Comparison of CRT, LCD, plasma, and OLED displays

Further information: Comparison of display technology

This is a page that lists advantages and disadvantages with CRT, LCD, Plasma and OLED.

The chart

Parameter	CRT	LCD	Plasma	OLED
Brightness		Very poor in direct sunlight without reflective design. Uneven backlighting in older models. Low temperatures can cause dimming or blackout.		Poor in bright ambient light. White color dimmer than LCDs of same brightness.
Dimming	Some compensate for ambient.	Yes, but some backlight PWM dimming can cause eyestrain.
Contrast	Over 15,000:1.	Over 1,000:1. High temperatures can cause loss of contrast.	Over 10,000:1.	Over 1,000,000:1.
Color	Excellent.	Good on most newer models.	Excellent	Vivid and wide gamut. Blue OLED degrades faster than other colors, so manufacturers may overdrive the blue LEDs to compensate. Organic materials decay over time (2011).
Color depth	Unlimited.	262,000 16M is more costly and has a slower response.
Black level	Excellent.	Poor, due to bleed through.	Good.	Excellent.
Ghosting and smearing	No ghosting or smearing artifacts. Slightly blurry. Halo may appear around objects with high contrast to background.	None unless overdriven.		None, even during fast motion.
Response time	Sub-millisecond.	Display motion blur, and strobing backlight elimination technique can cause eye-strain. Low temperatures can cause slow response.	Millisecond.	Sub-millisecond.
Environmental influences	Magnetic fields may cause distortion or shimmer. Earth's magnetic fields may cause distortion.	Low temperatures can cause slow response.	High altitude pressure difference may cause poor function or buzzing noises.	UV exposure can damage. Water can damage organic materials.
Distortion	Near zero. Affected by stray or earths magnetic field, AC fields can cause jitter.	No geometric.	Near zero color, saturation, contrast and brightness distortion. No geometric.
	CRT	LCD	Plasma	OLED
Resolution	Multi-sync capable (no native resolution). Maximum resolution set at design time.	Native designed resolution only. Requires upscaling to display other resolutions, which can cause blurriness.	Same as LCD. Large pixel pitch usually only for 32" and larger.	Same as LCD.
Viewing angle	Excellent.	Poor on old models, getting better in newer models.	Excellent.	Excellent.
Flicker	Noticeable at refresh rates below 85 Hz.	Little or none if non-PWM backlight technology is used.	Poor due to phosphor based, but improving in newer models.
Processing	Minimal.	Inherently digital device, no analogue conversion of data required from HDMI or DVI stream. Post processing to improve color fidelity, and scaling for non-native resolutions. Gaming modes may be offered to reduce lag.	Input lag.
Weight	Heavy, especially for larger units (a 20" screen weighs about 50lb.)	Light.	Heavy. However, less weight gain per size increase.	Very light.
Size	Bulky depth. 7" smallest possible for color screen. Over 40" is very heavy and dangerous.	Compact. Can be manufactured almost any size and shape. Very thin allowing mounted distance to user for less focusing-related eyestrain.	Up to 150"(3.8m).
Cost	Inexpensive.	Inexpensive.		Expensive to manufacture (2012).
Energy consumption and heat generation	High.	Low. With CCFT backlight, 30-50% of CRT. With LED backlight, 10-25% of CRT.	Varies with brightness, but higher than LCD.	Varies with brightness, but usually lower than LCD (except when displaying a lot of white area).
	CRT	LCD	Plasma	OLED
Screen burn-in	Yes, the reason screensavers became popular.	Temporary discoloring may occur due to thermalization, but usually it is not permanent. Dead or stuck pixels may occur in manufacturing or usage.	Severe in early models. Dead or stuck pixels may occur in manufacturing or usage.	Yes. Dead or stuck pixels may occur in manufacturing or usage.
Maintenance	Hazardous to repair/service due to high-voltage. Requires skilled convergence calibration and adjustments for geographic location changes.	Difficult to replace backlight.
Light pens or guns	Yes	No	No	No
Other	Emits strong low-frequency electromagnetic radiation. May be considered toxic waste (contains lead and barium for X-ray shielding; phosphors contain cadmium).	Emits less electromagnetic radiation than CRT. The LCD grid can mask effects of spatial and grayscale quantization, creating the illusion of higher image quality. Many newer models are powered by an external 12V power supply (for thinness), and could (with a special cable) be connected directly to the computer's power supply, possibly saving power, desk space and wall-outlet space.	Screen-door effects are more noticeable than LCD when up close, or on larger sizes. Emits radio frequency interference which may be objectionable. Fragile and required to be upright to avoid screen collapse.	No backlight needed. Can be fabricated on flexible plastic substrates for flexible displays.

