate the "ghosting" effect you see on LCD's where fast moving objects leave streaks of themselves across the screen - obviously a problem for most fast action games.FS is a relatively stately game when it comes to screen movement however, so its not quite as susceptible to this phenomenon than most others. However, I personally still prefer CRT monitors to LCD's exactly because of this.The good news is: within the past few months a new generation of LCD's have started to trickle out that have low response times... In the 17ms and lower range. Anything above 17ms wouldn't be worth your investment in my opinion since the newer generation is finally here. At 17ms and lower, the response time issue is all but gone.One other factor to keep in mind: all LCD's have a set resolution instead of variable resolutions like CRT's. With today's LCD's, this is almost always 1600x1200 or 1280x1024 (a not quite a 4:3 ratio that would make me avoid these). Because of their nature, anytime that you might be required to run at a lower non-native resolution for possible performance reasons (such as 1024x768, etc), the actual screen image will be "stretched" to fit the real resolution. This can introduce artifacts and make the image look quite bad. Unfortunately, some LCD's are much worse at doing this than others - and there's no way to tell by manufacturer without specifically seeing one in action or getting trusted recommendations from someone. If you don't have a top of the line system, keep this possible problem in mind.Beyond the two above stipulations, I do believe that LCD's are growing into the best choice. They provide a wealth of convenience factors that CRT's will never match: size, weight, energy use, brightness, perfect pixel alignment, auto-resolution aspect control, etc.The only real way to make your decision is to try a good quality LCD out for yourself... In store if you must, in home if at all possible. A few models to start at? Check out the Hitachi CML174SXW, NEC LCD1760V, NEC LCD1760NX, and future low response time monitors from LG, Samsung, ViewSonic, etc. Good luck,Elrond---MS Flight Simulator Tips and TricksEnthused AVSIM Peon - with minor Bucket and Mop duties (they only let me roam near the AVSIM toilets!)

Currently I'm looking at a new Viewsonic A90f+ 19" CRT; I wish I'd found out before about the Viewsonic P95B that's been highly rated by a couple of Web sites, but now my 14-day return period at Best Buy has just expired so it looks like I'll be keeping the one I'm looking at.On the floor next to me is an 17" Cornea MP704 LCD TFT monitor; I saw good user reviews for it at Amazon, so I gave it a try sight unseen, but it's going to be returned in the next day or two.And at the other end of the living room is a 19" Sony CRT that was sold as a closeout at Frys, but has fuzzy text in spreadsheets and on the Web, and must now be returned as defective.As you can probably guess, I find buying a decent monitor more challenging than assembling a good computer system. Part of the recent challenge was looking into the LCD vs. CRT issue. There was an interesting thread on the subject recently at Flightsim.com, and an interesting review of LCD monitors in PC Magazine, which you can probably access at PCMag.com. The majority of the opinion I've read has been very complimentary towards LCDs--and now I've read that Sony is even going to stop making 17" and 19" CRTs in favor of LCDs.Certainly LCDs have some obvious benefits, including bright, vivid colors, but having said that I find there to be no contest at all at the present between CRTs and LCDs. When all is said and done, if I move my viewpoint a few inches this way or that and then see a significantly different image, something's wrong. And that's what happened with the Cornea LCD--and it was the same with my wife's LCD in her office, and the ones I've been able to view on display at a computer store.For example, I started the LOMAC preview movie that shows several AI jets in action. There's one scene showing a Phantom taking off from an airfield (I'd seen it a number of times on a CRT), but when I viewed it on the LCD the grass of the airfield was totally washed out. Then I moved my point of view down a bit, and suddenly the grass appeared as I remembered it from the CRT.In Windows Explorer I have a set of the little yellow file folder icons down the left side of the screen. On the LCD the ones at the top had a vibrant yellow color, but looking down the list the folders below started to lose that uniform color and appeared washed out--and this was with my viewing position in the dead center of the screen. At the same time the first few file names listed at the top of the screen had what appeared to be an almost bold appearance, but those that followed after the first inch or so were not displayed in as heavy a typeface. And on my AOL sign-in screen, which is supposed to have a gray background, it was not a uniform background, but was in fact a gradient, going from a darker shade at the top to a lighter shade in the lower part of the display. Yes, I tried various settings and played around with viewing angles, but came to the conclusion that's just the way LCDs are at the current time, and that "change-as-you-move" variable picture is certainly not for me, though I understand others enjoy their LCDs a great deal.Of course it all comes down to personal preferences, but in reading some of the user feedback on the subject of LCDs, I think there's more room for the "con" side to go along with the "pros"; I hope you have some more of that now.

Hi,First of all, I want to thank all of you for your time and insight, which I found extremely helpful. After reading your replies, as well as the replies to several similar threads, I've decided to purchase a 19" CRT instead. While it may be bulkier than an LCD, it seems more tried and true for gaming (which is the primary reason for my decision to upgrade), as well as having the added bonus of being less expensive that a comparably sized LCD.Again, thank you all for your time and assistance. It is much appreciated.Sincerely,Jeff