Aja on 23/9/2008 at 00:41
That's a good idea; I bet it would actually work pretty well for LCDs, too.
Still, there's nothing quite like playing Thief in pitch-black.
IndieInIndy on 23/9/2008 at 00:56
Neither LCDs nor CRTs are completely black when turned on. CRTs come much closer, but non-emissive black is unpossible. Better monitors get closer, and it really is a matter of how good is good enough for you. Most people are happy with LCDs because they are brighter in the lower mid-range (25%-50%), making it easier to see. If you actually want darks, you're likely to feel LCDs are too bright.
On the other hand, LCDs have little to no color calibration ability, so if you need a monitor that do a really good job of reproducing colors, there are quite a few areas of the video/graphics industry where the pros will exclusively use only CRTs. CRTs do still get manufactured, but the high-end ones -- the really good ones -- are out of production. Those manufacturers want you to buy their LCDs, DLPs, and plasmas. I picked up a couple extremely nice 21" trinitrons when a previous employer tanked. Should have gotten more, but didn't have room for them, and now they're getting really long in the tooth.
Something else to keep in mind: it's safe to say all current game graphics are produced on LCDs (it's that way for every dev shop my company has dealt with). This is really obvious on CRTs: darks in newer titles are even darker (and if your CRT is getting older, it's even darker still). If someone were to make a stealth game, the "dark" areas will seem brightly lit to most of us taffers (and almost certainly have rim-lighting like T3 and that WW2 assassin chick game that's coming soon... or did it already ship?). I'm a CRT fanatic, and proud of it, but even I'm going to have to downgrade to using LCDs within a few years.
LCDs are (usually) good in a bright room, but CRTs win out for use in dark rooms and for reproducing dark colors, so it's no surprise they're very popular with taffers. (Not to mention that us crotchety old gamers tend to be ludites in regards to technological preferences.)
jtr7 on 23/9/2008 at 00:59
I remember when the bigger issue with LCDs was image smearing and trailing. I was glad this wasn't a problem when I finally got around to buying my laptop.
marshall banana on 24/9/2008 at 23:06
Quote Posted by qolelis
The mouse (seen to the right), on the other hand, was bought last year.
Ha! A pun.
Eye on 25/9/2008 at 01:08
that's it, i'm going to find an old crt. anyone have any tips on how to get it looking good on an LCD, as far as contrast, brightness and color levels?
Thief13x on 25/9/2008 at 01:23
Not sure if this helps at all but I found that keeping the gamma on the 8th notch in Thief 1 and 2 was as close as I could get after hours of f'ing with it. And keeping the screen at about a 5-10 degree angle angled backwards. Seriously, I would recommend waiting for the CRT, I was playing and wishing at the same time I hadn't played Thief as far as I did over the summer
Volca on 25/9/2008 at 12:01
Did someone have the chance to test Thief on some more exotic displays? I'd be interested if someone tried plasma for example. If so, how did it work?
DrK on 25/9/2008 at 12:18
Sometimes, I play it on my video-projector. Basically it's like a LCD, but way bigger. :cheeky:
With thief 3 it looks fantastic, and it adds a lot of atmosphere, you're inside the game. But with thief 1 & 2 it doesn't work that well, the old graphics just look awfull at such a size, you feel it's a waste to play these games on a projector.
So I only reserve the projector for fantastic fms (cosas, broken triad, ...) and to perfect the atmosphere of my missions.
Volca on 25/9/2008 at 13:38
That is something I'd like to try once - the only downside is you need a really dark room for the projector to work well. With some DLP ones, it's even possible to use shutter glasses :)
