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sworthy · Dec 8, 2003, 03:21 PM

I'm looking to buy a lcd, but before I do, how long will a typical lcd last? CRT's seem to last forever, will I be able to use this lcd years from now? Considering it can be such a huge investment this question seems pertinent.

wapangy · Dec 8, 2003, 03:28 PM

Originally posted by sworthy:
CRT's seem to last forever

Thats not what I'm used to. All the CRT's I've ever seen die after a while. Some completely screw up with the colors or brightness and start wigging out, some wont turn on. Or if not that, they at least lose their brightness and start to get burn in. I even had one that would degauss every 2 seconds.

I'm not sure about LCDs. As long as the power converter does not blow out (like in some older apple 17"s) I think the back light can dim a little and that about it. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

Immortal K-Mart Employee · Dec 8, 2003, 03:45 PM

My 15" Apple LCD looks the same as the day I bought it and it is 3 years old.

kpne1home · Dec 8, 2003, 04:32 PM

My 17" just turned 2 years old in Nov. Its a great buy.

si_lance · Dec 8, 2003, 07:13 PM

LCD technology gets better and better... if the LCDs they put in old laptops like the Pismo still work to this day, the new ones are sure to last a long time. Friend of mine still has his 15" from 5 years ago, and it looks like the day he got it except for all the glue around the frame where he constantly puts stickies.

maybe it was 4 years ago...

Link · Dec 9, 2003, 01:43 AM

quite a while.. LCDs can last as long as you want them to provided you refresh the backlight

WizOSX · Dec 9, 2003, 06:47 AM

Originally posted by Link

LCDs can last as long as you want them to provided you refresh the backlight

Do you mean that one would just take it to a shop and have the backlight replaced? Have you ever had that done? It seems to me it would be too expensive to be worthwhile, considering the falling cost of LCD panels.

sebastian haff · Dec 10, 2003, 12:42 AM

Depends on the way the display is built and what the light source is, Flouresent backlighting should be cheap enough for a replacement to be feasable. Electroluminesent panels would be trickier and more costly. LED backlighting would proably outlast the usefulness of the display

NYCFarmboy · Dec 10, 2003, 07:04 AM

The biggest problem of CRTs is that they lose sharpness over time.

They severely degrade in screen sharpness after about 3 or 4 years of heavy use.

You don't realize it until you replace your moniter, but when you do, you will be amazed at how much it hurts your eyes to have to use your old CRT moniter compared to a LCD.

I replaced a 3 year old 21" Viewsonic with a Formac 21" LCD. I still have to use the old 21" with a old G3 tower I use set up to a old Scuzzy scanner about once a month or so. It actually hurts your eyes to have to look at the old CRT because it is so fuzzy.

As to LCD's, I purchased a orange clamshell ibook on ebay as a collectors item bascially... the screen looks brand new to me. bright, clear, sharp, beautiful, and it is 4 years old, and looks new.

chaldean oracle · Dec 10, 2003, 08:10 AM

Related question:

I want to do everything I can to extend the lifetime of my displays, which as I understand is basically determined by the backlight. Certainly that means setting the monitor to 'sleep' after a pretty short delay.

But I wonder whether turning down the brightness for ordinary use makes a difference? Or is having the backlight 'on' using it up, regardless of brightness setting?

todrain · Dec 10, 2003, 11:29 PM

It seems like over the years my 500mhz iBook lost a little bit of it's brightness, but was still sharp as ever.

The backlight on the 20" is so strong that I can use it unless I change the brightness to 50% Even if this one will get a but dimmer with age, it'll still be fine by me!

fishguy · Dec 11, 2003, 01:42 PM

A crt typically lasts about 3-4 years before the guns degrade to the point where it can no longer be calibrated properly. Most graphic oriented offices replace crt's at or before 3 years. The jury is not out yet on the longevity of lcds because ones that can be calibrated properly (i.e. cinema displays) have not been out long enough. It has been estimated that they should last much longer than a crt but that is just a guess.

By the way, just because your monitor puts an image on the screen does not mean that it is working properly. You probably won't care very much if all you use is word and surf occasionally, but if you have ever calibrated your monitor you will understand what a "working monitor" looks like.

fishguy · Dec 11, 2003, 01:47 PM

...forgot to tie this in. So, if a high quality crt only lasts about 3-4 years, than many monitors destined for "consumers" lasts <3 years before the guns degrade significantly.

By the way, when calibrating a typical monitor, one almost always has to turn down the brightness to get a properly calibrated image. This also has the side benefit of increasing the monitors longevity.

dgbatchelor · Dec 14, 2003, 06:09 PM

After using LCD monitors, it is difficult to imaging giving up all of that deskspace ever again for a CRT.

mike one · Dec 17, 2003, 07:30 AM

Originally posted by fishguy:
...forgot to tie this in. So, if a high quality crt only lasts about 3-4 years, than many monitors destined for "consumers" lasts <3 years before the guns degrade significantly.

well no. a consumer probably user their computer monitor maybe 1-3 hours per day.
a high end DTP/graphic arts place 8-16 hours a day. in the end cost isn't going to make the high end monitors outlast the 'consumer' ones. if you buy a good monitor it will last you years. my sony 17" from 1999 is just about perfect today, i just put it to sleep when it isn't in use.

as far as lcds go, they have gotten pretty damn cheap. that above mentioned monitor cost me $400 back then, worth every penny. a good lcd now goes for about the same, and yes apple lcds are way way overpriced....especially given the low resolution of them. well that is my opinion...