*CRT heaven

Tube Monitors: Why I Went Back to CRT and Don't Regret It

TL;DR: I got tired of the modern market of shitty monitors, traded a CRT dinosaur for a pack of coffee and I'm happy

Background: How they drove me to the breaking point

My first monitor, just like my TV, were bulky scary hissing Taiwanese boxes. But they could do that cool degaussing thing, boing and the picture would shake all cool like that.

Strange memories. However, I remember how amazed I was when I saw that my father had bought us a Philips plasma back then. One of the first ones. It weighed about 40 kilograms, ran hot, and the picture, as I understand now, was much worse. But for a kid, it was still something out of sci-fi movies. Just a little more and holograms would appear. Yeah, right.

In the 20 years of flat screen mediocrity, little has changed. One of the biggest breakthroughs was OLED and its subsequent forks.

I've tried everything, went through about 14 monitors and came to the conclusion you've already guessed. But let me tell you everything in order:

List of my sufferings:

1. IPS - viewing angles are great, but annoying backlight bleeding around the edges and muddy colors
2. VA - contrast seems okay, but motion blur like you're in fog
3. TN - fast, but colors like a Chinese phone from 2010
4. OLED - expensive as hell, burns out, and your eyes get fucked up tired. Though this is the only thing that gave me a WOW effect.

And everywhere there's this damn ghosting, blurred picture, millions of incomprehensible settings and garbage software (samsungs mostly).

About new technologies and how I ended up this way

To keep it short and not be boring, only 10% of IPS panel monitors are usable. The rest are impossible to look at either in sunlight or in darkness. VA is just shit by itself. I won't even talk about TN. OLED is barely playable and cool for watching movies, but this beast burns out, so no status bars :) And some people, including me, get eye pain after 3 hours.

My last setup:

• 34" MSI MAG 342CQR E2 as main
• 27" MSI MAG 27CQ6F on the left rotated for code, books, documents etc
• And for some time there was a xiaomi 23" on top

Before this, I tried all variations, configurations of popular panel types, resolutions, sizes and colors.

And everything was shit. Nothing worked. Everything had its own downsides, tons of flaws and quirks.

It would seem that having found the technically perfect OLED, which according to reviews didn't even burn out for a long time (wow), from a small Korean startup Samsung, which hasn't learned how to make software yet, I couldn't even settle on it:

1. The menu lags like it's a 2012 Xiaomi with all the world's viruses downloaded.
2. Why the hell does my monitor need Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. And why do I need to tie it to a Samsung account? My washing machine already sends them all the data, what else do they need?
3. Impossible to configure properly. Yes, even MSI or XIAOMI figured out that their monitor is not a TV in the living room and made separate software for their monitors, but Samsung - no.

Speaking of Chinese monitors, I can't help but mention their wonderful (not) visual elements. It's 2024, and the guys still make UI like pseudo-cyberpunk. Not clear who this is targeted at.

Anyway, there's clearly a holy grail on the market, perfect in everything and without obvious problems, but neither I nor any of my acquaintances have seen it, so here's your flowchart if you decide to also start searching for this mysterious monitor:

The moment of enlightenment

And it was on page 234876 of eBay that I remembered about CRT. Oh, how I love that day. For 6 hours straight I read forums, searched for live listings and dreamed about how I would rejoice and how my eyes would cry in ecstasy from the incredible aesthetics and color reproduction.

Daaamn, but the colors back then were ALIVE!

Well... almost. CRT monitors are indeed the best for true color reproduction, image quality, etc. It's important to make a note: good CRT monitors)

Theory: Why CRTs Rule

Modern monitors:

• 60Hz - garbage
• 120Hz - tolerable
• 240Hz - expensive and power-hungry

CRT monitors:

• 85Hz - standard, eyes don't get tired
• 100Hz - easily achievable on good monitors
• 120Hz - top-tier models (can be found in junkyard nowdays btw)

Color Reproduction

• Sharp text - no subpixel rendering
• Eyes don't get tired - no PWM backlighting
• Natural color reproduction - code is easier to read

Interpolation and Scaling

CRTs work analog. No digital pixel bullshit. Images look organic at any resolution. It's literally photons blasting straight into your head - yeah, super technology.

Additional CRT Advantages

• No input lag - what you see is what you get, instantly. Modern displays add processing delays that competitive gamers hate.
• Perfect motion clarity - no sample-and-hold blur that plagues LCD/OLED. Each frame is a brief flash, creating crystal-clear motion.
• Natural anti-aliasing - the electron beam creates smooth curves and diagonal lines without jagged edges.
• Unlimited refresh rates - not locked to fixed frequencies like digital displays. Want 73Hz? No problem.

I can talk for hours about the advantages of CRT monitors. But one thing I know for sure - the picture is truly better, more saturated, more alive.

They have soul, just like retro cars, you know

I won't cover all the technical specifications in this article, because it's an incredibly interesting and extensive topic that deserves at least a whole book. So now we'll just talk about what disadvantages they have, how and where to buy and service them, and my experience accordingly.

Disadvantages

• Size - 40 kg weight, takes up half the desk. I got a hernia because I had to carry it 3 kilometers and then 10 floors up the stairs
• Power consumption - 100-150W. Though come on, most tech consumes tens of times more these days. An air conditioner running for a week will consume as much as a CRT does in a year
• Finding them - good specimens are worth their weight in gold, they started getting bought up by online shooter enthusiasts due to zero ghosting. And also Smash rooms. Yeah, that's some real shit. So many brave CRT warriors fell in those...
• Flickering - really noticeable at 60Hz, so no-no to cheap and super-old models
• Dim picture in bright light - screen reflects lighting, image fades. But there's a bugfix - curtains. In my country there's short daylight hours and I work mostly at night, so not a problem for me

In general, this tech naturally requires a different approach than some cheap Chinese monitor. It can be temperamental, heavy. But it pays back for the effort and work with perfect characteristics.

