[WEB4LIB] Re: Large screen monitors for public computers

[Walt_Crawford at notes.rlg.org]

With regard to Lee Jaffe's posting...I'm not sure I buy what the tech said,
but I also wouldn't argue with Lee or with ViewSonic.

I don't argue that ViewSonic doesn't make good displays; I'm sure they do.

Well, actually, they don't make _CRTs_. There are only about half a dozen
CRT manufacturers for computer displays--Sony, Mitsubishi, NEC, Hitachi,
and maybe one or two others. And it's the CRT the tech was talking about.
In fact, ViewSonic does sell aperture-grille displays
[Trinitron/Diamondtron] as well as shadow-mask displays ("dot" CRTs).

Don't know about the aging. The two tensioning wires that are the visible
flaw on every 17"-21" Trinitron should prevent that warping, but what do I
know?

I've used five-year-old Trinitron displays that are as crisp as ever (and
>10-year-old Trinitron TV sets, but those use a coarser image structure
anyway). Every CRT ages. I've used four-year-old shadow-mask displays that
were nearly useless--and older ones that were fine.

I was really just saying that the Trinitron "premium" is trivial on very
large displays, and that there are a lot more Sony CRTs out there than you
might think, being sold under any number of brand names...and that, in _my_
experience and to my taste, they're superior displays. As always, your
mileage may vary.

I get nervous about displays that are a _lot_ cheaper than the brand names
because I tend to think they've cut corners on the support electronics and
power supplies--and probably used the cheapest CRTs they could buy,
longevity and focus be damned. ViewSonic is not a cheapo manufacturer;
they're a name brand with a reasonably long track record.

-walt crawford