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Do BNC connectors make any difference to display?
- Thread starter Wam
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2002
- Location
- North of Boston, MA
from most of the info I've read, the BNC connectors tend to be better quality... as a fatter of fact I'm typing this up on a 17" monitor with BNC. I'm looking to get a 19 inch for home that has BNC connectors as a can't afford a decent flat panel yet...
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2002
- Location
- North of Boston, MA
I dont claim to be a visual expert, so unfortuantly I can't tell you with 100% certainty that they are better. I can say that the one I use at work has nice crisp graphics(It's a trinitron) and you can manually change the H and V syncs. I just think they offer a more crisp display than a stanard VGA out. A little searching on the net may help you more.
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2002
- Location
- Good old UK
I've had a bit of experience with extending VGA cables, and in my opinion, if you have your dislpay set at anything over 1280 x 1024 - or including if you're extending the cable 5 metres or more, there is a noticeable degradation. It'll probably look like "ghosting" - a faint version of the image on display, shifted by a few pixels. Or your dislay will be smudgy, loosing definition on things like detailed pictures where colour changes are close to each other.
On to the crisp display comment from Krieger, I'm using a 21" sony multiscan E500, trinitron flat screen. It is a nice crisp display, and any trinitron tube is going to be better than a normal tube of the same dimensions because of the way the tube's built. If you look closely at a non trinitron tube, you can see the phosphor dots that the screen is made up of. They're round in shape, and have a shadow mask / aperture grille that lets the electrons through in round "bunches". Now, if you look at a trinitron tube, the phosphor dots are rectangular in shape, and because they're squarer, they fit together better than round dots. Because they fit together better, there's less shadow mask and more phosphor dot area for the elctrons to hit, resulting in a better contrast, and sharper pixels with more defined edges, as pxels are square anyway after the video card sends them. However, you don't get a free lunch for nothing, and if you look about 1/3 and 2/3 the way down your trinitron screens, you'll see two very faint lines, where there are wires to hold the shadow mask in place, because the more precise shadow mask is weaker and needs support.
You'd probably need a 19" monitor to notice the difference, but I'd go with BNC connectors if you wanted a decent crisp display, whether you had a trinitron or not. It might depend more on the quality of the monitor though.
On to the crisp display comment from Krieger, I'm using a 21" sony multiscan E500, trinitron flat screen. It is a nice crisp display, and any trinitron tube is going to be better than a normal tube of the same dimensions because of the way the tube's built. If you look closely at a non trinitron tube, you can see the phosphor dots that the screen is made up of. They're round in shape, and have a shadow mask / aperture grille that lets the electrons through in round "bunches". Now, if you look at a trinitron tube, the phosphor dots are rectangular in shape, and because they're squarer, they fit together better than round dots. Because they fit together better, there's less shadow mask and more phosphor dot area for the elctrons to hit, resulting in a better contrast, and sharper pixels with more defined edges, as pxels are square anyway after the video card sends them. However, you don't get a free lunch for nothing, and if you look about 1/3 and 2/3 the way down your trinitron screens, you'll see two very faint lines, where there are wires to hold the shadow mask in place, because the more precise shadow mask is weaker and needs support.
You'd probably need a 19" monitor to notice the difference, but I'd go with BNC connectors if you wanted a decent crisp display, whether you had a trinitron or not. It might depend more on the quality of the monitor though.
OP
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2001
- Thread Starter
- #6
Thanks for the info frostmeister, my friend who's a computer programmer and teaches computing asked me about the two lines on his monitor to see if he could get rid of them. He gets really annoyed by them and was even more so when I informed that they were there to stay.
At the moment I have an LG 221 u which is a shadow mask. It's developed a fault and apparently LG are going to replace it with the newer and better 22" .24 dot pit aperture grill. The quality will be a lot better than my present one even using the standard vga but I've not had experience of BNC connected monitors and £30 is a bit too much for me to spend on an experiment.
At the moment I have an LG 221 u which is a shadow mask. It's developed a fault and apparently LG are going to replace it with the newer and better 22" .24 dot pit aperture grill. The quality will be a lot better than my present one even using the standard vga but I've not had experience of BNC connected monitors and £30 is a bit too much for me to spend on an experiment.
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2001
- Location
- Northern VA
As mentioned, the higher you run your resolution, the better the BNC's will work compared to the standard cable. The reason is abillity to carry stronger signal. This makes an impact for sure...it'll make for a sharper, clearer, brighter image.
I remember I found a junked 19" monitor with a dying flyback transformer. I used a cheap belking VGA cable to test it, and the picture quality was somwhat dark and poor. I then used a thicker, more robust VGA cable I had and the difference was great! Going to GNC would have been a further improvment.
You can get away with getting the standard cable, especially if you plan on upgrading the cable at a later time. I'm actually surprised your not getting one for free...my Trinitron came with one, and it was used! Might look around and see if any stores will bundle one with it, especially if this is a new monitor.
A good analogy though, would be buying a Ferrari and using 87octane fuel on it. The ferrari is designed to run on 93 or higher, but *can* run on 87. (Ok, lets not start a debate and just assume it has a good knock sensor!) however, running with 87 octane, it's slower than a stock Mustang GT...(again, assumptions only)
The point is, you don't buy a Ferarri and use cheap fuel that degrades its performance. Same goes with a sweet 22" monitor...use a good cable and the monitor will live up to its price.
Mike
I remember I found a junked 19" monitor with a dying flyback transformer. I used a cheap belking VGA cable to test it, and the picture quality was somwhat dark and poor. I then used a thicker, more robust VGA cable I had and the difference was great! Going to GNC would have been a further improvment.
You can get away with getting the standard cable, especially if you plan on upgrading the cable at a later time. I'm actually surprised your not getting one for free...my Trinitron came with one, and it was used! Might look around and see if any stores will bundle one with it, especially if this is a new monitor.
A good analogy though, would be buying a Ferrari and using 87octane fuel on it. The ferrari is designed to run on 93 or higher, but *can* run on 87. (Ok, lets not start a debate and just assume it has a good knock sensor!) however, running with 87 octane, it's slower than a stock Mustang GT...(again, assumptions only)
The point is, you don't buy a Ferarri and use cheap fuel that degrades its performance. Same goes with a sweet 22" monitor...use a good cable and the monitor will live up to its price.
Mike
- Joined
- May 28, 2002
- Location
- Sector 7G
The Trinitron's are Apeture Grill, btw, not Shadow Mask. 
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