Myths

Myth: "CRTs are harmful to eyesight"

Bullshit. Monitors with 60Hz frequency are harmful. At 85Hz+ there's no flickering.

Myth: "Resolution is too small"

1600x1200 at 21" gives 100 PPI. This is optimal for eyes without any scaling.

Myth: "Outdated technology"

Physics doesn't get outdated. Electron beam and phosphor is HONEST technology without crutches.

Myth: "CRTs emit dangerous radiation"

Modern CRT monitors emit less radiation than your smartphone. The electromagnetic field is minimal and well-shielded.

Myth: "They consume too much power"

A gaming PC with RTX 4090 consumes 600W+. A CRT monitor uses 100-150W. Your washing machine uses more power in one cycle.

Myth: "They break easily"

Quality CRT monitors from the 90s-2000s still work perfectly today. Many LCD monitors die after 5-7 years, while CRTs can last decades.

Myth: "Input lag doesn't matter"

Try playing competitive FPS on LCD vs CRT. The difference is night and day. Pro gamers didn't use CRTs for Counter-Strike tournaments for nothing.

Community: We're not alone

• forums - reddit, lemmy, etc. Maybe even IRC xoxo. Themed threads and forums everywhere
• internet - CRT database
• dotronix - the last CRT monitor manufacturer in the world
• your grandpa or dad

By the way, many often wonder how to repair them. Well... this monitor is 25 years old, what warranties? I think everyone has a handy friend who's a repair guy. In extreme cases, everything that can break there, except the tube itself - is repairable at home.

Soldering can dry out, capacitors can bulge, there can be focus or geometry issues. Everything can be fixed with a soldering iron and the internet.

Practice: My Downgrade

Search and Purchase

Spent a month scouring eBay, studying forums. Criteria were strict:

1. Diagonal minimum 21"
2. Frequency from 85Hz
3. Condition without burn-ins and cigarette smell

However, at a reasonable price (not $500) I couldn't find any living monitors, but my friend N. said that his colleague was just about to throw away his office old-timer, which had been propping up a warehouse door for the last 10 years. OH YEAH. Traded it for a can of good arabica. Damn, how much dust was in it! Good old Samsung SyncMaster 797MB.

By the way, there are still plenty of them at flea markets!

However, my dream is the Mitsubishi Diamond Pro, one of those $500 ones. It was made specifically for designers, with incredible color reproduction. There are not just units of them alive in Europe - but in the world.

Setup

# Config for X11/wayland(Linux)
# Config for X11/wayland(Linux)
Section "Monitor"
   Identifier "CRT-Monitor"
   VendorName "Samsung"
   ModelName "SyncMaster 797MB"
   HorizSync 30-96
   VertRefresh 50-160
   # Custom modelines for optimal refresh rates
   Modeline "1024x768@85"   94.50  1024 1072 1168 1376   768  769  772  808 +hsync +vsync
   Modeline "1280x1024@85" 157.50  1280 1344 1504 1728  1024 1025 1028 1072 +hsync +vsync
   Modeline "1600x1200@75" 202.50  1600 1664 1856 2160  1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync
EndSection

Section "Screen"
   Identifier "Default Screen"
   Monitor "CRT-Monitor"
   DefaultDepth 24
   SubSection "Display"
       Depth 24
       Modes "1600x1200@75" "1280x1024@85" "1024x768@85"
   EndSubSection
EndSection

# For modern systems using xrandr:
# xrandr --newmode "1280x1024_85.00" 157.50 1280 1344 1504 1728 1024 1025 1028 1072 +hsync +vsync
# xrandr --addmode VGA-1 "1280x1024_85.00"
# xrandr --output VGA-1 --mode "1280x1024_85.00"

First Impressions

HOLY SHIT. Seriously. Turned on the monitor, entered tty and almost teared up. This REAL BLACK COLOR. This ABSENCE OF BLUR. This PLEASURE FOR THE EYES.

Colors - alive, juicy, without that LCD plasticky feel Black color - really black, not gray No lag - analog signal flies instantly Viewing angles - you can look with your ass, colors don't distort Nostalgia - soul rejoices every time

Gameplay: Yes, I play on CRT in 2024

Seriously, the difference in reaction speed is colossal. Especially noticeable in dynamic scenes.

Doom, Quake, Half-Life - all this was CREATED for CRT. And only on CRT does it look the way developers intended.

Work

It became much easier for me to read code, eyes don't get tired at all, although it takes time to get used to at first, I love my chubby guy! However, many applications and UI are not designed for "square resolutions", so if your monitor has a small diagonal, be prepared for problems with lack of screen space. And modern games have the same story.

My Setup

• Main monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 797MB
• Secondary: MSI 27" for games and programs that work poorly
• Lighting: 60W incandescent bulb (no LEDs!)

Conclusion

The modern monitor industry is marketing masturbation. Every year they sell us new "revolutionary" matrices, but in fact it's the same LCD shit with minor improvements.

CRT monitors - this is technology that was perfected. Yes, they're heavy. Yes, they consume a lot of power. But they WORK and give a REAL picture.

Written on cool-as-fuck CRT in a vim. Eyes didn't get tired even after 8 hours of work.