Skynet on 28/2/2006 at 07:11
As I understand, TFT´s cannot display pure black and generally sucks with dark colors.
Any experiences, how the Thief series looks on TFT´s?
Aja on 28/2/2006 at 07:14
Mediocre. Unless you turn the brightness up and sacrifice having actual DARK shadows... Thief looks best on a CRT, hands down. If you don't believe me, do a comparision; the difference is huge.
Of course, I ended up buying a crummy (
http://www.samsung.com/Products/Monitor/CRT_Flat/LE19ISBBQ.asp) Samsung CRT that can't do decent black levels either, but it's the only one of it's kind I've ever seen. I have a 15" Compaq monitor with a better contrast ratio. :mad:
Most other games though, will look great on a TFT. Half Life, Far Cry, etc, all look wonderful on bright LCD screens.
Gingerbread Man on 28/2/2006 at 08:32
Thief looks fine on my TFT. Most of the time the problem is that people haven't spent quality time with the monitor settings and a decent gamma calibrator. Make the effort to tweak things up nice, and -- assuming you've got a good-quality TFT with a nice contrast ratio -- everything's peachy.
Rogue Keeper on 28/2/2006 at 09:00
LCDs can display pure black when their pixels burn out. Long live The Tube!
inselaffe on 28/2/2006 at 10:38
Does anyone know of something (like website or software or whatever) that I can use to tweak my tft's gamma correction (you can set between 0,1,2 or 3 :S - set to 1 atm) colours (adjust rgb - all set to 50 atm out of 100), brightness (set to 50 out of 100) and contrast (set to 20 out of 100) because I don't think they are perfect at the moment, but I'd something as a guide to set them up as I don't know how to know what is "right" at the moment :S
Cheers, Daniel
Yametha on 28/2/2006 at 10:50
The trouble with tweaking a TFT is that it changes depending on where your head is in the vertical plane relative to the TFT. Which means that if you don't have your screen at the same height as your head, something as little as not sitting in the same place each time you sit down makes a difference.
Sometimes when I have trouble seeing something in a dark corner, rather than increase the gamma, I simply lean forward.
Gingerbread Man on 28/2/2006 at 20:21
That's why (for instance) laptops are poor choices for things like that -- with a larger screen and a high viewing angle, that's not a problem. Admittedly, mine's a rather huge 24" widescreen, so I actually have to move the chair and sit at probably 70 or 80 degrees before things wash out.
And then there's the whole "ambient room light" thing you need to address.
As far as online calibration tools go, Google up "monitor calibration" and use more than one that you find. But that isn't necessarily going to do the whole trick (and make sure it's a TFT calibration thing if possible) -- also get your hands on something like Adobe Gamma. I don't know where to get it, I think it just comes with Photoshop or something. I never downloaded it, it's just here magically and mysteriously, so I assume it's part of a suite.
Aja on 1/3/2006 at 02:01
When I had my LCD, I spent more time calibrating than playing, and I couldn't get Thief to look good (Thief 2 looks worse actually, since it has that strange filter over the screen at all times).
I've never seen an LCD that could come close to the contrast ratio of a CRT, gamma adjustment or not.
242 on 1/3/2006 at 10:43
I think that for games (not only for Thief) and graphics in general CRTs with good tubes (Sony, Mitsubishi) is better than any LCD screen. I can't see a reason why not use CRT at home if you have space for it, it's cheaper and gives true colours and blackness. It's not so elegant and stylish but that's not a good reason to discard CRTs for home use.
Rogue Keeper on 1/3/2006 at 11:31
Quote Posted by 242
I can't see a reason why not use CRT at home if you have space for it, it's cheaper and gives true colours and blackness. It's not so elegant and stylish but that's not a good reason to discard CRTs for home use.
While LCDs have at least two considerable advantages :
- power saving (good for your wallet)
- no flickering & radiation (good for your eyes)
Plus, I think LCDs can be recycled easier and they don't contain such toxic substances (need confirmation).
