Brightness homogeneity
CRTs are revered for their graphic qualities while LCDs are rejected because of overly flattering rendering, far from the result on paper. All of this isn´t necessarily true. Gaps measured between color requested and the one displayed are as significant as with LCD monitors. The only difference is in brightness gaps between the two technologies. CRTs are at 100 cd/m² and LCDs are often at 250 cd/m². 100 candelas is good for graphic designers and office. 250 cd/m² is rather better for games and movies.
Another misconception is that CRT brightness homogeneity is perfect while LCD´s is terrible. This is wrong. CRTs aren´t necessarily better. For example, we found 14% gaps with ViewSonic´s Shadow Mask monitor and 20% for the Iiyama (Diamondtron tube).
IiyamaMA203DT : up to 19 % gap. 
Philips 109B60 : up to 16 % gap. 
ViewSonic P227FB : up to 14 % gap.Brightness differences are important, but we don´t see them on the displayed image. There is no white halo, no area that is clearly much brighter. The loss is on a decreasing sliding scale. We only realise this when we take on object, move it from one corner to the other and we see colors vary.
Color quality
And still another generally accepted idea is that CRT color quality is incomparable to an LCDs. CRTs are said to be more accurate from the beginning, closer to paper quality, less saturated…
Another small deception is that CRT manufacturers ship their monitors with as random adjustments as LCDs.
Reminder: The
deltaE is a measure between the color requested and the one really displayed on the monitor. The result obtained is also counter-balanced for human eye color sensitivity.
Delta E > 3 the desired color is noticeably different from the one on the screen.
2 < Delta E < 3 color quality is satisfying but a graphic designer wouldn´t probably be happy with that
1< Delta E <2 colors are accurate.
Delta E < 1, the result is perfect
IiyamaMA203DT 
Philips 109B60 
ViewSonic P227FBOur first observation is a double let down. Before the calibration, the result isn´t extraordinary, but it isn´t great after either. The improvements of the Iiyama weren´t perfect. Two of the 18 colors still had a DeltaE superior to 4 and four are around 3. Five of the 18 basic colors have DeltaE < 2, or less than half of them.
For a graphic designer, it is best to avoid this DiamondTron tube and rather choose Philips and ViewSonic´s Shadow Mask. But here again some of the values are close to DeltaE = 2.
Here is the comparison with a well calibrated LCD monitor.
The Samsung SyncMaster 970P calibratedTo more easily interpret results, we can use an average of the DeltaE found for the 17 colors previously reported in addition to level of black that isn´t included in the above graph. We find:
The Philips monitor has the best initial adjustments. Rendering is correct. The two other CRTs do not provide better results than the LCD except in terms of brightness. They are less bright at 110 cd/m², have mat panels, compared to the very trendy glossy LCD panels that sometimes reach up to 450 cd/m². So even if average DeltaE is equivalent, the rendering of this tube monitor is much closer than what we will have on paper after printing (if the printer is calibrated as well of course).