Original prose style data

Extended content

CRT Further information: Cathode ray tube Pros High contrast ratio (over 15,000:1), excellent color, fairly wide color gamut and low black level. No native resolution; the only current display technology capable of true multisyncing (displaying many different resolutions and refresh rates without the need for scaling). No input lag. No ghosting and smearing artifacts during fast motion due to sub-millisecond response time, and impulse-based operation. Near zero color, saturation, contrast or brightness distortion. Excellent viewing angle. Allows the use of light guns/pens.   Cons Large size and weight, especially for bigger screens (a 20-inch (51 cm) unit weighs about 50 lb (23 kg)). Geometric distortion caused by variable beam travel distances. High power consumption. On average, a CRT consumes 2–10× the power that an identically sized LCD display would consume, depending on the type of backlight used in the LCD screen, and it's brightness setting. A lot of heat emitted during operation, due to higher power consumption. Can suffer screen burn-in. Produces noticeable flicker at refresh rates lower than 85 Hz. Hazardous to repair/service. Color displays cannot be made in sizes smaller than 7 inches. Maximum size for direct-view displays is limited to about 40 inches due to practical and manufacturing restrictions (a CRT display of this size can weigh about 300 pounds), though the sizing can be increased with an array of separate displays, such as the original Jumbotron used at sports arenas. The glass envelopes contains toxic lead and barium as X-ray radiation shielding. The phosphors can also contain toxic elements such as cadmium. Many countries treat CRTs as toxic waste and prohibit their disposal in landfills or by incineration. Purity and convergence, affected by the Earth's magnetic field, must be factory preset for operation in either the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere, or the equatorial area. Adjustment for use outside a preset region requires high technical skill, as well as safety precautions. Sensitive to magnetic interference, which can cause the image to shimmer (e.g. if a transformer or other electro-magnetic source is too close to the screen) or the colors to shift (e.g. if an unshielded speaker is too close to the screen). Slightly blurry image compared to the razor sharp image an LCD can produce. A “halo” may appear around bright objects on a mostly dark screen.   LCD Further information: LCD and LCD TV Pros Very compact and light. Low power consumption. Depending on the set display brightness and content being displayed, the older CCFT backlit models typically use 30–50% of the power a CRT monitor of the same size viewing area would use, and the modern LED backlit models typically use 10–25% of the power a CRT monitor would use. Very little heat emitted during operation, due to low power consumption. No geometric distortion. The possible ability to have little or no flicker depending on backlight technology. Usually no refresh-rate flicker, because the LCD pixels hold their state between refreshes (which are usually done at 200 Hz or faster, regardless of the input refresh rate). Is very thin compared to a CRT monitor, which allows the monitor to be placed farther back from the user, reducing close-focusing related eye-strain. Razor sharp image with no bleeding/smearing when operated at native resolution. Emits much less undesirable electromagnetic radiation than a CRT monitor (in the extremely low frequency range). Can be made in almost any size or shape. No theoretical resolution limit. Can be made to large sizes (more than 24 inches) lightly and relatively inexpensively. Masking effect: the LCD grid can mask the effects of spatial and grayscale quantization, creating the illusion of higher image quality. Unconstrained by geographical (hemispheric) location of device with respect to Earth's magnetic field. As an inherently digital device, the LCD can natively display digital data from a DVI or HDMI connection without requiring conversion to analog. Many LCD monitors are powered by an external 12v power supply, which means that (with a proper cable) they can also be run directly on one of the computer's 12v power supply outputs, removing the overhead and quiescent power consumption of the monitor's own power supply. This can increase the power efficiency, especially if the computer has a high-efficiency PFC power supply. This is also convenient because the monitor will power on when you turn on the computer, and will power off when the computer sleeps or is shutdown.   Cons Limited viewing angle, causing color, saturation, contrast and brightness to vary, even within the intended viewing angle, by variations in posture. Uneven backlighting in some (mostly older) monitors, causing brightness distortion, especially toward the edges. Black levels may appear unacceptably bright due to the fact that individual liquid crystals cannot completely block all light from passing through. Display motion blur on moving objects caused by slow response times (>8 ms) and eye-tracking on a sample-and-hold display, unless a strobing backlight is used. However, this strobing can cause eye-strain, as is noted next: As of 2012, most implementations of LCD backlighting use PWM to dim the display, which makes the screen flicker more acutely (this does not mean visibly) than a CRT monitor at 85 Hz refresh rate would (this is because the entire screen is strobing on and off rather than a CRT's phosphor sustained dot which continually scans across the display, leaving some part of the display always lit), causing severe eye-strain for some people. Unfortunately, many of these people don't know that their eye-strain is being caused by the invisible strobe effect of PWM. This problem is worse on many of the new LED backlit monitors, because the LEDs have a faster turn-on/turn-off time than a CCFL bulb. Only one native resolution. Displaying any other resolution either requires a video scaler, causing blurriness and jagged edges; or running the display at native resolution using 1:1 pixel mapping, causing the image either not to fill the screen (letterboxed display), or to run off the lower right edge of the screen. Fixed bit depth, many cheaper LCDs are only able to display 262,000 colors. 