Hey guys, Well.. it is time to decided, I have debated both, LCD and VFD for a long time now, and I still can't decide. I mean, both have their pros, and both have cons, but I wanted to hear from y'all (yes, I'm from Texas ), what you think about them. Before you write anything, this is what I think I've concluded with. I think I will go with the VFD from noritake, the 128x64 800a one, I believe thats it. Simply because I have seen pictures of it, and its amazing the clearness and brightness. Although it costs a little bit of money, like close to $170, give or take $10, I think it's worth it. Another reason, LCDs are cheaper, and they are more people have them, I like to be different, and I am surely expressing that in my case. So.. Yeah. Shoot me down, call me an idiot, I just kinda want your opinion on the differences and all. I have researched non-stop, read this forum all over, and grrrrr, still can't decide. Here are some pictures of what I am talking about. Okay, I'm done now. Cheers, -emu
?????? The VFD looks VERY good, I have one, as a matter of fact, that looks like the case I built for mine too...anywho, the vfd updates much faster, and can be used for animations with much detail, where the LCD doesn't quite stack up speed wise. I also like the blackout background of the VFD better, where the background of the LCD always has a little tint. also, you can control the brightness of the actual output of the vfd, where as the LCD you can only change the backlighting luminance.
oooOOoo, animations? Do you have pictures of your VFD? ..and I do also, like the black background -emu
Ok, Just shot up a couple quick pics with the handycam memstick, so the quality isn't quite what my G2 gives, but here ya go...
Vfd completely. There is a reason why they cost more. Much more brighter and clearer. I mave an MO 2x20 vfd, and I must say it is very nice. Way better then the old 4x20 MO bit special I had. If you have the cash, definately VFD.
The fast refresh rate of the VFD is great for the graphical audio spectrum analyzer. Keep an eye on eBay as they occasionally show up and go for US$60-$80.
for that price (170$) you might as well get a 5 or 6 inch color LCD with with RCA vid inputs.. thats just my 2 cents heres a lovely 4 in display for 89$ http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&PartNumber=205-050&DID=7
yeah.. for that price, i can get a 7in, 16:9 ratio car LCD.. however.. i was told 1) too big 2) overkill 3) when playing CS, it will slow my computer down more than a VFD/LCD would so.. who knows.. -emu
what system do you have? surely a 5 year old engine combined with TV outpu wont totaly kill your framerates? my 9500 has no problem running CS 1.5 with motherboard monitor drawing stuff over the game. shoot ive even had winamp3 ontop of CS and its still been fine
P4 2.4 Soyo Dragon Plat. Ed. ATi 9700 Pro 1gig Mushkin DDR SoOOooOOo.. it might be able to run it fine. Just not sure what I am going to have on it.. but lets see, would I do a VGA -> RCA convertor, or what? emu = lost
If I'm using it for my system, I'd say VFD. If I'm using it somewhere else, especially in my car, I would have also said VFD, until I saw the cost for that 4" Colour LCD. I think I would choose it in any application where a standard monitor wouldn't already be present.
yes, i replied.. so.. to the person above him, you mean that using an LCD where a montior is already there is bad? or VFD anyways? -emu
Not really, I use both the VFD and the monitor together, and a standard monitor as well... and I'm on a lowly 8500ati... Kinda like this:
Sorry....No I wasn't saying its a bad idea. I was just saying that if there is no monitor present, like in a car, a colour lcd gives you the best of both worlds. And, when you're talking about your system, most people want a display for stats. In that case, a colour lcd would be overkill. I like what Pflumingo did with his case. You could have music videos playing on the lcd while you're browsing the boards on your monitor. And, like he said, you could go for both, and have the vfd displaying game or system stats. Wow, that gives me some ideas for my system. First though, could someone really get on that "money doesn't grow on trees" problem. What it comes down to is...what do you really want to use the display for? If all you want is stats scrolling, I would say that a VFD is your best choice. If you want to go one step beyond, and maybe include some video, or any application that would benefit from a larger, colour display, go for the Colour LCD. Either way, I'm already jealous. I really have to start saving up for some new toys.
i LOVE my 800 series 128x64. it looks great IMO, but i am curious, where did you find those pics of the first two? (assuming those are 128x64?) I got mine off eBay, because i normally wouldn't pay that kind of money for a display, i'm cheap. i'm workin on getting a plexi 2 bay cover to mount my display in my case, i don't know how its gonna look in my beige (eek) box though. I like it because i can have song display with a spectrum analyzer or oscilliscope, or display system stats.
