I won't be here quite as often...

[A Black Falcon]

But as for optimal resolutions, while I knew that even CRTs had their resolutions locked into place physically at the front of the screen (by where the phosphors are placed physically in place and so shining the electron beam at point A will ALWAYS result in "green"), I didn't realize just how well it could be graduated (shifted from left to right) without even really noticing anything. It almost looks smooth. The max resolution of a moniter is just much much finer than I thought it to be. Reading further indicates that yes, there is a lot of work to be done for LCDs to truly replace CRTs, but the FED (or possibly SED) screens seems set to replace BOTH. The only issue is exactly how thin they can get, which is important when you talk about using either one of those new options in a portable device. If they really are more energy efficient, then if they can be as thin as an LCD screen, they really are better for portable devices.

You finally see my point... :) CRTs have fully gradient (or, probably more accurately, close enough to full that it doesn't matter much) resolution changing, LCDs are locked in to only set values. Just mess with the 'moving the screen around' settings (move left/right/up/down, resize picture, rotate, skew, etc) on a CRT and then and LCD and it should become pretty clear.

Of course, at this point it's hard to get any kind of PC that includes a CRT monitor, they all (even ones for gaming) have pretty much only LCDs, but... while I know it was a better point four or five years ago, it's still true that LCDs just aren't as good, particularly for games (for why else would you want those weird old resolutions? To run WordPerfect 5.0 for DOS? While I know it has a few adherents, I doubt that they are many anymore... :)) With lower-latency monitors that solves the most immediate problem for gaming, the trails and ghosting, gamers seem to have largely switched over too... convenience wins in the end, I guess.

... but who am I to talk, I'm on an LCD monitor right now for purely convenience reasons: CRTS are heavy. Carrying my monitor back and forth frequently is a pain. So I'd rather use the extra monitor that is here instead, which is an LCD... but I don't know if I'd want to buy one as my main monitor. If CRTs weren't available I might want to use my old one (other than an incredibly twisted VGA cable, it's in fine condition...)... :D