Do they match well, or better stay with the normal monitors???

Personally... I find TFT monitors very err... wishy/washy and unless your surrounding light and veiwing angle are exactly right... hard to work with. Can't beat the good old chunky CRT monitor for clear details. Just MHO.

I'm working with a 17" TFT here. No problems at all. Chris

TFTs usually have better calibration for color/contrast/etc, but that still depends on the make/model/OS. :) The good things about quality TFTs:

• Viewable area (17" TFTs are 17" viewable)
• Crispness
• Weight and size
• Digital display requires no A-D/D-A conversion from DVI or ADC ports

The bad things are: - Viewing angle can be somewhat limited, but how often do you view your monitor from the side while working on it.

• Low refresh rate (usually 60-65Hz)
• Native resolution, which means the maximum display size (usually 1280x1024). Lower resolutions require "scaling" of the display which, when not an exact division of the native resolution, can result in loss of clarity.
• Lighting has a more prolific effect on viewing. I use torchier lamps to the side of my monitors (CRT and TFT) to reduce glare etc.

And I guess we haven't answered the question. Poser should work on any monitor. It doesn't work well in a multi-monitor setup if you try to put some of its windows onto another monitor, but it will work just as well on a CRT as TFT monitor. Apple's TFT Studio and Cinema Displays are fantastic (I was using a 17" Studio Display until very recently - only switching back to CRT for stereoscopic shutter glasses - which don't work on TFTs). They are still expensive, but coming down in price - the 17" Studio Display is now only $699. I have mine on eBay for about $400! :0)

Just switched to a 17" TFT from dual 17" standard monitors and i was a bit concerned i would miss the duals, but the quality of the TFT easily makes up for it...I think whay Ziggie said was true of the older ones but not the newer, well certainly not in my case anyway.......Steve

many thanks for all your answers!!!

I would stay away from Samsung. I burned one up in less than 45 days. Besides the 1024x768 mode sucks. went back to a NEC 17".

Problem is 3 out of 5 TFT's are Samsungs with different badges on ;o)...i may have the figures a bit out, like its 7 out of 10 or something, but its somwhere along those lines, i'll try and dig out the mag i read that in...Steve

Steve- Sorry to be bashing Samsung but in the last 12 years I've gone through three low end monitors and have replaced them with NEC's. The old addage is true- you get what you pay for. TFT monitors were developed for laptops, they work fine for word processing. I am not impressed with TFT monitors working graphic apps . Just my opinion.

Oh i don't disagree with you just pointing out to be careful that what says one label on a monitor may infact be a samsung, But i don't agree with you on the last bit ;o) my desk top TFT is like worlds better than my lap top screen and only 18months different in age (laptop being the older)and a heck of a lot better than the two AOC's that replaced a very expensive 19" that blew after 14 months, won't be buying from them again LOL...Steve

As with all electronic products, it is a matter of luck. I have seen new monitors go "pink" after 6 months, but the generic that came with my hand-me-down 386 is still going strong. CRT is usually a better quality picture than TFT, but the technology is getting better. Just remember brand names aren't neccesarily better just because they are more expensive.

only problem I've ever had with my laptop display was the angle. it has always given me a great display, and even poser worked just fine with it. ~g~

I currently using a ViewSonic VG181. It works great. Poser, Cinema and all of the programs have never been easier to work with. My other system has a 17" CRT and it looks really bad compared to this one. JMHO Ed

The low refresh rate (60-70Hz) is no problem, since every pixel keeps its status until it is refreshed (in contrast to CRTs, where each Pixel only lightens up a few milliseconds). Biggest disadvantage to me is that the color continuity is not so good over the whole screen, the reaction time (going from black to white and back) is too slow for fast games and that the picture is only crisp if you use the display with the resolution it was designed for. I've got a 19" NEC Multisync 90F (CRT) facehugger

bought a tft yesterday and im totally happy with it.

I've been using computers for 20+ years, and I've used every LCD going, from the cheap $800 things to the 21" SGI and the Sun Microsystems badged 18" models, and while they look cool and save desk space, only the top of the range kit can switch modes. Mostly you're stuck with the res it's designed for, the SGI did 1600x1200 and the Sun did 1280x1024 (the Apple "Cinema" 21" will mode switch properly but it cost >$3000) generally speaking you can only switch modes in a linear fashion, 1600x1200 = 800x600, etc. So if you're used to working at a given res, make sure you buy a TFT that is set at that resolution. The frequency you can get will affect eyestrain, the higher the better, but if you suffer from eye strain you're better off with a CRT anyway, especially ones that can do 80 - 90 Hz. At home I run a 21" Sun Premium monitor, it's a badged Sony I think, it's huge! It weights a ton, and it pushes the keyboard and mouse off the table. But it is the best Monitor I've ever seen or used. If you're serious about colour reproduction I wouldn't touch a TFT with a barge pole, get an Eizo with a hood, (cuts down daylight/reflective glare) they're not cheap, but they consistently come top in industry tests. I have other issues with TFT's like the fact that most manufacturers consider less than 10 dead pixels as acceptable, and the fact that they suffer badly from both burn in and bright lighting, but you get what you pay for. I never had a dead pixel on top end kit, whereas I've seen plenty on the cheaper end stuff. We ended up using one as an emergency monitor for rackmount kit, as it was light, and you could drop it flat if need be, but I wouldn't recommened them for anything other than laptops and constrained space enviroments. A good monitor will always be better at the price, at least for the next two years... later jb

Well said!!!