8-bit S-IPS panels can display 16 million colors and have significantly better black level, but are expensive and have slower response time. Low refresh rate. All but a few high-end monitors support no higher than 60 or 75 Hz; while this does not cause visible flicker due to the LCD panel's high internal refresh rate, the low input refresh rate still limits the maximum frame-rate that can be displayed, negatively impacting gaming and 3D graphics. Input lag, because the LCD's A/D converter waits for each frame to be completely outputted before drawing it to the LCD panel. Also, many LCD monitors do post-processing before displaying the image in an attempt to improve color fidelity, which adds an additional lag. Further, a video scalar must be used when displaying non-native resolutions, which adds yet more lag. Scaling and post processing are usually done in a single chip on modern monitors, but each function that chip performs adds some delay. Some displays have a "Gaming " mode which disables all or most processing to reduce perceivable input lag. Dead or stuck pixels may occur during manufacturing or through use. Subject to burn-in effect; although the cause differs from CRT and the effect may not be permanent, a static image can cause burn-in in a matter of hours. In a constant-on situation, thermalization may occur, in which part of the screen has overheated and looks discolored compared to the rest of the screen. Loss of brightness and much slower response times in low temperature environments. In sub-zero environments, LCD screens may cease to function without the use of supplemental heating. Loss of contrast in high temperature environments. Not usually designed to allow easy replacement of the backlight. Poor display in direct sunlight, often completely unviewable. Transflective LCDs provide a large improvement by reflecting natural light, but they are dimmer when relying on the backlight, so they have only been adopted for specific outdoor uses. Cannot be used with light guns/pens.   Plasma Further information: Plasma display Pros High contrast ratios (10,000:1 static or greater) excellent color, and low black level. Millisecond response time. Near zero color, saturation, contrast or brightness distortion. Excellent viewing angle. No geometric distortion. Highly scalable, with less weight gain per increase in size (from less than 30 in (76 cm) wide to the world's largest at 150 in (3.8 m)). Unconstrained by geography with respect to Earth's magnetic field. Variable power consumption (dimmer picture draws less power) though still higher than most LCD TVs in most situations.   Cons Large pixel pitch, meaning either low resolution or a large screen. As such, color plasma displays are only produced in sizes over 32 inches (81 cm) and 1080p displays are only available from sizes of 42" upwards. Image flicker due to being phosphor-based though modern plasma displays make this effect less noticeable. Glass screen can induce glare and reflections. High operating temperature and power consumption. LCDs consume less power. Input lag. Relatively heavy weight. Only has one native resolution. Displaying other resolutions requires a video scaler, which degrades image quality at lower resolutions. Can suffer image burn-in. This was a severe problem on early plasma displays, but newer models have incorporated methods to reduce the chance of accidental burn-in. Screen-door effects are more noticeable than on LCD, particularly when staying close to the screen or at large screen sizes. Do not work as well at high altitudes due to pressure differential between the gases inside the screen and the air pressure at altitude. It may cause a buzzing noise. Manufacturers rate their screens to indicate the altitude parameters. For those who wish to listen to AM radio, or are amateur radio operators (hams) or shortwave listeners (SWL), the radio frequency interference (RFI) from these devices can be irritating or disabling. Relatively fragile; should only be transported, stored, and operated upright, as the glass screen can shatter under the display's own weight if not supported properly. Cannot be used with light guns/pens. Defective pixels such as dead pixels and stuck pixels may occur either during manufacturing (except stuck pixels) or through use.   OLED Further information: Organic light-emitting diode Pros Very high contrast ratio - above 1,000,000:1 static. Excellent viewing angle. Very light weight. Excellent black level. Very sharp picture. No ghosting and smearing artifacts during fast motion due to sub-millisecond response time. Wide gamut and vivid colors because no backlight is used. Can be fabricated on flexible plastic substrates leading to the possibility being fabricated and of creating flexible video displays. No geographical constraints. Variable power consumption, usually lower than competing LCDs of the same size.   Cons Can suffer screen burn-in. Increased power consumption when displaying white color. Because blue OLEDs degrade faster than the OLEDs that produce other colors, the manufacturers of these displays often compensate by calibrating the colors in a way that oversaturates them and adds a bluish tint to the screen. White reproduction dimmer than competing LCDs of the same brightness. Poor readability in bright ambient light such as outdoors. Water can damage the organic materials of the display. Can be damaged by prolonged exposure to UV light. Difficult and expensive to manufacture at the present time. Organic materials used (as of 2011) are susceptible to decay over time, rendering the display unusable after some time. Defective pixels such as dead pixels and stuck pixels may occur either during manufacturing (except stuck pixels) or through use. Cannot be used with light guns/pens.

External links

• PixPerAn, software for testing motion blur (ghosting) on a monitor