除非您最近一直在关注不太主流的技术对话，否则您可能会错过关于(less mainstream tech conversations)CRT或阴极射线管(cathode ray tube)屏幕优点的重新讨论。是的，我们谈论的是现在几乎已被各种平板技术取代的原始“电子管”。
信不信由你，整整一代人可能从未在现实生活中见过CRT ！那么，为什么今天科技界的人们都在谈论这项较旧的技术(technology today)呢？CRT显示器是做什么用的？现代显示技术(display tech)不是更优越吗？
事实证明，这些问题的答案可能比你想象的要复杂。2019 年有什么好的理由想要CRT吗？(CRT)
他们看起来擅长任何分辨率(They Look Good at Any Resolution)
平板屏幕的最大缺点之一是它们具有“原生”分辨率(” resolution)。换句话说，它们有一个固定的、物理的图片元素网格。因此，全高清面板(HD panel)具有 1920 x 1080 像素。如果您将分辨率较低的图像发送到此类面板，则必须对其进行缩放，以便多个物理像素充当单个虚拟像素。
在早期，LCD 屏幕(LCD screen)上的缩放图像看起来非常糟糕(absolutely awful)，但现代缩放解决方案看起来很棒。所以这已经不是什么大问题了。
尽管如此，CRT(CRT look)上的图像在任何分辨率下都看起来不错。这是因为没有使用这种显示技术(display technology)的物理像素。图像是使用电子束在屏幕内侧绘制的，因此不需要缩放。像素只是以它们需要的大小绘制。因此，即使是分辨率相对较低的图像在CRT(CRT)上看起来也很流畅。
在过去，这是在 3D应用程序和视频游戏(apps and video games)中获得性能的好方法。只需(Simply)降低分辨率即可获得更流畅的体验。随着LCD 技术(LCD technology)的出现，您几乎必须以原始分辨率输出，这意味着在纹理和照明细节等其他领域中偷工减料。
将CRT用于高端 3D 应用意味着您可以降低分辨率、保持视觉(eye candy)效果并获得良好的性能。与在LCD(LCD)上做同样的事情相比，几乎没有视觉冲击。
无模糊运动(Blur-Free Motion)
LCD平板使用一种称为“采样并保持”的显示方法，当前帧以完全静态的方式停留在屏幕上，直到下一帧准备好。(display method)CRT(CRTs)（和等离子屏幕）使用脉冲方法。该帧被绘制在屏幕上，但随着荧光粉失去能量，立即开始变黑。
虽然采样和保持方法可能听起来更好，但由于我们感知明显运动的方式，感知效果是运动中的模糊图像。采样和保持(Sample and hold)不是LCD(LCDs)上不必要的运动模糊(motion blur)的唯一原因，但它是一个很大的原因。
现代屏幕要么使用某种形式的“运动平滑”，导致可怕的“肥皂剧效果”，要么在常规屏幕之间插入黑框，导致亮度降低。CRT可以在不(CRTs)牺牲亮度(brightness sacrifice)的情况下显示锐利的运动，因此在播放视频时可以看起来更好。
令人难以置信的黑色水平(Incredible Black Levels)
由于LCD(LCDs work)的工作方式，基本上不可能在图像中显示真正的黑色。LCD 面板(LCD panel)由LCD本身、其颜色变化的像素阵列和背光组成。没有背光，您将看不到图像。那是因为LCD(LCDs don)本身不会发出任何光。
问题是当一个像素关闭以显示黑色时，它不会阻挡(t block)所有来自它后面的光。所以你能得到的最好的就是一种灰色调(grey tone)。现代 LCD(Modern LCD)屏幕在补偿这一点上要好得多，多个LED(LEDs)均匀地照亮面板并局部背光调光(backlight dimming)，但仍然不可能实现真正的黑色。
(CRTs)另一方面，CRT几乎可以完美地显示黑色，这要归功于它在屏幕背面绘制图片的方式。OLED等(OLED)现代(Modern)技术的效果几乎一样，但对于主流消费者来说仍然过于昂贵。Plasma在这方面也非常出色，但已基本被淘汰。所以现在在 2019 年，仍然可以在CRT(CRTs)中找到最好的黑电平。
一些复古内容是为 CRT 设计的(Some Retro Content Was Designed For CRTs)
如果您喜欢观看复古内容(retro content)，包括 HD 控制台之前的旧视频游戏和标准 4:3 宽高比视频内容(ratio video content)，最好在CRT上观看。
无论如何，在现代平板上消费这些内容并不是坏事，只是创作者没有用作参考。所以你看到的永远不会完全符合他们的意图。
一些视频游戏实际上利用CRT的怪癖来产生流水或透明度(water or transparency)等效果。这些效果在现代平板上不起作用或看起来很奇怪。(t work)这(Which)就是CRT(CRTs)在复古游戏玩家中受欢迎和追捧的原因。
为什么你在 2019 年不想要 CRT(Why You DON’T Want a CRT In 2019)
尽管CRT(CRTs)在很多方面都客观上优于最好的现代平板显示器，但也有很多缺点！毕竟，世界转向更新的显示技术(display technology)是有原因的。
同样重要的是要记住，在转变时的平板显示器比今天的要差得多，但人们觉得LCD(LCDs)的优点总体上是更好的交易。
CRT屏幕巨大、沉重、耗电，不太适合生产力和观看宽屏电影。虽然它们的分辨率限制对于视频游戏来说并不是一个大问题，但任何形式的严肃工作都会变成与低分辨率文本(resolution text)和缺乏桌面空间的斗争。
尽管它们的尺寸很大，但实际屏幕尺寸相对于平板来说很小。我们今天拥有的 55 英寸和更大的怪物肯定没有CRT 等价物。(CRT equivalent)尽管CRT甚至比最好的现代平板显示器都具有显着的图像质量和运动优势，但只有一(image quality and motion advantages CRTs)小(niche group)部分人愿意忍受CRT 使用(CRT use)带来的一长串缺点。
因此，如果您正在考虑涉足CRT(CRTs)的世界，请确保您知道自己正在进入什么领域。
Why Would You Want a CRT Monitor In 2019?
