Hi - I have located some $$$ for new monitors (replace the CRTs if possible) in our school lab. We are using Blender for our animation course as well as other software. Does anyone have advice for LCD flat panel monitors - refresh rate - and if there is a monitor in this catagory (for animation) that will do the job. 8 mil.sec. seems to be common…2 mil. sec. ref_rate (supposedly) is the lowest @ 19" screen size I have located. Does 8 ms work for animation? Of course the prices fluxtuate with this and screen size etc.
Thanks for any suggestions
As long as the monitor has a screen refresh rate of 60hz, it will be fine for animation.
You’re using the term refresh rate, when what I believe you’re asking about is pixel response time.
The refresh rate is how quickly the monitor changes the ‘picture’ it is drawing.
The pixel response time is how quickly the LCD pixels can respond to a change (black to white, white to black).
You’ll be running the LCD at a 60Hz refresh rate.
This means you’re potentially changing pixel values 60 times every second.
1 * 1000 / 60 = 16.67 milliseconds between picture changes
As long as your pixel response time is lower, you shouldn’t see any ghosting as the pixels can respond faster than they are being asked to change. Though, I believe they (the monitor makers) measure pixel response time under conditions that are favorable to them, and all changes may not happen in the same time, so there should be a little play room there.
That said, I don’t think response times of 8ms will cause you any problems for viewing.
Yikes! 60 hertz refresh rate is a great inducer of eye strain if your electrical system runs at the same rate, you get a flicker that will give you headaches!
Check out the manufacture’s suggestions for the units, and don’t use a setting that is not listed, it could burn out your screens quickly.
60Hz is terrible on a CRT. I never would run a CRT at less than 72-75Hz. An LCD is different. You don’t notice it on an LCD. I’m not an electrical engineer, but I suspect it has something to do with the fact that a CRT is being painted by the electron gun at 60Hz and the point at the screen begins to fade as soon as the gun moves on, whereas an LCD is constantly lit, it is only changing images at 60Hz, but the light itself is constant.
Yeah, true story. I had to re read the original post. Still, I think I would keep the refresh rate as high as possible but within specs.
86point5 answered pretty well (providing he’s correct :P, I dont know anything about this personally). What I do know is, 8ms is pretty nice. Alot of LCDs run at 16ms and I’ve not seen any lower than 6ms which don’t cost excessive ammounts.
On the otherhand, CRT colour is far better than LCD. My extreamly old CRT died a while ago so i switched to LCD - Not impressed, so colour clarity is something worth thinking about (especially if you do print work). I personally want to find a nice flat screen CRT and ditch this LCD.
p.s. 86point5 i havnt seen you post here for ages? where’d you go?
9876543210
Thanks everyone for your input and advice. Now I’m not sure if the LCD route is the answer. I have been using a 20" flat screen CRT and today hooked up a new 15" LCD to compare. Maybe it’s my eyes but I can’t see a big colour difference between the 2. The LCD has an 8ms refresh and was set to at 75Hz. I’ll have to run more animations to give it a better look for ghosting problems. The main reason for switching to LCD is to open up the lab = less bulky monitor frames. Gives me a better visual with the stations/students in the lab
Thanks again everyone…This helps alot
deltawing 
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