Flat Panel Screens OK for CAD?

Hi all

Can anyone advise on the clarity of flat panel screens for CAD use?
Our Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 21" CRTs are failing.

Looking at the general office PCs the clarity for accurate vector work
doesn't look so hot!
Any recommendations welcome for, say, 19" viewable alternatives.

TIA

Phil

 

I love my two Envision 17" side by side. I like my SONY 19" on another
system. I want to get an HP widescreen soon. Compared to them all my CRTs
look old.

 

Thanks George
Do you have model numbers for these so I can look at specs etc?
Are you using these for regular/prolongued periods of drafting work?

Phil

 

I use a Proview (cheap?) 17" LCD TFT and it's fine. Needs to be set to
1280x1024 True Color 32-bit to get the best out of it. I use it for
several hours a day with no problems.

 

LCD's do look a little different at first but you very quickly get used to
it. Staring into one for hours is far easier on the eyes than a CRT. And of
course they have the full display area per diagonal measurement, so a 17"
LCD gives you about the equivalent real estate of a 19" CRT.

I use a Dell 19" (under $300) that's just fine, and it has the capability of
rotating as well. Vertical orientation yields a square drawing area in CAD
(depending on where you keep your toolbars) which is handy if your drawings
are oriented both ways.

Keep in mind wide screen monitors are significantly shorter in height than
4:3's for the same diagonal measurement. For a thousand bucks, Dell has a
beatiful 24" monitor that would be a great CAD display.

Have fun!
Joe

 

LCDs are excellent for CAD. Make sure you use native resolution or the
image will be interpolated resulting in fuzziness. Also, if using analog
instead of digital signal input make sure to manually or automatically
sync the settings or you may have vertical lines of waviness. I suggest
you read the article Clinton G linked to. The upshot is don't buy on
specs but instead go to the stores and try out the monitors . Naturally
to try the monitors you must follow the above guidelines. I burned a
copy of the free utility "Nokia monitor tester" and took it with me into
the stores. Compusa, Circuitcity, Staples, and Officemax all allowed me
to run the tester. Bestbuy was the only store that would not let me run
the tester but then Bestbuy sucks anyway. A couple of years ago I found
Samsungs to be the sharpest followed by Sony but that may have changed.
I've been using my 19" Samsung for Autocad and love the image quality
and ease of strain on the eyes.
You can DL a copy of the tester here-
http://freepctech.com/rode/004.shtml
It can run right from a CD without having to install.

 

I am using a pair of EN7410e Envision 17" flat panel LCDs side by side on
an ATI X850XT PCI Express card on a system I just put together. I
particularly like have dual monitors side by side with Hydrovision
displaying as one long monitor. Perfect for most prints as the display is
now twice as long as it is wide. Each monitor has .875 border so when placed
together it is second best and one quarter the price of the HP widescreen I
would like to get. I believe I bought the pair on sale for $189 and are now
much higher. I have a Sony SDM-HS95P 19" Digital flat panel and an Envision
EN-910e 19" CRT on another system and of coarse the SONY looks many times
better but sells for $500. I plan on giving away all my CRTs now to make
room for LCDs. They are much easier on the eyes when I am at the screen for
most of the day sometimes.

George

 

I have been using a Dell 18" Ultrasharp LCD for several years. Acad,
Solidworks etc. I live it and wouldn't trade it.

Rudy

 

Many thanks to all respondents.
This has given me a valuable insight into unknown technology, from the most
important analysts available - the users.

Phil

 

Rudy

I have just been looking at the aspect ratio of the model offered to us
16:10.

This means that a 20" LCD screen is about 10.7" high x 17" wide by my
calculations.
The height of our current 21" CRTs is 1" greater, useful for the Acad
pulldowns and standard toolbars.
Is your screen similarly "squat" and if so how do you go on with screen
menus etc?

TIA

Phil