Unlеss you’ve been following the less mainstream tech conversations going on these days, you might have missed a renewed discussion on the merits of CRT or cathode ray tube screens. Yes, we’re talking about the original ‘tube’ that has now been all but replaced by various flat panel technologies.
Believe it or not, there’s an entire generation of people who have probably never seen a CRT in real life! So why are people in tech circles talking about this older technology today? What are CRT monitors used for? Isn’t modern display tech superior?
It turns out that the answer to those questions might be more complicated than you think. Are there any good reasons to want a CRT in 2019?
They Look Good at Any Resolution
One of the biggest drawbacks of flat panel screens is that they have a “native” resolution. In other words, they have a fixed, physical grid of picture elements. So a full HD panel has 1920 by 1080 pixels. If you send an image with a lower resolution to such a panel, it has to be scaled so that multiple physical pixels act as a single virtual pixel.
In the early days scaled images on an LCD screen looked absolutely awful, but modern scaling solutions look great. So it’s not much of an issue anymore.
Still, images on a CRT look good at any resolution. This is because there are no physical pixels using this display technology. The image is drawn on the inside of the screen using electron beams, so no scaling is required. The pixels are simply drawn at the size they need to be. So even relatively low resolution images look nice and smooth on a CRT.
In the past this was a good way to gain performance in 3D apps and video games. Simply lower the resolution to get a smoother experience. With the advent of LCD technology you pretty much had to output at the native resolution, which meant cutting corners in other areas such as texture and lighting detail.
Using a CRT for high-end 3D applications means you can cut the resolution, keep the eye candy and get good performance. With almost no visual hit compared to doing the same thing on an LCD.
Blur-Free Motion
LCD flat panels use a display method known as “sample and hold”, where the current frame stays on screen in a perfectly static way until the next one is ready. CRTs (and plasma screens) use a pulsed method. The frame is drawn on screen, but immediately begins to fade to black as the phosphors lose energy.
While the sample and hold method might sound superior, the perceptual effect is a blurry image in motion thanks to the way we perceive apparent motion. Sample and hold is not the only cause of unwanted motion blur on LCDs, but it’s a big one.
Modern screens either use some form of “motion smoothing”, which leads to the dreaded “soap opera effect” or they insert black frames between the regular ones which causes brightness reduction. CRTs can show sharp motion with no brightness sacrifice and can therefore look much better when playing back video.
Incredible Black Levels
Due to the way LCDs work, it’s essentially impossible to display true black in an image. An LCD panel consists of the LCD itself, with its array of color-changing pixels and a backlight. Without the backlight, you won’t see the image. That’s because LCDs don’t give off any light of their own.
The problem is that when a pixel switches off to display black, it doesn’t block all the light coming from behind it. So the best you can get is a sort of grey tone. Modern LCD screens are much better at compensating for this, with multiple LEDs evenly lighting the panel and local backlight dimming, but true blacks are still not possible.
CRTs on the other hand can display blacks almost perfectly thanks to how it draws the picture on the back of the screen. Modern technologies like OLED does nearly as well, but is still far too expensive for mainstream consumers. Plasma was also very good in this regard, but has been largely phased out. So right now in 2019 the best black levels are still to be found in CRTs.
Some Retro Content Was Designed For CRTs
If you like consuming retro content, which includes old video games from before HD consoles and standard 4:3 aspect ratio video content, it may be best to watch them on a CRT.
It’s not that consuming this content on a modern flat panel is bad by any measure, it’s just not what the creators were using as a reference. So what you see will never match their intentions exactly.
Some video games actually took advantage of CRT quirks to generate effects such as flowing water or transparency. These effects don’t work or look odd on modern flat panels. Which is why CRTs are popular and sought after among retro gamers.
Why You DON’T Want a CRT In 2019
While there are plenty of ways in which CRTs are objectively superior to even the best modern flat panel displays, there’s also a long list of cons! After all, there’s a reason the world moved to newer display technology.
It’s also important to remember that flat panel displays at the time of the shift were far worse than those of today, yet people felt the pros of LCDs were on balance a better deal.
CRT screens are huge, heavy, power-hungry and less suitable for productivity and watching widescreen films. While their resolution limits aren’t a huge issue for video games, any sort of serious work turns into struggle with low resolution text and a lack of desktop real estate.
Despite their large size, actual screen dimensions are tiny relative to flat panels. There certainly isn’t a CRT equivalent of the 55” and larger monsters we have today. Despite the substantial image quality and motion advantages CRTs have over even the best modern flat panels, only a small niche group of people are willing to put up with the long list of drawbacks that come with CRT use.
So if you’re thinking about dabbling in the world of CRTs, make sure you know what you’re getting into.
