For years I was one of those pretentious people who resisted the switch from CRT to LCD monitors, but then we all kinda forgot about being pretentious and went to LCD anyways. I still do stand by this point though, as my unfortunate hobby choice of collecting old computers means I have quite a few CRT monitors. Even today, I feel as though the motion clarity and color on CRTs is far better than what we get on LCDs.

In the 2000s there was a major debate over LCD vs CRT monitors, mostly due to input lag. This debate largely became obsolete when CRT monitors stopped being produced, as the decision was effectively made for us, but the issue has yet to go away. Modern "gaming" monitors, even with their 165hz refresh rates, still have a 4-6ms input lag. Using milliseconds as a unit of measurement probably sounds absurd to any normal person, but for those playing competitive games and beat 'em up games, this can actually make a difference. You're effectively having a few frames between you hitting W on your keyboard and you actually moving, which can make all the difference. CRTs have zero input lag, as there's nothing digital going on, it's just an analogue signal being beamed up as soon as it get's received.

Now, the previous example only really applies to the most mentally compromised of computer users, such as myself, but I suspect this one will resonate with more people. If you've done just about anything on an LCD display, odds are you've noticed that the color black tends to appear as more of a grey. This is due to the fact that LCD monitors need to have a backlight on constantly, and as such, a 'true' black can't really be made. CRT monitors never had this issue, as every individual piece of the screen was drawn independently from one another, so black areas simply had nothing at all. This color clarity probably doesn't matter as much to those who just play games or answer emails, but as someone who frequently consumes media on my LCD display, it irrationally annoys me.

Basically, if you care at all about motion clarity or color clarity, a CRT is technically better. LCDs are a lot easier to come by nowadays, though, and come in a much wider range of sizes. Besides, do you really want to deal with a CRT nowadays? Probably not.

There's one specific display technology I haven't mentioned, however, OLED. OLED is effectively the modern manifestation of the CRT, as they both use extremely similar methods for display. OLED has near zero input lag, and perfect blacks, but it does suffer from one thing. It's expensive as hell. In 5 years I do believe OLED will be the best display method, but up until then, I'm gonna have to pass on a $1000 monitor.

This article strategically ignored the fact that CRT monitors are absolute behemoths and super finicky at times, but I did want to shill my favorite display technology. Which is really better? I don't really know, but I don't care either, I use both. Use CRTs if you like radiation, I guess. TM out.