LCD vs CRT

OK here's the deal...

I've been using an LCD monitor for a while now and I use the Spyder II for calibration. Sometimes the prints I order, don't look like how I expect them too...but I haven't tried using printer profiles etc. What I really don't like is how the display looks different depending on the angle I'm looking at it. If I'm having a hard day, I might be slouching and the display looks different than if I'm sitting up straight.

So anyway, I procured a fairly nice (& large) CRT monitor that I used to use at work. I've set them both up on my home computer and my plan was to edit images on the CRT because the display always looks the same.

I used the Spyder II, to calibrate the CRT and it looks drastically different than the LCD (which I didn't calibrate but it looks similar to how it was last time I calibrated it). I tried a quick test and opened an image and edited it on the CRT. When I drag it over to the LCD side it looks way, way over cooked with too much contrast and saturation. Alternatively, an image edited on the LCD looks dull and flat on the CRT.

I did let the CRT warm up for close to an hour before I calibrated it...it did look really dull before calibration and still looks somewhat dull afterward. I'm wondering if it's suffering some ill affects from not being used for the last several months.

I guess the real test will be when I have prints made...but for now, I'm somewhat perplexed as to what's going on.

Any ideas or insights?

 

That's what I thought...although, technology changes faster than books can be written & published (on average)...I know that top end LCD screens are pretty darn good. Mine's not a top end one...and my CRT is or was probably close to $1000 when it was purchased.

I guess I'll see how it pans out...thanks for the input.

 

Thank you...that is the advice I was hoping for. I used to use this CRT at work all the time and when they replaced it with an LCD I asked if I could take it home. I was moving (last week) so I didn't bother to take the monitor home until yesterday. When I turned it on...it was much duller and cloudier than I ever remembered it being. I let it warm up for an hour before I calibrated it.

I'll follow your advice and leave it on for a long while and try again.

 

Oh for sure...I always browse the forum or whatever for a while, to let the monitor warm up...before I get down to image editing

 

I agree, calibration is very important. Back in the day, I think CRT monitors were fairly accurate on average, so it wasn't something that the average person thought about. When I got my first LCD I could never quite get it right until I bought a calibration tool. The difference after the first calibration was fairly dramatic.

If you are serious about digital photography & image editing...calibration is money well spent.

I suggest the ColorVision Spyder II and I've heard good things about the Pantone Huey.