Many companies have cut the production of CRT monitors except for the extremely high end and low end. In fact, most desktop computer systems sold now by default come with LCD monitors. Still to know the difference between the two will help your purchasing.

The primary advantage that CRT monitors over computer lcd monitor was the color rendering. The contrast ratios and depths of colors displayed were much greater with CRT monitors. While this is true for many strides made in LCDs, this difference is not as great as it once was. Many graphic designers still use the very expensive large CRT monitors in their work, because the color advantages are different. Of course, this color ability does degrade over time as the phosphors in the tube break down.

The other advantage that CRT monitors have is the ability to easily scale to various resolutions. This is referred to as multisync by the industry. By adjusting the electron beam in the tube, the screen can easily be adjusted downward to lower resolutions while keeping the picture clarity intact.

The biggest advantage to large LCD monitors is their size and weight. As was mentioned, the size and weight of an LCD monitor can be lighter than an equivalent dimension CRT screen. This makes it possible to users to have larger screens for their computers than was possible before.

The most notable disadvantage to LCD screens is their fixed or native resolution. An pc lcd monitor screen can only display the number of pixels in its matrix. It can display a lower resolution in one of two ways, using only a fraction of the total pixels on the display or through extrapolation. Extrapolation is a method whereas the monitor blends multiple pixels together to simulate a single smaller pixel. This can often lead to a blurry or fuzzy image particularly with text when running the screen below is native resolution.